John 3:16

John 3:16 is one of the most well known and well-quoted passages of scripture. We see it quoted all the time: at sporting events, at rallies, on ubiquitous cheap, plastic bracelets. The danger, of course, is that whenever something, no matter how incredible or beautiful or wonderful it is, is quoted all the time, we, ironically, stop hearing it. The wonder gets swallowed up by numbing familiarity.

Cue Dallas Willard’s interpretation of original Greek text, The Gospel of John 3:16:

“God’s care for humanity was so great that he sent his unique Son among us, so that those who count on him might not lead a futile and failing existence, but have the undying life of God himself.” *

A futile and failing existence. The undying life of God himself. Those words certainly shake off the dust of familiarity and put me back into a state of wonder and awe.

Brandon

* Willard, Dallas. The Divine Conspiracy. HarperCollins, USA. 1997. p 1

Pressing In and Surrendering

Over the holidays, I found myself thinking about two seemingly different but intimately interwoven aspects of our journey following God.

On the one hand, we press in. We seek for Him with our whole heart. (Psalm 119:2, Jeremiah 29:13, Hebrews 11:6). Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock, and gives us the image of a persistent woman knocking without rest as a metaphor for how we are to seek God. (Matthew 7 and Luke 18) The scriptures tell us to come boldly to the throne of grace. (Hebrews 4:16) Come boldly. Ask, seek, knock. Press in. Run the race. Fight the fight. These are images of action, of expectation, of desire taking wings.

On the other hand, we surrender. We come with arms open wide, aware of our powerlessness. We revel in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9). We bow, we fall to our knees, we are made silent. These are images of letting go. Of ceasing from our striving.

The reality is that both of these postures of heart are needed. We press in, but we surrender. We come boldly–we ask, we seek, we knock, but we also bow down in silence and trust. The Holy Spirit at every moment helping us to see which posture to emphasize, and which to let go of. What to embrace and what to release. And maybe we come to realize that two aspect of following God that, on the surface, seem so different, are actually one and the same. Maybe pressing in can look like surrender. Maybe sitting in silent prayer, which seems to inactive, is pressing in. The Holy Spirit showing us in each moment what posture of soul is needed, and which expresses trust in any given moment.

In 2012, may we have incredible wisdom, courage, and trust, to press into and to surrender to God.

Brandon

Words from the Wise: Henri Nouwen

Nouwen’s words continue to be bread for me, pointing me to the depth of life possible in God.

You can sign up for his daily email devotionals here:

http://www.henrinouwen.org/Resources/Meditations_and_Reflection_Emails/Meditations_and_Reflection_Emails.aspx

Here are some of his thoughts on receiving our reconciliation in God:

How do we work for reconciliation? First and foremost by claiming for ourselves that God through Christ has reconciled us to God. It is not enough to believe this with our heads. We have to let the truth of this reconciliation permeate every part of our beings. As long as we are not fully and thoroughly convinced that we have been reconciled with God, that we are forgiven, that we have received new hearts, new spirits, new eyes to see, and new ears to hear, we continue to create divisions among people because we expect from them a healing power they do not possess.

Only when we fully trust that we belong to God and can find in our relationship with God all that we need for our minds, hearts, and souls, can we be truly free in this world and be ministers of reconciliation. This is not easy; we readily fall back into self-doubt and self-rejection. We need to be constantly reminded through God’s Word, the sacraments, and the love of our neighbors that we are indeed reconciled.

Brandon

A Prayer for Christmas

On this day, our longing meets with joy. We stand in the crossroads of time, and we see that God, who created all things, has come to redeem all things, and will reign over all things. In the fullness of time, God sent his son, born of a woman, to redeem those under the bondage of sin and death, so that they might be adopted as children.

And because, through Jesus, now born in a manger, we have been made children, we cry “Abba, Father!” And we rejoice, for we are not only made children, but heirs, through the mercy of God. For Jesus has come. Our God has come to save us. He reigns and he will reign, forever and ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Amen!

A Prayer for Advent III

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word created all things. In him was and is light, and life, and power. And now we behold, the Word has come to us. God has come to us, and we call his name Emmanuel—God with us. In this season of Advent, we allow our hearts to burn and to rejoice, for Jesus, the living word of God, God in human flesh, has come to us.

Jesus, we praise you, for in your coming a new age begins. You make all things new. You are the author and finisher of our faith, and you have written a new story. Write your words, and your light and love on our hearts. And transform us to live with you, partnering with you in your story, even the renewal of all things. We, your children, delight in your coming.

Lift up your heads, O you gates, and lift up your heads, you ancient doors. Be lifted up so that the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of hosts, the Lord strong in battle, the Lord great and mighty, Jesus the holy one, he is the King of glory.

A Prayer for Advent II

The coming of the child at Bethlehem is the coming of light into darkness. It is the coming of a new Word—the living word of God—and a new conversation. It is the coming of sight into blindness, and wholeness into what has gone awry. It is the coming of hope to those who have lost and become lost. The light of God has come to dwell among us, and that light is the light of men.

Child of Bethlehem, Lord of heaven, give us ears to hear the new word you are speaking and the new story you are writing. Rend our minds and our imaginations to comprehend the glory of your coming, and your glory everywhere around us. Give us eyes to see what is possible in the light of your life and love. Let your light banish the miscomprehension, misunderstandings, and stubbornnesses of our own minds, that in seeing you, we will see clearly, and all things will take their proper place. In you, distortion ends. In you, exaggeration and pride and silly vanity wither away. In you, hopelessness and death are destroyed. In you, all things are possible. So come, Lord, and let your light fill us and renew us and transform us, and cause us to see. And in seeing, to understand, and in understanding, to be renewed, and in being renewed, to be made whole, and in being made whole, to stand with you in making others whole. Amen.

Images of God

Just thinking this morning:

We form images of God and relate to them like they’re real, then we get mad at God when the images we’ve created prove insufficient.

So Advent and Christmas is another opportunity to hear the real story, not the one way we’ve made up. To release the images we’ve made up and to see the reality of God and His story. Makes me think of Paul’s prayer:

Ephesians 1:17-19

I pray that the God of King Jesus our Lord, the father of glory, would give you, in your spirit, the gift of being wise, of seeing things people can’t normally see, because you are coming to know him and to have the eyes of your inmost self opened to God’s light. Then you will know exactly what the hope is that goes with God’s call; you will know the wealth of the glory of his inheritance in his holy people; and you will know the outstanding greatness of his power toward us who are loyal to him in faith, according to the working of his strength and power.

Brandon

A Prayer for Advent

We give thanks, for God has written a new story. And He has written it in the most unlikely of ways. A king has come to us. Our King has come to us. Our God has come to dwell among us, and we will find him among the lowest and forgotten. He was and is God, yet he has emptied himself and taken on the form of a slave, being born as one of us. He came to us as a little baby, and he gives himself to us even to the point of death, in obedience to the loving good-will of His Father. Therefore, he is highly exalted.

And we say glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good-will to men. We welcome you, small child of Bethlehem, King of kings and Lord of lords. We give thanks for the story you are writing: that, because of you, the wolf will lie down with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child will lead them all. For you bring righteousness and peace. Reveal to us your story, and let it reign in our lives, in our community, in our city, and in our world. Fill our lives with your shalom, your peace, that we, in seeing you, may be transformed. Amen.

Words from the Wise: Henri Nouwen

Jesus is the Blessed One. Jesus came into the world to share that blessing with us. He came to open our ears to the voice that also says to us, “You are my beloved son, you are my beloved daughter, my favor rests on you.” When we can hear that voice, trust in it, and always remember it, especially during dark times, we can live our lives as God’s blessed children and find the strength to share that blessing with others.
–Henri Nouwen

Enter the Conspiracy: Advent

Here is a video I see have seen many times each Christmas, and each time I think, simply….Yes.

Brandon