Brown's Daily Word 2-16-10

Good morning. We had a blessed and beautiful weekend, which was bountiful in every way. On Sunday we celebrated the marriage of Jessica to Thomas Ross in a beautiful service at Sarah Jane Johnson Memorial UMC, which is a beautiful, gothic, cathedral-like structure, full of majestic stained-glass windows. J.S. Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze" was played for the entrance of the bridal attendants. For the bridal procession, George F. Handel's "Pastoral Symphony" was played. During the time of worship, we sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness", "Jesus Paid It All", and "I Love You Lord". For the recessional they used "Trumpet Tune" by Henry Purcell. The weeks and months of preparations were not in vain, as Jess walked up the main aisle of the sanctuary, to join her beloved Tom in declaring their intent to live, each for the other and both for the Lord. After amazing receptions at the church and Terra Cotta, we had a great time of dancing, including multiple Beatle songs, chosen by Tom and Jess. We praise the Lord for the gift of family, friends, and the Church and best of all for the Savior, who is the reason for our celebrations and worship and witness. We are still basking in the glow of the day. I am attaching a picture of the bride. There will be more to follow.

Yesterday, most of our family went back to their homes. Sunita and Andy departed for Washington, DC, and Janice and Jeremy took Micah and Simeon back to Boston. Jessica called us as she and Tom waited at the Newark airport to jet off to Panama for their honeymoon. It is amazing how the Lord gave strength for the wedding and reception, and even for the "daddy-daughter" dance. He has blessed so abundantly.
Praise the Lord for the Lenten season, which is upon us. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. We will be serving a meal of pancakes, eggs, and the "fixings" for our Wednesday evening supper at 6 PM tomorrow.
Lent is the season when we focus on Jesus, our Lord, on His journey to Jerusalem, to be rejected, to suffer and to die on the for our sins and for the sins of the world. We read in Mark 10, that Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem with determination, and with single-mindedness. Because of His amazing grace and wonderful love for us He journeyed to Jerusalem, unafraid and undaunted. He came, He saw and He conquered. We can never understand fully and comprehend , all that was involved in our Lord's sufferings, but one thing we all can glean from it was that it was because of His love for you and me.
For eleven years a man named Merhan Karimi Nasseri was a man without a country. For eleven years he lived in a Paris airport. He had no passport. He had no citizenship. He had no papers that enabled him to leave the airport or fly to another country. He had been expelled from his native country of Iran. Then he was sent away from Paris, France because he lacked documentation. He said his Belgian-issued refugee document had been stolen. He flew to England but was denied entry and sent back to Paris. When he was returned to the Paris airport in 1988, airport authorities allowed him to live in Terminal 1, and there he stayed for eleven years, writing in a diary, living off of handouts from airport employees, and cleaning up in the airport bathroom.
Then in September 1999 the situation finally reversed. French authorities presented Nasseri with an international travel card and a French residency permit. Suddenly he was free to go anywhere he wanted. But when airport officials handed him his walking papers, to everyone’s surprise, he simply smiled, tucked the documents in his folder, and resumed writing in his diary. They found that he was afraid to leave the bench and table that had been his home for eleven years.
Many of us tend to grow accustomed to where we are in our relationship with the Lord. We become accustomed to how God normally speaks to us and uses us. Then when God asks us to do something different or unpredictable, we can become greatly afraid and decide to remain right where we are, just as Nasseri remained in the airport when given the chance to venture out on his own. So what happens to us when we refuse to move ahead when God tells us to step out in faith?
We read in Mark 10:32 ff, "And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,saying, 'Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise.' As Jesus’ disciples followed him to Jerusalem they were filled with both 'amazement' and 'fear.'"
Throughout Mark’s gospel, people respond to Jesus with amazement and with fear. They were amazed when Jesus healed a man who could not walk. They were amazed when he said that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy person to enter the Kingdom of God. They were amazed when he instructed them to return to Caesar the things that were Caesar’s. The people were afraid when they realized that a man who had been possessed by a demon had been healed. The disciples were afraid when Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus, and we are told that their fear left them speechless. The people were “amazed” by what Jesus did and said because he challenged much of what they took for granted and they were “afraid” of the power that he possessed.
Mark combines the two emotional responses when he tells us that the disciples were both amazed and afraid as Jesus went before them as they journeyed toward Jerusalem. Mark couples the two words “amazed” and “afraid” together in a few other places in his gospel as well. For example, in Mark 5:15, and 20, we are told how people responded to Jesus healing a demon-possessed man. These verses say, “Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid . . . And [the man] departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled [or were amazed].” In Mark 16:8 we read that two ladies named Mary went to see the empty tomb after Jesus’ resurrection, and the Scripture says, “So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”
Mark isn’t the only gospel writer who couples the words “amazed” and “afraid” together, for Luke does so as well. Since we all become “amazed” and “afraid,” what do these two words mean? The word “amazed” means, “filled with sudden surprise, wonder, or astonishment . . . arising from something extraordinary, unexpected, or unaccountable . . .” And the word “afraid” means, “impressed with fear or apprehension.” How and why are we filled with sudden surprise and amazement at Jesus, and why does this sometimes lead to apprehension?
In Mark 10:32 we see that the disciples were amazed or astonished. The disciples knew that opposition was growing to Jesus’ ministry. However, Jesus led them toward Jerusalem and they could not understand why he would head right into the hornet’s nest. This filled them with astonishment or sudden surprise and amazement. When we come to know and understand Jesus through a personal relationship with him we will become completely amazed by what we discover. We will be amazed by what Jesus asks and requires of us in order to follow him. Jesus is going to challenge our way of thinking and ask us to do things that we are not used to doing. He will ask us to step out of our comfort zones.
One thing that Jesus might ask us to do that is simply astonishing is to give up our very comfortable way of living in order to follow him. In Matthew 10:9-10 when Jesus sent out his twelve disciples he told them, “Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.” In Matthew 8:19-20 we are told that a scribe told Jesus that he would follow him wherever he went, and Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay is head.” How many of us are astonished when we see that following Jesus could require us to live a life of poverty? Jesus is going to challenge us to do some things that will make us very uncomfortable and this will cause us great astonishment and amazement!
The second thing that we see in Mark 10:32 is that the disciples became afraid. Notice that they were first astonished, but then they became afraid. When we come to newfound spiritual truths we become excited. First of all we are excited that God actually spoke to us and showed us his will. We are also excited that his will and his plans include us. We are also excited because the whole idea of stepping out in faith has a kind of romantic appeal. However, as time goes by and as we come to grips with the actual challenges that we will face then we become afraid. We become afraid because we think that we can’t do what Jesus asks of us. We look only to our own abilities, or should I say inabilities, instead of looking to what God is able to do through us by his power. We face a crisis of belief and we become afraid, and many times that fear will cause us to stop dead in our tracks and then we refuse to press onward into God’s will for us.
We can become both amazed and afraid in our relationship with Jesus Christ, sometimes drawing back to those things which are more familiar to them when God asks them to move onward into new uncharted territory. What is it that often makes us afraid to press on, and what do we do when we start becoming afraid? The last part of verse 32 says, “Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him.” When the disciples became afraid to follow and wanted to stop right in their tracks, Jesus explained in great detail what they were up against and he likely encouraged them that they would be just fine. Jesus revealed his plans to his disciples. He alleviated some of the element of the unknown that causes so much fear in the lives of human beings. If we become afraid to follow Jesus where he is leading and when he tells us to move, then it is likely that we have not confirmed God’s direction in our hearts.
If we are unsure of God’s direction then it is probably because we have failed to spend time with Jesus and seek out his will. When God starts to move in our lives or in our church we are filled with amazement. We become very excited! However, when God shows up in our lives or in our church he will soon ask us to follow him wherever he leads. At this point many of us will become afraid. Let me share with you the lyrics of a song entitled “Amazed, Not Afraid”

I’m not afraid of what the Lord has for me.
I’m not afraid, because He leads the way.
I’m not afraid to go the way he sends me.
I’m not afraid, cause Jesus is with me.

I am amazed at how strong is my new freedom.
I am amazed how He just lights the way.
I am amazed how steady that I can walk.
I am amazed when Jesus is my way!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jEXDPzqo2g