O come, O come Emmanuel… we pray that you will…

unwrap our doubt to make a space for love…

unwrap our grief to make a space for joy…

unwrap our resentment to make a space for peace…

unwrap our sentimentality to make a space for life…

unwrap our skepticism to make a space for hope…

unwrap our darkness to make a space for light.

(from a prayer by cheryl lawrie in the book hold this space (see proost.co.uk) – christmas confession)

Watch a video by Jonny Baker with this prayer.

For the past few days along with my daily reading and meditation in the Word, I have been reading the book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, by Brennan Manning. Let me share some reflections about living by grace, experiencing the love of God.

• The disciple who is living by grace, rather than by some set of laws, has undergone a decisive conversion… turning from mistrust to TRUST. The foremost characteristic of living by grace is trust in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ on the cross… As a child of God, I am beloved, loved by the Father and am free to trust.
• The tendency in legalistic religion of any sort is to mistrust god, to mistrust others and consequently to mistrust ourselves. Our focus then becomes an internal focus, rather than a focus on God.
• We need a new kind of relationship with the Father that drives our fear and mistrust, anxiety and guilt. A relationship that permits us to be hopeful and joyous, trusting and compassionate.

The gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ calls us to sing of the everyday mystery of intimacy with God. To sing of the spiritual roots of such commonplace experiences as falling in love, telling the truth, raising a child, teaching a calss, forgiving each other after we have hurt each other, standing together in the bad weather of life, of the unexpected serendipitous moment, of the radiance of existence.

Of such is the kingdom of heaven. Of such is the homely mystery of genuine religion in which grace abounds and walks around the edges of our every day experiences

Trust defines the meaning of living by grace… the active expression of God’s love.

Meditation

In Sunday School, children are sometimes taught this acrostic:

J – Jesus first
O – Others next
Y – Yourself last.

Is this formula too childish, too simplistic to be true? Certainly it runs utterly against the grain of our culture, which advises us to look out for “number one.” Even in our spiritual communities we often hear people give advice to others who are spending their lives serving Jesus to, “take time out for yourself…  if you don’t, you’ll burn out.” How do you think Mother Teresa would have responded to such a suggestion?

Wrestle with these questions this week:

What is the source of the deepest and most lasting joy I know?
How does this joy compare to the fleeting frivolities that advertise themselves as being the source of true happiness?
In times of crisis, confusion or depression, distress and grief, what does it mean to be able to “rejoice in the Lord always?”

Consider the possibility that the best time we can take for ourselves is our time of contemplation and prayer before God, our time in conversation with the Holy Spirit. Could it be that our “burn out” is directly related to our neglect of our relationship and conversation with Jesus Christ?

Prayer for Illumination:

Author of grace and our Eternal Guide, Jesus,
As I make my pilgrimage through this life,
shed your light upon my way; keep me from slipping or going astray.
Speak to me in the recorded witness of community and church
that through the Spirit’s interpretation of the Scriptures
I may find direction, strength and joy;
through Christ Jesus, Shepherd of my soul. Amen.

Music for Contemplation

This fall Christian musician Todd Agnew released a new album called “Need.” In that album, the first song is titled “Joy Unspeakable.” Let me share the lyrics of this song and a link to listen to this album:

Album “Need” by Todd Agnew

Joy Unspeakable

I’ve found His grace is all complete.
He supplies my every need, mm…mm…
While I sit and learn at Jesus’ feet,
I am free…indeed.
What kind of joy is this?

It’s joy unspeakable…
all You’ve done for me.
It’s indescribable…
just a taste of Your glory.
And it’s unnatural…
not to tell the story
of all You’ve given me.
My words are incomplete.
It’s joy unspeakable.

I’ve found the pleasure I once craved.
It’s joy and peace within….within.
What a wondrous blessing, I am saved
from the awful gulf of sin.

It’s joy unspeakable…
all You’ve done for me.
It’s indescribable…
just a taste of Your glory.
And it’s unnatural…
not to tell the story
of all You’ve given me.
My words are incomplete.
It’s joy unspeakable.

I’ve found the joy no tongue can tell.
How its waves of glory roll!
It’s like an overflowing well…
springing up within my soul.

It’s joy unspeakable…
all You’ve done for me.
It’s indescribable…
just a taste of Your glory.
And it’s unnatural…
not to tell the story
of all You’ve given me.
My words are incomplete.
It’s joy unspeakable.

It’s joy unspeakable…
joy unspeakable…
What kind of joy is this!?

Sunday, First Week of Advent; Isaiah 2: 1-5. The Mountain of the Lord

¹ This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

² In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.

³ Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

⁴ He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

⁵ Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Monday, First Week of Advent; Isaiah 4:2-6… the Branch of the Lord

² In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.

³ Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.

⁴ The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit
of fire.

⁵ Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy.

⁶ It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.

Tuesday, First Week of Advent; Isaiah 11:1-10… The Branch from Jesse

¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;

⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

⁵ Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

⁷ The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

⁸ The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.

⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰ In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

Wednesday, First Week of Advent; Isaiah 25:6-10a… the Lord Almighty

⁶ On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.

⁷ On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;

⁸ he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken.

⁹ In that day they will say,
“Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

¹⁰ The hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain; but Moab will be trampled under him
as straw is trampled down in the manure.

Thursday, First Week of Advent; Isaiah 26:1-6… A Song of Praise

¹ In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city; God makes salvation
its walls and ramparts.

² Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.

³ You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.

⁴ Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

⁵ He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.

⁶ Feet trample it down—
the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor.

Friday, First Week of Advent; Isaiah 29:17-24… the Humble Rejoice

¹⁷ In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field
and the fertile field seem like a forest?

¹⁸ In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

¹⁹ Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD;
the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

²⁰ The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down-

²¹ those who with a word make a man out to be guilty, who ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.

²² Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the house of Jacob:
“No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale.

²³ When they see among them their children,
the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy;
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

²⁴ Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
those who complain will accept instruction.”

Saturday, First Week of Advent; Luke 1:26-38… The Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God.”

³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

(Scriptures taken from the New International Version)

I found a site tonight called “Advent Conspiracy” (www.adventconspiracy.org) that encourages all of us to do less shopping and less spending and more worshipping and giving to those in need this Christmas season. Go to the site to see a great video on giving during Advent.

See the Advent Conspiracy Video...

Recently I was invited to give a 30-40 minute Praise and Thanksgiving Concert at 1st UMC in Warrenton, Ga.  I plan to release an album entitled Simply Breathing in January that will incorporate many of the songs from the praise concert. The following lyrics of It’s You are the heart of this album.

It’s You…

It’s your love that rescued me,
It’s your grace that bought me freedom
It’s your joy that gives me strength to go the distance.
It’s your death that gives me life,
It’s your blood that bought my healing,
It’s your presence that moves mountains in my heart.

I need You, more than anything.
I want You more than anything,
I love You more than anything.
Jesus, it’s you, it’s you, it’s you.

If we could all
just stop throwing stones,
and stoop, knees bent
and write in the dust,

we’d see that the dust
was once stone -
grand, and hard, and proud, and tough -
now ground and dissolved
in grace and tears.

So… how much better
to be a grain of dirt
on that kind prophet’s hands
than a stone
in the cold, accusing Temple
of the pure.

(from The Open Office: a tool for groups exploring a rhythm of life that has a liturgical edge to share resources.)

How often are we like the stone… cold, hard-hearted, distant and judgmental to those we love and to those around us. May the Spirit of Christ break up the hardness of our hearts, grind us into bits of dust through his grace, love and mercy. May we have a heart of tenderness, kindness, compassion for others.

Beannacht (“Blessing”)

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

(Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom, by John Donahue)

Original and Traditional Christmas Songs from Sojourn Artists, including Jamie Barnes, Dirt Poor Robins, Brooks Ritter, and more, of the Louisville, KY-based Sojourn Community. Available now for free or pay-what-you-want.

The emphasis here is on the already/ not-yet tension of Advent, the season of waiting and anticipation before Christmas.  Advent comes to us in the darkest season of the year — a season when the nights are long, the days are cold, and we look with anticipation for the return of the warmth in the spring.  The songs have both a dark sense of anticipation and glimpses of light dawning in the face of the Christ child.

As we celebrate this season, we celebrate that our Messiah has come, and we look with longing to the day when he comes again.  As St. John says, “Amen! Come Lord Jesus.”

Scripture and Prayer – Listening Prayer

“Speak Lord; your servant is listening” 1 Sam 3:10

God speaks to us in many ways: nature, people, and events… In listening to God in prayer, we focus on Scripture as God’s word to me here and now. What the text meant to the original writers/ hearers, to others throughout history, may be helpful – but it can also distract from what God is saying to me now. We are not trying to preach mental sermons to ourselves, nor discover insights that will be helpful to others.

In any relationship, there is a great difference between hearing the words and really listening. So being attentive in this form of prayer is essential. Inner quiet, relaxation, attentiveness, total honesty: “God I feel bored, angry, excited, scared…”

Use only a small passage of scripture. Taste God’s goodness. Ignatius of Loyola called this form of prayer an “application of the senses”. If you wish, you can use the same passage again and again, simplifying, returning to and resting at that point where you met God. Where God spoke to you. Savouring one phrase, one word. Resting “like a child quieted at its mother’s breast” (Ps 131:2)

Scripture is food. It needs to be taken in, chewed over, tasted, to be nourishing.

PICK a passage, eg. Can have it ready the night before, go to sleep with it, wake up with it…

PLACE solitude, can be uninhibited about our response, maybe a “special place”, a “prayer corner”…

POSTURE relax, do a relaxation exercise, music, flowers…

PRESENCE of God. “God you are here, you love me into being, you love breath into me, you wish to speak to me …”

PRAY eg. Begin with the Collect for Purity; ask for God’s Spirit, for grace to listen, to hear God’s word to me now…

Use imagination, PICTURE the scene, become involved, with whom do I identify? “That person is me” (2 Sam 12:7)

Read very slowly. PONDER. Can read aloud. Repeat. Read, Ruminate (Reflect) Respond (PROMISE), Rest. If a word or phrase touches your heart, savour it, repeat it, rest in it, return to it in a later prayer period, carry it in your heart for the rest of the day – for the rest of your life. Don’t hurry. Don’t try to look for lessons or profound thoughts.

Some scriptures: Gods covenant with me Is 54, Is 55; Deut 7:7-11
God loves me and calls me Rom 8:28-30
The choice to respond to God’s love Deut 30:11-20
Any favourite passages, one that suddenly comes to mind, a gospel passage, a psalm, a prayer.

*****

Blessed Lord,
who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
help us so to hear them,
to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them
that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word,
we may embrace and for ever hold fast
the hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Cranmer’s famous collect for Advent 2

(Excerpt from: Liturgy: Worship that Works – Spirituality that Connects)

The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome
but kindly to everyone,
an apt teacher,
patient,
correcting opponents with gentleness.
2 Timothy 2:24-25 (NRSV)

God’s servant must not be argumentative,
but a gentle listener
and a teacher
who keeps cool,
working firmly but patiently
with those who refuse to obey.
2 Timothy 2:24-25 (The Message)

Today we consider gentleness as a fruit of the Spirit.

From birth onward, we seem to know instinctively how to be harsh and even cruel, particularly to those with whom we disagree. Most of us have mastered well the skills of sarcasm and superiority. Gentleness, on the other hand, seems to be something we have to learn, particularly when dealing with those who strongly oppose us.

Yet who among us would not prefer that we ourselves be corrected by a gentle person rather than by someone whose manner is rude and caustic? Paul asks the Corinthians a question whose answer is a foregone conclusion: “What would you prefer? Am I to come to you with a stick, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?”

In our interactions at home, at church, in the workplace, in the world at large, the gentle manner of a Christian believer is a powerful testimony to the alluring gentleness of the Christ to whom we are to bear witness.

Prayer

Give grace, O Lord Jesus, as I seek your way,
that I may grow more and more into your likeness
and that I may bear your ensign
as a banner of hope and direction
before all who are distraught or confused.
Through this time of daily devotion
instill in me your own gentleness,
quiet my over-wrought alarms,
and enable me to rest confidently in your wisdom.
These things grant by the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

(excerpts from This Day: A Wesleyan Way of Prayer. Laurence Hull Stookey)