Finding balance…

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The last two days have been kind of crazy. Packed full of activity – lunch with friends, back-up singing at an Elvis impersonator’s concert (I never get sick of dropping that detail into conversation!), Christmas shopping, addressing Christmas cards, cooking, buying turkey(s). It’s been a bit of a whirlwind.

So on the night before the Advent Sunday of Peace, I find myself reflecting on the lack of balance I’ve had this week. It has been full of one thing and another. It has been sadly lacking in peace and rest.

I found myself at the local mall this morning. I had gotten too little sleep the night before and had too many things on my to-do list, and now that I think about it…I was one of those grumpy joyless people that make me frustrated at this time of year. Now that I’m on the right side of a good long nap with my dog, some time spent with friends, and the completing of so many things on my list, I realize I could have actually enjoyed this morning. I could have spread all my errands over a few days. I could have stopped and taken it all in rather than rushing from one moment to the next. I could have found the balance between getting it done, and enjoying the moment.

Micah, the prophet, wrote:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you,
one whose origins are from the distant past.
The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies
until the woman in labor gives birth.
Then at last his fellow countrymen
will return from exile to their own land.
And he will stand to lead his flock
with the Lord’s strength,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
Then his people will live there undisturbed,
for he will be highly honored around the world.
And he will be the source of peace.

Micah 5:2-5 NLT

Part of the problem with my experience this morning was that I got so focused on the list of things to do, that I forgot the reason I was doing it all. In the end, it is all to honor Jesus. To celebrate that moment when Love came down from heaven and dwelt among us.

Micah says that Jesus is meant to be the source of our peace. So I will try to make him the center of my celebrations from now on. I will try to smile when it might be easier to scowl. I will tap into the source of my peace, and remember that this is about him first and foremost. I will pray that you will be able to do the same.

Light in the darkness..

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Like most towns and cities, Brampton has an annual tree lighting ceremony to kick off the Christmas season. The tree is housed in the courtyard at The Rose – a local live theatre.

This year, the tree looks an awful lot (to this geeky soul) like the White Tree of Gondor in The Lord of the Rings movies. One of my favorite moments in the third film is that moment when all seems dark and horrible, but then the camera pans onto the (supposedly dead) tree of Gondor and you see one white blossom…and you know it is all gong to be ok in the end – the good guys are gonna win!

It’s such a powerful little detail.

The prophet Isaiah wrote:

The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live
in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.

Isaiah 9:2 NLT

This verse is like that lone white blossom on an otherwise dead tree. It is part of a passage of hope in the midst of dark days in the history of God’s people.

Jesus is that light. He is our hope. He is our peace.

And like that one line blossom, he is the detail that tells us it will all be ok in the end. God’s gonna win!

Amen.

Healing…

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Tonight was the Healing Service at our church. It’s always such a special service to me. It is wonderful to be able to pray with people…it is an honor that people will share their brokenness with you, and it is so touching to see how strong their faith is.

So the whole issue of healing is on my mind tonight. I am convinced that Jesus is meant to heal us. But I am also convinced that our illness or brokenness goes so much deeper than disease or injury. I believe that Jesus is meant to be a holistic healer – one who heals our spirits and our minds and our hearts as well as our bodies.

Isaiah wrote:

 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice
from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!

Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV

I believe the peace that Isaiah is talking about is meant for all – the world and all who live in it. Not just peace as an absence of conflict, but peace as in wholeness. Peace as in the restoration to how things are meant to be. The

I believe that’s the kind of redemption that Jesus brought into the world through his birth, ministry, death and Resurrection. I believe that’s the kind of healing and renewal for which this world is crying out.

I believe it all started with the birth of a child, a son, who would be called the Prince of Peace, who would rule with fairness and justice.

 

Rejoice!

I have written more than once about how difficult the work of ministry can be. And it is true, there are times when this work is back-breaking, both physically and spiritually. But today is not one of those days (in fact, this whole week has not been one of those weeks). You see, the reverse is also true. There are times when ministry is all party, party, party. There are times when my JOB is to simply be present with people and celebrate, and today has been that kind of day.

After a morning in the office, my partner in ministry, the Rev. Geoff Ross and I headed to a local golf club. There was an unbelievable feast laid out for us and other members of the clergy in Brampton, sponsored by Ward Funeral Home. The Brampton Ministerial was having its Christmas luncheon. The food was delicious and overwhelming in its abundance.

Then this evening our WMS (Women’s Missionary Society) met for their Christmas Potluck, and the members of the clergy in our congregation were invited to be there. I admit – my belly is full and I have used some of my extra Weight Watchers points today. But you know what – my soul is full, too.

At both celebrations Christmas carols were sung with great gusto. It is good to celebrate with others who share our faith.

The prophet Isaiah wrote:

The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.

Isaiah 9:2 NLT

That’s what Jesus means. We were in the dark, but now the light has come. We have gone from worry and despair to rejoicing and celebration. We are meant to live as people who know what it is like to be in the dark, and more importantly, know what it is like to be delivered from the dark.

So may your days be full of celebration. Whether marked by abundance or observed more quietly, may you rejoice with those around you. May you truly know what it means to have found deliverance and salvation.

Plans…

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For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

I have blogged about this passage before. But never in the context of Christmas. This is not one of the classic Christmas prophecies. But it could be. After all, what is Jesus if not God’s plan to give us a hope and a future?

Today I am thinking about this text because of a conversation I had this morning. It was one of those moments when God lets you see all the ways he has been working his plans for you and for the people in the community where you serve – plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future. That doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, it is beautiful to a shocking degree. I have been grinning all day, each time I thought of it.

I have known and loved this verse for years, but today it has taken on a deeper meaning for me. It has become the living word of God, instead of ‘just’ a good reminder. On the one hand, I know to put my trust in God. Of course I know that. I know that God has plans for me. I know that God has good plans for my future. But it is one thing to know it intellectually, and quite another to experience it full-force.

It must have been a little bit like that for Mary that first Christmas. When she finally held her baby in her arms and just KNEW that everything she had been through – the raised eyebrows at her pregnancy, the moment when Joseph told her he’d thought of calling off their engagement, the long, difficult journey to Bethlehem – had been part of God’s plan to change the world forever. I wonder if she remembered this bit from the scroll of Jeremiah as she held her little boy.

My prayer for us all, this Christmas, is that God would reveal His plan and how he’s been working it in each of our lives. My prayer is that we might be touched not by the intellectual notion of hope, but by the living truth of our hope in Jesus Christ. My prayer is that God’s plans would continue to take on flesh and dwell among us.

Sunday of Hope…

hope-coverMy internet is a little wonky this evening and has deleted the first draft of this, the second entry in my Advent Calendar Blog. I am sorely tempted to simply go to bed and try again tomorrow. But I will not give up so early in this project.

So here we go, again. The Scripture for this evening comes from my favorite prophet, Isaiah (we preachers are prone to choosing favorite prophets, gospels, stories, verses, etc. in the Bible).

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
for the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
and to proclaim that captives will be released
and prisoners will be freed.
He has sent me to tell those who mourn
that the time of the Lord’s favor has come,
and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.

Isaiah 61:1-2 NLT

This is the part of the scroll that Jesus turned to in the temple as he declared the beginning of his ministry. In essence, this is the mission statement for Jesus’ ministry. It was written down long centuries before Jesus ever walked in this world.

Because God has always been about freedom, compassion, comfort, forgiveness. These have always been the things that God was up to in our world. These are the things that you and I are meant to be about every day as we serve God, as we live as God’s children in this world.

So on this Advent Sunday of Hope, may your hope be continually restored by the Source of all hope. May you be filled with the hope of Jesus. May it spill out of you and touch all who surround you.

Advent!

Today begins my favorite season of the year – the days leading up to Christmas. I love everything about Christmas – the hustle and bustle, the lights, the songs, the parties, the time spent with people we love, and most especially – the worship. This time of year is so fraught with great themes. Light in the darkness. Hope in troubling times. Incarnation. Sacrifice. Life. Death. Eternity.

For some who share my profession this time is a time of weariness. The joy of Christmas is stolen by the grind of work. I understand this, and I certainly have experienced moments of weariness and frustration and despair during this season. But I fight against allowing myself to feel that way about Christmas in general. For me, it is extremely important to find moments of celebration and moments of worship even in the midst of this busy season.

One of the ways that I do that is through my blog. So for the second year in a row, I will be writing a daily Advent Calendar here. I will read the Scriptures, and invite you to read them with me. I’ll post pictures each day that will help reflect the reading and the idea that I am writing about.

Today it begins with hope. Long before Jesus was born, there were prophets who spoke for God. Often they delivered messages of doom to a people who had wandered astray. One of my peers likes to call them the grumpy old men of the Old Testament. But in the midst of all their doom and gloom, hope was also present. And the hope was the Messiah who was to come. Jeremiah wrote these words:

“For the time is coming,”
says the Lord,
“when I will raise up a righteous descendant
from King David’s line.
He will be a King who rules with wisdom.

Jeremiah 23:5 NLT

 

For centuries the people waited. They read these words in worship and dreamed about what the Messiah, the righteous descendent from David’s line, would be like. I believe they didn’t have the slightest clue about what God had in mind. But still, they turned to these words for hope. Because they knew that God’s promises would be fulfilled, that the Messiah would come, eventually.

Our season of waiting is so much shorter than theirs. We have less than a month to enter into patient waiting for the Messiah to come. And yet, as we enter this season,I give thanks for those ancient writers, who bled hope on to scrolls so that God’s people would not grow faint of heart.

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Honoring Mom…

My folks have been in town for the last two days. They came to attend the stage production of War Horse last night (the tickets were a birthday gift from my brother and I) and then celebrate Mom’s birthday with a family dinner this evening.

I’ve said this before, but I am incredibly thankful for my parents. Even when they arrive at my house with other things on their agenda, they still find ways to do things that help me out. Yesterday, they arrived around noon and I came home and visited with them for a few minutes. Then I headed back to the church for a number of meetings throughout the afternoon. Mom texted just before she and Dad were going to head to Toronto for the show, and I made it home before they left (I love living next door to the church).

I walked in the house to find that they had vacuumed, tidied up, and mopped the floor for me. To me this is one of the greatest kindnesses in the world. Especially on a week when I am feeling ill and don’t have a lot of energy for doing that stuff myself.

My Mom is awesome. She is my confidante, my cheerleader, my person to bounce ideas off of…if you’ve heard a sermon of mine that you liked, chances are that my Mom  helped me focus and form my ideas during one of our nightly phone calls. She is the person I call when things are falling apart and the person I call when things are falling together.

I know I am extremely blessed to have the kind of relationship I have with both my folks. But since Mom’s birthday is coming up in just a few days (Dec 1st…we never celebrate any birthday on its actual DAY in our family!), I thought it would be good to take a few minutes to honor my Mom today.

Mom, you rule, even when you drive me crazy, and I am blessed to be your daughter.

Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:16 NLT

 

Fear vs. Faith

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I am pretty tired right now and more than a little thick-headed. It seems I’ve managed to pick up my first cold of the season. I am hopeful that with enough rest (and perhaps a few prayers from those who read my blogs), I will be in the mend by the end of the week.

In the meantime, I have been thinking a lot about fear vs. faith. I love the above saying, because I believe it to be true. Personally, I find it easier to be fearful than bold or full of faith. I know this about myself, and so I am constantly battling my tendency towards fear. I battle it by reminding myself of what the Bible says and what I have experienced of God’s power in my life. I battle it by singing songs of praise and being in community with others who share my faith. I battle of by feeding my faith rather than my fear.

Sometimes the battle against fear goes well and I find myself amazed at the strength God gives me. Other times I find myself feeding my fear, and I need the reminder that there isn’t room for both fear and faith in my mind/heart/spirit.

Church can be tough. I love my church, but we are far from perfect. We make mistakes and we face difficult circumstances.

But we are called to be people of faith not people of fear.

So may you find new ways each day to feed your faith. May you know that there is not room for both to reside in you. May you tap into the Source of all hope and find that through Him your faith is growing and your fear is failing.

Plans…

Some people are good at living life in the moment. They don’t feel a need to plan the details and they love to do things in the spur of the moment.

I am not one of those people. I like to plan all the details. I like to have thought through the possible outcomes. I like to have back ups to my back ups.

But one thing that life has taught me is that though I may plan diligently, some things will not go according to plan. That’s the way it was in a meeting I had this evening. It did not go according to the plan I had made.

But you know what? I believe that it was one of the most significant and powerful meetings I’ve had with this group since we started meeting together. It may have not been my plan, but I have no doubt at all that it was God’s plan. He knew the conversation we would have tonight, and He knows what fruit it will bear.

And I am grateful for the reminder of this verse:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future…

Jeremiah 29:11

God is so good.