the word made flesh, day 2

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
Almighty God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of your Holy Spirit.  We offer our lives as home to you and ask for grace and strength to live as your faithful, joyful children always.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. (A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 85

Scripture for the Day: Colossians 1:15-23

Reading for Reflection:

Christ is the human face of God.  Jesus is the autobiography of God.  In Christ, God was spelling himself out, expressing himself.  Jesus was the audible, visible Word who expressed the heart of the inaudible, invisible God.  (F. Dale Brunner from Theology, Notes, and News - October 1999)

 

     The first verb Mark used to describe Jesus' action is "came."  Jesus came to be with us.  God's first move is to be among us—Immanuel, God is with us.  God comes to us long before we come to God.  We may think we are in pursuit of God, but in reality we are only responding to a God who has been pursuing us.  (Embracing the Love of God by James Bryan Smith)

 

     At Trafalgar Square in the city of London stands a statue of Lord Nelson.  Resting atop a tall pillar, it towers too high for passersby to distinguish his features.  For this reason, about forty years ago a new statue—an exact replica of the original—was erected at eye level so everyone could see him.  God also transcends our ability to see; the eyes of our understanding cannot discern divine features.  But we have set before us an exact representation, "the image of the invisible God." To know God we must look only at Jesus. (The Trivialization of God by Donald W. McCullough)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set our people free;
From our fears and sins release us;
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
 
Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone,
By thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.

Closing Prayer:
Come, Lord Jesus!
     You are my righteousness.  You are my goodness, the cause and the reason for goodness.  You are my life and the light of life.  You are my love and all my loving.  You are the most noble language I can ever utter, my words and all their meaning, my wisdom, my truth, and the better part of myself.  Amen. (Preparing for Jesus by Walter Wangerin Jr.)

the word made flesh. day 1

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
Almighty God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of your Holy Spirit.  We offer our lives as home to you and ask for grace and strength to live as your faithful, joyful children always.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. (A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 85

Scripture for the Day: John 1:1-14

Reading for Reflection:

Incarnating

by  J. Barrie Shepherd

 

Becoming

putting on

clothing oneself

assuming flesh

bearing the bone and blood

mortality that bears us all

through what we call

for better or worse

this life

how did he do it?

Was it like

climbing

clumsy

into

heavy clanking armor

slipping on

a skin-tight wet suit

taking on oneself a body-cast

of stiff unyielding clay?

Or

was there more of

taking off

a shedding

of the iridescent skin

of fair eternity

a love-filled

laying to one side

of glory, majesty and power

before the naked plunge into the

depths to seek a treasure long encrusted

by the sifting sands of night?

(Weavings, Volume XXVI, Number 1)

And God ripped His Heart from His very chest and He transplanted that Heart into one like us, wrapping it in flesh and bones and giving Him a face and a name.  And God's Heart lived with us.  He walked with us, talked with us, laughed, and cried with us and we saw what God's Heart looked like…it was pumping with the blood of grace and truth.  (from John 1:1-14 JLB)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set our people free;
From our fears and sins release us;
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
 
Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone,
By thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.

Closing Prayer:
Come, Lord Jesus!
     You are my righteousness.  You are my goodness, the cause and the reason for goodness.  You are my life and the light of life.  You are my love and all my loving.  You are the most noble language I can ever utter, my words and all their meaning, my wisdom, my truth, and the better part of myself.  Amen. (Preparing for Jesus by Walter Wangerin Jr.)

trust, day 7

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

 

                                                                                   ~St. Ignatius 

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 31

Scripture for the Day: Psalm 37:1-11

Reading for Reflection:

     So I got my lawn mower stuck in the mud in my back yard last week.  Well, it actually wasn't me, and it wasn't actually my lawn mower, but that's a longer story.  Anyway, it was stuck in a ditch in the back of the yard where the pond drains out into a creek that runs behind our property.  It was stuck good too; the tires were half way buried in the mud.  Three people pushing still couldn't get it out, in fact, the harder we tried the deeper it went.  Ever feel like that?  Like the harder you try to extricate yourself from those broken and hurtful patterns, or ways of thinking; the harder you try to get yourself out of the mud, the deeper you seem to sink?
      It is like when you try to rest.  Or when you try to go to sleep.  Or you try to be still inside.  The trying seems to make it a more remote possibility.  Or when you try not to worry, or not to think about something in particular.  It seems like the more effort and energy you focus on the problem, the deeper it seems to get.  Maybe that's why Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6 not to worry, but instead to pray.  After all, that's where the peace of God (which surpasses all understanding) enters the picture; in the prayer...letting go of worry and holding on to God. 
      And maybe that's why a little later on he tells us, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:8-9).  Peace comes not when our hearts (and thoughts) are consumed with the problem, but when they are consumed with that which is excellent and praiseworthy...God himself. 
      Years ago I had a friend that made the Olympic Team in the 100 meter hurdles.  I mean this guy could run--and still can, although he's in his early 50's.  Anyway, once I asked him how he was able to run the hurdles so fast and so effortlessly (seemingly).  And of course he talked about practice, and preparation, and working at it.  But he also talked about the movements becoming so familiar and natural to him over time that he was able to knock a quarter off of each hurdle with his leg without actually touching the hurdle.  Is that not amazing?  I told him that if I tried that, I would kill myself hitting the hurdle.  And then he said, "You can't focus on the hurdle, you have to focus on the finish line.  If you focus on the hurdle, you hit the hurdle."  And to this day I still remember that little piece of wisdom, because it is not only true on the track, but also in life.  We must keep our eyes focused on the good part, that which is excellent, i.e. on the finish line.  If we are consumed by the hurdles, we will never get over them; in fact, they will actually seem to grow larger and larger.
      Maybe that's why David counsels us (in Psalm 37:1-4) not to fret, but to: "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:1-4).  In fact he says a little later on "do not fret—it leads only to evil."  The dictionary definition of the word fret is to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, or the like.  Or to cause corrosion; gnaw into something.  In other words, fretting is a consuming activity.  Don't do that!  Instead, be consumed with that which is beautiful...God...trust in Him, delight in Him.
      Anyway, so the mower would not budge.  We could do nothing, in and of ourselves, to get it out.  We would have to rely on something bigger and stronger than us to pull it out for us.  So we drove a four-by-four into the back yard, tied a rope to it, and pulled the mower out.  The mower had to be attached to the truck.  Funny that the Hebrew word for trust literally means to attach.  Of course it does.
      So what is it exactly that I'm trying to say?  Good question.  I'll have to think about it some more and get back with you.  Just kidding...sort of.  I guess I'm saying that when we get consumed with the doing of something, sometimes it actually hinders rather than helps that certain something become a reality.  Sometimes the harder we try the more stuck we become.  So am I saying not to try?  In one sense, not at all, but in another sense, maybe I am.  Maybe what we really need to be doing is focusing our attention and affection and efforts on the beauty and character and majesty of God instead of whatever it may be that we are trying to solve or correct or conquer.  And as we are more and more consumed with that magnificent vision of Him, we will be more and more captured by the vision that we see.  And as Paul put it so beautifully, transformed into that very image: "We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18).  Thanks be to God!
                                                                         ~Jim Branch (June 2013)


When I am not convinced that God is good, and when I underestimate the seriousness of my struggle to believe in his goodness, I will quietly—but with tight-lipped resolve—take over responsibility for my own well-being. (Finding God by Larry Crabb)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know “Thus saith the Lord!”
 
Chorus:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
 
O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
Just in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
 
Yes ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
 
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.


Closing Prayer:
But I trust in you, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.”  My times are in your hands.  Amen. (Psalm 31:14-15)

trust, day 6

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

 

                                                                                   ~St. Ignatius 

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 31

Scripture for the Day: Luke 22:31-38

Reading for Reflection:

The beginning of a path is always the most important.  Miss the entrance, and you never walk the path.  Perhaps the narrow gate that opens onto the route toward God, the gate that many Christians think they have walked through but never have, can be found in an idea so simple that we often miss its force:

You know you’re finding God when you believe that God is good no matter what happens.

 

     We will know that we have found God when nothing can shake our confidence in his unchanging goodness. (Finding God by Larry Crabb)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know “Thus saith the Lord!”
 
Chorus:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
 
O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
Just in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
 
Yes ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
 
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.


Closing Prayer:
But I trust in you, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.”  My times are in your hands.  Amen. (Psalm 31:14-15)

trust, day 5

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

 

                                                                                   ~St. Ignatius 

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 31

Scripture for the Day: Job 42:1-6

Reading for Reflection:

The story was of a poor woman who had been carried triumphantly through a life of unusual sorrow.  She was giving the history of her life to a kind visitor on one occasion, and at the close the visitor said, feelingly, “O Hannah, I do not see how you could bear so much sorrow!” “I did not bear it,” was the quick reply; “the Lord bore it for me.” “Yes,” said the visitor “that is the right way.  You must take your troubles to the Lord.” “Yes,” replied Hannah, “but we must do more than that; we must leave them there.  Most people,” she continued, “take their burdens to Him, but they bring them away with them again, and are just as worried and unhappy as ever.  But I take mine, and I leave them with Him, and come away and forget them.  And if the worry comes back, I take it to Him again; I do this over and over, until at last I just forget that I have any worries, and am at perfect rest.” (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith) 

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know “Thus saith the Lord!”
 
Chorus:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
 
O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
Just in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
 
Yes ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
 
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.


Closing Prayer:
But I trust in you, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.”  My times are in your hands.  Amen. (Psalm 31:14-15)

trust, day 4

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

 

                                                                                   ~St. Ignatius 

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 31

Scripture for the Day: Proverbs 3:5-6

Reading for Reflection:

This is our Lord’s will, that our prayer and our trust be both alike large. For if we trust not as much as we pray, we do not fully worship our Lord in our prayer, and also we tarry and pain ourselves. The cause is, I believe, that we know not truly that our Lord is Ground on whom our prayer springeth; and also that we know not that it is given us by the grace of His love. For if we knew this, it would make us to trust to have, of our Lord’s gift, all that we desire. For I am sure that no man asketh mercy and grace with true meaning, but if mercy and grace be first given to him. (Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich)
 
Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know “Thus saith the Lord!”
 
Chorus:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
 
O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
Just in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
 
Yes ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
 
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.


Closing Prayer:
But I trust in you, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.”  My times are in your hands.  Amen. (Psalm 31:14-15)

trust, day 3

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

 

                                                                                   ~St. Ignatius 

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 31

Scripture for the Day: Psalm 125

Reading for Reflection:

During this week Judas and Peter present me with the choice between running away from Jesus in despair or returning to him in hope.  Judas betrayed Jesus and hanged himself.  Peter denied Jesus and returned to him in tears.

     Sometimes despair seems an attractive choice, solving everything in the negative.  The voice of despair says, ”I sin over and over again.  After endless promises to myself and others to do better next time, I find myself back again in the old dark places.  Forget about trying to change.  I have tried for years.  It didn’t work and it will never work.  It is better that I get out of people’s way, be forgotten, no longer around, dead.”

     This strangely attractive voice takes all uncertainties away and puts an end to the struggle.  It speaks unambiguously for the darkness and offers a clear-cut negative identity.

     But Jesus came to open my ears to another voice that says, “I am your God, I have molded you with my own hands, and I love what I have made.  I love you with a love that has no limits, because I love you as I am loved.  Do not run away from me.  Come back to me—not once, not twice, but always again.  You are my child.  How could you ever doubt that I will embrace you again, hold you against my breast, kiss you and let my hands run through your hair?  I am your God—the God of mercy and compassion, the God of pardon and love, the God of tenderness and care.  Please do not say that I have given up on you, that I cannot stand you anymore, that there is no way back.  It is not true.  I so much want you to be with me.  I so much want you to be close to me.  I know all your thoughts.  I hear all your words.  I see all of your actions.  And I love you because you are beautiful, made in my own image, an expression of my most intimate love.  Do not judge yourself.  Do not condemn yourself.  Do not reject yourself.  Let my love touch the deepest, most hidden corners of your heart and reveal to you your own beauty, a beauty that you have lost sight of, but which will become visible to you again in the light of my mercy.  Come, come, let me wipe away your tears, and let my mouth come close to your ear and say to you, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.’”

     This is the voice that Jesus wants us to hear.  It is the voice that calls us always to return to the one who has created us in love and wants to re-create us in mercy.  Peter heard that voice and trusted it.  As he let that voice touch his heart, tears came—tears of sorrow and tears of joy, tears of remorse and tears of peace, tears of repentance and tears of gratitude.

     It is not easy to let the voice of God’s mercy speak to us because it is a voice asking for an always open relationship, one in which sins are acknowledged, forgiveness received, and love renewed.  It does not offer us a solution, but a friendship.  It does not take away our problems, but promises not to avoid them.  It does not tell us where it all will end, but assures us that we will never be alone.  A true relationship is hard work because loving is hard work, with many tears and many smiles.  But it is God’s work and worth every part of it.

     O Lord, my Lord, help me to listen to your voice and choose your mercy. (The Road to Daybreak by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know “Thus saith the Lord!”
 
Chorus:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
 
O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
Just in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
 
Yes ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
 
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.


Closing Prayer:
But I trust in you, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.”  My times are in your hands.  Amen. (Psalm 31:14-15)

trust, day 2

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of your presence, your love, and your strength.  Help us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things.

 

                                                                                   ~St. Ignatius 

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 31

Scripture for the Day: Psalm 20:1-9

Reading for Reflection:

Your willingness to let go of your desire to control your life reveals a certain trust.  The more you relinquish your stubborn need to maintain power, the more you will get in touch with the One who has the power to heal and guide you.  And the more you get in touch with that divine power, the easier it will be to confess to yourself and to others your basic powerlessness. (The Inner Voice of Love by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

God’s power, Presence, and love, then, come together to establish a solid foundation on which to build trust.  Translated into practice, to trust means to be convinced that God is fully aware of our circumstances, is present in the midst of them, and is acting in wisdom, power, and love to accomplish what is best for us. (Rhythms of the Inner Life by Howard R. Macy)


Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know “Thus saith the Lord!”
 
Chorus:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!
 
O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
Just in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
 
Yes ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
 
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.


Closing Prayer:
But I trust in you, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.”  My times are in your hands.  Amen. (Psalm 31:14-15)