Episode #45 - Where No One Is Turned Away

Last night our son started running a high fever again over 102, so Kylie took him to the walk in clinic 30 minutes before they closed. Sadly, they refused to see them because they didn't want to take anymore patients. No matter how much she pleaded, they were turned away. Luckily we got him in this morning and received an apology from the doctor who said she absolutely would have seen him if she had been asked. Well...Jesus is the great physician, and he will turn no one away. It does not matter what you've done, you can come to him for healing. The question that remains is this: do we as the church have that same attitude towards others?

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Transcript

Welcome back to all of our listeners! I’m BJ Sipe, and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above podcast – where everyday ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today, I am excited to share my life and my faith with you, and I sure hope that you’ll do the same with me along the way. 

Our poor kids just can’t seem to catch a break. Over the weekend on Saturday, Ava spiked a high fever again and kept saying that her throat hurt. As it turns out, the first round of antibiotics didn’t quite kill her strep – and it had reemerged once again. So, we got her on some different, stronger antibiotics and figured maybe finally we were in the clear. That was until last night around dinner time when Dane started acting not like himself. He wouldn’t eat dinner, which was a huge red flag because normally that boy is a bottomless pit. Also during dinner he kept tugging at his ears. We weren’t sure what was going on, but of course we were concerned that maybe strep had reemerged in him as well. We took his temperature and were startled to see 102.1 read back on the thermometer. This boy was sick. Kylie immediately got herself ready to go and went to take Dane to the same walk in clinic with Ephraim McDowell that we have been going to for strep. Dr. Anita there does such a wonderful job, as does the nurse Rene – we have grown to really appreciate them both for their kindness and attention to detail. Well, when Kylie arrived at the walk in clinic right at 7:30, she was surprised to see the door was locked. The clinic normally closes at 8:00, so why was it closed early? She could see the desk clerk sitting there looking at her through the window, so Kylie called to speak with her, with Dane visibly sick and upset in her arms. “I’m sorry, we’ve stopped taking patients for tonight,” she told Kylie, “You’ll need to come back tomorrow.” “I thought you closed at 8?” my wife said, “My son is running 102, he had strep last week and he was treated here. He really needs seen.” “No, you can’t come in.” she responded rudely to Kylie, “We already have several in the back waiting to be seen. You can go to the ER or try to make it to Stanford by 8 and hope they aren’t busy.” Kylie was taken back by her rudeness. “Look, Dr. Anita knows us as does the nurse Rene, are either of them working tonight? Can you ask them if they will see him?” “Fine, I’ll ask someone, just wait.” She said as she put Kylie on hold. A few minutes went by and another nurse came to the phone, it was not Rene and it wasn’t the doctor we knew. “We’re not taking anymore patients tonight, you’ll have to just come back in the morning,” she told Kylie. She was stunned, and frustrated. She called me and I was pretty upset too. How can you turn away a 1 year old boy running a fever over 102 who already has a rapport with the doctor? She brought him home and we switched back and forth with Motrin and Tylenol. After a bath we were able to get his fever down and got him to bed, though it was a long night. This morning Kylie got up early and took him back to the same walk in, and was relieved to see both Rene our nurse and Anita our doctor. When she explained what happened, the nurse was shocked. “That is absolutely unacceptable and should never have happened,” Rene told Kylie. “I will be speaking to the office manager about this today, thank you for letting us know.” Doctor Anita then came in and apologized to Kylie as well. She told her that they were very busy, but she absolutely would have seen him and stayed late even to do so. Kylie just got home and Dane apparently now has an ear infection, likely as a result of his molars that are coming in. Our poor kids, we’re ready for them both to be feeling well and no longer battling different issues. We’re thankful that Dane was finally seen, even though at first he was turned away because it would have been slightly inconvenient for them. 

The whole experience really got me thinking about our relationship to Christ, as well as our relationships to one another in the church.  Of all the titles that are given to Jesus of Nazareth in Scripture, I believe perhaps one of my favorites is that he is the Great Physician.  In Matthews Gospel account, we are told of a conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees regarding who Jesus was eating with and teaching. Let’s read Matthew 9:9-13, “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” This passage of Scripture contains great power in helping us to understand the nature and character of our Lord. The people that Jesus had called to himself, that he was eating with and discipling, were not people that carried a good reputation. Tax collectors like Matthew were thought of as traitors to the Jewish people because they were employed by Rome, and many tax collectors at that time were unjust as well. The term sinners used here likely described people who were sexually immoral or carried some other kind of public shame as a result of their sin. As a result, the Pharisees scoffed in their self-righteousness at Jesus. They thought of themselves as better & more righteous than those that surrounded Jesus, how could Jesus eat with someone like them? But here is the catch…Jesus, the great Physician, came to save people just like this. These people knew their spiritual depravity and were now following Jesus to find healing and grace in humility. The Pharisees did not see themselves as sinners, in fact they thought of themselves as the standard of righteousness. The fact of the matter was they were very sick too, and just as much in need of Jesus as these other sinners. There are none who are righteous, no not one. What we need to recognize about Jesus is this: he will turn no one away. It does not matter what you’ve done, or how broken you are, God’s grace is bigger. He will never turn you away, but invites you to find grace and healing for your sins in love through his Son Jesus. The question that remains is this: as the church, do we follow after the attitude of Jesus or that of the Pharisees? Sadly, I have seen so many times where God’s people have turned people away who have walked into the assembly looking for hope & healing. I have heard people say awful things like, “They have too much baggage,” or “They’re just looking for a handout.” I have seen people ignored because of the color of their skin, the clothes they are wearing, deformities on their body, or even their foul odor because they are not clean. Pardon my frankness, but if this is something you have done or takes place where you worship, then shame on you. If Jesus was willing to offer us grace freely, who are you to judge someone as unworthy of that same grace? What makes you think that you are better than they are? We all are sinners in desperate need of grace. I am afraid that for many in the church, they are willing and ready to share God’s grace only with people who look and sound like they do, but will turn away others who don’t. My friends, the gospel is for everyone. It’s for people who are poor or rich. For people who are homeless or well established. For people who are uneducated or highly schooled. For people who are black or white. For the young and old. For people from broken homes or people that grew up in safe homes. For the abused and the sheltered. The gospel is for all sinners, no matter what someone has done, and we should never, NEVER, turn anyone away from sitting at the feet of Jesus. 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and video sessions that are uploaded on Saturdays. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.