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.

Undoing Exile... Dare We Pray?

Micah 4:6-7, “’In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief.  I will make the lame my remnant, those driven away a strong nation” (NIV).

Again, from the book:  Illuminate, An Advent Experience, this is what I read, this morning: “Jesus teaches the importance of prayer in the midst of our brokenness… We are invited to hope in God and continue to pray with complete trust that God will transform us and our relationships” (Sheneman, 19).

Broken relationships are difficult, perhaps especially so during the holidays.  While I don’t think it would be responsible to equate the very real, physical exile of whole people groups from their native homes with the exile we feel in our hearts, caused by broken relationship; I do think there are some parallels we might draw, regarding our interaction with others.  In every way, when we have the opportunity and ability to restore right relationships, we should do so.

I fully recognize wide scale, systemic exile might be beyond the scope of what most of us can hope to repair.  We could, however, begin with our own families and then allow the effects to spread to our neighbors… our communities… strangers…  Because, let’s be real, brokenness can be found everywhere.

There are some key things that should be noted:

Prayer is messy.  It’s not a magical wish list that we hope might somehow be delivered to us, wrapped in shiny paper, topped with a beautiful bow.  That’s the other Christmas story.  Prayer most often incites transformation, and that transformation begins with us!  So if you’re going to pray, you might want to consider whether or not you actually want to change.  That’s the first part.

But I’m also looking at this Scripture and thinking about the odd language used… the idea that God brought people to grief and is now gathering them in.  If I’m honest, I don’t know exactly where to go with this, but I do know that I have, at least at times, brought people to grief, and the thought of humbling myself in order to now assemble them is overwhelming!  How might I do this?  How might we do this (goodness, it’s always easier in community)?  Who are the people I/we have exiled, and how can I/we now make it right?  These inquiries require pondering, because I do not know the answers!

Dare we pray?  I feel like it might be dangerous…  (#ButLessFearAndAllThat)

L.