To listen up, one must sit down!

Jesus Christ continues to fascinate and, at the same time, mystify people. But this really is nothing new. Even when Jesus walked this earth, He was a mystery to most people.

In fact, He was even a mystery to His own, handpicked disciples who did not fully understand who He was and what He had come to do—that is, not until He had been crucified and resurrected from the dead. But there was one exception. Who was the one follower of Jesus who seemed to get it when the others did not? It wasn't John, who was known for his spiritual perception. It wasn't Peter, James, Matthew, or Andrew.

It was a woman named Mary. Above all others, Mary seemed to have an understanding of the mission of Jesus and what He had come to do. Mary was the sister of Martha and Lazarus. It is worth noting that every time we read about her, she was at the feet of the Lord.

One of the most well-known instances was when Martha welcomed Jesus into her home in Bethany. Martha wanted to prepare a feast fit for a king. While she was frantically working in the kitchen, Mary saw a great opportunity to sit at Jesus' feet and take in what He had to say. Martha grew frustrated and came in to rebuke her sister, but instead ended up being rebuked by Jesus. He told Martha, "You are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41–42 NKJV).

Later, as the days of Jesus' earthly ministry were reaching their culmination, Mary did something that was so outstanding and so significant that it is recorded in Scripture as a memorial to her (see Mark 14:9). She decided to seize the moment and once again sit at Jesus' feet and offer Him a gift, the most precious thing she probably owned.

Just days before the Passover, Jesus was in Bethany and had gone to the house of Simon the leper for a meal. We know that Lazarus was there. Mary and Martha were present, as were the apostles. All of the sudden, Mary did something unexpected, unusual, and completely extravagant. She took some special and costly perfume, broke open the bottle, and poured it on the head of the Lord. This perfume was called oil of spikenard, and it was most likely a valuable family heirloom. It would have been one thing to sprinkle a few drops on Jesus, which was common in that culture. But Mary wanted to do something significant. So she poured the whole bottle on Jesus.

Perhaps one reason the Christians of the first century turned their world upside down in such a dramatic way was their sense of abandon, as we see modeled by Mary. It was Jesus Himself who moved her. Her idea was that nothing was too good for the Lord. Mary wanted to do something special for Jesus.

It is interesting that she recognized why He had come. She somehow knew that His death was near. She wanted to do something that would touch Him, bless Him, and bring a little beauty into His life. She hadn't spent as much time with Jesus as the 12 disciples, yet she had a perception that no one else seemed to have. Sitting at His feet paid off, because Mary apparently had learned a few things that the others had missed.

I heard about a statue of Jesus that was created by Thors Walden, a Danish sculptor. Walden sculpted the body of Christ in such a way that His face could not be seen from a standing position. There was a sign next to the statue that read, "If you want to see the face of Jesus, sit at His feet." Sure enough, by sitting at the foot of this statue of Jesus, one can look up and see His face perfectly.

I believe the ability to see the face of Jesus and hear His voice is when we sit at His feet and listen up. Please know I am sitting with you and you are loved. - Don

Holiness or Hardness Toward God?

"He...wondered that there was no intercessor..." - Isaiah 59:16

The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer. It sounds good to say that we pray, and we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial. We are informed that our minds are quieted and our souls are uplifted when we pray. But Isaiah implied in this verse that God is amazed at such thoughts about prayer.

Worship and intercession must go together; one is impossible without the other. Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying (Philippians 2:5). Instead of worshiping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work. Are we worshiping God or disputing Him when we say, "But God, I just don't see how you are going to do this"? This is a sure sign that we are not worshiping.

When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic. We throw our petitions at His throne and dictate to Him what we want Him to do. We don't worship God, nor do we seek to conform our minds to the mind of Christ. When we are hard toward God, we will become hard toward other people.

Are we worshiping God in a way that raises us up to where we can take hold of Him, having such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the ones for whom we pray? Are we living in a holy relationship with God, or have we become hard and dogmatic?

Do you find yourself thinking that there is no one interceding properly? Then be that person yourself. Be a person who worships God and lives in a holy relationship with Him. Get involved in the real work of intercession, remembering that it truly is work. As I said in the sermon yesterday morning. Prayer is not a mean to an encounter with God...prayer IS an encounter with God. So, remember to "listen up!" God is talking.

Praying for you and you know I love ya, Don

Listen Up - God is Talking!

A cell phone commercial asks, "Can you hear me now?" The assumption is that one can hear any place, any time, in any situation through this miraculous technology -- the latest cell phone device and service. I have this service and it is a great service, but I still have dropped calls. There is a connection that I have found, never gets dropped. It is my connection with God. He always gives me his attention, even when I don't listen or get distracted, or intentionally don't answer, He still gives me the time of day.

Moses had this experience. When the voice of God comes from a burning bush that is not consumed -- "Can you hear me now?" -- Moses finds excuse after excuse for not hearing or listening to God's call. Moses has good reason and credible excuses, at least in his mind, to resist, but God, nonetheless, persists in calling. God's call is key to the liberation and ultimate purposes and destiny of the Hebrew people.

Moses has come a long way since his time in Pharaoh's court as a "prince" in Egypt. A quick recap sees Moses, in defending an Israelite, killing an Egyptian. Moses flees to Midian where he meets the priest Jethro and his seven daughters. Moses stays in Midian, marries one of Jethro's daughters, Zipporah, bears a son, Gershom, and settles down as a shepherd keeping Jethro's flocks.

It has been said by a desert mystic, "He will never be a prophet who was not first a herdsman." Here Moses has time for the incubation of his soul in solitude and quietness. Shepherding sheep is quite a contrast to our modern mad rush in a country whose national monument is Rushmore. It is in the wilderness near Horeb, the mountain of God, that Moses is confronted with fire, a bush that is not consumed, and the mighty call of God.

We, too, are called as Christians, not necessarily from burning bushes and fiery theophanies, but in more common and ordinary ways. We are called, chosen, and summoned through word and sacrament, through both mundane and extraordinary experiences, and also through the body of believers. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:26-27: "Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards ... but God chose what is foolish...."

The Greek word for call is klesis and kletos. In the New Testament, God's klesis is an upward call (Philippians 3:14), a holy call (2 Timothy 1:9), a heavenly call (Hebrews 3:1), and, throughout the New Testament, a shared call (1 Corinthians 1:26; 2 Timothy 1:9; Hebrews 3:10). Followers of Christ are also called in hope (Ephesians 1:18; 4:4). "As an upward, holy, heavenly, shared, and hopeful call, God's invitation calls us to himself and his purposes. God invites us to share his joy and his purpose. Central to that purpose is the salvation of the world."

Listening Up - Don

Listen Up - I linger longer

When I stop and listen to God, I find I am living in the "Linger Longer Road." Dawn Mooring in Georgia wrote:

I have a friend who lives on Linger Longer Road. Doesn't that name sound inviting? The drive between my home and my friend's takes over an hour. Upon arrival, I feel compelled to stay a while. The address, Linger Longer Road, prompts me to kick off my shoes and relax.

Maybe I should engrave the words "Linger Longer" on my Bible. On some days, I open the scripture and spend hours reading and savoring a passage. I enjoy God's words as if they were rich food set on a banquet table before me. But I have to admit that on other days, I grab a light snack from scripture and keep walking. I tell the Lord, "Tomorrow."

Suppose I invite guests for dinner and fellowship. If they came and asked immediately for a to-go box, I would be insulted. I wonder if God feels the same way about the way we come to the Bible. God wants us to hunger for the love, wisdom, and instruction found in the Bible. Do we treat God's word like a fast-food drive-through? Perhaps engraving "Linger Longer" on the front of our Bibles would entice us to stay a while.

I want to listen up and pay attention to His words. The psalmist wrote, "My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night." (Psalm 63:56-NRSV)

Listening Up to His voice - You know I love ya, Don