Monday, December 11, 2017

On Omnipresence



Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (NIV).

Friends…  Remember that part when I’m fighting really hard against the temptation to be a liturgical snob?  I think I wrote about it a couple of days ago.  The struggle is still real.

I need to confess that I hid fake Lego Baby Jesus!  My intent was good.  I want Advent to be a time of intense waiting and anticipation, as we look forward to the celebration of the birth of Christ!  However, I am concerned that I may have sent Kindergarten aged children into mass confusion regarding omnipresence…  Oops…

So here’s the thing.  Jesus has (of course) already come!  We can already celebrate that, and we should… Alpha… Omega… Beginning… End… Everywhere… All the time.  But here’s the other thing.  I was reminded (first on my podcast recording and then in my guest’s newsletter, found here) the other day that we probably shouldn’t get so wrapped up in the incarnation that we forget about all of the other time and space in the history and the future during which God has been, and will continue to be, present to us. 

It can be freeing to recognize that I have room to grow in my knowledge and understanding and expressions of faith (and liturgy)…

Humility matters.

I was deeply moved by these simple words (actually written twice) in the daily office, first found in Amos 3:7, “So the Lord relented…” (NIV).

As a human being, I fully admit that it is difficult for me to relent at times… particularly when I start to think I have it all together.  And yet, even God has been known to relent.  That probably says a whole lot about what our response should be!

I was also struck by the following words from Psalm 25:10-11, “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.  For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great” (NIV).

I don’t know if anything I’m currently processing falls anywhere near “iniquity” on the scales, but I do know that I want to be loving and faithful… that I want to keep the commands of covenant… and that I want to continue to be transformed, every second of every day, with better understanding and practice.

But I’m still keeping fake Lego Baby Jesus in hiding until the Christmas Eve service…
 
L.

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