Luke Chapter 10 – Advent Reading
The Lord Jesus sends us out. We’re among the seventy-two. We might be “lambs among the wolves,” but He sends us, nonetheless.
“Heal the sick,” He says. “He who listens to you listens to me.”
I am challenged. I feel unworthy, but He gives us authority.
He tells us to love – both God and our neighbor. He teaches us a parable that shows me that my neighbor is most apt to be someone who is desperate for my mercy.
He visits Martha and Mary. I am Martha. I am busy with Christmas preparation. I am shopping and baking. It’s Wednesday night, and it’s very cold outside. The roads are covered with frozen snow and ice. The jail counseling, of which I volunteer, has not taken place for weeks, being substituted with another program, but tonight – this cold, winter night – it will be offered again, and I have been asked to go, if possible. But I’d rather not. I’ve been faithful in the past, but tonight I have much to do. I am Martha.
But tonight Jesus whispers, “Kathi, ‘only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”
So tonight, I am Mary. Tonight, I am one of the seventy-two. I pray for those with whom I will meet tonight. Who will be my “neighbor” tonight – the ones I am called to love. Those who are waiting for mercy. Those who are waiting for a Mary.
I enter a small cold room of the jail, where I wait a long time for the guard to bring Breanta to the room. I’ve met with her before – in the past. Tonight, her face is radiant! Her hair is clean. She delights in the Lord. Then I realize that I have overlooked the tattoos that cover her face. She shows no shame for them. Jesus doesn’t notice them either. We see a changed heart and life. Breanta and I share the Lord for quite some time before she must leave. We rejoice in Him. I place my hand on her and pray for her, thanking God for redeeming her from a life filled with pain and drugs. I pray Psalm 91 over her – for protection in all she goes through – that the enemy will have NO access to her. I rebuke him in the name of Jesus. I pray the desire of her heart – that God will allow her to be released from her incarceration at her next court appearance.
And when Brianna leaves, she says, “You started me on God,” a phrase I’ve never heard before but quite unique in my relationship with Brianna. She continues, “It’s because of you that I opened my Bible and found God.”
When counseling is finished, I leave the jail, sit in my cold car, waiting for the ice to defrost from the windshield, and I thank God for showing me what “is needed” tonight. For letting me choose “what is better,” knowing that this Advent night “will not be taken away from” me, and allowing me how to be a Mary. I drive home, guided by the Cold Moon Supermoon across the Eastern sky.
Join me in reading Luke, Chapter 10. Be blessed.
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