Scripture: John 15:22-27

If I had not come and spoken to them,they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

Consider:

Our culture teaches us asking for help is a last ditch effort - the moment of last resort when you’ve exhausted both yourself and all your possible options. Asking for help means you’ve given up trying - to fix the problem, to heal the situation, to fix the gap in you that makes it impossible for you to just do it yourself.

I run into the situation from time to time when it comes to opening jars in my kitchen. Last night, as I was making our weekly pizza, I went to open the pizza sauce jar. Try as I might, the jar lid would. not. open. Though my husband was sitting a mere 5 feet away and would have been able to pop it open in a few seconds, I stubbornly struggled and wrenched on this lid. Then, I pulled out the old standby trick - hitting the rim of the jar lid with a spoon. It breaks the seal, making it easier to open. Eventually my daughter looked at me and said “Do you want me to get Dad and see if he can open it?”

Every “I am woman hear my roar” bone in my body literally exploded at all at once.

But my stubborness had only made it much harder to open the lid, because now not only was it not open, but the jar lid was bent making it much harder to grip. And, despite all my maneuvering, the sauce was still stubbornly inside of the jar. If I had relented and asked for help from the beginning when I couldn’t open it the first time, we’d have had pizza much earlier.

It’s ok to ask for help. It’s also ok to make someone else take help - as Jesus does in this picture. When our own stubbornness gets in the way, we could also acccept help from a friend who steps in a brings us a casserole, instead of saying “no, it’s ok. I can stop at the store” as our mind frantically whirls through our calendar.

I think we all have a lot to learn on both ends of this spectrum. But it begins when we stop making “help” a four-letter word.

Respond:

When was the last time you accepted help without guilt, shame, or self—judgement?

It’s time to practice. Reach out to someone you trust and ask for help with one small item or task in your life - even if you don’t reallly think you need it! Growing a muscle takes time and consistency, so start small and see what happens!

Pray:

God, I so often start off my prayers with the words “help me.” But I wonder how ready I am to actually recieve the help you offer? Open my heart and remove the shame, guilt, and judgement I feel when I admit I can’t do everything. Set aside my pride and allow me to be thankful for the gift of friends who will show up when I am vulnerable enough to ask them. Amen.

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