Advent Hoar Frost

We were not expecting the sudden transformation as we, bleary eyed, pulled up the blind to see a world transformed from winter-grey to dazzling white

Each twig, jewel encrusted with dazzling diamonds. Each spider’s web a wonder of symmetrical shining beauty. A newly created sunrise of pure scarlet slowly lightening to burnished gold, then fully dazzling blaze of winter sun.

We were briefly amazed by the diamante world which melted slowly back to grey. But beauty lingers and we wait expectant  in this cold Advent time for a much more glorious awakening summoned by trumpet into a changeless world of unimaginable beauty, illumined and sustained by the return of the Lord Jesus into a newly recreated heaven and earth.

 For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.  Isaiah 65

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  Revelation 21

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14

1 Lo! he comes with clouds descending,
once for favoured sinners slain;
thousand, thousand saints attending
swell the triumph of his train.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
God appears on earth to reign.

2 Ev'ry eye shall now behold him,
robed in dreadful majesty;
those who set at naught and sold him,
pierced, and nailed him to the tree,
deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
shall the true Messiah see.

3 Ev'ry island, sea, and mountain,
heav'n and earth, shall flee away;
all who hate him must, confounded,
hear the trump proclaim the day:
Come to judgment! Come to judgment!
Come to judgment, come away!

4 Now Redemption, long expected,
see in solemn pomp appear!
All his saints, by man rejected,
now shall meet him in the air.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
See the day of God appear!

5 Yea, amen! let all adore thee,
high on thine eternal throne;
Saviour, take the pow'r and glory,
claim the kingdom for thine own.
O come quickly, O come quickly;
alleluia! come, Lord, come.  Charles Wesley

Advent: A time of waiting

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

    O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    O Lord, who could stand?
 But with you there is forgiveness,
    that you may be feared.
 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
 my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.

Psalm 130 ESV

As I write this our English skies are darkened as November descends into December our days are but little brightened by a sun which, if ever visible, lies low in the sky.

Our Church year draws to a close and on Sunday we enter the season of Advent one of the holy fasts of the church. Barely palpable behind the massive festive build up of a commercialised winter festival.

Now is the time for Christian souls to shun the commercial hubbub and spend time waiting for the coming light which will break into our winter gloom.   So we wait for the tiny infant.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

    and in his word I hope;

⁶ my soul waits for the Lord

    more than watchmen for the morning,

    more than watchmen for the morning.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord!

    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

    and with him is plentiful redemption. Psalm 130

So, let us wait as darkness slowly gives way to light

Let us seek out the weak points between worlds,

those membranes that give way, to strange meetings

to hear the flutter of angel wings in the silence

As we wait for the coming of the king into our hearts and lives

How beautiful upon the mountains

    are the feet of him who brings good news,

who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,

    who publishes salvation,

    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

⁸ The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;

    together they sing for joy;

for eye to eye they see

    the return of the Lord to Zion.

⁹ Break forth together into singing,

    you waste places of Jerusalem,

for the Lord has comforted his people;

    he has redeemed Jerusalem. Isiaiah 52

Advent Sunday Christina Rossetti

  Behold, the Bridegroom cometh: go ye out with lighted lamps and garlands round about to meet Him in a rapture with a shout.

 It may be at the midnight, black as pitch, Earth shall cast up her poor, cast up her rich.

 It may be at the crowing of the cock Earth shall upheave her depth, uproot her rock.

For lo, the Bridegroom fetcheth home the Bride: His Hands are Hands she knows, she knows His Side.

 Like pure Rebekah at the appointed place, Veiled, she unveils her face to meet His Face. Like great Queen Esther in her triumphing,

 She triumphs in the Presence of her King. His Eyes are as a Dove’s, and she’s Dove-eyed;

He knows His lovely mirror, sister, Bride. He speaks with Dove-voice of exceeding love, And she with love-voice of an answering Dove. Behold, the Bridegroom cometh: go we out with lamps ablaze and garlands round about to meet Him in a rapture with a shout.

As the message version of John 1:14 says: “the word became flesh and moved into our neighbourhood.” So, the same God who got His hands dirty tenderly kneading clay and forming humankind, played in the mud around the well, making mud-pies with His little friends. The same hands that were engrained with the toil of the carpenter’s shop, made soil into mud to open the eyes of a blind man.  The same hands which broke bread and blessed wine, were blooded and marred by cruel nails which tore into them.   As we contemplate the two advents of Jesus we see a person who is fully human as well as fully God. Someone who gets His hands dirty in the messiness of our lives and problems. Someone who is always present, always loving, always ready to accept us as we are always ready to come into the middle of our lives, to save and heal us. He doesn’t just want to come and live in our neighbourhoods; He wants to come as our intimate friend.  We do not just celebrate Jesus as a little baby who came in some distant past or a coming glorious king who comes in some undisclosed future; but a king who is here now, wanting to bring his loving burning presence into the very centre of our hearts and lives as our Saviour and King.   

Jesus still walks in Palestine

Jesus still walks in Palestine

among the dispossessed and poor

accepts the warm welcome
to drink coffee under olive trees

still threatened with  axe

of cruel oppressors

Wind carves the wadi walls 

into soaring cathedrals 

and paints the desert flowers,

His dazzling jewels of wonder,

and pours the mysteries of the universe 

into the eyes of some Bedouin child.

His crown of thorns now razor wire

His back now flogged

with settlers spiked club,

his presence barred by settlement walls,

his loud sobs mingle with the tears

of children weeping from tear-gas bombs

So let us be Christs' hands and mouth
anoint us, to proclaim good news to your poor

to release the captives

in your native land

to proclaim sight to those blinded by dead religion

and let the oppressed go free!

                

Pic Charlie B

Give us each day our daily bread

Heavenly wind breathe into me

your life renewing love

and send me out, fresh made, today

to feed your hungry world with bread.

Give us each day our daily bread

This phrase of the Lord's prayer has a particular poignancy if you are a mother in a refugee camp with hungry children to feed, or a homeless disciple relying on the generosity of those you meet along the way.

 What does it mean for me, living in a particular part of the world where wondering where my next meal is coming from is never part of my daily anxieties? I think this petition is needed more in the affluent west, as we forget the one who is the giver of everything.

We need to be mindful of those who are still in need, those begging on the street and those reliant on food banks. Our request is in the plural, it is not just my daily bread but also my neighbour's. If a friend comes knocking at my door at midnight, will I get up, trampling over animals and children, to give him what he needs?

A story is told of Mother Theresa who heard one night of a poor mother with hungry children who had not eaten for days; so she went out with a bowl of rice sufficient for their needs. However as soon as the mother received her gift, she disappeared into the night to return with only half her rice. She remembered that her family was not the only one that was starving.   

We do well to remember that story as we recite the Lord's prayer.

Of course this phrase of the Lords prayer has deeper meaning than physical bread, although this must remain primary.

The author of the prayer was himself the bread which gives life to the world,  " Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst."

To His first Jewish hearers, the image would be rich in imagery from their own scriptures. Moses asked God to provide for the people who complained about their lack of food and were given bread from heaven, each family had enough to feed them the next day, but they always had to come back for the next day's supply, except on the Sabbath, when there was enough on Friday for the next day. 
The word for daily in the Greek, "epiousios", is found exclusively in the two gospel accounts of the Lord's prayer, so the exact meaning is difficult, but widely translated as an ample sufficiency, which we can trust our loving Father for each day. 
Jesus himself amplifies the phrase with his word picture of an earthly father giving good gifts to his children, so how much more will your loving heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask?
So let us "ask, seek and knock", so that we can become totally dependant on our Loving Father who will give us more than we can ask or imagine. Even the amazing gift of His Holy Spirit filling and flowing out of us to a needy, hungry world.  

        

Where angels catch fire

Lord Jesus set me all aflame,

I would by thee, emblazoned be,

a small flame shining forth your light

into this present threatening night.

Unshod I stand on holy ground 

and gaze upon your shining face,

your purifying quickening love

consuming my proud selfishness.

Heavenly wind breath into me

your life renewing love

and send me out, fresh made 

to feed your hungry world with bread.

Sunset over Lee Bay

I am the God of sunsets, the God of the moment.
I am the God of the horizon, where sky meets sea.
I am the horizon where love meets truth.
I am the God who paints the sunset
in ever changing hues of blue and cloud, layer upon layer of rose tinted pastel hues.
I am the God of a million shades of green darkening into night.
I am the God who meets you in this moment of perfect peace

Lazarus

I am the resurrection and the life. John 11:25

I did not hear the rumbling stone,
As it was slowly rolled away
I was not disgusted by the smell of rotting flesh

 dissolving back to clay.

I did not see the tears stream down
His grief contorted face
Nor feel the deep distress of Martha.
Angry Mary's broken faith, passed me by, untouched.

But then the death awakening cry
Rattled round my cold tomb's wall
The hand that created  Adam out of clay
Gently awakened me  to life again

Still bound  like swaddled babe
I struggled forth  to dazzling day
Into the strong but tender arms
Of the man who is my resurrection

Post script

But jade green jealousy aroused
Demands again my life and His
So He must die to rise again triumphant
to greet me, once again, with open arms
Into the Father's everlasting bliss.