You Know

•January 14, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Such a beautiful, powerful Psalm – today I find it gently calming – God knows.

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 (CEV)

(A psalm by David for the music leader.)

The Lord Is Always Near

139 You have looked deep
into my heart, Lord,
    and you know all about me.
2 You know when I am resting
    or when I am working,
    and from heaven
    you discover my thoughts.

3 You notice everything I do
    and everywhere I go.
4 Before I even speak a word,
    you know what I will say,
5 and with your powerful arm
    you protect me
    from every side.
6 I can’t understand all of this!
    Such wonderful knowledge
    is far above me.

13 You are the one
who put me together
    inside my mother’s body,
14 and I praise you
    because of
the wonderful way
    you created me.
Everything you do is marvelous!
    Of this I have no doubt.

15 Nothing about me
    is hidden from you!
I was secretly woven together
    deep in the earth below,
16 but with your own eyes
    you saw
    my body being formed.
Even before I was born,
you had written in your book
    everything I would do.

17 Your thoughts are far beyond
    my understanding,
    much more than I
    could ever imagine.
18 I try to count your thoughts,
    but they outnumber the grains
    of sand on the beach.
And when I awake,
    I will find you nearby.

(God’s Name Is) I Am

There are lots of songs out there based on this Psalm.  This one seemed to fit where I am.  These are the Lyrics:

Pencil marks on a wall, I wasn’t always this tall
You scattered some monsters from beneath my bed
You watched my team win, You watched my team lose
You watched when my bicycle went down again

And when I was weak, unable to speak
Still I could call You by name
And I said, “Elbow Healer, Superhero
Come if You can” and You said, “I Am”

Only sixteen, life is so mean
What kind of curfew is at ten p.m.?
You saw my mistakes, You watched my heart break
Heard when I swore I’d never love again

And when I was weak, unable to speak
Still I could call You by name
And I said, “Heartache Healer, Secret Keeper
Be my best friend and You said, “I Am”

You saw me wear white by pale candlelight
I said, “Forever to what lies ahead”
Two kids and a dream, with kids that can scream
Too much it might seem when it is two a.m.

And when I am weak, unable to speak
Still I will call You by name
Oh, Shepherd, Savior, Pasture Maker
Hold onto my hand, You say, “I Am”

The winds of change and circumstance
Blow in and all around us
So we find a foothold that’s familiar
And bless the moments that we feel You nearer

When life had begun, I was woven and spun
You let the angels dance around the throne
And who can say when, but they’ll dance again
When I am free and finally headed home

I will be weak, unable to speak
Still I will call You by name
Creator, Maker, Life Sustainer, Comforter, Healer, my Redeemer
Lord and King, Beginning and the End

I Am
Yes, I Am

Posted in bible, faith, God, hope, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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I’m Listening

•January 13, 2015 • Leave a Comment

I’m sure we all suffer at times from selective hearing!  We hear what we want to and manage to totally miss, or certainly not absorb, those things we don’t want to.

This is a stunning story if we let it be.  The simple, but by no means simplistic faith and obedience of a child.

1 Samuel 3:1-20 (CEV)

The Lord Speaks to Samuel

3 1-2 Samuel served the Lord by helping Eli the priest, who was by that time almost blind. In those days, the Lord hardly ever spoke directly to people, and he did not appear to them in dreams very often. But one night, Eli was asleep in his room, 3 and Samuel was sleeping on a mat near the sacred chest in theLord’s house. They had not been asleep very long 4 when the Lord called out Samuel’s name.

“Here I am!” Samuel answered. 5 Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”

“I didn’t call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to bed.”

Samuel went back.

6 Again the Lord called out Samuel’s name. Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “What do you want?”

Eli told him, “Son, I didn’t call you. Go back to sleep.”

7 The Lord had not spoken to Samuel before, and Samuel did not recognize the voice. 8 When the Lord called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”

Eli finally realized that it was the Lord who was speaking to Samuel. 9 So he said, “Go back and lie down! If someone speaks to you again, answer, ‘I’m listening, Lord. What do you want me to do?’”

Once again Samuel went back and lay down.

Samuel was listening, carefully.  He slept that sleep with one ear open in case you are needed, the kind of sleep that all carers know about, ready to spring at any moment.

Maybe it is because he is listening, he hears a voice, a call, his name.  He leaps up, assuming it to be Eli, and goes straight to see what he wants.  Three times this happens, until the penny drops and Eli suggests to Samuel that it is God, and next time he is called to ask what God is wanting of him.

Samuel is waiting for God to speak.  And God does.

Am I waiting for God to speak?  Am I ready to respond when he does?  Am I attentive?  Or am I busy with my own agenda and activity that I can’t, or don’t, hear what God is saying?

Can I be prepared, still, put myself in a place where I will hear his call?  Will I?

But before we get carried away in the romance of it all, we need to read on (though once again the lectionary tries to leave out the ‘difficult’ bits, verses 11-20 are only an additional option).

10 The Lord then stood beside Samuel and called out as he had done before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

“I’m listening,” Samuel answered. “What do you want me to do?”

11 The Lord said:

Samuel, I am going to do something in Israel that will shock everyone who hears about it! 12 I will punish Eli and his family, just as I promised. 13 He knew that his sons refused to respect me,and he let them get away with it, even though I said I would punish his family forever. 14 I warned Eli that sacrifices or offerings could never make things right! His family has done too many disgusting things.

15 The next morning, Samuel got up and opened the doors to the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said. 16 But Eli told him, “Samuel, my boy, come here!”

“Here I am,” Samuel answered.

17 Eli said, “What did God say to you? Tell me everything. I pray that God will punish you terribly if you don’t tell me every word he said!”

18 Samuel told Eli everything. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord, and he will do what’s right.”

The Lord Helps Samuel

19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord helped him and made everything Samuel said come true. 20 From the town of Dan in the north to the town of Beersheba in the south, everyone in the country knew that Samuel was truly the Lord’s prophet.

The message God had for Samuel, and for Samuel in turn to deliver to Israel was a shocking one.  In fact it was going to be particularly traumatic for Eli, the man who cared for him and who he in turn cared for.

Allowing God to speak in and through us is not always comfortable.  Some times unpopular truths have to be told.  And that can be painful.  Fortunately Eli heard it.  He recognised that it was God speaking and that what God said was true, but that can’t have made it any easier for Samuel to share it.

Being entrusted with God’s word is an awesome responsibility.  It can be truly scary, but it is what God does.  He speaks in and through his people.  If the message seems at odds or painful, I need to be very careful that it is what God is saying and not my own opinion; but when God asks to speak, we do him a disservice if we don’t listen and pass on the message.

Lord,
help me to listen,
carefully,
ready to respond.

Help me to hear,
clearly,
carefully,
and not what I want to hear.

Help me to be bold,
in your love,
in what you entrust to me.

Give me courage,
and peace,
in your call.

Speak Lord,
for I am listening

Master Speak, Thy Servant Heareth

Posted in bible, calling, faith, God, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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Jesus Joins the Mess

•January 7, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Sorry, but I can’t guarantee the regularity, or even appearance at all, of these posts at the moment, but they will appear when and if possible.  Thanks for bearing with me.

They were searching, searching for something to do with their sin, the things they had got wrong.  They knew that they weren’t perfect, their failure to live up to God’s standards troubled them.  The bloody mess of sacrificed animals wasn’t cutting it for them.  They needed forgiveness, they needed to know they were forgiven, feel refreshed and able to start again with a clean sheet.

And then came John, promising that if they turned back to God, they would be forgiven; and by baptism washed, cleansed and restored.

And the people came.  And responded.

Mark 1:4-11 (CEV)

4 So John the Baptist showed up in the desert and told everyone, “Turn back to God and be baptized! Then your sins will be forgiven.”

5 From all Judea and Jerusalem crowds of people went to John. They told how sorry they were for their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan River.

6 John wore clothes made of camel’s hair. He had a leather strap around his waist and ate grasshoppers and wild honey.

7 John also told the people, “Someone more powerful is going to come. And I am not good enough even to stoop down and untie his sandals. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

But John was only the beginning, the pointer.  There was more to come, so much more.

And the One That Was to Come stepped forward, came for John’s blessing, came as every other human being can.

He stepped into the messy water of humanities wrongs, and brought his presence and power.  All are washed clean by his presence in the mess.  He is here, God’s son, the one whom God delights in, with us.

The Baptism of Jesus

9 About that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. 10 As soon as Jesus came out of the water, he saw the sky open and the Holy Spirit coming down to him like a dove. 11 A voice from heaven said, “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.”

Christ stands where we stand.  He has no need to.  He has not done the things wrong that I have, yet he stands with me.  As he stands with me, he allows me to stand with him – in the place of forgiveness, healing, strength and a clean start.

Will I let him stand with me?

Will I accept his invitation to stand with him?

Lord,
I come,
with all that I bear.

Thank you for joining me in my mess,
for meeting me in the river,
the place of cleansing,
restoring,
forgiveness.

As I meet you here,
may I let you work in me.

I come,
not spotless and blameless
like you;
but marred,
broken,
thirsting.

Wash me,
cleanse me,
restore me I pray.
May I seek,
and find
your forgiveness
and your life in me.

Posted in bible, faith, forgiveness, God, hope, Jesus, Lectionary, love, Religion, theology
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