This Sunday we light a cyber symbolic candle and remember the meaning of Advent (the visit of Jesus). We wait and we marinate in:

The remembrance of Israel’s yearning for the coming Messiah, to save, forgive and restore them.
Our hope for the second coming of Jesus where everything will be restored.
The realisation of our own need for Gods grace, through Jesus.

God,
Stir in our hearts excitement about the visit of your Son.
Give us patience to wait.
Give us eyes to see you.
Give us an understanding of thefreedom you bring, through Jesus.
Amine

waiting...waiting..waiting... #3

Waiting in Real time

By Steve Taylor, aka emergentkiwi

Last Sunday night a dog ate some of the communion bread in church. Now, this does not normally happen in my church, so let me tell you how it happened

Toward the end of the evening service, a man walked in, with his dog, and sat down toward the front. My first thought was: “You can’t bring your dog to church.” My second thought was: “Well, church has provided no place for him to leave his dog, no doggy bowl out the front. So what else can he do?”

The church service ended with communion. All were invited to gather around the communion table. The is the table of Jesus, who welcomes saint and sinner. So any and all who want to follow Jesus are welcome.

I break the bread and pass the body of Christ down one side of the table, then down the other. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a blur of movement. I turn, to see the dog looking up at me, licking the crumbs of communion off his jaws. A dog has just eaten part of the body of Christ.

Now in an ideal world this would not happen. In an ideal world church would have a place for dogs outside the church. So a dog would not get near the communion table. But the reality is, that none of us actually live in an ideal world.

Rather, we live in real worlds, where things are unexpected and not often according to plan.

The Advent story of Zechariah and Elizabeth is a real world story. Both are born into families who have served God as priests. Both continue to obey God’s commands. Now in an ideal world, good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people. Right?

Not in the real world, for in Luke 1:7, “But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old.” Welcome to the real world, where bad things happen to good people.

The story continues. In Zechariah’s priestly world, he does shift work in the temple. And one day, Zechariah gets the plum shift. He gets to go into the temple’s special place, alone and close to God, an easy place to pray. And in an ideal world, Zechariah would be praying. Right? He is, after all, a priest, a paid God-botherer.

But this is real world. In the real world, when God’s messenger turns up to answer prayer; Zechariah was confused and afraid. (Luke 1:12).

We humans are often tempted to play the “I’ll help God game.” “If I help God, by praying long enough, God will hear me.” Or, “If I help God, by being nice, God will like me.” Or, “If I help God by believing, God will listen.”

But that is the opposite of this Zechariah and Elizabeth Advent story, where God turns up in the real world, to people who have prayed and had no answer, among people who have stopped expecting answers.

Which means that Advent is about God in our real world, where dogs eat communion and bad things happen to good people and prayers go unanswered and disbelief is the norm. It is in the real world that the real God of Advent appears.

Outer Grace

Bite size grace challenges-

As you drive around today (or over the next week) let every car that wants to get in, in. Even give them a dazzling graceful smile.

Use your Ignatian Prayer imagination skills and while you wait in the queue at the shops imagine being the check out person. When you get there you will be full of empathy and able to extend some genuine love morsels.

Carry around some chocolate fish (or for non Kiwi readers, some other candy or sweets!) and either randomly or whenever someone- family or strangers- does anything that even hints of annoying you, hand over a treat. (Although you had better hope they haven't read this post as they will be on to you and might not like the gesture too much.)

Outer Grace

Oh City battered by greed and need for worthless plastic possessions
City dwellers feverish over everlasting shopping lists
sweaty hands grab at cellophane wrapped toys
a mothers sweetness betrayed by her
barging through aisles.

It is all for the family, for the people that I love.
This frenzy to show the friends
that I think they are nice.

God, that I might hope to offer them instead
a gift that gives for each day after.
A gift unbreakable, that can't be stolen,
that never runs out or fades or gets too tight.

You have poured out grace.
Soaking anyone
in beauty, in forgiveness, in light.

God, from my own saturation, help me to extend
a hand filled with
bite size pieces of grace
amidst delirium.

Outer Grace

Queues, glorious queues, sucking out any Christmas spirit left! Howza bout grabbing these enforced moments of waiting to experience the "unforced rhythms of grace"...


Sitting in the traffic jam, turn off the radio and think on Gods grace given so freely.


Standing at the back of the checkout line admidst the bustle dwell on Gods grace that is sufficient for your need.

Inner Grace

There is another ancient prayer method, called Ignatian Prayer. It is simply about putting yourself in a Bible story. You take some verses, read them through and then sit back and close your eyes. Picture the scene, the movements, the noises, the smells. Where's Jesus? What expressions are on people's faces? Using your imagination, go through the story slowly in your mind as if you were one of the people right there. What words are being spoken? What is being felt? Anything could happen- from gaining a new perspective on an old story to Jesus speaking directly to you.

So.. this whole grace thing....we experience the grace of God daily, in the little things ... the big things... but we forget, too easily, eh? How about using St Ignatius's method to grab hold of the impact of grace, as expressed through Jesus...Below is one of the many stories of Jesus intimatley revealing grace.

John 8
Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"
"No one, Master."
"Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."

Inner Grace