what's it going to take

luke 1:18-19

what’s it going to take

for you to fully believe

that what I say about you

is really true

i sent angels

i performed miracles

i spoke through prophets

i even sent my son

what more can i do

O Lord, forgive me when I allow life’s circumstances to make me doubt the goodness of your heart.  Forgive me when I let the voices around me and within me determine my value and my worth, rather than your unfailing love.  O Lord, what’s it going to take for me to really believe that what you say is really true?  Lord, have mercy.  Amen.

she said yes

“I am the Lord’s servant.  May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38)  

So God came to a teenage girl and asked her to do what was unimaginable.  And low and behold, she said, “Yes!”  From that moment on, everything about her life was totally out of her control.  She placed herself completely in God’s hands.  And in the days and years that followed, that pattern would continually repeat itself; Mary’s big yes to God, would be followed by a million other yeses.  Each and every day she would be asked to surrender and to trust.

That’s the way life with God works.  He comes to us, asks for our yes, and then the rest of our lives is simply a matter of trust and surrender.  We do not get to dictate or control what our yes means.  We do not get to determine the terms and conditions of our yes.  Yes simply means yes.  We are his servants, not he ours.

So listen carefully.  God is asking for a yes from you and me as well.  What will our answer be?

O Lord, give me the strength and the grace and the courage to say yes to you today, whatever you may be asking.  Amen.

emmanuel

most often you come

in ways few would notice

not high and holy

but meek and lowly

a stable

a manger

a star

a teenage girl

small and quiet

hidden and lowly

humble and obscure

as if you wanted

to slip into your world

unnoticed

except by those

paying careful

attention

made perfect

heb. 2:10

what was it

about suffering

that made you perfect

for they seem

such odd bedfellows

yet in you the two

became one

was there something

in the lowering

and the emptying

and the taking on

of our flesh

that was necessary

for your becoming

or was it merely

the truest expression

of who you really are

was it something

about the sharing

of our humanity

that made you perfect

a desired union that

only shared suffering

could accomplish

whatever the case

if you were made

perfect through suffering

how could we expect it

to be any different

for each of  us

help us to accept

your invitation

to allow suffering

to do its work

in our hearts

and souls as well

return

mark 13:32-37

when i return

what condition

will my house be in

will you be

running around

picking clothes

up off the floor

quickly trying

to do the dishes

or fix the broken

shutters

frantically stuffing things

into closets

and underneath

the beds

or will you be ready

for my return

because all along

you lived as if 

today were the day

bridegroom

     matt. 25:6

will you be ready

when i come to you

today

for i am always

coming

will you have oil

for you lamp

will you be awake

and alert

will you come

out to meet me

or will you be

so consumed

by your own

issues and agendas

that you miss me

completely

light

you come

into our darkness

and we are finally

able to see

you illumine

and you uncover

you reveal

and you expose

by you we see

all that is beautiful

and all that is terrible

and we are invited

to become like you