Spit on, punched, kicked, jumped, verbally assaulted, and looked upon as weird and different. This was my greatest memory of Junior High School. I just moved from a city in Ohio to a small town in Arkansas. The transition was tough because I had left all I knew and entered a culture I didn't understand and it (they) didn't understand me. In addition, I had recently become a believer in Christ and knew that my life must be different from those who didn't know Him. My faith was young and I was immediately faced with scrutiny and hurt. I didn't always handle the pain I experienced well and sometimes lashed out at my peers, but mostly I held onto it.
For many of us, Junior High/Middle School were tough years. We are working through that awkward stage of puberty, starting to change our thinking and understanding of the world, and well probably have a story of deep hurt we experienced in those years. For me I didn't realize that hurt could carry years later when I would one day see a young man I knew as a middle schooler and immediately feel anger for how he treated me. In that moment I had to forgive him and could not harbor anything further. My faith had grown over the years for sure. This memory came rushing back as I read Matthew 12:15-21 today for my time with Jesus.
Quick Background:
Jesus has just broken rabbinic law in front of the religious elite and was challenged by them. The result was the leaders and teachers of His time to plan His destruction. He crossed the line one too many times. His response is to quote a passage of Isaiah about Himself. It's a slap in the face of the Jewish leaders and a comfort to those who have been painfully under their "rule" and for the Gentiles who faced hurts and pressure from many facets of their culture.
A Battered Reed....
Jesus says that a battered reed He will not break off speaking of those under oppressive rule and strain. A reed was used for so much: a flute, a measuring rod, pen, etc. and a whole, perfect reed was desired of the owner. The landscape made reeds plentiful and cheap as well, so it was easy to obtain them. So it was easy to find a better reed and break off the imperfect part or simply get a new one. Jesus is comparing people opposite of the religious elite as these reeds. In His kingdom, in His presence battered reeds are not broken off. Jesus is willing to work in spite of, through, and with the imperfect portion of a reed (us) to make it useful, right, and good once again. This is the process of salvation at work in us.
My experiences through middle school battered me, my soul, to a place of anger, hurt, and struggle that stayed with me. In high school I became a wallflower about my faith and who I was. I had friends, hung out with people, and did fine in high school, but I remember hating high school. I think it dealt with my not living out as I was called to do. I was battered still, but being worked on. I must continue to be worked upon as life still finds ways to batter me.
DIY Project...
Today I can look back at those experiences and see how they impacted me and made me into who I am today. I have a story that reaches teens. I have a story of redemption that reveals God's work, grace, and salvation. My wife and I love watching shows like Property Brothers or Fixer Upper. What I like about Fixer Upper in particular is their ability to see a house or piece of furniture as broken, yet redeemable. I see myself in that same way. I was once a table that was dirty, scuffed up, broken in some way that really carried little or no value or worth in most people's eyes. I became this way because of my own sin and choices and the sin of others. It marred me. Jesus comes along as the Great Carpenter and sees the value, the potential, and the beauty. Instead of tossing it away, He takes the table and sands it down to remove the roughness, He fixes areas that are broken, He does what is necessary to make the table what it is supposed to be and even more than what it may have been at one time. I was His DIY project and continue to be. Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."
For anyone reading this, you too are His workmanship being crafted, created in Christ. This recreation begins in accepting who He is as God, Savior, and Lord. From there He re-purposes our hearts, our lives. He turns that which is deemed ugly, useless, or broken and says I will not cast it out. In Him you find a great craftsman working in and through you. Whatever you may have carried or carry with you that batters you, know He will not get rid of you.
