Church thoughts to chew on for November 8th, 2009: Helping Carry Others

Posted By Hup | November 8, 2009

thoughtstochewonLet’s face it, we all live in a very self-indulgent culture and believe me, I’m no exception. Sometimes I feel like the hardest decision of my day is whether or not I’m going to stop by Starbucks in the morning before work. To break it down more simply, that’s basically deciding whether or not I’m going to go spend about $5 bucks on a few ounces of heated soy milk, chai flavored syrup and some water. Yeah, it’s really rough sometimes.

Anyways, during church today we all had the privilege of having a guest speaker, Lisa Orris, who is currently the director of evangelism at the Evangelical Covenant Church in Chicago, IL. She had some interesting stories to tell from back when she was the chaplain at a hospital in Illinois, such as one night in particular where she remembers having to use her strong faith in God to help a seemingly hopeless woman who, due to her circumstances, had lost much of her own. She told this story as a way to show how Christians are bound together by a welcomed burden of always thinking of others, praying for others and loving others before we do the same for ourselves. This isn’t real easy to swallow and the fact that we’re living in a culture that is constantly telling us to think about ourselves first and others last, it’s something that all Christians need to constantly be reminded of and acting on as much as possible.

Next, Lisa pointed us all to a verse, Luke 5:17-20, which tells a story about some men who were carrying their paralytic friend to see Jesus in hopes of getting him healed. After trying several times to make their way trough the crowds to Jesus (they were carrying their friend on a couch), they took their efforts to the next level by carrying him up a flight of outdoor stairs to the roof of the house. Once they had made it up there with their friend (who was still, of course, on a couch), they dug a hole through the tiles of the roof and lowered their friend down right smack-dab in front of Jesus. Yeah, they dug a hole through the roof!

You wanna know what Jesus had to say after he saw this random dude on a couch show up in front of him? Was He angered? Nope. Was He worried about the roof? Nope. Was He happy to see him? OH YES HE WAS. So happy, in fact, that He not only healed the paralytic, but he also forgave all sins of the other men that had gone through all of the trouble of getting him lowered down into the house. He was pleased to see the efforts of the friends who had enough faith in Jesus that they would even dig through a roof to get to him.

This ‘digging through roofs’ is what Lisa told all of us in attendance that day to do for other Christians who are looking for help, guidance, friendship, counseling, love, faith or anything else that we could potentially provide for them. No, it’s not always easy (lowering a person on a couch through a roof rarely is), it’s what we, as Christians are called to do for one another (and others who aren’t Christians).

So, what this tell me is that I always need to be ready to help carry others, even if it is an inconvenience to me and my perfectly scheduled day and yes, even if it means that I don’t get my $5 Starbucks for the day. :)

What are your thoughts on carrying others? Do you feel moved to help others or have you ever missed a chance to carry someone that you probably should have? Feel free to share your experiences with us in the comments if you feel comfortable to do so.

Filed Under thoughts to chew on, you gotta have faith

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    2 Talkies! to “Church thoughts to chew on for November 8th, 2009: Helping Carry Others”

    1. Pam on November 9th, 2009 1:33 pm

      Ryan - I am Scott DeShong’s aunt by marriage, and have vaguely known of you for several years - there are a lot of Hupfers in Ptown, and you guys keeping showing up here and there! ; ) I assume Kyle is your brother. Anyhow, for some reason I came across your name - I remember seeing you on Ch. 13 when you were still in Indy, and vaguely recall knowing that you moved to Silicon Valley. (15 years ago my husband and I did the opposite - moved from LA to Ptown). Anyhow, I love your church thoughts. My husband is a pastor here in Pendleton and our church’s mission and vision is the story of the paralytic - bringing people to Jesus and connecting people to people. Anyhow, just kind of wanted to say you guys look like a fun young couple who is on their way to a great life growing closer to Jesus together - He will reward and bless you for that!

    2. Hup on November 10th, 2009 12:53 pm

      Hey Pam! Thanks SO much for the comment and I’m really happy to see that my thoughts on Lisa’s presentation struck a cord with what you’re doing at your church. I’m also excited that you have noticed that Stephanie and I are both trying to push that fact that Christians can also have a lot of fun, all while still praising God along the way.

      If you have any other comments to add as we share more thoughts on our faith, please let us have ‘em — it was so great to hear from you!

    What do you want to tell us, hmmm?