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Devoted to You

September 4, 2014 by Irmgarde Brown

Bible translations do make a difference in how we respond to the words. Today, I was particularly struck by the word, “devoted,” only to discover it’s from the older 1984 NIV version. And yet, two verses later, the contemporary version of verse four, “I offer my life to you” is more compelling. I’m sure they ultimately speak the same message, these various translations, but I am speaking to the way in which the words resonate in my heart.

Guard my life because I am faithful. Save your servant who trusts in you—you! My God! . . . Make your servant’s life happy again because, my Lord, I offer my life to you, . . . [Psalm 86:2, 4; CEB]

Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. . . . Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you. [Psalm 86:2, 4; NIV 2011]

Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. . . . Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up soul. [Psalm 86:2, 4; NIV 1984]

Am I faithful or am I devoted? Perhaps the difference for me is that faithfulness implies a kind of reliability and steadfastness that, I hate to confess, is not my strength. Whereas, devoted appeals to my passionate side. I can be devoted but also screw up, knowing my God knows my heart is an open book to the Spirit within. It’s a kind of Peter vs. John kind of thing, the dopey bull in a china shop compared to the studious academician. Silly, I know, but that’s where my head is today.

And then the other phrase, “I offer my life to you,” gave me pause. Compared to a rather amorphous lifting up of my soul, the CEB version feels more like surrender, intentional and conscious and immediate. This is what I want to do today: not just trust or hand over some part of me, but the whole of myself, I want to cross the line of fear and doubt, fully devoted.

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Deborah Was No Feminist

July 27, 2014 by Irmgarde Brown

It was supposed to be such a big put-down to Barak, who Deborah, the prophet, called up to gather forces and attack Commander Sisera of Canaan. She was assured of their victory and yet Barak, although willing to go, would not go without Deborah. He must have believed that her presence would give me more credence. He didn’t care that he might be seen as a less of a leader by bringing a woman along.

“Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” [Judges 4:9a]

But here’s where I cringe, just a little. We haven’t gotten much better in this culture. Oh, we’ve made some inroads, but truthfully, I still think people are surprised that a woman did this or that. It’s one of the reasons that Americans still hedge at the idea of having a woman president, as though her decisions might somehow be impeded by her sex. The glass ceiling still exists.

And the scriptures don’t help much. I am grateful for the many times that Christ, himself, opened doors for women in his age that were never open before. Women were called upon to be leaders and encouraged to embrace the Gospel fully, a promise of full participation. And yet, old laws held on to people’s minds, even Paul, who taught the old ways for women, to be silent and submissive and unengaged outside the home.

It’s still an insult to “run like a girl.”

 

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The Blame Game

June 27, 2014 by Irmgarde Brown

head in the sandHow often do we blame someone else for our situation? In the extreme, it’s a victim mentality, but in small doses, it’s a type of laziness. If it’s not my fault, I don’t have to do anything about it. I also call it a “head in the sand” approach to life.

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one who troubles Israel?”
Elijah answered, “I haven’t troubled Israel; you and your father’s house have! You did as much when you deserted the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals. [I Kings 18: 17-18, CEB]

A young friend of mine demonstrated the extent to which blame can be stretched. Apparently, he had checked out a video game from the library and lost it or misplaced it or loaned it to someone else (I don’t really know the details). Since I work at the library, I know how these things work: a series of emails or texts or phone calls go out to the patron alerting them to a potential fine. At some point, the item is coded as lost and the patron’s cost jumps from a fine to a full replacement cost of the item (this takes several we reached my friend for his lost video game. He was livid at the cost: $75! And the next statement? It’s all that librarian’s fault for making me get a library card. His anger justified because it wasn’t his fault. He’s not the first library user to blame staff for fines and fees.

A more egregious example happened to my own daughter, who we adopted at fifteen and assumed she was an orphan since we had death certificates on both of her parents. Instead, it turned out the birth mother had hit the skids and lost all of her identity papers and did not surface again until some two years after our teen was adopted. And of all things, it was on Russian Facebook that they found one another. But instead of joy of discovery, the mother blamed our daughter for her losses and literally said, “If you hadn’t left, none of this would have happened.”

blameThese stories sound outrageous but are we any better? Am I? How many times have I kicked a chair after I ran into it or cursed a tree limb that connected with my head or bad talked the bank when my check bounced? And of course, while driving, it’s always the other guy!

The first step in changing the rules of the blame game is to identify the moment. If I can catch myself (that means close my mouth before the words come out), I might even be able to stem off the worst of it. And only then do I have even a hair’s breath of chance to figure out why I am passing the buck. Am I afraid of how I will be perceived by others? Do I feel that taking responsibility will diminish me? Does it make me feel better to shift the blame to another person?

In and of itself, the word “blame” has a negative connotation. It carries accusation and condemnation. Just the word alone feels like a burden. And I’m thinking that’s the problem. Instead of shifting the blame, it may be that the paradoxical Christian thing would be to simply accept responsibility (when true) and give God a chance to work with the truth.

Taking responsibility when we err is no fun, but its merits outweigh the negatives in the long run. It’s part of the learning curve and character building. I am not encouraging anyone to become a scapegoat or to become a martyr, taking the weight of guilt when it’s not ours to take. But when our own mistakes and choices bring consequences, then we must confess that truth to ourselves first and thereby invoke the power of the Holy Spirit to bear it and eventually change.

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The Weak and the Strong

June 25, 2014 by Irmgarde Brown

Photo by Irm Brown

Photo by Irm Brown

So simple really, how else would the weak find traction? God is the great equalizer.

Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God, “Lord, only you can help the weak against the powerful.Help us, Lord our God, because we rely on you. . . [2 Chronicles 14:11a]

Unfortunately, the strong forget their own need for God. They rely on themselves. And eventually, the mighty fall. Sometimes, in their pride, the strong give assistance to the weak, but it is always measured, to keep the weak in their place. Or worse, the gifts are not particularly useful or what is actually needed.

When I was in Africa on a mission trip, we visited one of the poorest villages that was created on a portion of land owned by a wealthy landowner for the families of the men who worked his land. They were reminiscent of slave quarters, but African style with dirt floors and huts and water a football field away that had to be carried daily by the women and children. They were fortunate to have a place to live but nothing more. From the landowner’s perspective, he had been generous, but it was a measured generosity. That was bad enough but while there, among the partially clothed children was a little girl who wore a torn and tattered party dress, clearly, a gift from a well-meaning westerner who had sent used clothing to the poor. The girl probably loved that dress, but what was the donor thinking? Again, a misplaced generosity.

If the strong want to help the weak, they must enter the life of the weak. So did our Jesus serve humanity. So did Mother Teresa in India  and Jackie Pullinger in China.

 

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Advice

June 24, 2014 by Irmgarde Brown

adviceIf you ask for advice, you still have to decide whose advice you will take. And if the advice is contrary, you are no better off than you were in the first place. Choose our counselors wisely.

[Israelites spoke to Rehoboam, Solomon’s son] Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” . . . Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon  . . . They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”  But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. [I Chronicles 10:4, 6a, 7-8]

I can be terrible about making decisions, particularly decisions that affect others and not just me. I ask lots and lots of questions of people I know, supervisors and neighbors and friends and family, and often, every answer is different. I end up with information overload. And yet, Proverbs 15:22 states, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” So, it’s not the amount of advice that is the problem, but the counselors themselves.

Who do I trust and why? My tendency might be to get frustrated and cast off all the advice and all the counselors and simply go my own way. Or, perhaps I’m kidding myself and I know which way I want to go and I’m simply asking enough people to get the one advice that matches my own private decision.

But there are some hints in the story of Rehoboam and his advisers. First of all, the first advisers were older and had already spent many years advising King Solomon. He was, overall, a very successful king. And secondly, the key to their advice was that responding their way would create loyalty and good will. Rehoboam was too young to realize how powerful loyalty can be. He wanted to appear strong and believed in the power of fear over the power of love and grace.

Leadership by fear is probably the worst kind.

So, the best advice in the face of a difficult decision? The paradoxical – what is best for the people the decision is affecting. That is the key. And of course, seek God’s counsel first. But I know too well, how hard it is to “hear God’s voice.” But if we pray before we ask a human counselor, we may discover the wisdom of God is speaking.

And I have to smile, just this week, my pastor said, “Two patients don’t equal a doctor.” Be sure that the advisor you seek has some counseling cred (experience).

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You Know Our Hearts

June 23, 2014 by Irmgarde Brown

Art by Laurie Justus Pace

Art by Laurie Justus Pace

And this is the point, whether one believes or does not believe: God knows our hearts. God knows my heart. There is no sin I can craft in my head that is unknown, there is no good deed seed not watered. God is sovereign over the heart — the soul of humankind.

Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart) . . . [I Kings 8:39b, NIV]

For this reason, when life circumstances challenge my way, there is only One who can truly help me or actually altar the course of my steps, transform the crushing press of deadlines and drama and duty, rally the troops of heaven on my behalf and, ultimately, on behalf of my loved ones.

Forgive me Spirit Father, Adonai. Forgive my stealthy forays into the world. Forgive my selfish ambition. Forgive my judgments of others. Forgive my callous eye. Relieve my fears. Strengthen my trust and resolve in You. Sustain my mindfulness that I might pray without ceasing.

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Truth about Trust

June 3, 2014 by Irmgarde Brown

trustThe truth about trust is tricky. I mean, I have struggled with trust all my life. Sure, betrayal is a stumbling block to trust. But personal strength and intelligence can get in the way too. My mother taught me all the ways to combat trust: self-sufficiency, stick-to-it-tiveness, if you want it done right do it yourself, and so on. Trust requires a perpetual surrender.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; don’t rely on your own intelligence.” [Proverbs 3:5, CEB]

On Sunday, Pastor Jess Bousa, taught the message this way: to recognize the sovereignty of God, we must acknowledge God’s control of situations when things are “bad” and not just when things are going swell. After all, it’s easy to trust God when life is moving along sweetly and securely. It’s the tough times that call on the truth of our trust and faith in this One God.

One of his examples was II Kings 6:15 – 17, when Elisha’s servant feared the encampment of the vast army of the Arameans out to destroy the prophet. But Elisha could see what his servant could not, God’s army that encircled them all: the “second circle” that is God’s domain. This is the circle where trust is engaged. This is the circle where God operates, the bigger arena where our human strengths are worthless, where our intelligence can no longer figure things out, where our manipulations no longer have impact. Trust happens there.

Elisha prayed that God would open his servant’s eyes to see that second circle.

I pray the same. For me.

And yet, I must remember this, unless I go through the chaos and clatter of life’s challenges, I will never get to see God’s power in my life. It’s a paradox of faith. I surrender this day. I must. I will to do it.

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