Quiet…

be quiet

I found this on pinterest today, and it struck me. How much hurt would be saved if we all employed this rule? But then I got thinking even further about quietness. I believe that quiet is good for the soul.

We live in a busy, noisy, crazy world. When we go just about anywhere there is a soundtrack playing – at the mall, at the gym, the TV that is on at the doctor’s office or the radio that plays in the car. I sometimes think that we are afraid of silence, we have a fear of quiet.

I think we are afraid of it, because in the silence, in the quiet, our thoughts are revealed. There is no sound to distract ourselves with, and one either finds peace or runs into insanity.

Right now, as I sit writing in my livingroom, the only sound is the whoosh of air through the ducts as my furnace works to keep the house warm and the rhythmic swish of breath from the two dogs and a cat who are napping on their beds nearby. I am very pleased to say that it is not insanity that I am finding in this still, quiet moment. Instead, it is peace, I find here. And thankfulness for all the gifts God has given me.

If your days are busy and noisy and full of distraction, I encourage you to find some time to spend in silence. Whether it is a walk in the afternoon, turning off the radio as you drive, or finding half an hour to turn off all the noise-makers and simply sitting in quiet. As we draw ever closer to Easter, spend some time in the quiet. Hear what your soul says, listen to what the Holy Spirit might whisper to you, or just breathe and put your trust in God.

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
Psalm 62:1 NRSV

Prompted…

Sometimes God comes to us in big, bold ways. But I suspect more often, God comes to us in quiet ways, ways that might be overlooked if we are not careful. Often, I think God uses a simple conversation with a friend to speak His will to us.

This morning before worship I was chatting with James, a member of the congregation where I serve. He was telling me how he was participating in Lent this year. He said instead of giving anything up, he’d heard about a challenge to do 40 acts of kindness in the days leading up to the celebration of Easter. And then he asked me if I was doing anything to observe Lent.

The truth is, I wasn’t. Not at that point. But as we talked, I thought…what about a blog project? My friend Becky does one on her blog, meant to encourage people to make God a priority during this season. I am not thinking of doing anything quite so grand as Becky’s project…but I think it is high time I got back to blogging regularly, and I think Lent could be a good catalyst for it.

So starting today, and lasting at least until Easter, I will be publishing a blog entry six days of week (I still need my sabbath!). I encourage you to try Becky’s Lent project, read along on my blog as I journey through Lent, or find some other way of preparing for the celebration of Easter.

It is good to make God a priority. After all, God made us enough of a priority that Jesus came to be with us, came to teach us, and ultimately came to die that we might be made right with God.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
1 Peter 1:3-5 NLT

Callous….

Sometimes in ministry, I find myself growing a little callous. I’ve been to one too many meetings that ran too long and accomplished too little. I’ve seen the ugliness of Christian brothers and sisters treating each other with less than kindness, less than love. I’ve born witness, one too many times, to committees that seemed to be more committed to any number of things other than the Gospel. I’ve simply run too far, too long, at too hard a pace and my heart has grown tough. I find myself approaching some of my duties with an eyebrow arched in antipathy; with a heart that is closed to the call of Christ and the moving of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes this is a widespread feeling, applied to my ministry in general. Usually, that heralds the arrival of vacation time. When it is widespread like that, it is my spirit begging for some downtime, rest being the sure path to renewal.

But sometimes this is a focussed feeling – one that applies to a certain duty or a certain area of ministry.

What amazes me, and affirms my faith in the overwhelming grace and mercy of God, is that when I get to this place in which I am moaning about a certain duty, I am met with a deep well of that mercy and grace. Think about it. I am grinding my teeth, dragging my feet, generally bad of attitude and small of heart as I go about what God has set before me as a task. God would not be amiss to give me exactly what I am expecting: disappointment, discouragement an more of the same-old, same-old. Instead, God in His infinite goodness, blesses me in the midst of that grumbled-about duty.

I go to a meeting that I am not looking forward to, and instead of finding it a time that causes me to grow further callouses, I find myself refreshed and renewed. I go to lead a group that has been struggling, and I find myself and my ministry affirmed. I attend an event that I am approaching with trepidation, and God meets me there with a message that my heart has been longing to hear.

God is good.

Callouses happen. Life rubs you in the wrong way. Ministry chafes. Routine grinds against the spirit. Callouses form.

But may you (and may I!) always be open to the grace and mercy of God as it surprises us in places and situations where it was not looked-for. May the Holy Spirit be with you (and me!), continually, shaving off those callouses through moments of undeniably generous blessing. May we meet Christ as we walk along the road and find our hearts transformed from small, cold lumps into living, beating, burning embers that spark at the sound of His voice.

Gift…

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Every minister can tell you that every once in a while, as you’re sitting in your office, a phone call comes in that puts a smile on your face. I had one of those today. It wasn’t looked-for, it wasn’t expected…it wasn’t even that big of a deal. It was simply a congregant who wanted to bring a friend to some of our programs and was looking for confirmation on the dates that they were starting up.

But in our conversation and shared laughter, God sent renewal to my spirit. Does that sound a little new-agey and woo-woo? Maybe. But I think God has a way of doing this – sending us little gifts during our day. If our eyes are closed, we can easily miss the gift. But if our eyes our opened, our spirit may be transformed by the gift.

Isn’t that always the way with God? He sent Jesus and to some, it was just another dark night in the midst of a dark season. But for those whose eyes were open – for the Shepherds, and the Angels and the Wise Men, for Mary and Joseph, for me all these years later – it was transformational… Like the sun rising in the East or like a new star appearing in the sky.

I’m often surprised by how quietly a gift from God is given. He really does leave it up to us to acknowledge it or ignore it. It’s shocking, actually, how much of it God leaves in our hands. We really do have a choice. And that in itself is a gift.

Mary’s lesson…

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All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Luke 2:18-20 NLT

Christmas has been celebrated well in my house this year. We have laughed and talked and eaten and shared. Gifts have been opened, Merry Christmases exchanged, relatives and friends spoken to on the phone or by email. I even got a nap in (which is one of my favourite things to do on any holiday!).

You might think that tomorrow it is back to business as usual. But I have learned a lesson from Mary. I learned it so many years ago, I cannot even remember when…it is one of those things that seems to have always been part of my understanding of Christmas. It is the reason that the words “but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often” are my very favourite Christmas scripture.

The lesson is this: Christmas, like Easter, is a defining moment in the Christian faith. It is not simply a fun holiday, or a season of the year or a great story. It defines our faith. It makes us – those of us who follow Jesus – what we are.

Like Mary, we are meant to keep these things in our hearts and think about them often. We are to remember that God became a man, that He moved into the neighborhood, that His message is for the poorest and the richest alike, that wise men seek Him still and that the very first King sized bed was a manger full of hay.

The fact that God took on flesh and blood, the fact that he became one of us, in the person of Jesus, who is the Christ, makes our faith unique.

We are meant to remember that. We are meant to carry it into all the days that come as 2012 ends and as 2013 begins. We are meant to allow it to shape us, to help us interpret reality, to call us to the work God has for us to do.

So Merry Christmas, my friends. Like Mary, may we all hold the lessons of this precious time of year in our hearts and think of them often.

Be blessed, and be a blessing.

So close…

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 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.

Luke 2:16,17 NLT

We are so close now. So close to the celebration of Christmas. There are only two more sleeps, and it will be here. I hope you are able to enter into the excitement and joy that this celebration is meant to be. I hope you feel the wonder, the peace, the love.

The Shepherds certainly understood the celebration. They couldn’t stop talking about it. They went to see it with their own eyes, and then they told everyone they knew about what they had seen and heard.

May we do the same – may we encounter something so wonderful, so transformative this Christmas that we just have to share it with everyone.

Come and see!

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When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Luke 2:15 NLT

When our new Lead Minister joined St. Andrew’s this fall, he suggested “Come and See” as a first sermon series for us to tackle together. It was a great series. The big idea at the core of it was that God has always invited people to “come and see” what the Kingdom is all about, what our faith is all about.

This verse reminds us of that. The Shepherds are having a “come and see” moment – they have been told about what God has done for them, but God doesn’t leave them with just this heavenly message – as awesome as that was. God includes details in the message so that the Shepherds can check it out for themselves.

And the Shepherds take God up on the invitation. They go and they check it out with their own two eyes.

Where ever you may be spending Christmas Eve, I hope that you can “come and see” what the Lord has done for you. I hope that you have a place to worship where you can hear the story, sing the songs, and gather in community.

If you are in Brampton or the surrounding area, please “come and see” at St. Andrew’s. We have a number of services, and I hope one (or more!) will suit your needs:

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 44 Church St. E, Brampton


4pm – Family Interactive Service: Carols and the story told in a way that the young (and the young-at-heart) can hear it and enjoy it.
7:30pm – Carols and Lessons: Our Leap of Faith band (mini-orchestra, really) and choir will present the music, the youth of our church will do the readings, the house will be packed and noisy, it’s a joyful celebration.
10pm – Candlelight Communion: a quiet, intimate service which includes communion. Come and worship.

Angel’s song…

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 Suddenly, the angel was joined
by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—
praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those
with whom God is pleased.”
Luke 2:13,14 NLT

 

These verses are so well-known to me, that it is easy to overlook them. To simply hear them as a part of the story, and not see the gold that is hidden in them. For there is gold here.

In this simple song of the angels is housed the ‘way it was all meant to be.’ Glory to God, they sing. Because God deserves the glory. Only God could come up with the plan for our salvation. Only God could send us Jesus. Only God could work a plan for humanity on so many levels – that Jesus would be our salvation…the one through whom we are made right with God; but also that he would also be God’s ultimate sign of love for us – He loved us enough to come here and live as one of us, so that we could never say “you don’t know what it is like”; and also that in the life and teachings of Jesus we would be given words of wisdom for how to live the good life, the abundant life; but also that through his Resurrection death would be defeated.

Yes, God deserves the glory. That is the way it is meant to be.

Peace on Earth is also the way it is meant to be. We are made for relationship with God and with each other. We are made to be at peace with each other. We are made to be at peace with the world around us. When we fail at peace (remember Shalom? – that is what I mean by peace), then brokenness occurs. When we don’t live holistically and sustainably within the world that God created for us, disease breaks out. When we don’t live holistically with our fellow man, violence breaks out. When we don’t live holistically with God, evil breaks out.

We need peace. We need not just an end to war or other violence, but an end to the way we exclude others, the way we poison our world, the way we try to fix things on our own and leave God out of the equation.

May the song of the Angels ring loud and clear this Christmas. May it remind us all of how it is meant to be. May each of us seek and find ways to give the glory to God and bring peace to the Earth.

Breath of Heaven…

It’s the end of a long day at the end of a long week, nearing the end of one of the busiest seasons of the church year. I’m tired.

So tonite, I am offering one of my favorite Christmas songs. I bought Amy Grant’s Home for Christmas when it first came out in 1992. It was the first Christmas album I’d ever bought and remains one of my favorites to this day. I was especially touched by the song “Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Prayer)”, which speaks to the burden that any servant of God feels.

I hope this song is a blessing to you as it is to me, every time I hear it.

Emotional complications…

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With the tragic shootings a Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut have come a whole slew of different reactions. Some call for the banning of assault weapons, others wonder whether teachers should carry guns. Some find comfort in the thought of these children being united with Jesus in heaven, others cannot find any comfort at all. I read an article today that said this is not the time for dancing or celebrating anything. I certainly respect anyone who feels their grief too keenly to engage in any celebration at the moment, but I also know there are others who find that even in their sorrow there is cause for celebration…there are reasons to smile and laugh. Life never occurs in a vacuum, or in neat, compartmentalized boxes.

It’s kind of a mess, and things are mixed up together. At every funeral I have ever presided over, there has been laughter through the tears. And I believe that’s the way it is meant to be. A life lived fully is a life where conflicting emotions are experienced together. Where joy and sorrow meet. Where the cradle dwells in the shadow of the cross. Where defeat and victory are experienced in the same event. That’s what Jesus’ story is all about. We have a way of white-washing it, of making it all pretty and nice, but the mess always existed in the story.

Take the shepherds and the angels for example:

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:8-12

Do you see that little phrase in the center of the passage? “They were terrified.” All heaven is breaking loose, with the best news ever, but the shepherds were terrified.

Because life is kind of messy, and you don’t expect all heaven to break loose in the midst of the night shift. Terror in the midst of joy. That is the mess of life. These things go together, and make the story more beautiful, in the end.

Not to give tomorrow’s passage away, but the shepherds will turn from terror into rejoicing. They will find their joy.

But for me, I’m glad to read that little phrase in the center of this passage. I am glad to know that I’m not the only one who knows what it means to feel more than one emotion at once. I’m glad to get to live this messy, confused, crazy life. And to know that it doesn’t always have to make sense.

Joy and sorrow can coexist within us, because God made us to be emotionally complex beings. I hope you can find some joy, even when sorrow seems to be all around. I hope, like the shepherds, though you may feel terror, you will not dwell there indefinitely. I hope you can hear the good news of great joy that is for all the people.