God Lives in You

It’s rather marvellous that we’ve got a baptism today when one of our readings culminates with the baptism of Lydia and her whole household- a lovely coincidence, and then in our gospel reading we heard Jesus helping to prepare the disciples for his leaving them and the coming of the Holy Spirit. 

In tradition it was believed the Holy Spirit entered you at your baptism, so you needed a good soaking to give out a little gasp and that was how the Spirit got in! I think now we would recognise that each person is a beloved child of God, whether we realise it or not, and that each one of us has the Spirit within us. I think what makes the difference in our lives is our ability to recognise that.

It's something I often pray with people in my chaplaincy work- as I pray for the person I’m with I call them a “beloved child of God” because I think that it’s something we each need reminding of, particularly when God feels very distant. It’s easy for us to see how Edward is adored by God but do we also recognise that within ourselves? Do we remember that like a child who can lie in their parent’s arms for comfort, or when distressed, or when they just need to feel someone close, do we remember that we can be that vulnerable with God?

It’s difficult isn’t it as an adult? So much about life teaches us to toughen up, be more resilient, to push our feelings down but whatever is going on inside, however we try to mask, God knows our feelings, our thoughts, our joys and our heartaches, because as is clear from what Jesus tells his closest companions in the gospel, if we belong to God then God abides within us, lives in us, through the Spirit.

God came as a man, Jesus, to lives with us, alongside us, to be one of us, but in the Spirit God comes to live within us. Baptism I believe is our acknowledgement of that.

It’s a reminder that no matter where we are in our lives, however wonderful or however messy things are, God never waits for us to come to God, God always, always, comes to meet us where we are…and then just waits for us to realise it. God makes a dwelling-place within us until that time when we’re ready for the dwelling place prepared for us. It’s a life long journey of relationship and like most relationships there’s times when it’s easier to feel close and times it’s more difficult to feel connected to one another. It takes time, patience and love.

Now for Edward this doesn’t begin today, when he’s baptised, it began at birth, but this is the day that we acknowledge it, and give thanks for it. A sacrament, which baptism is, is the outward show of an internal grace, something of the mystery of God which isn’t necessarily tangible but can be celebrated, marked and blessed.

Today we recognise and give thanks that God lives in Edward. But my prayer for each one of us on such a joy filled day is for our ability to acknowledge ourselves, however we find ourselves, as, beloved children of God, as dwelling places for the Holy Spirit, and that through recognising this, the knowledge that we are loved exactly as we are by the creator of all that has been and all that will be, that through this we can find that beautiful, deep peace Jesus speaks of to his disciples. And that through finding this are able to help others to see that they too are loved, valued dwelling places of God. In order to, as the end of the baptism liturgy tells us- shine as a light in the world. Amen.

Shine on

I don’t know if you’ve been to a baptism service recently, it’s one of my absolutely favourite things to do. Right at the end of the service we give the family a candle, lit from our Easter candle, and we say these words:

God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness

and has given us a place with the saints in light.

You have received the light of Christ;

walk in this light all the days of your life.

Shine as a light in the world

to the glory of God the Father.

The idea of Jesus being the light of the world, represented by the Easter candle, is a central theme of the baptism liturgy, but then right before we send the newly baptised back out into the world we’re telling them that they carry the light of Christ with them. They too are the light.

We hear this from Jesus himself see in today’s gospel reading (Matthew 5.13-20) where Jesus tells those listening that they’re both salt and light.

My understanding of what it means for us to be salt is salts ability to enhance things. It brings out flavour and preserves, in the bible we see it used to seal covenants or sprinkled on sacrifices. Jesus's followers are to enhance God's world.

Then, as is the baptism service, Jesus tells his listeners that they, not he, are the light of the world.  We’re not mere witnesses to the light, as is John’s gospel, not just the recipients of the light but it’s bearers. It’s our purpose to shine wherever we find ourselves; to shine with the love which Jesus has commanded us to share in his name. 

This sounds like a mammoth task, one we don’t necessarily feel worthy of, we know our own imperfections and the darkness in our own hearts. I read a wonderful quote this week; 

Once you’ve been in the dark you learn to appreciate everything that shines. 

And it only takes a tiny amount of light to be seen in the darkness.

You may be thinking that you can’t be the light because of how much you need that light yourself. The people Jesus was preaching to here felt that way too; they were imperfect people, drawn to the light of God reflected and perfected in Jesus.

There’s a famous Leonard Cohen lyric, often quoted since his death; ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering. There’s a crack in everything.  That’s how the light gets in.

Through our wounds and cracks and brokenness Christs light comes to us and shines into our darkness, through our darkness and out into the world; it becomes part of us so we can’t help but carry it with us, to wherever we find ourselves. We have received the light of Christ; and we walk in this light each day of our life. And we Shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the, Father.

Epiphany- you are enough.

Epiphany is that final chapter in the nativity story and yet it passes us by so quickly. For many of us (and those who we've encountered so far in this new year) I’m sure Christmas is done and dusted, but I enjoy that we get to sit with it for a little longer.

I’m sure all the signs of Christmas will soon be removed from our houses, just as they’ll soon be removed from the church- the tree taken down and the stable put away until Advent. I always think everywhere looks a little bare, or maybe a better word is uncluttered, after the Christmas paraphernalia has been taken down. I find that an uncluttered space means I can actually think more clearly, but I do miss this sparkle and especially the lights. There really is something about Christmas lights- reminding us of the light that shines even in the darkest places but also of that guiding light the Magi, now completing their journey, have followed.

There’s always a lot of talk of gifts in epiphany sermons, quite naturally, and an encouragement to think about our own gifts and what we would bring to the stable, to make our own offering before Jesus.

I think it’s really important to remember that it’s just enough that we bring ourselves, it’s great when people have awesome gifts to bring to ministry or this communal life we share, whether it’s the gifts of listening, hospitality, organisation (wish I had that one!) or maybe leadership- however people contribute to our shared life of faith.

But it’s also ok that we’re just here, offering ourselves, even if we don’t think that means much to the God who created everything from nothing. It means everything. 

As we start this new year and are tempted to make plans, resolutions or self-improvements of whatever kind I just wanted us to remember that we are enough, just as we are. Jesus’ birth subverts everything we think we know about power and worth, even the Magi don’t get it at first and they go searching for him in the palace, the seat of human power, but when they eventually find the promised child in a grubby outhouse they realise that this is something different entirely.

You know I like to share bits and bobs with you that I read or find so this is “A Sonnet for Epiphany” by Malcolm Guite, priest and poet:

It might have been just someone else’s story,

Some chosen people get a special king.

We leave them to their own peculiar glory,

We don’t belong, it doesn’t mean a thing.

But when these three arrive they bring us with them,

Gentiles like us, their wisdom might be ours;

A steady step that finds an inner rhythm,

A  pilgrim’s eye that sees beyond the stars.

They did not know his name but still they sought him,

They came from otherwhere but still they found;

In temples they found those who sold and bought him,

But in the filthy stable, hallowed ground.

Their courage gives our questing hearts a voice

To seek, to find, to worship, to rejoice.

On the twelfth day of Christmas...

Down with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and mistletoe;
Down with the holly, ivy, all,
Where with ye dress'd the Christmas Hall.

And so it's time for the exit, the dechristmasification, tomorrow is the feast if Epiphany. But remember, the light remains, the work of Christmas remains, and we are the light to each other in the darkness.

Thank you for once again sharing this journey.

On the fifth day of Christmas...dwell in it

Sheri Ellwood's prayer for the Christmas season, originally found here:

I have heard it said that people of Christian faith should be more about Easter and less about Christmas. Easter is a powerful hope but it deals with things beyond this life.  It is a sure and certain hope but one that eludes my imagination, confounds my concrete mind.

The crucifixion is something I can wrap my mind around. We have only to open our eyes and our hearts to the realities of the world and we recognize the darkness of Good Friday. When the season is upon us I will dwell with great gratitude at the foot of the cross. 

But, Lord God, I want to stay for a while in Christmas where hope is something I can cradle to my chest. I want to dwell here where music sings the promise of love, reminding me of those Mary moments in my life when it seems truth and love are about to burst forth from within and change the world. 

Let me hearken to Mary’s song and hear it as a radical claim awakening me for the sake of revolution, to grab hold of the Kingdom of God already present amongst us.

Let me look into the face of the clearest revelation of your love and let him transform me so that when the “Slaughter of the Innocents” comes again upon this world I will stand up and say, “NO MORE.”

Let me dwell here in the incarnation of your love and let it change me so that materialism and consumerism are a distant clamor that has no claim on me.

Lord God, let me dwell here in Christmas for a while. I know I am impatient but you understand how this holiday touches us. Some call it sentimentality but you cradled each of us as you breathed forth the breath of life. You know the power of that tender love. It is life changing, not mere sentiment.

So, let me draw out this Christmas season for a time and savor the message of love herein. Then let me live that love with generosity and courage.

This I ask in the name of your son who is your love in human flesh, Jesus the Christ.

Amen

On the fourth day of Christmas...watch the shadows bend

I'm a little behind on the blog as my phone died at work last night, a timely reminder after reflecting on my technology addiction earlier in the day!
I'm going to share another song today, by a lovely chap called Bryan Odeen. We're members of the same online community and he sometimes shares his music with us. I love Bryan's music, it  has an undercurrent of theology which feels very much like my own; open hearted, inclusive and hopeful.
This song is called "Bring the Light" and for me is a message of how, despite our own darkness and vulnerabilities,  we can still be a light for others.
You can listen to it here

Day 34

Holy Creator,
thank you for artists:
visual, verbal,
musical, kinesthetic,
spiritual.

Holy Creator,
thank you for artists
who express our impressions,
our feelings, and our hopes.

Your gospel is found
not only in scripture,
but in the stroke of a brush
or of a pen,
in melody and harmony and dissonance,
within dance and movement,
within prayer.

Bless the prophecy of artists
who charm and chide,
critique and cajole,
who prompt tears, laughter,
peace, and passion.

Within their creative process
may we recognize
the divine in all creation
and be moved to awe
and wonder and worship.

Receive all art, O Divine Creator,
as acts of prayer,
a reflection and response
of creation.
And, as the disciples requested,
continue to "teach us to pray".
Amen.

(from Coming Out to God by Chris Glaser)

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Take paper and crayons or paint or pencils and create an image of what you think God looks like.  It can be a form of some kind, or simply colors; whatever strikes you as representing the Holy.  Use this "hands-on" practice as a form of prayer as you welcome and honor the presence of God.
Pastor Patty Fox 40 Days with 40 Christian Mystics

I haven't been able to create my own picture of God, and in all honesty I wouldn't even know where to begin. All I can think of is Matisse's painting of an embrace.

Day 33

Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, 
a holy place, a Divine Center, 
a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return.  
Eternity is at our hearts, 
pressing upon our time-torn lives, 
warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, 
calling us home unto Itself.  
Yielding to these persuasions, 
gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, 
utterly and completely, to the Light Within, 
is the beginning of true life.

(from A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly (1893-1941) a Quaker missionary, educator, speaker, writer, and scholar)

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Thomas Kelly was the first mystic I ever read.  I was introduced to him by the first female clergy I had ever met, the Rev. Pansie Evers.  The combination of these two things - an introduction to Christian mysticism and an introduction to the possibility that I too could serve God as a pastor - were life changing.  I think this is always true of the Christ Light Within; it changes us.  Whether we are awakened to it through the writings of others or through the life witness of people we are blessed to know, or through the beauty of the world around us; the Christ Light is in us waiting to warm and guide us.

How does the Light of God present Itself to you?

Where might you find it shining today?
Pastor Patty Fox 40 Days with 40 Christian Mystics

The light of God presents itself to me in my work; through people, interactions, experiences. It shines through acts of love, acts of inclusion and every time someone is invited to join in rather than being given the reasons they don't belong. The light of God shines from within us each time we remember we are loved and recognise that God calls us just as we are; unique, flawed, quirky and wonderful.

Day 24

“We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”

(From Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle)

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Read each line of the verse below slowly and in rhythm with your breath.

The true light,
which enlightens everyone,
was coming into the world

John 1:9
Pastor Patty Fox 40 days with 40 Christian mystics

My heart breaks for those whose religion (especially Christianity) is a serious of "dos" and "do nots". Faith is not a set of divinely ordered rules to restrict us, it's something which sets us free, causes us to shine and reveals God's love in the world through us.

Advent word - light

Light is a remarkable thing. A rainbow, for example (such as the one displayed over Flixton at about 3pm today), is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky (thanks Wikipedia). In the right circumstances light is transformed into one of the most striking natural phenomenon.
It's often down to circumstances what we are- our beliefs and understandings, what we like, what we do, where we are in the world and we should celebrate our differences and marvel that we're not all the same.
But we should also remember that people's circumstances can mean they're in bad situations they're not responsible for, and good fortune is often just good "luck". Light doesn't become a rainbow through it's own efforts.

We will be a more luminous epiphany of the love of Christ not only when we love, but when we recognize Christ present in the loving hearts of others, whatever their beliefs or understanding of God.

-Br. Mark Brown

Advent word - Shine

It's that time of year again so I'm going to attempt daily blogging through Advent, this year following the Society of St John The Evangelist's (SSJE) Advent Word. Each day they give you a word and image, encouraging people to respond with their own image.
The image I've used today is my bedside light. I've been working night shifts so this is mostly what I've seen when I've been at home.
Each day there's a really short reflection which goes with the image and word:

Rather than experiencing the sorrows of our world as a source of desolation, hear the news as a clarion call, as motivation and clarification for what we are to be about as followers of Jesus Christ: to bear the beams of God’s love and light and life, especially to those who wouldn’t otherwise know it.
-Br. Curtis Almquist

The word "shine" in terms of faith always reminds me of the baptism liturgy; after we give a lighted candle we all pray together "shine as a light in the world, to the glory of God the father". This is our prayer for the child, that they will shine in the world and in doing so reflect something of God.
These are uncertain times, maybe if more of us try to "shine" and bring light to others it will bring the comfort that comes when a light is shone in a dark place.

Let your light shine

I've already written about darkness this week - when you have faith, to me, there is no differenciation between light and dark. God is there in both, as is the case when things are good or bad. But the light imagery in the bible is beautiful and also a wonderful way of relating how God works and who Jesus is. It also, as in Matthew 5:16, teaches us about ourselves. In a candle flame, in the white, orange and yellow, we see our potential to be lights shining out by the things we do. All we do should point to God, not because we believe we can earn his love (as we have this no matter what), but because our love and trust in God should lead us to behave in a way that honours him by seeing him reflected in those around us. Our light should help us see others as God sees them, and therefore guide our actions to be as loving as God would wish them to be.

Darkness is not dark to you

"Even the darkness is not dark to you
   the night is as bright as the day
   for darkness is as light to you"
(Psalm 139:12)

When I was very young I was, like many children, scared of the dark. My parents had to go to bed with the landing light on for years. When I became a teenager I liked the dark- I could hide in the dark, it was comforting.
I still find the dark comforting and not scary. Sometimes the darkness makes it easier to focus on God- I close my eyes to pray or listen to someone reading scripture. But in the bible light and dark imagery are used to symbolise good and evil or God and evil. That's why I've chosen the above verse- in the light or in the dark God is always with us.
Despite being "the true light which enlightens everyone" He can be hidden or eclipsed by the bright lights and sparkle of Christmas, or found in the darkest corner. Whether acknowledged or not, He is there.

Care for the World

Today's task was nice and straightforward- turn off the lights in rooms you're not using. I'm pretty good at this so have been trying to think more widely about Stewardship.
I know not all Christians agree but I feel that as God made us stewards of the earth it's our duty to protect and preserve it- it doesn't belong to us, we're just taking care of it. As with anything entrusted to our care we should do our best to deserve the trust put in us.

Matthew 10.29: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father.

Revelling, drunkenness, debauchery, licentiousness, quarreling and jealousy

The above might be your idea of a really good Christmas party! It's part of Paul's letter to the Romans where he says:

" Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy."

I jokingly made reference to it in my sermon last weekend- that if the soaps are to be believed that is exactly what we might think Christmas is about. The reading was repeated at this morning's communion service, and it struck me that with all those marvellous words I wasn't really thinking about the light and dark imagery.
Christmas is full of light and lights. We put lights on EVERYTHING! We light up all the dark spaces, and put tinsel on them too. At Christingle services we emphasise the candle in the orange representing Jesus, the light of the world. A lot of people can't accept that, and find it easier to fill up the dark spaces, and this dark time of year, with partying instead.
I do intend to party this Christmas (in my own chilled out kind of way), but it's because of the joy that celebrating Jesus' birth brings me- and I want to share that joy!