The message

You have heard of my brother. I speak of him often.  He is the older of the bunch and we are 13 months apart.  He is our "leader."  Our culture is very patriarchal and being the firstborn, he is in charge when there are no parents.  Growing up, we had  five kids and by the time mom was 28, she had all five of us.  Our house was loud unlike my husband's home where he was an only child.

Often, mom would sent the older kids out to play in order to concentrate on the baby.  In the days where the entertainment was sticks, rocks and bikes, we often entertained ourselves.  I would love it when my brother would be doing something [usually wrong] and mom would send me to deliver a message.  It usually went something like this "Mom said you better stop doing that." "Mom said you need to get out of the street" "Mom said you better listen."  My brother Lee would often say "She did not say that!"

I loved it because I would always go back with "Moooom, he said you didn't say that." Of course there was usually a snicker with the statement.  It's not that I wanted my brother to get in trouble, it's just that he didn't believe me and he was gonna learn!  He never listened to me even if the statement started with a "mom said."

Why did he do that?  Didn't he know that I was only the messenger?  If my mom sent me with the message,  then he wasn't defying or rejecting what I said, he was rejecting what mom said.  I was mom's "little messenger." He didn't want to hear it because whatever he was doing was fun and he didn't want to stop doing it.  Since he didn't actually hear mom's voice saying "don't do it," he didn't think he had to adhere.

My brother was holding on to his title of firstborn and he did not have to listen to me....or so he thought.  I bet my brother wouldn't have questioned what my mother said if the words had come out of her mouth and not mine.  He ignored me and in ignoring me, he ignored mom's message.  It really was okay because just at the right time, my mom would come to my rescue and say "I told her to tell you that now stop it!"  Whew, I was safe when it was realized that he was not challenging me, he was challenging her.

I would like to think I am an ambassabor for Christ.  I love to tell others of Christ and the salvation that He offers.  At times I am questioned, criticized, and challenged.  It is then that I have to take comfort in knowing that I am just the messenger, the message comes from Christ.   He says in his word, that I am not the one you are rejecting...it is he who you reject.  I only deliver the message.

He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.  Luke 10:16