Genesis 2

Hot Chicken Salad

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever resisted someone’s help? Thinking that you had everything under control, did you ever reject the kind ministrations of friends and just plugged along in your misery? False pride, embarrassment, stubbornness, and a sense of not wanting to appear weak can turn our heads away from the compassionate offering that a friend is trying to make. When we do that, we miss out on so much.

Many years ago, my daughter had to come home from college when she was diagnosed with cancer. She lived with us for nine months while she underwent daily chemotherapy, surgeries, and procedures. We were overwhelmed with her care, and our loving and supportive church tried to help. I was serving as a pastor on that staff and really resisted any assistance. Cards and gifts for my daughter were welcome and appreciated, but any offering of help for her father and me as caregivers was rejected. “We’re okay, we’ve got this, we’re good” became my mantra when any kind soul offered support for us. How foolish I was! Talk about stupid and unnecessary pride. Finally I realized that my pride was preventing the church from being the church to us, so I began to accept meals. We’re Methodist, and casseroles are our love language! I was inadvertently stopping people from loving on us and doing the acts of ministry that God was calling them to do for our family.

The first delivery was something called “Hot Chicken Salad.” This casserole dish of pure heaven was not a salad as such, but a culinary adventure in beautiful white chicken chunks, crunchy slivered almonds, and a saucy sauce that made my eyes roll back in my head. And for that moment, I was uplifted by the gift of a friend and church member who was also uplifted to be able to do something tangible in our fight against cancer. I still make that recipe today.

In our passage today, we see Jesus offer an act of ministry to a man who was born blind.

John 9 (The Message)

 1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?”

Right from the bat we see that the disciples asked the wrong question. They were focused on trying to figure out the theology behind the blindness, proving that they were blind to his need. Jesus focused on a compassionate response.

3-5 Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.”

We often hesitate to step into places of helping a stranger. We ask how the unhoused person ended up that way. We question if giving the person on the street some money might enable them to go off and get high. We question how the mother with a lot of kids in tow ended up on food stamps. We hesitate to support the veteran found sleeping in the freezing rain because we don’t trust the GoFundMe that a community member set up.

We ask the wrong question.

6-7 He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man’s eyes, and said, “Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “Sent”). The man went and washed—and saw.

Dust and clay played an important role in Genesis 2:7: 7 then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Common English Bible) Jesus’ use of dust in this healing miracle harkens back to the power of creation. Indeed, Jesus created sight in the blind man. What is he trying to create in you today? What are you blind to? Where is God hoping to open your eyes so that you might offer a compassionate response?

The last sentence reminds us that when we are offered healing, we need to participate. The man went and washed and he saw. I accepted a gift of a meal and ate of the bread of empathy that night, and it made me stronger. Is God calling you to participate in your own miracle?

Say yes to the Hot Chicken Salad. It will change your life.

Soon by Kathy Schumacher

The Helpers

Posted on by Betsy

I cannot imagine going through life without helpers. I am blessed to be married to a man who knows how to fix things, how to cook amazing dinners, and he always remembers where I left my shoes. Not everyone is so lucky … after all, he’s married to me.

There is an interconnectedness of life that was intentional in God’s design. We were made to live in community. God’s plan was for harmony in his creation, so when discord breaks out, it truly grieves him. We are given to one another in order to help, support, build up, and encourage. Families, groups, churches, sports teams, institutions…every basic unit of life functions better when acceptance is given, help is available, individuals are lifted up by the group, and the strong look out for the weak. None of us is meant to go it alone. This is why twelve step groups like AA, NA, and Al Anon are so successful.

Everyone needs a helper.

Our need for others was built into us from the very beginning:

Genesis 2 (New International Version)

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Is God telling you to offer help to someone today? Or has he shown you that you need to reach out to a friend and ask for help? This is a game where we all take turns. Sometimes you give help, and sometimes you need help. When we participate in a community of helpers, we experience the genius and the blessing of God’s creation.

A friend has recently been going through a very hard time and she has been emailing me through the process. I can see in her emails that the act of talking through things and then listening to my supportive responses is helping her. What she may not know is that it is helping me, too. To come alongside someone in a challenging life-moment is a blessing that is shared. As I see her making good decisions and moving on with her life, I am relieved to know that my friend is going to be okay. When we both look back at this time, we will be able to celebrate how much stronger our friendship became through this adversity. A burden shared is a burden halved.

And it’s really not that hard to be someone’s helper. I sent my friend a meme that said “Trust your hard work. It’s unlocking doors you can’t see yet.” A few weeks later she sent me a picture of her work computer. She had printed out the meme and taped it to her monitor as a daily reminder. It took me less than a minute to send it to her, and it is giving her encouragement every day. God works through the helpers!

Sometimes all a person needs is a kind text, a quick phone call, a casserole to be delivered, or a lovely card to be sent. You know how it feels to be on the receiving end of such kindness … so let us be about helping someone today.

God said it is not good for us to be alone. Be somebody’s somebody today.

The Birds in the Sky by Michelle Robertson