Preaching to myself

Joel 2:28-29

God’s Spirit Poured Out

Then afterward

I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

Even on the male and female slaves,

in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

Often, when I preach, I'm preaching the things I'm wrestling with and the things I need to hear. 

Looking ahead to this Sunday, the message from Joel reminds us that we don't just need to have vision but we also need to live out the vision. By so doing, we will see change - as Gandhi said: Be the change you want to see.

Joel encouraged folk to live into the promise of the future - to live as if dreams have already come true. The more they lived as though  their future was bright  the brighter their future would be.

What you live into becomes your reality.

So, how can we live as the beloved of God, engaged in building God's kingdom in all the contexts in which we are placed? How can we restore hope in the world today?

Perhaps by living in hope and becoming known as those who hope.

Unexpected

Matthew 24:36;42-44

The Necessity for Watchfulness

“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Watchfulness

Anticipation

Expectancy

Waiting

With joy

With dread

With patience

With hope

Advent - the season when all of these come together

Confronting, against the odds

apathy and indifference

in a world where darkness and oppression

have leached out every last vestige of light

Proclaiming with starkness

the reign of God

that breaks in with the promise

of peace and justice

when least expected.

Summoning the Light

Matthew 24:42

Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 

I recently heard 2016 described as " the rapture in slow motion" - the world has lost so many folk who have used their gifts and skills and artistic genius to enhance life for others. These are the great and the good as well as the ordinary folk known only to you and I.

Leonard Cohen, one of the more recent losses, famously wrote: "Everything has a crack in it; that's how the light gets in." 

Perhaps just one of our tasks this Advent, is to rediscover those cracks to allow the light back into the darkness of the world. 

Leading towards the light has always been an Advent pursuit - this year, we need it more than ever.

Discovering cracks probably involves getting up close to things, venturing into darkness that we most likely didn't want to encounter so intimately. Often cracks aren't too obvious or immediately visible, so a degree of care and patience is required to reveal them as well as preparation for letting the light shine through once they are exposed.

Preparation, examining closely, intimacy and bringing light - our tasks for Advent 2016,

Seeing beyond

Luke 10:23-24

Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

Looking for the sights that matter

Listening for truths that are important

Amidst all that wounds and disturbs

Seeing through the glare

Hearing in the cacophony

that quiet voice 

that brings focus

in all the distraction

And, in the midst of chaos

discerning the gift

hidden from voyeurs,

the treasure revealed to pilgrims

who leave what they know

to venture beyond the threshold

and are rewarded

with wisdom

not of this world.

Blessed are those eyes

Blessed are those ears.

Blessed are they.

Holding the space, drawing the lines

John 8:2-11

Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”]]

Thrust into his space

with no formal contract

but with clear expectations:

Condemnation - the only conceivable outcome

in the eyes of the Scribes and Pharisees

But not in the alternative kingdom 

which Jesus modelled

In the space where he taught

and held folk to account

to live out Scripture

He freed the woman caught in adultery

and freed the Scribes and Pharisees

from their self righteousness.

He drew a line in the sand

and then straightened up,

looked the women in the eye

and set her free

from condemnation

from vulnerability

From the powerful

whose power diminished

in the face of truth

and integrity

and compassion.

In the face of such subversion

we are called

to lay down our stones

and to open our hearts

to be vulnerable

with the other,

holding the space

where power and vulnerability 

can be exchanged

as one ministers to the other,

as we give ourselves

and in the giving

find healing

and forgiveness

and newness of life.

Winter

Genesis 8:22

As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,

summer and winter, day and night,

shall not cease.”

This new book, from Wild Goose Publications, arrived in the post today, just before I left for work.

It was a long and varied day, filled with meetings and calls and catch ups, involving copious amounts of coffee. And, between meetings, i was able to read snippets of the poems, prayers and resources from this new volume - most of them penned by folk I know, some of whom I've never actually met but have know virtually for quite some time.

Words to chase away the chill of winter or to allow us to live fully into all that the season brings. Words in season. Today I am particularly grateful for all those who find words to help us connect with the God of every season who weaves through our lives in all manner of unexpected ways and who accompanies us through the dark and cold of winter.

Myths or Relationship?

John 18:33-34

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”

How often is our judgement of others

decreed before we have met?

How often do the myths and hearsay

determine our relationships?

It was the myths that determined Jesus' fate - 

the rumours and the gossip

the hopes and the dreams...

It was the aspirations of others

that there should be a vanquishing leader

that put the nails in his cross.

He did a good job of raising folks hackles

He wasn't the best with social etiquette - 

but his reputation went before him

to condemn him.

And in a system of justice

corrupt and swift

he had no chance.

No chance to be heard or understood

Merely the opportunity

to leave an impression

that would not quickly fade.

That was Jesus the man.

And in our world today,

will Jesus the baby

fare any better?

Or is his advent

already tarnished

by our fear

and low expectations

and lack of hope

that anything can pierce the darkness

of our world today?