Category: Advent

An Advent Benediction

May the Lord bless you with an aching heart.

An aching heart that beats with His as He longs to gather all of His children,

as He surveys the discord amongst His family, and the condition of His Church.

 

May the Lord bless you with burning eyes.

Eyes that travel to and fro and view the troubles of the world as opportunities,

eyes that see the people that are often unseen, and eyes that can look forward more than they look backward.

 

May the Lord bless you with a deep, abiding sorrow.

An anguish at the numbers of lost, of the found who have fallen aside, and for the found who continue to deceive themselves.

A sorrow at allowing doubt and mistrust into our souls and within our community.

 

May the Lord richly bless you with a childlike humility to know that the Spirit within you knows no boundaries.

May He simplify your thinking, replacing doubt with trust, and move you to change the world.

To sooth the aching heart, salve the reddened eyes, and turn sorrow to Joy.

 

Amen

Advent: Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

Many folks use happiness and joy synonymously, especially this time of year, but there is a world of difference between the two. Happiness is more often than not circumstantial, that is, it is dependent upon your current situation. There are times when we are happy and times when we are obviously unhappy. Happiness is dependent on things that can be out of our control and so, as I drive this morning, I may be happy when all the lights are green or a bit unhappy when all the folks on their way to the airport slow the flow of traffic down. Happiness is fleeting.

Joy, on the other hand, is an internal condition that is wholly within you. It is not connected to the ups and downs of daily life nor is it dependent on circumstances out of your control. As we say earlier this week, Jesus points to something that lives within us as the source and meaning of our joy…

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:9-11)

The true joy of the Advent season is knowing the King. Our joy as followers of Christ is rooted in relationship with Jesus and the security that this communion brings. Unlike happiness, this joy is not affected by our external circumstance. We, like Paul, learn to be content in all circumstances knowing that our greatest reward still lies ahead.

Maranatha!

Advent Joy May Be Complete

Our anticipation of the Christmas event is so close in this Advent week as the blessed celebration draws near. The din of the secular side of our holiday threatens to consume us, offering to substitute a joy rooted in the exchange of material objects for the joy that comes of knowing the Lord Jesus. His exchange of life for imputed righteousness gives us a joy rooted in being heirs, brothers and sisters of Christ. In a well know promise he says:

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Continuing to expand on this singularly wonderful gift – being grafted to the living vine – Jesus says that he tells us this so that we do not need to look any further for our source of joy:

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)

Maranatha!

Advent Joy – To Free All Those Who Trust in Him

Our anticipation rises yet again as we meditate on Joy during this Advent week. From the plaintive choruses of O Come, O Come Emmanuel, our hearts bear witness to what we know, that the Lord Jesus came to us a man. John speaks to this:

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth. (John 1:9-14)

We break into song exclaiming our joy, knowing in advance what’s inside the packages. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen ( listen ) lets us recite the story of Christmas Joy over multiple verses like this one:

“Fear not then,” said the Angel,

“Let nothing you affright,

This day is born a Saviour

Of a pure Virgin bright,

To free all those who trust in Him

From Satan’s power and might.”

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy

Maranatha!

Advent Joy – A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort

At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships

So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger

At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,

So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears

To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,

So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and

To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness

To believe that you can make a difference in the world,

So that you can do what others claim cannot be done

To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Amen

(Thank you Mr. Yancey)

Advent Peace Comes by Forgiveness

Peace comes to the Christian when we allow the Holy Spirit to transform our innate desire for judgment and retribution into a Spirit-driven act of forgiveness. As we forgive we are released from the bondage of rage that threatens our hearts and keeps us tied to past actions and injuries. Reflect this midweek day on Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount:

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)

The horror visited on YWAM and New Life that has broken the peace of our Advent causes us ask ourselves whether or not we can forgive the young man who brought the violence to life. The Lord calls us to repent of our desire to judge others while avoiding our own judgement. As Glen Stassen eloquently posits, “Grace teaches peacemaking, not putting all the blame on others and building up hostility against them but acknowledging our own contribution to the problem.” It can be difficult for us to associate ourselves with the violent but we can find in our lives many opportunities to put this ideal into practice. Why not now?

Shattered Advent Peace To Be Restored

Here in the Denver area we are inundated wall to wall with news of the horrific shootings that took the lives of missionaries and church goers on a snowy Advent weekend. Why a young man, a former YWAM trainee would be gripped by such evil and carry this out has not been determined and may not ever be. As the radio and print pontificators point out all of the cultural effects that bore on the shooter, some voices have brought out the question that is on the minds of many, where was God in all this?

How do we explain God’s economy in which good and bad comes upon the regenerate and unregenerate alike? Can the Church continue in our anticipation of the Birth in a way that demonstrates the trust we have in a God whose long term vision for the world is beyond our understanding? Can we demonstrate to those who have yet to meet the savior that our trust is secure, regardless of actions such as this?

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40:1-3)

He has lifted us out of the muck and the mire and given us a solid foundation in which we live our new lives. It is firm and fixed and cannot be moved or shaken by worldly forces and we can trust in it. Though it might tremor from time to time as evil passes by, sometimes near, sometimes far, the Rock upon which we stand will hold us until that moment we are called home. The new song that God has placed in our mouths and in our hearts must be sung at the top of our lungs in times such as this. Our praise will catch the attention of those near and far and they too will put their trust in the Lord.

Pray for our fallen brothers and sisters and their families, YWAM, and New Life Church.

Philip Crouse                      

Philip Crouse was shot and kllled early today at the Youth With A Mission campus in Arvada, police said.

Rachael (left) & Stephanie (far right) Works

The Works family, clockwise from back left, Rachael, 16; Laurie, 18; Marie; Stephanie, 18; David and Grace. Rachael and Stephanie died in the shootings.

Tiffany Johnson

Tiffany Johnson, 26, identified as one of two people shot and killed at the Youth With a Mission in Arvada, is pictured on her MySpace page.

Maranatha! Come O Lord and bring us your peace!

Advent Peace: Like a River

Shalom.

We often settle for a simple definition of that common Hebrew word taking its definition of peace. Peace for many would be the absence of conflict. For our persecuted brothers and sisters, peace would be not just the absence of conflict but also the cessation of hostility toward them, the restoration of their livelihood, their residence, their ability to worship without threat, or even, their lives. Peace takes many forms and numerous connotations and שָׁלוֹם encompasses them all. Shalom is not simply the absence of strife, it is an expression of being complete in your well being. There is peace in our physical and psychological security and then there is the shalom of God in which we are at peace spiritually.

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. (Ps 85:10)

This week of our joyful season of advent is a reminder of the peace that we through our binding faith in Jesus. He is our promised restoration of the shalom, the Prince of Peace. Though we may continue to sense the un-peace of the world, our faith lies not in this place but in the new Heavens and Earth over which our Lord will reign and once again, all will be righted.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

God promises peace like a river, a shalom like the crashing waves:

For this is what the Lord says: I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; (Isaiah 66:12-13)

river The anticipation of this Peace is the center of our prayers this week. We shall pray for it to wash over us, to crash mightily on top of us and to carry us toward the promise of the kingdom of God.

Maranatha!