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Prepare Your Heart

March 19, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Luke 3:4
As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him…”

Lent is a time of preparation and this is the word I am hearing for us today. Before anything of import can happen, usually there is a time of preparation. If we are going on a trip or buying a house or having company for dinner, there is planning and preparing the way. God used John to prepare the way for Jesus. And He wants us to remember that process. I sense that something is about to happen … but are we ready? One of my favorite songs says, “Lift up your head, to the coming King…” and it is based on Psalm 24:7-10:

Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.

And although the words say “heads”… I am so sure it also means our hearts… lift up the gates of your heart that the King of glory may come in! Prepare your heart. The Lord is near.

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Love the Lord Your God

March 18, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Mark 12:28
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Foundational to everything and yet, we seem to behave as though this is beyond us. Is God difficult to love? Is it because we continue anthropomorphizing God as one of us? Oh, but God did offer us the anthropomorphic version of Self in Christ Jesus. Is Jesus difficult to love? Oh, and when the Holy Spirit is present… primarily within us, is the Holy Spirit difficult to love?

Love, the verb! Love is action. Love is trust. Love is a choice. Nike seemed to get the point in their advertising: Just Do It!

Today, I choose to love God … and I’m guessing God will appear in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and circumstances.

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Persistance Without Offense

March 17, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Mark 7:28
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

I think it’s amazing that despite the fact that Jesus has basically called this woman a dog (quite the put-down) when she, a gentile, begged Jesus to heal her daughter. And yet, instead of taking offense, she merely persists, calling not on His justice, but His mercy. Her love for her daughter kept her focused on the need. Her heart was pure of motive. She believed in His goodness and His ability to “break” the law. He was ultimately setting the stage for the rest of us to come into the Kingdom. She modeled persistence and He modeled grace.

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What Is Lawful?

March 16, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Mark 3:4-5
Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

It struck me this morning Mark reports that Jesus was angry. These glimpses at His emotional life are important and are telling. For me, his angry was fueled by the narrowness of the Pharisees. They had an agenda and no matter what happened around them or before them, they only knew one thing, Jesus was “breaking” a law that was foundational to their beliefs. I think the 21st century church shows signs of the same narrowness at times. Many have taken political and moral stands on various controversies from abortion to homosexuality to music and art or even the environment and made these the litmus tests for identifying a “real” Christian…. a “Bible-believing” Christian. Would Jesus be angry with us? In this story, there is no joy for the healed man? He was insignificant in the face of the law. Let us remember the person today… the sacred soul made and loved by God.

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Justice, Mercy & Faithfulness

March 10, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Matthew 23:23b
…But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness….

What an interesting combination of words. Here is justice, which has many definitions, but most frequently, I believe we think of it as “the administration of deserved punishment” or “rightfulness and fairness.” However, the power of mercy is to do the opposite, to forgive the deserved punishment with tolerance and compassion. And lastly, faithfulness (or adherence to truth, steadiness, and a standard) is like an umbrella over them both.

There are many paradoxes in the Bible and it is only with a wide-open mind and heart can be incorporate them into our walk. It is because there is justice that there can be mercy. And praise be to God, He is faithful in extending both.

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I Will Be Healed

March 9, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Mark 5:27-28
When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

She pursued her healing. She reached outside the “box” of normal behavior for a woman and she touched the healer, the teacher, the prophet, the Lord. She believed her actions would make a difference. She believed He would have mercy upon her. Her only mistake was in believing that he wouldn’t notice. He sees our pursuit. He hears our prayers. He knows the heart.

Today, my body is feeling “iffy” with nausea and other unpleasantness. And so, I reach out to my healing God… I reach into the kingdom of God to touch His Spirit. Reach…. reach…. reach…

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Servant Leader

March 6, 2009 by Irmgarde Brown

Matthew 20:26-28
Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Choosing to serve is a daily decision. But it also requires that we think outside the box. Serving is not just getting someone a cup of coffee or making breakfast or giving them a ride. It’s prayer … whether they know you are praying or not. It’s giving them the benefit of the doubt. It’s letting them fail and disappoint you. It’s understanding that they make mistakes … just like you do. It’s stepping back, just a little, really looking, and seeing that this one… is the sacred other, made by God.

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