The Reversal of God

First blog of the new year - so Happy New Year! Think this will be a year full of possibilities, promises fulfilled, deeper places in God and radical change in the church! - I'm hoping.

I know new year tends to thunk right in the middle of the Christmas season (maybe more so in Scotland), but my contemplation in the second 'week' of the exercises is around the Christmas narratives. This past week I have been looking particularly at the shepherds and the wise men.

The thing that really stood out for me in the shepherds' story is this vast array of heaven's army appearing in the sky to the poor (in every sense of the word) shepherds - the glory of the Lord surrounding them, the terrified reaction; the pronouncement of the angel that the Lord, the Saviour, the Messiah has tonight appeared and that this will bring great joy to all people. What is the sign? Is it that a vast army has been assembled to bring freedom from Roman oppression, crucifixion and the burden of taxation and set the Jewish people free at last? That some great spiritual teacher has appeared among the Pharisees? or a new radical High Priest has taken over at the temple? Perhaps the nationalistic God that is portrayed in some of the narratives in the Hebrew scriptures has appeared to smite Judea's enemies; or a mighty prophet has arisen bringing God's pronouncements? What is the sign...........?

................."You'll find him wrapped snugly"

Eh?

The Great Reversal.

The God who comes in weakness and powerlessness - the God who is wrapped snugly - who comes to the weak and outcast and humble and ordinary and powerless and seemingly inconsequential and is received with joy, wonder and rejoicing.

When the wise men appear in Jerusalem among the rich, the important and the powerful, the people of consequence and authority - the news "deeply disturbs" them.

And Jesus ministry as it progresses brings even more comfort to the poor and even less comfort to the powerful.

The reversal - the anarchic God; the God of the unexpected. Wrapped Snugly!

This years conundrum - How do I embody the reversal of God?

Mystery

Over the last week my spiritual exercises have focused on contemplation of the Trinity. Around this eternal community of 3 persons in one God who live in mutual praise and companionship and devotion to one another. And around Jesus as the second person, of his role in both creation and recreation. The embodied Word which spoke everything into being.

Ignatius asks us to contemplate the world, firstly to spend time with what we see, then what we hear and then what actions we see in the world. That in itself was very powerful. Then to contrast this mystery with the simple story of Mary. There were some verses to read from the Gospel of Luke.

And the words I can't get away from are - "God sent".

This loving God, who is relational to the core of his being, his response to the brokenness and to all that he sees, hears and to the actions of people is to act in time and space. To send to a young girl, a word, which became, literally, embodied through her "Yes" response; in order to draw his creation back into this loving companionship and mutual love which God experiences all the time.

He is, always was, and always will be, drawing us right into the centre of himself until we can hardly spot the join.

Living attentively in Advent

It is easy to rush around so much at this time of year, living distractedly, and that's a shame because we miss out on a season which is so rich in symbolism and where, if we can find time to slow down and live a bit counter-culturally, we become much more aware of the incredible power and mystery of Christmas.

"We need Advent because everything in our culture tells us that this season is about buying - and we need more than anything to be reminded of God's perfect gift to all of humankind.

We need Advent because everything in our culture tells us that Christmas begins sometime in October when the shops start to fill with Christmas merchandise - and we need to be reminded that we are waiting, that God's time is not our time, that the world waited a long time for a saviour.

We need Advent because everything in our culture tells us that our lives should be built around our jobs, our purchasing power, and our frantic schedules - and we need to remind ourselves that we belong to God. We need to tell and hear the story of a God who chose to become poor and vulnerable."

In Advent we think of the God who came, the God who comes to us now and the God who will come. Some of the very things we get caught up in can be the things, if we live attentively, that can help us to become more focused.

Here are some ideas;

Light - we celebrate the return of the light - that's why we light more candles on our Advent wreath as the weeks go on - anticipating the conquering of the light over darkness as we reach the shortest day and the days begin to get longer (not sure of the date this year but it's normally around the 22 or 23rd of December) - live aware of the light around us - the sky and how it looks as we travel into work or look out our windows or go about our last minute preparations, or light a candle at night.

Evergreen - we bring evergreen branches and trees into our house and decorate them with symbols of fruit - they're called Christmas trees. Instead of seeing this as a chore, we can do this attentively realising that this symbolises the fruitfulness of the previous year (sometimes we collect ornaments from our travels) and as we place them on our tree, we can reflect on the previous years fruitfulness and the promise of fruitfulness to come. God's mercies are not all behind us - they are new every morning.

Giving gifts - intentionally seeking to bless someone with something thoughtful and well chosen as a way of symbolising the importance of that person to us and saying something about our relationship - sending cards can be the same - seeking to bless someone, writing a small blessing on their card. These become sacraments - they are symbols of something much deeper - signs of grace.

Eating together - whether with family or friends or serving someone who is homeless or without friends and family, there is something that seems to be in the heart of God about sharing hospitality and love through sharing a meal.

Among the poor, among the proud, among the persecuted, among the privileged
Christ is coming

In the private house, in the market place, in the wedding feast, in the judgement hall
Christ is coming

With a gentle touch, with an angry word, with a clear conscience, with burning love,
Christ is coming

That the kingdom might come, that the world might believe, that the powerful might stumble, that the humble might be raised
Christ is coming

Within us, without us, among us, before us, in this place, in every place, for this time, for all time
Christ is coming

He is coming to make all things new

Advent

Waiting Prayer for Advent

God of the watching ones,

give us Your Benediction.

God of the waiting ones,

give us Your good word for our souls.

God of the watching ones,the waiting ones,the slow and suffering ones,

give us Your benediction,

Your good word for our souls,

that we might rest.

God of the watching ones,the waiting ones,the slow and suffering ones,

And of the angels in heaven,

And of the child in the womb,

give us Your benediction,

Your good word for our souls,

that we might rest and rise

in the kindness of Your company.

In the name of the Father,

And the Son,

And the Holy Spirit

Amen.

Advent is my favourite time of year – we focus a lot on the death of Christ on the cross but for me there is amazing power in grasping the full implications of the incarnation of God. God come in the flesh. God, putting himself in a position of complete vulnerability and dependency on his own creation. To grasp this is to begin to understand something of the absolute love of God for us.

Advent comes from the Latin word meaning ‘coming’ or ‘arrival’ – a time of preparation for the coming of Christ into the world – it looks back to the first coming of Christ and forward to the return of Christ. The spiritual disciplines are of repentance, fasting and waiting and Advent is characterised by attitudes of longing, anticipation and hope. A time to prepare for the re-birth of Christ in our lives. The word itself implies a drawing near or immanence as God sets in motion the process by which he draws near to all people in the person of Jesus.

“A time of waiting in contemplation for the presence of Christ within us, we are called to bear Christ, to live Christ for others.” Taize

There is something of mystery – waiting with Mary: just as Christ is forming in her body, so we reflect on Christ being formed in our lives.

Christmas is a season not a single day and so we can live over the next few weeks in anticipation of God breaking into our world. Becoming flesh and dwelling among us.

John 1
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (The Message says – But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.) They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.”

From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

So, with eternity in mind I seek to be more intentional in my watching for the coming of God in and around me

Isaac the Syrian

Contemplative prayer is an interesting thing. It is different. Looking back on the last 10 weeks covering the preparation period and beginning the Spiritual Exercises, I am finding this type of prayer to be very powerful. I came across a very good quote in a book I was reading which helps to describe it. It's a quote from St Isaac the Syrian, a 7th century Christian scholar and ascetic and hermit. He said,

"Stillness is a deliberate denial of the gift of words for the sake of achieving inner silence, in the midst of which a person can hear the presence of God. It is standing unceasingly, silent, and prayerfully before God"

I think this describes the process very well. It is a discipline; and some days it is easier than others. But to deny ourselves words for the sake of hearing God is powerful and I have found that God constantly meets me, and surprises me and there is a deepening awareness of "gift" as I contemplate different aspects of faith.

On Sunday I was leading worship and started by stopping. Encouraging people to take some time to become aware of the God who is already present. Sometimes the problem is that we are absent. It doesn't take too much time to stop and become aware and experience the Father who runs to us as we make our way home.

Cryptic Blog Entry #2

Well last night there were 2 new moons at the same time which was really spooky. As with reading, seeing it, I was briefly swayed towards team Jacob but I just can't sustain it - it is Edward all the way. This is not the feeling in the whole household as I have a near and dear one who is team Jacob, and even more so since last night. The house is divided.

(To make more sense of this you possible need to read Cryptic blog entry 1!)

Lessons from Qoheleth

What has become clear is that retreating in daily life can seriously effect one's blogging ability(?)/time(?).

One of the scriptures that I've been reflecting on in the last week or two is in the book of Ecclesiastes; Qoheleth (the Teacher) is reflecting, philosophically more than religiously, on the absurdity of life and how, therefore, we should live. The verses I was particularly drawn to are in chapter 3.

"What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end."

It's this tension we live in - God has placed eternity in our hearts - there is the pull to something more - we recognise a connection, some greater calling on us as human beings, but in spite of this we can never understand the full extent of what God is doing. Now I believe in "the prophetic in the every day" - where God underlines something from a common or garden experience that illustrates something that he is speaking to me about. So I had a couple of examples of this in the last week.

The first one - I was at a conference staying in a hotel beside the sea. I was taking some time out before dinner to do my daily contemplative prayer - it was dark but I could still see the waves crashing on the beach - which is something I love - so kept the curtains open. As I was meditating I looked out of the window and saw the moon begin to rise above some clouds on the horizon, a huge, pink, full moon - it was an amazing sight. I heard the invitation to be attentive to this, to watch it unfolding. And as I watched I was aware of people driving cars, I could see the lights fanning out in front of them on the road; people going about their everyday lives, rushing home from work; I was aware that some people were sitting behind the closed curtains of their hotel room or inside their houses, perhaps making dinner, distracted by other things; who weren't aware of the beauty of what was unfolding in the sky above them.

Secondly - a few mornings ago I was driving over the bridge, under a steel grey Scottish, November sky, and in the middle of it was a huge complete rainbow, with a lighter reflected rainbow next to it. The thing was that it was at the back of me and I couldn't glimpse the whole thing - just glances as I drove; a partial view in my wing mirror; another in my rear mirror - but the symbol of God's love and grace was right there - I just couldn't see it all at once.

Two examples of God's work continuing on while we can only see a glimpse or where the cares of the day crowd in on us and we miss God doing something amazing. But the comfort is that God is in control, that the Creator is always at work directing his creation.

The passage continues

"So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labour, for these are gifts from God."

I guess that brings us back to the whole attentive, grateful and prayerful thing again - being conscious of the everyday things that we do - working or eating or drinking - God has made even these beautiful and we should do them with pleasure, recognising the bigger work of God which goes on always whether we witness it or not.