Preface

We live in a noisy world.  Silence is a rare commodity.  We are surrounded by so much noise that we have learned to tune much of it out.  It’s a survival skill.  Without it, we couldn’t cope.   

Try an experiment sometime.  It won’t take long, maybe 60 seconds.  Sit down in your home and listen.  Really listen.  Start to hear the sounds and distinguish them one from another.  First you’ll hear the obvious things, like the noise of traffic outside, or the TV or radio.  You’ll hear birds outside, or the dog snoring in the next room.  Then you’ll zero in on other less obvious noises.  If you have a forced-air heating, you can hear when the heat comes on.   Sometimes you even hear the furnace initiate it.  Keep listening.  Pretty soon you’ll be able to hear the hum of your refrigerator.

Spiritual discernment can be like that.  You try to find the most important sounds and focus on them, and push the other sounds to the background.

This little book of devotions is written in the sincere hope that you will be able to start to hear the voice of God who is always speaking in our lives, though sometimes quietly and unnoticed.  God bless you as you listen.  I suspect he will turn up the volume for you.  At some exciting point, his voice will be inescapable, and you’ll start telling people what you are hearing.

May the simple act of telling what you have heard God say lead to the building of his kingdom among us.

“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.”

  [Ephesians 3:20-21]

Sunday, January 6, 2008   ¯   The Feast of the Epiphany

Finding the Voice and Increasing

the Volume

God wants everyone in.  Epiphany is a day for celebrating that God’s incomprehensible and uncontainable love is for absolutely everyone, including—to the surprise of the Jews of Jesus’ day—the Gentiles, the outsiders, the bad guys. The famous ones who brought the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were gentile foreigners who apparently practiced astrology.

History dramatically shows that human beings are great at devising schemes of lines and grids (like the squares of a crossword puzzle or a tic-tac-toe game) that keep people in their pigeon-holes.  But God’s kingdom invariably blasts away those lines and sets people free from their little holes. “You are all in,” God declares.  “You are all one.  You are all mine.  And by the way, you also belong to each other—every one of you.”

Having thoughts which suggest this annihilation of the dividing lines is a good clue that we are starting to hear the voice of God.  Once we hear and recognize the quiet dynamite of this world-changing voice, it is possible to focus on it… honing in on it while we eliminate the white-noise and the chatter.  It is then possible to turn up the volume of the voice that says “everyone come,” until we are hearing more and more of that voice and less and less of everything else.

Sometimes God speaks with a loud voice.  In the beginning God said, “Let there be.”   He spoke it and it appeared.  He spoke it in a way that made it happen.  We don’t know how loud it was, but we know it was dynamic.  Not mere words, but words that called a world into being.

Sometimes God speaks in a whisper.  The prophet Elijah waited for God to speak in the storm and fire and earthquake, but finally God spoke “in a still small voice.”  It took Elijah just a little time to hear it, but he recognized the voice which shaped his future.

Singer and song-writer Michael Card wrote a beautiful song called “The Final Word.”   The refrain of that song reflects familiar words from chapter one of John’s Gospel.

“He spoke the Incarnation, and so was born the Son.

His final word was Jesus: he needed no other one.

Spoke flesh and blood so he could bleed and make away divine,

And so was born the baby who would die to make it mine.”[1]

John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…   And the Word became flesh and lived with us, full of grace and truth.”  These simple and powerful words from John 1:14 will repay any amount of reflection.  “The Word became flesh and lived with us.”

So let’s by all means think about it.  We could start with these questions.

Ø      How is the Word, Jesus Christ, living with me right now? 

Ø      Can I imagine what it would be like for Jesus to go from being the eternal God to being flesh and blood like me? 

Ø      Why might the Son of God be willing to exchange his limitless existence for the confines of our humble flesh? 

The Word made flesh is God’s emphatic cry for our hearts.  No one can hear that cry without the work of the Holy Spirit.  But the Holy Spirit too wants everyone in. 

The Holy Spirit moved in the hearts of some pagan magi (tradition calls them the three kings) from Asia Minor.  Those wealthy and learned men, undoubtedly accustomed to living pampered lives, heard that cry and decided to risk everything.  Without benefit of Holiday Inn or MapQuest, and at great personal cost, they made provisions for the long and dangerous and demanding journey to Bethlehem.  The reward for their persistence was seeing the face of the baby that made it occur to them that their wisdom and wealth and power were nothing.  So they got on their knees and worshiped him.  And then came the gift exchange.  Each of the them presented a costly gift to the child, and in return, God transformed their lives.  They were never the same again. 

Ø      How do you imagine their lives were changed?

Ø      How is your life changed by seeing Jesus? 

Here is a strange thing, unrecognized though nearly universal.  Once you see him, you’ll start seeing him in places where you never expected to.  And once you hear the voice, it won’t ever leave you.  But you might have to turn up the volume.  For this there is no remote control.  It’s between you and him.  And the Holy Spirit, who will help you tune in and tune up.  But it will connect you to people in surprising ways.  Because God wants everybody in.  He is crying for the hearts of all.

�

v If you have kids at home… 

If you have children, sit down with them sometime and ask them if they ever hear the voice of God.  You will be surprised at their responses.  Be attentive and resist the temptation to interpret.  Just listen.  Ask them for some examples. 

Then, as a way of responding and teaching, ask your children if they talk to God.  Don’t assume that they’ll say ‘yes’ just because they may pray.  Ask them how and when they talk to God, and ask them to share some examples if they are willing. 

Then, at bedtime or some other appropriate time, pray together with your children.

v For further reflection 

You may want to read

Ø      John 1:1-18

Ø      Matthew 2:1-12 

Nearly every good poetry anthology includes T. S. Eliot’s “The Journey of the Magi,” in which he envisions their journey and its effect on their lives.  It’s a short poem and well worth your consideration.  You can also find it online.  For a commentary on the poem and a link to it, go to www.teachnet.ie/boregan/elliott.html#magi 

X Monday, January 7, 2008 X

The Perfect Companion for Darkness, Silence, and Pain

The way the world celebrates Christmas, you would think it was the invention of Hallmark or Disney.

We know that the real story is different.  There is an unwed pregnant teenager.  There is the shame of her fiancé.  There is the long journey with no room in the inn, so that the delivery room is the filth of the animal shed, with all that that means.  And then there is Herod, whose diabolical jealous brooks no rivals.  To eliminate that possibility, he kills countless babies of approximately the same age in Bethlehem just to make sure the job is done.

It is important to remember these things because our lives don’t always read like Hallmark or Disney enterprises.  Often they more closely resemble the Bible’s nearly-forgotten story of Christmas with all of its human pain and sorrow.  Because the Lord Jesus Christ was born into such circumstances, his story and our story have a palpable connection.  God wants us to know that he knows.  He is not afraid of our mess and our brokenness.  He comes into our lives, fully embraces our mess and our brokenness, and carries them to Calvary where he identifies with us so fully that our sin becomes his sin, and his righteousness our righteousness.

If you are looking for God, chances are you won’t necessarily find him in the mall amidst the twinkling lights of trees and the piles of beautifully wrapped presents.  If you stand still and listen for a while, you are likely to discover, perhaps to your profound surprise, that he is standing beside you and sharing your pain.  That’s why he came.  That’s why he stayed.  “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”[2]

It is surely a good thing for those of us living a Fairfax County lifestyle to acknowledge that though our lives sometimes have the aura of Hallmark and Disney, they are actually fractured through and through.  It is a good thing for us to acknowledge our brokenness.  Not only because we become more aware of God in brokenness, but also because we become more aware of the broken people whose lives touch ours, however silently or anonymously.  It’s brokenness that we all share as heirs of a fallen creation.

All people have had moments in life in which they were confronted with darkness, silence, and pain.  The perfect companion for those moments, and the most faithful one, is the one who was born in utter privation and circumstances of astounding shame and humility.

You can feel alone, but that feeling is Satan’s filthy lie. The truth is that you are never alone.  The perfect companion is with you, the one who loves you so much that he would rather die and go to hell than live without you.

“What came into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” [John 1:5]

�

v If you have kids at home…

Be aware of the challenges of January.   Statistically, more people initiate counseling or psycho-therapy in January than any other month.  Accordingly, seek opportunities to have one-on-one conversations with your children about their feelings.  Be sure to ask how it is going at school and how their peers seem to be doing.  To the degree that it is appropriate, share own feelings about the Post-Christmas Let-Down and your strategy for coping with it.  This is a great time for parents to coach their kids with some life-lessons on how to respond to sadness and disappointment.

Many people put away all the candles after Christmas.  Some people practice the lovely custom of keeping a candle on the table, and lighting it at mealtime to remember all those who live in darkness, and to remember that Jesus Christ is the light of the world—the light no darkness can overcome.  This candle can become the focal point for family prayers not only for self, but especially for others.

v For further reflection

You may want to read

Ø      Psalm 23

Ø      Psalm 103

Ø      II Timothy 4:9-18

See if you can find a recording of Chris Rice’s amazing song, “Welcome to our World” from his CD Deep Enough to Dream.

To find the lyrics for this song, go to www.christianlyricsonline.com/artists/chris-rice  

Love’s Incarnation

An anguish so deep it imprisons the heart.

A peace so fatiguing it dawns with a smart.

A joy that can’t speak.  A grief with no tear.

A bliss that refuses to utter its cheer.

A love so profound it elects to be known

As a child in a stable: you are never alone.

A hope so profound it coheres in retreat.

A faith so extreme it survives in defeat.  

The dark winter sky hides a truth in the cold

Which the world’s refined logic could never unfold.

But Bethlehem’s star which illumines your eyes

Makes you able to see that world-changing surprise:

To a world so in pain that it cannot but mourn,

Love gives you this gift—your Messiah is born.

Look down on the scars as his feet match your stride.

Embrace the wound as he embraces your side.

Remember the thorns: his blood made you his own.

And cherish the nail-prints: his hand holds your own.

When the world’s cold, dark sorrow shall find you again,

Remember the Lamb who is risen to reign,

Who is walking beside you and sharing your pain.

G. P Coleman, ©1990, 2006, used by permission

X Tuesday, January 8, 2008 X

Would You Follow a Star?

“Follow the leader” is a phrase that can evoke an enormous range of responses.   In crossing dangerous terrain, it can be a great comfort to follow someone who knows what she is doing.  On the other hand, human beings instinctively prefer leading to following.

If the leader is not very good, a different dynamic comes into play.  You’ve probably heard the old saw about Christopher Columbus and his leadership style.  “When he set out, he didn’t know where he was going.  When he got there, he didn’t know where he was.  When he came home, he didn’t know where he’d been.  And he did it all on borrowed money.”

You don’t have to read the Bible very far before you come to several narratives in which the people don’t think God has provided a very good leader for them.  (Sometimes that questionable leader is God himself.)   And before you get to any of those narratives, you get to one in Genesis 22 where Abraham would be forgiven if he had wished for stronger leadership from God:  greater clarity, more empowerment, and a chance to voice his input about the purpose of the journey.  But Abraham trusted God and responded with a radical obedience few of us could muster.  And God led Abraham to a reality better than any of his dreams.

An observer of Christian tradition (paintings, statues, hymns, etc.) would suppose that the Bible was chock-full of information about the men who brought the gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  In point of fact, that Bible has almost nothing to say about them.  Were they kings, or wise-men, or magi?  And what’s a magi anyway?   

[Now a brief  excursus in the form of  a word study.  Magi is the plural of magos.  In the Greco-Roman world the word magos had four specific meanings:

The Bible does not say they were kings.  We may fairly safely infer from the term that they probably were from Persia (modern-day Iran) or that general area.  The Bible does not say there were three of them. 

They were certainly not parochial.  In a day when many people never left the village of their birth, these men traveled a considerable distance.

They were also not timid.  When they got to Jerusalem, they got lost and didn’t know what to do next.  They did what modern men usually do not do: they asked for directions.  In fact, they called upon King Herod himself and asked about “the child who has been born king of the Jews,” indicating their intention to go and honor him.  After finding out that they should go to Bethlehem, suddenly the star appeared again and practically led them like a GPS to the place where the child was.

One thing to notice about these magi is that they were odd.  Surely they stood out in the crowd.  Fitting in was not their goal, and it didn’t seem to bother them that others thought them different.

I suppose one could argue that there was a certain logic at work in their motivations and movements, but to most of us the idea of following a star makes about as much sense as a screen-door on a submarine.  Yes, I know that for centuries people navigated the vast oceans by the stars and still do, but this is clearly something else. 

Another thing worth noting is that they were practicing astrology, which was strictly-forbidden in the Old Testament.   And yet God seemed to use this to lead them right to himself.  Hmmm.

Here’s what I know for sure.  They found the infant Christ and worshiped him…  with bowed knees and costly gifts.

I also know they were not only star-followers, they were also dream-followers.  Although it was the star (and a little help from wicked Herod) that brought them to Bethlehem, it was a dream  (from God?) that convinced them not to return to Herod and to get out of Dodge by a different route.

So it comes down to this, doesn’t it?   God may not qualify as a good leader by any of the usual standards, but that does not mean he is a poor leader, nor does it mean we should follow someone else.  Sometimes it means we have to adjust our expectations of what a leader is and does.  Most successful adults have learned to manage the tension between risk and responsibility, although this country is still struggling to escape the implications of its puritan history.  In our culture, there’s an awful lot of emphasis on responsibility.  Just maybe we need to make the decision to follow our stars and our dreams to get to Christ, and to bring others along.  Some of us are more comfortable with that than others, and that’s to be expected.  But God is not going change his leadership style.  And—confound it—he almost never reveals the whole plan at once.

I will offer one more observation on these fascinating events.  This way of getting to Christ and bringing others along involves a commitment to risk.  Letting go is the real gift.  Forget the commercial value of the gold, frankincense and myrrh:  the real sacrificial gift—worth far more than any earthly thing—was a trusting spirit that relied on God to bring them through unimaginable discomfort-zones and right to God himself.  And that was before they ever imagined he was their God.

That kind of trust is exciting to ponder, and it demands something of us who know him as our God. 

So be still and listen.  Give the gift of letting go.  You just might have the thrill of hearing a star calling your name.

�

v If you have kids at home…

You will want to be very prayerful as you think about sharing these ideas with your children.  This requires real maturity, spiritual and otherwise.   As noted earlier, if we want out children to grow up to be healthy people, we have to help them learn about balancing risk and responsibility.  You are probably having conversations along those lines at home.  Be honest with your kids and, as appropriate, share your life-stories on this.  A safe place to discuss this may be one of the most important gifts a parent can give.

v For further reflection

You may want to read

Ø      Genesis 22:1-18

You may also want to read Robert Frost’s “Choose Something Like a Star” which you can find at the following website:

www.chem.yale.edy/~chem125/125/Star.html.

You may also want to listen to Peter Cornelius’ fantastic song, “The Three Kings” sung in a fantastic performance on YouTube by the King’s College Choir in Cambridge.  www.youtube.come//watch?v=a2dNKv48WJQ

The text of that song is below:

Three kings from Persian lands afar

To Jordan follow the pointing star,

And this the quest of the travelers three,

Where they new-born King of the Jews may be.

Full royal gifts they bear for the King;

Gold, incense, myrrh are their offering.

The star shines out with steadfast ray.

The kings to Bethlehem make their way.

And there in worship they bend the knee,

As Mary’s child in her lap they see.

Their royal gifts they show to the King,

Gold, incense, myrrh are their offering.

Thou child of man—lo, to Bethlehem

The kings are traveling—travel with them!

The star of mercy, the star of grace,

Shall lead thy heart to its resting-place,

Gold, incense, myrrh thou canst not bring:

Offer thy heart to the infant King,

Offer thy heart.

Peter Cornelius, 19^th century German, public domain

The Road to Bethlehem

If as Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things,

if we consider ourselves so unimportant that we must fill every     moment of our lives with action,

when will we have time to make the long slow journey across the desert as did the magi,

or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds,

or brood over the coming of the child as did Mary?

For each of us there is a desert to travel,

a star to discover

and a being within ourselves to bring to life."

Edward Ericsson[3]

X Wednesday, January 9, 2008 X

Standing with Mary in the Risks of Motherhood

Motherhood is one of the most special things that can happen to a woman.  But it is a mixed blessing: it usually follows pregnancy and delivery, both of which require patience, and one which may require drugs.

And then there is anticipating the child’s future.  How many hours do mothers spend thinking about this.  Family birthdays to come, schools, graduations, careers, weddings, grandchildren.  A whole host of anticipations of the future are set in motion by the prospect of being a mom.

Most people don’t think of motherhood as a risk, but it would be great if we could check with Mary on this.  From the beginning she knew the child was in some very important ways not her own.

She had not chosen the Father.  God had chosen her to be the mother.  And yet, in that culture, she would depend on Joseph, her intended husband, for support.  In a culture where a woman was entirely dependent on her husband for everything, it must have been a frightening thought for Mary that this child was not the child of her husband, and not the child of any human man.  Would Joseph ever understand?  Would he ever truly accept?  What would it feel like to share a home with a husband, and have no marital relations with him until the birth of the child? [Matthew 1:25].

So Mary had plenty to think about, when suddenly it became necessary to make an arduous journey.  Rome needed a census for tax purposes, and they demanded it immediately.  So this very pregnant woman goes off on this frightening journey in the care her husband could provide, knowing full well that the normal time for delivery would arrive before they could get home.  Where would her baby be born?  Who would be the midwife?  Who would help out in those first exhausted post-delivery days

We don’t know what Mary thought about those questions as she traveled, but we do know that none of them found satisfactory answers as events played out.

“The time came for her to be delivered,” says Luke, sounding almost casual to our stained-glass ears.  And so it sounds, too, in the voice of the reader on Christmas Eve.  “The time came for her to be delivered,” says the reader in a beatific tone.  But if you really think about it, it should probably be read with great intensity, fear, and anxiety.  And maybe a scream.

They couple can only find shelter in a dirty animal barn, so off they go for the miracle which was expected and yet so surprising.  We may assume all the struggle of the human body in the taxing job of giving birth.   Hours of contractions.  Agonizing pain.  Finally pushing and the tearing of flesh.  And there in the blood and mucus, Joseph sees the face of God.  “And that Babe, the world’s redeemer, first revealed his sacred face.”[4]

One more thing.  When they took their child to the Temple to present him to the Lord, they met an aged prophet, Simeon, who has been promised he would not die without seeing the Messiah.  The Spirit brought Simeon to the Temple at the very moment when the Holy Family was there.  Simeon walked up to them and took the child into his arms and spoke the beautiful blessing we know so well: “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace according to your word…”  While the parents were dazzled and amazed, Simeon “blessed” them and said to Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” 

“Some blessing!” I would have said in her place.  “Can’t we ever just be a family?  Are you saying that my child will be a controversial stumbling block, and that my heart is to be pierced with sadness?”   Reasonable questions.  The answers, we know, were anything but reasonable.

So here is the question.  Are we ready to stand with Mary in the risks of birth?  Are we ready to accept all the unanswered questions which accompany the divine invitation to make the world new?

�

 v If you have kids at home… 

Spend some time talking with your children about their own birth, and the experiences which preceded it.  Children really do love to hear about these things, and they keep on asking new questions. 

Use this discussion to turn their attention to the birth of the Savior and how different it was from a normal human birth.  Then help them understand that this is all part of God’s gift to them.  While it’s true that God did this for the whole world, it’s equally true that he did it for each of us individually—a wonderful thought. 

v For further reflection

You may want to read again

Ø      Luke 2: 1-52

Ø      Matthew 1:18 to 2:21

They are long readings, but well worth the time.

Mary’s Song    by Luci Shaw[5]

Blue homespun and the bend of my breast

keep warm this small hot naked star

fallen to my arms.  (Rest…

you who have had so far

to come.)  Now nearness satisfies

the body of God sweetly.   Quiet he lies

whose vigor hurled

a universe.  He sleeps

whose eyelids have not closed before.

His breath (so slight it seems

no breath at all) once ruffled the dark deeps

to sprout a world.

Charmed by doves’ voices, the whisper of straw,

he dreams,

hearing no music from his other spheres.

Breath, mouth, ears, eyes

he is curtailed

who overflowed all skies,

all years.

Older than eternity, now he

is new.  Now native to earth as I am, nailed

to my poor planet, caught that I might be free,

blind in my womb to know my darkness ended,

brought to this birth

for me to be new-born,

and for him to see me mended

I must see him torn.

The Risk of Birth   by Madeleine L’Engle[6]

This is no time for a child to be born,

With the earth betrayed by war & hate

And a nova lighting the sky to warn

That time runs out & the sun burns late.

That was no time for a child to be born,

In a land in the crushing grip of Rome;

Honour and truth were trampled by scorn—

Yet here did the Saviour make his home.

When is the time for love to be born?

The inn is full on the planet earth,

And by greed & pride the sky is torn—

Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.
 

X Thursday, January 10, 2008 X

Called To Be Prisms And Mirrors 

The German theologian Helmut Thielecke told the story of watching his year-old son play in front of a mirror, fascinated as he came to the giddy understanding that it was himself he was seeing in the mirror.  Perhaps you have a similar memory.

I clearly remember the brilliantly sunny day in first grade that we were each given a prism for our science lesson, and allowed to have the joy of seeing and discovering refraction at work.  It was my first time seeing a prism. Wow.  Light has color.  What an open door for the imagination.

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.”  Knowing myself as I do, I have a hard time believing that I am the light of the world.  Sin is not just the bad things I do.  It’s the bad things I think and feel, and the bad things I would do if I thought I could get away with it.   Hence my struggle accepting Jesus’ declaration that I am the light of the world, (though I am willing to take him at his word.)

It’s easier for me to think of myself as a prism or a mirror.  I don’t have to be the light, I just have to reflect and refract it.  I can do that.  If God supplies the light, what a joy to be allowed the task of reflecting and refracting it.!    My confidence in his light is actually an inexhaustible source of generosity.  As long as he keeps shining, I’ll keep reflecting and refracting.

Jesus Christ is the Light of the world.  He said so himself. [John 8:12 and John 9:5]  His light will not go out.  No darkness can overcome it.  And all we have to do is to be mirrors and prisms.

At graduation a parent once thanked me for all the hard work I’d done with his daughter.  My immediate response was, “It never felt like work.”   I don’t know where that response came from, but it convinces me that working with that student had been mirror and prism work.

Think about your own life and ask yourself where you have been allowed to be a mirror or prism.  It’s a great question for spiritual reflection, and you will be astonished at the answers.  You have become so good at reflecting and refracting, you can do it without even being aware of it.  Take some time to tune in to this phenomenon in your life and focus on it.  You’ll be humbled and amazed.

That doesn’t mean that it’s always easy.  It can be very difficult to be God’s mirror or prism in certain situations.  There are difficult people in this world: I call them EGRs, “extra grace required.”  And there are all kinds of dark places in the world we live in that could use some radical brightening.  Some on other continents and some around the corner.  It is as if God has made of us a great chandelier, with mirrors and prisms hanging in a beautiful arrangement to catch the light and disperse it.

Michael Card wrote a beautiful song about the importance of mentors in the family of the church.  The song is called “Bearers of the Light,” and this is the refrain:

“The Light we must bear

Is the Light we must share,

Is the Light which illumines the darkness.

The promises kept give us grace to accept

This burden of sharing the Light.”[7]

The late Mother Theresa of Calcutta was asked in an interview about how she had managed to do so much good in the world.  She famously replied, “I am just a pencil in the hand of God.”   With this reply she deflected any honor or glory, and gave God the credit for whatever good had been accomplished.  This is what we do when we take up the task to be mirrors and prisms, acknowledging that the light comes from God, and will never go out.

A multitude of doors for new ministry are opening for this congregation.  Whatever happens next—and right now only God knows—will happen because the good people of Prince of Peace have decided that it’s outrageously rewarding to be mirrors and prisms for the undying light of God.

Do the world a favor: shine!

�

v If you have kids at home…

If your kids are young enough, get some mirrors and prisms and have some fun on a sunny day illustrating this principal of physics and its application to our spiritual journey.  What a relief to know that we don’t have to be the light.  We don’t manufacture it, or labor over it.  We just clear our mirrors and prisms and let God’s light do the work.

v For further reflection

Ø      John 1:1-18

Ø      Isaiah 9:2-7

See if you can find a copy of Michael Card’s fantastic CD Poeima with its beautiful song, “Bearers of the Light.”  It’s available at Amazon as an MP3 download.  You’ll quickly begin to wonder how you ever did without this collection.

X Friday, January 11, 2008 X

Coming Together at

the Whisper’s Crescendo

In the 80s there was television series called “The A-Team.”  I remember almost nothing about the show, except for the line which survived the show and took its place in TV history: “I love it when a plan comes together.”[8]

There are different ways of telling when a plan comes together, all of them valid.  But sometimes it’s difficult to objectify just what it is that signals that the plan is coming together.  Sometimes you just feel it.  Every leader knows this as the existential fear that if you don’t stay in tune you’ll be at the rear of the movement instead of the front.  Sometimes we leaders are just trying to stay ahead of the people.  That can be a wonderful thing.

One of Newton’s laws, the law of inertia, states that “bodies at rest will remain at rest, and bodies in motion will remain in motion, unless acted upon by some outside force.”  Prince of Peace Lutheran Church is a body in motion.  Countless ministries have sprung up from roots no one detected, and from seeds no one remembers planting.  And people in this congregation have a sense of wanting to be in on the action.  I heard one member of the Board of Servant Leaders say that he appreciated being on that committee (which meets five to six hours per month) because he just loved hearing about all that was happening.

One of the signs of the plan coming together is when more and more people start to talk about it.  Not necessarily how to start it, because in this “bodies-in-motion” congregation, it has usually already sprung up and started growing.  Then people start to talk about what to do next.  “How do we help this ministry grow?”  “How do we take what we’ve got and touch more lives.”  “How do we provide support for this ministry and the people it serves?”

Sometimes people ask hard questions.  “Do we have the resources for this?”  “Is this the right ministry for us?”  “Are we sure this will succeed?   Is this the right time for this ministry?”  All good questions, but all in some way irrelevant if the ministry has already sprung up and starting growing. 

I once heard a fantastic student sermon entitled, “Right Here, Right Now, with What We’ve Got.”  I’ve never forgotten the optimistic spirit of that sermon.  You know from the title what it was about.  God spoke to me more clearly in that sermon than he has in sermons preached by some of the finest preachers in the world.  I’ve kept that thought in my heart for years, and it is a part of my ongoing spiritual reflection about what God wants me to do in my own discipleship.

The plan is coming together, and you will soon be receiving reports of what people have heard God say to them.  Keep listening, and add your own insights from your spiritual reflection.

One thing is sure.  God is building a kingdom, and he wants everybody in.  And he is opening up the doors for you to be a part of it.  C. S. Lewis once wrote that “God allows us to do slowly and blunderingly that which he could do perfectly and in the twinkle of an eye.”

In the Revelation to John [1:5,6], John wrote: “To him who loves us and freed us by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever Amen.”  There’s much to mine here from this rich lode of ore.  Christ loves us.  He freed us by his blood.   He has already made us to be a kingdom of priests serving his God and Father.  He is not considering it.  It’s done.  He has made us a kingdom of priests in service.

That’s not a whisper.  It is a loud declaration.  A bold  announcement.  Do you hear it?

There is an old saying, “When it’s all been said and done, more has usually been said than done.”

God is calling his people to action, reminding them that they are a kingdom.  Christ is moving his people to be “God’s loud hand”[9] in the world.  It’s who we are and what we were created for.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for a life of good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them.”  [Ephesians 2:10]

It’s coming together.  Not only can you clearly hear the voice.  Now you can also see the arrows on the ground… the places where we should place our feet so that we can join the movement to become “God’s loud hand” in the world.  A hand at work to make the world a new creation.

Who would want to miss out on that?

�

v If you have kids at home…

Talk with your kids about how they want to be involved in serving in the world.

There is a wonderful children’s book called, “The Spyglass,” by Richard Paul Evans.  It would be wonderful to share with the whole family.

v For further reflection

How open am I to hearing what God has to say?

Is God calling me to any particular ministry?

Where are my gifts needed in the world to make a difference?

How can I collaborate with others to create synergy for ministry?

X Saturday, January 12, 2008 X

Finding Joy In The Divinely Incomplete

I think about the ending of the Narnia Chronicles of C. S. Lewis when I observe that we have come to the end of this little book, but to the beginning of something else.

We are still listening, observing, planning and working to establish the shape of that something else.  But we know this: whatever we attempt together, we live in hope of a future and certain eternal dawn, preceded by unknown days spent in good company.  The good company is important, because we are not to do it alone.  God calls us to work together.  A friend once asked me to help him lay a tile floor in a powder room so small that we could barely fit in there to do the work.  Neither of us had ever laid a tile floor before.  We thought it would easy.  It wasn’t.  It was hard work.  But it was fun.  We laughed so hard we hurt.  And the floor got done, too.  I would do it again.

There is an African proverb that says: “If you want to go fast, go alone.  But if you want to go far, go with companions.”  Hmmm.

Sometimes growing God’s kingdom can feel like planting seeds and waiting for rain.  It’s not exactly a hopeless feeling, but it puts things in perspective.  We do what we can do.  Then we depend on God.

Which means that until that eternal dawn previously mentioned, we labor every day in the confidence that there is such a thing as beautifully unfinished.

This is a hard lesson to learn in our task-list, blackberry-linked, 24/7 world.

“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.”  [Psalm 127:2]

When I go to bed each night leaving so much undone, the undone is perhaps beautifully unfinished.  God restores me through sleep and rest and nourishment and companionship, and then I start again on the work he has called me to do, happy to leave it beautifully unfinished because I have come to end of what I can contribute on any given day. 

Which leaves room for the contributions of others.  People who might feel unneeded or redundant if I finish the job.  Relying on the companionship of others so we can go the distance.  Besides, we already know that God wants everyone in.  No one is to be excluded.

And then, after every human effort, we “wait for rain.”  Relying on God, who will bring it to completion.  As only he can.

“Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.”

[Psalm 127:1]

I wonder if we can learn to truly live this way.  I don’t know.  I’m still working on it.

I am honored that God wants my gifts for his projects.  No one has ever made me a better proposal.

I hope I can honor God by using my gifts as appropriate, and letting God be God. 

I hope it is the same for you.

Meanwhile, we trust the risen one.

We continue on, “steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because [we] know that [our] labor in the Lord

is never in vain.”  [I Corinthians 15:58]

And while I labor on God’s new creation, he makes a new creation out of me.

�

v For further reflection

Psalm 127

Ø      What is there that must be left undone?

Ø      What do I think God will do with it?

Soli Deo Gloria

To God Alone the Glory

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

8304 Old Keene Mill Road

Springfield VA 22152

www.poplc.org

© Copyright 2007  Gerald Patrick Coleman