She’d tried that already. Sent her friends to get her Jesus, the One she knew could arm wrestle death and come out with a win. But He was eerily silent, choosing to stay where he was rather than belly up to the crisis table. Strange that he delayed, uncharacteristic based on the open love he’d previously shown. Hissing whispers tempted her to question Him, or at least his loyalty. Who would refuse to come at the hour of a friend’s deepest need? Apparently Jesus would. And He did. And Martha struggled to make sense of it.

Grief and confusion are an explosive combination. It’s painful to endure a loss. It’s an exponential pain to endure a loss that could have been prevented. The injustice of unnecessary grief ignites rage like little else. The soul screams, WHY?

For centuries Martha has been getting a bad rap for her childish tattling on a sister who wouldn’t help her clean up the kitchen. And although it’s true she once sounded much like my boys arguing over who folded the most laundry or put away the most dishes, there was another moment when wisdom trumped immaturity. And at that moment, the moment of her profound grief, Martha pulled out a whopper:

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she told him, ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.’” ~ John 11:25-26

Wowza. Did you see that? At a crossroads of questions, Martha was confident of her Jesus. She may have been drowning in unknowns, but she chose to hang on to what she knew for a fact. “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Without diminishing his reality or questioning his role, she stood firm in His “I AM”-ness, without understanding a lick about the rest.

That’s a whopper of a lesson for all of us.

]]> http://meetmeattheintersection.com/2009/09/27/marthas-whopper/feed/ 0 http://meetmeattheintersection.com/2009/09/07/a-tale-of-two-women/ http://meetmeattheintersection.com/2009/09/07/a-tale-of-two-women/#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:47:51 +0000 Michele http://meetmeattheintersection.com/?p=615 There are times when I’m convinced two women have set up shop in my head.

The first one probably came up with the idea and put herself in charge of the move into Michele-land. She’s industrious and determined, albeit bossy. She’s the one to call when a committee needs forming and a nursery needs staffing. A mile-long to-do list turns into a been-done list in no time flat when she’s in command. She herds children better than any sheep dog and keeps the man of the house on his toes. She’s read through the Bible at least three times, finishing in precisely 365 days (except for that one leap year) and holds fellow Bible study members accountable to their homework. Small group is hosted in her home each week and she proudly sets her homemade pastries down beside all the canned imitations on Easter Sunday. If ever I’m tempted to pat myself on the back for a day’s hard work, she smirks and looks down her make-upped nose with a knowing shake of the head: no one, and I mean NO ONE works harder than Martha. The only threat to her sense of accomplishment is a glimpse at the peaceful face of her sister.

Yes, while Martha is busy dusting and straightening rooms which were dusted and straightened yesterday, her sister sits on the back porch, sipping sweet tea, sniffing flowers and occasionally throwing encouragements to her busy counterpart to cop a squat. She doesn’t wear a watch and is unconcerned about the dishes heaped in the sink. Confident the dust bunnies will still be there when she returns, she escapes into a book or a devotional, oblivious to the to-do list that keeps piling higher than last week’s laundry. She is content and at peace. Hours can pass while she strains to hear God speak to her heart (and on occasion she’s been known to forget to pick up her kids). She may never make it through the entire Bible, but she can hang out on one verse until she’s dug deep into it’s various meanings. However, try as she might to savor the silence, she can never fully escape the sense of guilt that accompanies. The Proverbs 31 woman was able to do the work as well as the worship, after all. She should probably “do” something productive.

[sigh]

As I said, two women have taken residence in my head. One understands the value of hard work (Don’t forget: God established the value of work even in the Garden of Eden!). The other values the simpler, quieter moments of merely being with God, even if that means the dishes don’t get done and dinner comes out of a box (Jesus often escaped to quiet places, right?). Guilt accompanies me whether I side with Martha or Mary. Who should I emulate if I want to be like God?

I find it both interesting and telling that the tale of two sisters, Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), is sandwiched between the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and Jesus’ Teaching On Prayer (Luke 11:1-13). One applauds the person willing to tirelessly serve; the other weighs heavily on the value of time spent alone with God. Clearly there is something of value in both.

Mary and Martha’s story is the subject for this next month. Though we’ll study and draw differing truths over the next few weeks, I want us to keep one thing in mind: In God’s kingdom, there is a time and place for those who serve and those who sit. There is value in both work and meditation. The trick is in learning the time for each.

Time to sit at His feet.

]]> http://meetmeattheintersection.com/2009/09/07/a-tale-of-two-women/feed/ 0 http://meetmeattheintersection.com/2009/02/08/dancing-on-the-floor-of-the-impossible/ http://meetmeattheintersection.com/2009/02/08/dancing-on-the-floor-of-the-impossible/#comments Sun, 08 Feb 2009 18:00:05 +0000 Michele http://meetmeattheintersection.com/?p=405

I think she stopped dreaming. That’s why she laughed.

Those who dream are seldom surprised by the extraordinary. A Dreamer lives hoping for the dream. Looking for it. Anticipating it. She holds her breath waiting for her breath to be stolen. And is thoroughly delighted when what she knew would happen, does. “Nothing is impossible with God” is her motto. Each day passes like a treasure hunt in search of the mysterious impossible just so she can sit and watch it’s undoing at the hands of a Real God.

But for 89 year old Sarah, too much time and disappointment transformed her lush dreams to a starving desert. By the time The Visitors found her, she’d long since stopped looking for the impossible to happen. The years spent dreaming dreams of children laughing and playing at the hem of her skirts seemed like wasted energy. When foggy imaginings failed to become reality, she gave up dreaming altogether, and lived, instead, with two feet fully planted in harsh reality.

“‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.’ … So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?’ Then the LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh … Is anything too hard for the LORD?’” (Genesis 18:10-14)

Do you stand with both feet in reality, scoffing dreamers and their dreams as the immature imaginings of idealistic youth? OR do you dare to keep one foot dancing on the floor of the impossible? For there is One who waits to take you for a spin, and with a wink and a smile says, “Wait until you get a load of this…”

Better not to laugh at such an invitation. Only faith in the impossible will take where you’ve always wanted to go.

Bring it on.

No doubt about it, she’s fully educated on what’s right. “God did say…” (Gen. 3:3). But the fruit looked good, and the promised wisdom irresistible. In the briefest of moments, the hard truth flew out the window in lieu of soft compromise, set up by a series of seemingly insignificant justifications. Read all of Genesis 3, if you don’t believe me.

Eve’s story could just as easily be my personal biography. How many times have I ended up sick to my stomach because I came up with creative ways to justify a little tasteful temptation? I’m an expert at excuses. The truth is, we all are.

We permit gossip under the guise of concern.

We flirt with infidelity because “God wants me to be happy.”

We justify a judgmental spirit in an exercise of standing up for what’s right.

We disrespect in the spirit of being honest about our feelings.

We savor unforgiveness because we “have a right to be angry.”

We’re stingy with love because we can’t condone wrong behavior.

We feast on self-indulgence because, after all, “life is short.”

Eve didn’t set out to blatantly disobey God. I doubt she woke up that morning with any clue that it would be her last sunrise in the garden. But a series of small decisions, which SHE MADE, including allowing one very unhealthy relationship with a snake, led her right out of the garden of true intimacy and into a world of harsh reality.

Every morning we wake up with the opportunity to move toward the garden-like relationship with God or toward an existence based on half-truths and false intimacy. The path between the moment you wake up and the moment you go to sleep is littered with little, seemingly inconsequential decisions that will (REPEAT: WILL) set your course toward one destination or the other. Don’t be fooled into thinking a little tasteful temptation is harmless.

Truth fruit will feed your soul. The fake stuff, though sweet at the time, is poison.

The week sandwiched in between Christmas and New Years is a weird one. The hype over Christmas is over. The shopping frenzy is done (or at least it’s winding down). Family returns home. Decorations seem out of place. And time seems to halt in eerie silence as a new year full of the unknown stands at the door. Though there’s a sense of accomplishment or relief that one year is complete, there is also apprehension at the unknown in a new one: What do the next 12 months hold? And will I be able to handle it?

Yes, I believe we will. As long as we allow the light of Christmas to shine long after the boxes are put away. Christmas isn’t a December 25th thing. It’s a whole year thing. It’s not a Hallmark holiday. It’s a Divine Pronouncement. Earth-shattering news for which shepherds and wise men and old priests and small children had been waiting for so very, very long. News that so many still search for today.

Without a doubt, the light of Christmas holds enough power to illuminate 2009, whatever it holds. IT DOES. And, we mustn’t be selfish. The light isn’t just for us. It’s for the real people we encounter every day. From family members who greet us at the breakfast table to checkout clerks who bags our groceries. The light ignited within the heart at Christmas is meant to spill out on the surrounding darkness every day that follows. Our words, smiles, demeanor, grace, attitude–ALL of this can be a source of light and hope and connection and relationship. And our passion for living has the potential to inspire those who despair to allow the light of Christmas to change their lives with good news, too. Hope is powerful. More powerful than we realize. And if we dare to carry hope like a lantern, there’s a good chance we’ll end up shining as a beacon of real truth to real people looking for someone to illuminate their way.

How are you going to light your world this year?

Not exactly a child’s favorite memory. Still I’ll never forget it.

Our church, grown beyond capacity, needed a bigger building. The leadership decided a three-year, church-wide building fundraiser was the necessary next step. And, as part the elder team heading up the initiative, my dad believed our family should be one of the first to make some kind of monetary investment.

Made sense to me. But I was just a kid. I didn’t expect it to impact me directly. Until we sat down as a family and started to brainstorm ideas for coming up with our contribution. Cut back on allowances. Give up extra activities. Forgo restaurant eating. Small potatoes kind of stuff. With a serious expression, dad nodded at our suggestions and then challenged us to go deeper. As he explained,

sacrifice isn’t really sacrifice unless it hurts.

That’s precisely the moment we proposed canceling Christmas. Not the holiday as a whole, but the present part. After all, what could “hurt” more than giving up gifts? Of course, seconds after suggesting it, I believe both my brother and I felt tightening of our stomachs. Regret? Maybe. Retraction? No. And just that fast, we cut Christmas from our calendar. For the following three years.

Months passed before the first holiday came. The deeper we moved into December, the more our decision “hurt.” No Christmas. Weird. What EXACTLY will we do all day? As the month wore on, and child-like disappointment grew, it became clear we needed something else to invest in. After hearing of some friends in a financial bind, we set out to surprise them with the best creative Christmas we could muster, without the extra cash. And the diversion proved to be one of the most creative and fun projects we’d experienced. By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, we were more caught up in our secret surprise than the fact our own tree would remain barren Christmas morning.

The anonymous homemade gifts delivered, we returned home on Christmas Eve both inspired and content. This is what Christmas is all about. Even us kids knew it to be true. And though the experience of Christmas without gifts held its moments of disappointment and regret, we all remained convinced of it’s worth. Today I can’t recall for the life of me what might’ve gone without. The Christmas wishes of those years have long since evaporated with time. The lesson learned–and the sheer joy of giving–however, remains as clear as as if it happened yesterday.

For it is the giving—not the getting—that truly makes Christmas something to both celebrate and remember.