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Who Sent You?

July 30, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

John 12:44-45
Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me.”

We are all ambassadors for someone or something. We may not even realize it but it is true. People meet us or talk with us and sooner or later, they associate us with others. It could be that we end up representing our workplace, our nationality, our family, our religious affiliation, our political party, our church, our town, our state, our school, and so on. In the end, we do not enter any situation alone.

So, how are we doing? Are we good representatives? Are we authentic?

Jesus reminded people all the time that he was sent. He wanted them to see/hear/feel the One who sent him. He wanted people to remember. Do we? Or do we try to hide our affiliations (for whatever reason)?

My old friend, Tom, who ultimately introduced me to the things of God some 30 years ago, tried to hide his affiliation with Christ Jesus and all kinds of wrong assumptions were made about him. He hid his faith because he was afraid no one would like him. But they didn’t like him anyway… because he was hiding.

People around us can sense “hiding.” They may not know what we are hiding, but they know it’s something and it makes us seem untrustworthy and even suspect.

There is an old saying, “Don’t shoot the messenger.” But of course, we all know, in ancient times, that is exactly what happened. If the message was “bad news,” the messenger would suffer. Is our message “bad news” or is it our “telling” of the story (through words & behaviors) that distorts the truth? As a follower of Christ, we are asked to be true to the message and the One who sends it.

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Hiding in Plain Sight

July 29, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

John 12:36b
When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

I couldn’t help but wonder what this hiding would look like. It certainly wasn’t “hide and seek.” It’s not like he hid behind a column and peeked out to make sure no one saw him before he bolted out the back door. And where were the disciples? Did he say, “I’ll meet you back at the ranch,” and then disappeared from them as well? Why did John even bother to mention this small fact?

The basics are that Jesus walked away and once he had entered the crowd, he became unnoticeable. His appearance was ordinary. He could melt into a crowd. He was there but no one recognized him.

When I was younger in my faith, I used to pray that Jesus would manifest before me. I wanted a supernatural vision so I could ask Him, “What is it exactly you want me to do? Speak plainly.” I sounded just like the people in the temple. And what did I expect his manifestation would look like: white robe and sandals?

We do not see Jesus because we have created our own mental model of what it means to see Jesus.

In His days of walking on the earth, He walked among the poor, destitute, and blatantly sinful. Isn’t it logical that He would do the same today? In Matthew 18:20, Jesus is quoted as saying, “…where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” And in Matthew 28:20, He is quoted again as saying, “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus is here now. Look!

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Lazarus Come Out!

July 28, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

John 11:43-44
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

We are just like Lazarus. We are dead to the true fullness of life that is available to us. We’re wrapped up in grave clothes. And for us, it’s all normal.

One of my favorite types of books to read is fantasy. I enjoy those battles between good and evil and in particular, that good always wins. Across a great number of fantasy authors, there are certain accepted norms which are often incorporated into their stories. The dragons and trolls and fairies are very similar from one book to the next. There are types of magic and types of power. Another, somewhat universal idea, is the “true name.” There is power in the true name of a person. There is particular power when someone knows a person’s true name and uses it.

This is how I feel about Lazarus. Jesus called his “true name.” Jesus called out the “real” Lazarus, the one who would now move into his actual potential. Lazarus, from that day forth, would be changed. He was drawn out of the dark and into the light. He was dead and then truly alive.

Jesus knows all of our true names. And He is calling us.

The world of Christ is different than the world we have manufactured. If we answer His call, we will be unsteady at first, even a little overwhelmed. The rules are different. The focus is different. The landscape is different. Our perceptions are different. But eventually, the useless “grave clothes” come off and we can move freely. Once death is overcome, what is left to fear?

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Follow the Rabbi

July 27, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

John 12:26
“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”

People in Jesus’s culture understood what his call of “follow me” demanded. He was offering his rabbi’s yoke; he was asking them to acknowledge his authority as their “master” (literal translation of the word rabbi from Hebrew).

This is not so easy for our modern day culture, particularly here in the West where rugged individualism is the norm. Most of us don’t trust anyone who would be called the master. It conjures up all kinds of negative images. My mind immediately goes to the idea of a “slave-owner” — not exactly a role model or a yoke I would want to take on by choice.

But Jesus is the epitome of the benevolent dictator. That’s another word that will turn everyone off: dictator. In our age, we have seen power corrupt and that’s all. The idea that anyone could be powerful and benevolent is an oxymoron.

So, following Christ Jesus, is no easy decision. It is a decision of humility and trust. This is where faith begins. And truthfully, most of our lives then are spent in struggling with this relationship. We keep testing and challenging him: Is this really what is best for me? Is this the best you can do for me? If I give up everything, what will be left for me? Eventually, we figure out the first lesson: it’s not about “me.”

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Hour of Decision

July 26, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

John 12:23
Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified….”

There are several places in scripture where Jesus refers to “the hour.” Sometimes he speaks of it as a time that cannot be known or that the hour was approaching or that the hour had not yet come. But here in John 12, the tone changes and he identifies the time as “his hour.” From that “hour” forward, everything would be different.

I’m pretty sure most of us can’t predict when one of our “hours” is necessarily approaching, but when it does come, I think we know it for what it is. Now, I am not talking about the hour of a person’s death. I am talking about an hour of decision… an hour of transformation… an hour of self-discovery. These “hours” or times usually place a question before us: will you go or stay, will you accept or reject, will you agree or disagree, will you lie or tell the truth, (to name a few). These are those decisions that cannot be taken back.

Preparation for these “hours” is general, at best. As a Christian, the obvious things apply such as prayer, study, worship, and sensitivity to the voice of God. But perhaps it is more telling how we walk out our decisions after they are made.

I have a friend who is in a terrible marriage (who doesn’t know someone like this?) and continues to grieve and cry and rant over the circumstances. I understand in my heart and yet, I cannot help but think that the “hour” came and went. If a person decides “to stay,” then the rest of the time should be spent making “to stay” work. If not, then go, and make “leaving” work. One cannot both stay in body and leave in spirit or heart (or vice versa). It is living a lie.

When Jesus resurrected Lazarus, it was His last great miracle. He did not tell anyone “not to tell.” His time had come and everyone needed to know it. So He climbed on a donkey and entered Jerusalem publicly inviting His enemies to finish what they had started. He accepted every step, every curse, every attack, and every pain after His decision. We must do the same.

We have been fooled into believing that the decision itself is the hard part. Not at all, it’s the life after the decision that is the challenge. Thanks be to God who helps us walk out our decisions, both good and bad.

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Hosanna! But Not That Way

July 25, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

John 12:12b-13a
…when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “ Hosanna! … ”

Hosanna means “save us.” But unfortunately, the crowds who cried, “save us!” at the triumphal entry of Jesus in Jerusalem (now marked as Palm Sunday) did not particularly like his methods. In fact, by the time Passover had arrived, they realized he was not going to overthrow the Roman occupation in the way they expected. In fact, he was unwilling to declare his sovereignty over Israel at all.

I think Judas Iscariot suffered from the same disappointment. He had his own “mental model” of how things should go and finally, decided to take things into his own hands. Perhaps he believed that Jesus, once forced by the Sanhedrin to declare himself, would establish his kingdom. (This is just a personal interpretation of the Judas story.) In any case, Judas’s way changed the course of history.

But don’t both of these cases, the crowds of Jerusalem and Judas, mirror our own efforts to control the outcomes our circumstances? In prayer, we cry out for help, but when help comes, we don’t like it or worse, don’t recognize it (like the story of a man stranded on a roof in a flood and prayed for rescue but did not recognize God in the rowboat of a neighbor or the motorboat and helicopter of strangers–he drowned, by the way).

I think God is in the prayer answering business. All prayer is answered: we must learn to accept the answers. When we say God hasn’t answered our prayers, what we often mean is that God hasn’t answered us immediately and miraculously.

We sometimes err in thinking that the phrase “Your will be done … ” means that God can choose either to answer our prayers or not. But I really think it is just a reminder that we acknowledge and accept His answers because they will always be within His will. These are the only answers we should be interested in receiving.

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Acts of Devotion

July 24, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

John 12:3a
Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.

Clearly, Mary was moved to this extreme act of devotion. I cannot believe that wiping someone’s feet with hair was a common occurrence even back in those days. But the effect was astounding for the perfume filled the house: all who were there knew what she had done.

Nard was primarily used to anoint the dead in burial. If a family had nard, it was precious and saved for their own burial. Jesus announces that this nard was actually saved for his burial, and in this way, he foretold again of his coming death.

But the point of interest here for me today is Mary’s act of devotion. How does one come to an act like this one? I don’t think we are supposed to conjure these things. [“Oh, what I can do show Jesus I really care!”] No, an act of this magnitude must be inspired by God. The key is the person’s willingness and openness to following through.

In our culture, we can all pretty much talk ourselves out of anything with or without facts. We know about cause and effect and yet some people are still smoking. Some people still take drugs and drink in excess although we know its effects can be catastrophic. And yet, if God were to inspire us to an act of devotion like this one, we would talk it away as being foolish and unnecessary.

Keep me open to your inspiration that I might act with love, authentically.

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