Worshipping God

Language

by Carol Brinneman

An incredibly fantastic, amazing thing: language.

Bits and bytes of sound

Juxtaposed, linked and stacked

Until they fuse to reality,

Producing in our minds an image of the concrete, the tangible.

Stick figures scratched on white

Fleshing out the joy, the pain in our hearts and brains.

God, bending over, took His finger and wrote a letter in red—

A cross.

Only one figure that said it all—the WORD made flesh!

J E S U S

A cosmic language to be spoken through all time and eternity.

Love translated into a man, speaking, touching, healing.

A real God in a real world.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound!

Bowing

by Carol Brinneman

Bowing, kneeling, awestruck:

Mary, one

Joseph, one,

Shepherds, many,

Magi, three.

Bowing, moaning, griefstricken:

Mary, one,

the Magdalene, one,

Salome, one,

Disciples, eleven.

Bowing, worshipping, singing:

Elders, twenty-four,

Living creatures, four

Angels, ten thousand times ten thousand!

Enough Blood

by Carol Brinneman

Calvary—

A random act of violence?

Oh, no. It was planned;

Planned “in the beginning.”

Details mattered,

As with Old Testament sacrifices:

Bulls, goats, and lambs, without blemish,

Sacrificed according to ritual—

To get it right.

Blood sprinkled on the altar,

Blood poured out on its base,

Blood applied to the right ear,

The right thumb,

The right big toe of the priest.

Commandments followed precisely

Brought forgiveness and sanctification,

A reflection of heaven’s perfection.

The crown, the cross, the nails, the spear—

Details planned painstakingly in the heart of God.

His fiery presence consumed Aaron’s offering for people’s sins

And later descended in Christ, burning up our sins too.

Foundations shook as sacred blood spattered our earth.

Blood, so much blood, shed to make things right:

See His head, His hands, His feet, His side.

For my sins and yours, freely it flowed.

We wash our hands now and they are clean

For it was enough.

The Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world,

Cried out, “It is finished!”

Jesus the Christ, the last sacrifice,

For ever and ever.

Flying Free

by Carol Brinneman

As the priest dipped a live bird in the blood of a second bird, sacrificed ,

Dipped it together with cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop,

And sprinkled the afflicted seven times,

Our Heavenly Priest sprinkles us with His Calvary blood,

Pronounces us clean, releases us in the open fields,

And we fly away.

Like the goat on whose head Israelites’ sins were confessed

He took on Himself all our wickedness and rebellion.

Led “outside the camp” to Calvary,

He bears away our evil

And we are released from sin and death,

Forever free.

Two clean birds: one alive, one dead—declared healing.

Two spotless goats: one alive, one dead—atoned for sins.

But in Christ, alive from the dead: we both live to Him and die to sin.

Allotted years pass, release comes, and we fly away

Some glad morning—free for eternity!

TRUTHS

by Carol Brinneman

Your truths, O God!

Deep as a mine,

Rich nuggets of grace,

Glistening, we unearth them with joy!

High as the sky,

Beauty to capture our eyes.

Flying by, we seize them with delight!

Wide as your creation,

Wonderful in their diversity!

We drink in all their beauty.

Your truths are awesome, O Lord!

Psalm 119:18

"Open my eyes that I may see

Wonderful things in your law."

Christians Waking Up

by Carol Brinneman

Some day we’re gonna wake up,

Not groggy,

Not tired,

Not throwing off blankets of bad dreams,

Worries and fears.

Some day we’re gonna wake up,

Not yawning or stretching,

Not painful joints aching,

Not coffee drinking,

Revving idling bodies, needing fresh juice.

Some day we’re gonna wake up,

Some “great gettin’ up morning,”

The Master Himself will whisper,

With loving face near to our ear,

“Wake up, O sleeper! Rise up!”

Some day we’re all gonna wake up,

Multitudes will awake from the dust of earth,

Rising in power

Towards His shining glory,

In a great resurrection reveille.

Some day we’re gonna wake up forevermore,

Transformed for eternity,

Fully awake,

Beholding the Resurrected One,

Satisfied and shouting for joy!

What Will You Have?

by Carol Brinneman

Is God’s Word like lemonade?

Gulping and quenching thirst

A mixture of strong and sweet.

To swallow the strong alone—a test,

But combined with the sweet—a treat!

Canaan land flowing with honey, and milk,

We the babes greedily sucking

The sincere milk of the Word—rich, nourishing,

Filling our bellies and then resting in peace.

The poor and the needy seek water.

Give a cup, then, to the least of these

In His name.

“Sir, give me of this water

So I won’t get thirsty.”

“Come to me and drink.

I am living Water.”

O Living Water who saved the best for last

—and saved our face.

New wine poured into new skins, lest we burst.

And it’s only 9 a.m.!

Thy love is better than wine, O Christ.

You took the cup and gave thanks,

And you took it again in Gethsemane

And drank it to the bitter dregs.

Willingly you partook of the strong.

You passed the test,

For the joy set before you.

Out of the strong, something sweet!

Assembling

by Carol Brinneman

It’s a good thing,

When church bells ring,

To assemble and sing

Bringing offerings

To the King of kings!