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Leader Followers

September 24, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Acts 1:20
“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms, ” ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and,” ‘May another take his place of leadership.’

And then they prayed, cast lots, and replaced Judas Iscariot (one of the twelve who had betrayed Jesus) with Matthias.

Only after Jesus resurrected did the disciples begin to realize they were no longer just followers of Jesus, they were now the de facto leaders of those who had been following Jesus throughout his ministry (upwards to 120 people were gathered that day alone). Jesus had not just selected them to be his close friends and students, they were being trained for the ongoing task of bringing his kingdom to Earth.

Jesus spent a lot of time showing them what it means to be a leader. It is not about having the seats next to Jesus or sitting in the place of honor at table [Luke 22:24-30]. A leader must first learn how to follow and how to serve before he can effectively lead.

In recent years, the idea of Servant Leadership has become a business buzz phrase and espouses the same principles. Another phrase, Leader Follower, is very similar. Jesus had both of these ideas down pat.

I think I am doing pretty well with these concepts until my feelings are tromped because I haven’t been acknowledged for a job well done or when one of my good ideas is adopted by the organization without recognition. Then, I am smacked in the face by the personal myth I have created about myself. I am no better than the Zebedee brothers hoping to find favor above the others [Matthew 20:20-28]. But Jesus chided them saying they did not realize what it meant to be his kind of leader… there must be a willingness to sacrifice, to let go, to be misunderstood, to be unappreciated, to be faithful to truth, to be humble, and to trust God through it all. This is the cup of leadership. This is the cup of followership.

Guide me this day to lead with humility and follow with promise.

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Akeldama

September 23, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Acts 1:19
And all the residents of Jerusalem became acquainted with the facts [about Judas], so that they called the piece of land in their own dialect–Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.

The Field of Blood was also called the Potter’s Field because some believed it to be the same place that Jeremiah visited the potter. “So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” [Jeremiah 18:3-4]

Akeldama was used as a burial ground for “foreigners,” for strangers, and for betrayers. This is one of the hardest truths in the Bible for me: some people are destined for evil, some are destined to be buried in the Field of Blood, some are destined to be a marred pot.

God integrates evil into our lives and from these experiences, we grow, we change, we adapt, and we learn. These are the hard lessons of life. But what of the one who is the tool of evil?

Is there a moment in that life when he/she has a choice? Can this destiny be aborted by faith? Can the one turn and cry out for mercy? Or is the the mercy extended only after the fact? Is it forgiveness that brings a destiny of evil around to hope?

I don’t know the answers.

From my few years working with a potter’s wheel, I know a pot can be re-fashioned with the same clay… but only up to a point. Eventually, the clay becomes hard, unwieldy and unusable. Usually, a potter will not throw out the clay until it’s hopeless.

Keep me pliable today. Give me mindfulness toward those who struggle with their destinies, that they might turn before Akeldama becomes an unavoidable fate.

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He’s Really Coming Back?

September 22, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Acts 1:11
Men of Galilee,” they [men in white] said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

When I was in high school I had to take a city bus to school, which was about 2.5 miles from my home. Each morning I would walk about 5 blocks to the bus stop and wait for a bus. I remember a mission church there at the corner that had a marquis (which in mind was the weirdest thing ever) and on it, in bold letters, was written: “Jesus is Coming Soon!”

I wasn’t much of a Christian back then. I attended a Latvian church with my family, but it was all ritual and hypocrites as far as I was concerned. But one thing I was pretty sure of, Jesus had already come and these folks were sorely deluded.

I never got this “coming back” message. There just wasn’t that much emphasis on the idea and certainly, people weren’t living their lives as though they really believed Jesus would return. Of course, it didn’t help that my mother was getting caught up in all kinds weirdness back then and started reading all the Erich Von Daniken books (she was pretty sure Jesus was an alien and would come back in a starship).

It’s been over 2,000 years… is he really coming back? But that is the promise. According to scripture, his coming back is at the end of this age. Well meaning people have been predicting his return ever since he left. In modern times, it was during the second World War (Hitler being the anti-Christ), then later, the turn of the century (Y2K), or now things are really heating up with the 2012 phenomenon. Is one date any more reliable than another?

But the actual coming, no matter how dramatic or not, is a little late in the process. Once he does return, whether today, tomorrow or in the next turn of the century, the real issue will be what we have done with the time. [Matthew 25]

People don’t really feel an urgency of life until they (or their loved ones) are truly facing illness and death. Then, it’s clear: time is precious, life is to be lived, and people are to be loved fully.

We adults accuse teenagers of having their heads in the sand about the future, but are we much better? We don’t really believe it will happen to us. We don’t really believe that turning point could happen today.

What would I do differently today if I believed it was my last day? Carpe Diem.

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Power in the Waiting

September 21, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Acts 1:4-5
On one occasion, while he [Jesus] was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Waiting is not the easiest thing to do. In fact, I think it’s one of the hardest. In this case, I doubt the disciples had any clue what it would mean to be “baptized with the Holy Spirit.” But they understood waiting and they understood this command to wait would test their trust and their faith. I always wonder if they all waited or did some fall away?

People usually use a period of waiting to fantasize about the end results (and generally, the result they themselves want). They begin imagining what the end of waiting will be like without living fully within the waiting period itself. I have come to believe that waiting is an active time. Waiting is a time of introspection and evaluation. Waiting itself is productive within.

Looking back over my life, I can see how many mistakes could have been avoided just by exercising a little waiting. But I have always been in a such a hurry for the next experience. As I grow older, I have been getting a little better at waiting, just because I have been forced to practice. And slowly, I see its merits and enter this time more willingly.

There is a popular phrase used by many Christians: “I am waiting on God…” Sometimes, it feels like they are in an outer office waiting for an appointment with a busy God who’ll fit them in when possible. They are passing the time, reading magazines, watching TV, or listening to their ipods. There is no relationship with the One on the other side of the door. While others simply use the phrase as a way to avoid making any decision at all. If one waits long enough, a decision is usually made for you. This method is rather passive aggressive in my book.

Waiting on God has no value in my mind unless it comes with contemplative study, prayer and worship.

This is true for the individual as well as a group. But I have very little experience with group waiting. I’m still working on the first hurdle. But that’s coming. Group waiting is even more difficult because the everyone needs to let go of their personal agendas and allow the best result for the group as a whole emerge: more patience, love, sacrifice, and trust.

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Tasks for the Wealthy

September 19, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

John 19:38-39
And after this, Joseph of Arimathea–a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews–asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate granted him permission. So he came and took away His body. And Nicodemus also, who first had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, [weighing] about a hundred pounds.

In the end, it was the rich guys with the connections who removed Jesus from the cross, wrapped him in burial cloth, and laid him in a new tomb. This could not have been done by the poor disciples who followed Jesus daily. You see, there were disciples among the rich… they just didn’t quite “get” what they should do or how to follow.

I know the feeling of helplessness when colleagues or friends become seriously ill (or even their family members). I want to “do” something, but I’m never quite sure what I should or can do that will make a difference. So often, just being there is enough for the ill or grieving. But surely, there is something else? Some years ago a friend of ours died after a short but horrific battle with lung cancer. All of the typical things were done for the family like food and visitation and sympathy. But another friend was amazing. She offered to come in once a week to organize all of the medical bills. What a precious gift of time and knowledge.

This is what Joseph and Nicodemus did. They had failed Jesus in so many ways, but when something concrete and quite within their realm of expense and ability, they acted. And what they did made a huge difference.

Compared to the rest of the world, Americans are predominately Josephs and Nicodemus’s. We are straining to go through the “eye of the needle.” [Matthew 19:24] But there are times when we can take what we have and what we know and move the kingdom closer. Giving of our bounty, sharing our knowledge, and donating our time does have value. And until we have the courage to shed our accouterments to serve and live among the poor, we have other tasks laid before us.

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Who Were Those Guys?

September 18, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

John 21:2
There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, called the Twin, and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, also the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples.

Two “other” disciples: who were they? Were these two who had joined the disciples just recently? Were they hanging out because of the witness of Thomas, let’s say? There are few clues. In any case, they are unnamed. Why? There are a few other examples in scripture where followers are numbered in some way but unnamed.

This is where my imagination really kicks in. Somehow there is significance in these two guys, apparently fishermen (since they all go out to fish with Peter), being present at Jesus’s appearance. And although the emphasis in this last chapter of John is on Peter and his mission for Christ, these two unnamed guys were there for a reason.

In the same way that Thomas needed Jesus to solidify his faith in Jesus’s second appearance, I think these guys needed something similar. In fact, I believe God uses time and place so economically that each one of the disciples that day had a particular need to see Jesus face to face. Only Peter’s conversation is recorded, but I’m sure each disciple had a conversation around that campfire and over the meal.

This was a time of confirmation.

We all need confirmation at one time or another. Did I really hear correctly? Is this really what I should be doing? Am I choosing the right way? Is this my time?

Jesus had breakfast with 7 guys to confirm their faith and their missions. Each one was sent forth. Outside of Peter and the sons of Zebedee, these other disciples played fairly small roles in the overall story. And yet, here they are in the third sighting of Jesus after the resurrection.

If Jesus would do this for them, then he’ll do the same for me. And so I ask, confirm the stirrings of my heart this day, Lord. Give me courage and fortitude. Give me confidence and curiosity. Amen.

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Gone Fishing

September 17, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

John 21:3
“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Here’s what I think: Simon Peter was impatient and uncomfortable with his new role. This mission stuff was foreign on his own. Besides, things were not happening the way they had before with Jesus. And where was Jesus? Why wasn’t He leading them? Why wasn’t He telling them what to do?

Like so many of us, Peter back-peddled. From his perspective, the mission mandate was not working out. So, he went back to what he really knew how to do: fish! In this arena, he was much more confident. This was what he had always done before. This was much more comfortable.

Only one problem: no fish!

When we are given a clear mandate from God and we actually hear it and understand it and head out in that direction … warning: going back doesn’t work.

I had a friend who felt a strong call to go to London (from Atlanta, Georgia) and work with the poor, particularly prostitutes and other street people. He obediently packed up his family and left. And the Lord blessed them. But into the second year, he became discouraged. And after several disappointments and dead ends, he and his family packed up again, returned to Atlanta and went back to the coffee shop business.

Only one problem: no coffee… no customers… etc.

Don’t get me wrong. God is merciful and full of grace. Even if we mess up and go back to fishing, God is there. But be prepared, once we willingly enter the Way of Jesus, He will continue to call us back to the path… one way or another. The old comfort zone will no longer be comfortable. The old way of doing things will no longer work. The old projects will fail. The old pew will be rough sitting.

“…no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.” [Luke 5:37]

Lord, give me courage to stay on the new path today.

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