Your faith is as deep as your ability to love.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Thursday, December 25, 2014
There is a certain joy and sweetness I feel at Christmas, when my heart is too full to properly express.
It has nothing to do with the presents, though those are nice.
It has nothing to do with the feast slowly roasting, though we will partake of it with relish and thanksgiving.
It has everything to do with love.
The love of our friends and family, you are all so precious to us.
The love I feel for my heart's dearest, who makes everyday as joyous as he can for me.
Mostly though, it has to do with the love of Christ, who loves me enough to have left a throne to be born in a lowly manger, so that I might be redeemed and reconciled, now and forever more. That my Lord and God should have done that, and more, for me....from manger to cross.
This joy, this sweetness of being where the heart and soul dance for the Lord, is known only at two other times....the partaking of communion and the splendor of Easter.
I wish you all such joy and love, now and always.
Glory to God in the highest....for unto us a Son has been given.
Merry Christmas
Today we celebrate that light came into the world, and hope was born.
That no matter how broken, hurt and shattered we are, we can be healed.
That no matter how lonely we may feel, we need never be alone, for God is with us.
That no matter how far we've fallen, we can be redeemed.
For God loves each of us so much that He came to a scared young couple, in an occupied country, living in poverty and struggle, so that He might save us for Himself; that we might live in His light, and in His love, forever and ever. He came to us to show us how adored and cherished we are, beyond all that we can even conceive of.
There is no better news, and no greater reason for rejoicing.
God with us, so that we might be with God.
Merry Christmas, and a blessed Christmastide to you all. A day given in love, to be lived in love, for He is love.
Glory to God in the highest.
-Beth Haynes Butler
That no matter how broken, hurt and shattered we are, we can be healed.
That no matter how lonely we may feel, we need never be alone, for God is with us.
That no matter how far we've fallen, we can be redeemed.
For God loves each of us so much that He came to a scared young couple, in an occupied country, living in poverty and struggle, so that He might save us for Himself; that we might live in His light, and in His love, forever and ever. He came to us to show us how adored and cherished we are, beyond all that we can even conceive of.
There is no better news, and no greater reason for rejoicing.
God with us, so that we might be with God.
Merry Christmas, and a blessed Christmastide to you all. A day given in love, to be lived in love, for He is love.
Glory to God in the highest.
-Beth Haynes Butler
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
"I’m not a theologian, but I learned about the theology of the incarnation. One of the beautiful things I read is that you cannot redeem what you will not assume. It says to me experience of God among us was God among the poorest of the poor—colonized, marginalized, suffering, oppressed people. If I want to redeem that, I have to be willing to assume that, to become one with that..... But what gives me courage is that model of “I cannot redeem what I am not at some level willing to assume or become like.” We sit in uncomfortable places when we heed God’s call." Alexis Torres-Fleming
Today was a rough day. Not for any particular reason, I love this season, things are good....even doing fairly well physically excepting the arthritis flare ups from the rainy weather. So there is no "logical or sensible" reason for me to have struggled all day.
Except I have a long standing battle with depression and anxiety, and today they joined forced and hit me from each side. Some days you wake up and you know...it is going to be a rough day. Everything from noise sensitivity, to tactile issues to just a deep down sorrowful feeling dragged all day. Yes, before you bring it up in "church speak"...yes, I have prayed. I spent a lot of today in prayer, and reading of Scripture. Yes, I could feel God there even through the storms, but the storm was still there too. That's just the way it is sometimes.
No, I'm not typing all of these to get messages and support, I wavered for over two hours before beginning this post. Pain, sorrow, mental illness is usually very private, it is weird to share it so openly, especially when there isn't a "good cause" for it. Nothing that can be pointed towards, nothing that is an easy fix.
I'm sharing this because we *don't* talk about this enough in our society. Sure, so many of us share the cute little "you're not alone with depression" memes, because it makes us feel involved to do so, but we don't actually talk about it a lot. We don't often admit to having it, because it is seen as such a vulnerability in our society. Which is crap, frankly. I have depression because chronic depression runs in my family and there is a chemical imbalance in the brain. That's it. There is nothing shameful about it, no more than having a heart condition. Illness happens.
But when we hide it, like we're ashamed, we give strength to the whispers in our mind...that somehow we're not good enough, or that somehow this is our fault. That we don't measure up, that we're faulty. Guess what friends....everyone I have ever met is faulty and broken in someway; so let's start helping each other down the path of life, instead of hiding when we're hurting.
I am blessed. I have a husband who I can tell, "It's just a hard day,' and he envelops me in a hug and rides out the storm with me. He doesn't criticize or say I should shake it off, or "just feel better." He knows sometimes these days just hit. Because that is life.
If you, like I, suffer from a mental illness, find people to talk to who will seek to understand you, and love you just as you are. If you need medication, get it, there is nothing wrong with getting help. A good counselor can help too, or a pastor or priest who will listen. We all need help getting through this life together. We all have our struggles, whether they are with depression, or insecurity, a bad heart, or any other ailment. You're not going through this alone. Christ is always there to help carry you through, and so be those who love you. If they're not supportive, find friends who are.
If you're having a hard time this holiday season, reach out, to Charles or I. We may not be able to do anything else but listen and care, but that we can do. You don't have to carry that burden alone.
God bless you, friends, and goodnight,
Sunday, December 21, 2014
That is the promise of Advent
Does the world seem darker, my friends? With the atrocities, and massacres, the hardheartedness of mankind, and the tragedies that fill the news? So much that breaks the heart and burdens the soul...and it comes in floods, daily. Relentless, like the waves crashing upon the sand.
Now, more than ever, we need the light that Advent brought into the world. Emmanuel, God with us, letting us know that we are not in this fight alone. That God stands beside us, carries us, fights for us, and consoles us. We are not alone. He is always there.
So many broken homes, communities and cities stretch across our land. So many hurting, so many who are lonely, so many who are angry and outcast. Only love can heal such wounds. Love in word, love in deed, love as vibrant as life can be. Carry the love of Advent's message with you, my friends, into these situations.
Carry the love and message that God has come to be with us, that He loves us too much to have left us to muddle through on our own. Carry the love and message that God felt eternity would not be complete without those who love the Lord, so Christ came to make a way; He left His throne for a straw filled manger so that we may someday bask in glory with Him. He left the ever present praises of angels to hear the cries of mankind, and to offer healing, peace, hope and a promise....that He has made clear the way to the Father, and He will carry us there through the Cross and His love.
That is the promise of Advent.
-Beth Haynes Butler
Now, more than ever, we need the light that Advent brought into the world. Emmanuel, God with us, letting us know that we are not in this fight alone. That God stands beside us, carries us, fights for us, and consoles us. We are not alone. He is always there.
So many broken homes, communities and cities stretch across our land. So many hurting, so many who are lonely, so many who are angry and outcast. Only love can heal such wounds. Love in word, love in deed, love as vibrant as life can be. Carry the love of Advent's message with you, my friends, into these situations.
Carry the love and message that God has come to be with us, that He loves us too much to have left us to muddle through on our own. Carry the love and message that God felt eternity would not be complete without those who love the Lord, so Christ came to make a way; He left His throne for a straw filled manger so that we may someday bask in glory with Him. He left the ever present praises of angels to hear the cries of mankind, and to offer healing, peace, hope and a promise....that He has made clear the way to the Father, and He will carry us there through the Cross and His love.
That is the promise of Advent.
-Beth Haynes Butler
Friday, December 19, 2014
we can almost hear the far-off horns and songs bidding welcome to our Father's home
I sit at my desk, cluttered with papers and cards, mementos and reminders, with a cat sleeping -laying in front of the keyboard, head upon my arm, and there is a stillness in the air. Outside is quiet, the stillness that a winter's night can bring, and inside almost no noise is heard except the snuffling of a basset hound as he sleeps near the fire, and my husband typing upon his laptop. A candle is lit on the desk and a lamp in the corner, but the dark of a December's eve seeps in through the windows, where the curtains are not yet drawn.
And I wait. But for what I'm not sure. There is a sense of expectancy, of hope, of longing for something not named but hungered for. I listen, almost as if to hear a call of music or greeting from somewhere I've always known yet never walked. To see a glimpse of the home I was born for but have not yet arrived at.
Is this what Advent is about? Is this what all the preparation is for? To enhance and sharpen our longing for the voice of the Lord? To deepen our homesickness for a place we've never been but journey towards our whole lives? The King's Country which is just beyond what we can see, but bids us come ever closer?
As we prepare our hearts to celebrate the first Nativity, are we not also preparing for the day when Emmanuel, God with us, is there not only in Spirit but in person?
Much of our lives is spent in waiting, for other people, for work, for "things to fall into plan"....but how much of that time, where we are trapped in the act of pausing, of stopping, do we use to prepare ourselves? Advent is about waiting upon God for the promised gift of the Savior, and about readying ourselves for that arrival. And in that waiting, we seek, we long for, and we listen. If we listen intently enough, we can almost hear the far-off horns and songs bidding welcome to our Father's home.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
The value of a meek and gentle heart
We scoff, in our society, at gentleness. It is a virtue we smile at in young children, and admire (maybe) in the elderly, and hope to find in selected clergy members. But we don't really value it as we should, not even in the Church.
We prefer fiery personalities, the preacher pounding on the pulpit or the lay member vividly arguing for the faith in the public. We think, "Good, they have spirit!" We love, absolutely love, funny characters....the preacher who can make us laugh, or the guy who sits in the third row every Sunday who tells the best jokes after service; those people are treasured! Serious and sober has its place within the body of Christ, and we honor that (even if some people don't want to invite said serious and sober over to a gathering) with due deference. But we look upon the meek and mild, the gentle and kind and rather tilt our heads, so to speak, about what to do with them.
Don't they have more spunk? Why do they let others get credit for what they do? (And often we ask, what do they do for the Lord? They just go about their quiet lives, they're not making a big splash as far as we can see.)
But I'll tell you who values gentleness...and that is God. And His opinion outranks all of ours. How do I know? Well consider that His Son, Christ Jesus, very God of very God, part of the Triune Godhead, through whom all things were made, chose to walk amongst us in gentleness and love. He who was tortured and died upon the cross for our salvation went meekly as a lamb.
Christ Himself told us that the gentle, the meek, are blessed. "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5, the Beatitudes.) The Greek word translated “meek” is praeis and refers to mildness, gentleness of spirit, or humility. Moses, Numbers 12:3, describes himself as the meekest of men, and Christ, our role model in everything, is described as "meek and lowly in heart" in Matthew 11:28–29.
"The meek are those who are gentle, humble, and unassuming, simple in faith and patient in the face of every affront. Imbued with the precepts of the gospel, they imitate the meekness of the Lord, who says, "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart."
St. Chromatius, Tractate on Matthew
The Bible, in verses throughout the New Testament, continues to show how gentleness, or meekness, will be found in followers of Christ, and how we should strive to grow in that underrated virtue.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
"So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;" Colossians 3:12
"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy." James 3:17
Believers are called to share the gospel message in gentleness and meekness. First Peter 3:15 instructs, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” The KJV translates the word for “gentleness” here as “meekness.”
So why do we dismiss the gentle and meek of heart so easily? Why do we, as believers in our modern era, put such higher importance on being forceful, confrontational, fiery and assertive? (That is not to say that one should not be assertive for the Lord, but rather to balance how to do so while still acting with gentleness and respect. Too many are assertive without the gentleness.) Why have we allowed gentleness, so valued in the eyes of God, to be put on the back shelf as a virtue seldom extolled in our churches and Bible studies?
I believe it is because we have allowed the world to influence us too much. Our society champions the abrasive, the loud, the flashy, the assertive and mocks the quiet and meek. Our sports stars are glamorized not only for athletic ability but for their larger than life personalities, which are often displayed in negative fashion. We have made household names out of "stars" that do nothing more than live tabloid lives in brazen, tawdry style. We love, in our culture, law shows where people thunder away in closing arguments, and honor "preachers" who live glamorous lives and have entertainment style services. There is no room for the gentle on the world's stage, they simply get pushed to the side.
"The Scriptures make much of meekness … and so it is the more appalling that meekness does not characterize more of us who claim to be Christians. Both at the personal level, where we are too often concerned with justifying ourselves rather than with edifying our brother, and at the corporate level, where we are more successful at organizing rallies, institutions, and pressure groups than at extending the kingdom of God, meekness has not been the mark of most Christians for a long time."
D. A. Carson, The Sermon on the Mount
But this world isn't our focus. We're waiting for the time when Christ will come and reclaim what is His, and the old will pass away and the new shall stand forever. When this sorry, broken world is made anew, and we are under the glorious reign of Christ forevermore....it is the gentle and meek, the humble of heart, who shall inherit the earth.
"The renewal of the earth begins at Golgotha, where the meek One died, and from thence it will spread. When the kingdom finally comes, the meek shall possess the earth."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship.
While there are those, even within the Church, who mock the meek and gentle, it is the Lord's approval we should ever seek. He values gentleness of heart and meekness of spirit; and promises those who live in such a way shall inherit the earth. God is faithful and His Word is sure; the question then becomes...is that the inheritance you want?
If so, then seek to cultivate a gentle heart, to love as Christ did, and to humble yourselves to serve God and neighbor. Striving for power, honor and prestige is not the path to being blessed as Christ taught in the Beatitudes. Meekness is.
May you be blessed my friends, and may you choose to be a blessing unto someone else,
-Beth Haynes Butler
We prefer fiery personalities, the preacher pounding on the pulpit or the lay member vividly arguing for the faith in the public. We think, "Good, they have spirit!" We love, absolutely love, funny characters....the preacher who can make us laugh, or the guy who sits in the third row every Sunday who tells the best jokes after service; those people are treasured! Serious and sober has its place within the body of Christ, and we honor that (even if some people don't want to invite said serious and sober over to a gathering) with due deference. But we look upon the meek and mild, the gentle and kind and rather tilt our heads, so to speak, about what to do with them.
Don't they have more spunk? Why do they let others get credit for what they do? (And often we ask, what do they do for the Lord? They just go about their quiet lives, they're not making a big splash as far as we can see.)
But I'll tell you who values gentleness...and that is God. And His opinion outranks all of ours. How do I know? Well consider that His Son, Christ Jesus, very God of very God, part of the Triune Godhead, through whom all things were made, chose to walk amongst us in gentleness and love. He who was tortured and died upon the cross for our salvation went meekly as a lamb.
Christ Himself told us that the gentle, the meek, are blessed. "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5, the Beatitudes.) The Greek word translated “meek” is praeis and refers to mildness, gentleness of spirit, or humility. Moses, Numbers 12:3, describes himself as the meekest of men, and Christ, our role model in everything, is described as "meek and lowly in heart" in Matthew 11:28–29.
"The meek are those who are gentle, humble, and unassuming, simple in faith and patient in the face of every affront. Imbued with the precepts of the gospel, they imitate the meekness of the Lord, who says, "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart."
St. Chromatius, Tractate on Matthew
The Bible, in verses throughout the New Testament, continues to show how gentleness, or meekness, will be found in followers of Christ, and how we should strive to grow in that underrated virtue.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
"So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;" Colossians 3:12
"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy." James 3:17
Believers are called to share the gospel message in gentleness and meekness. First Peter 3:15 instructs, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” The KJV translates the word for “gentleness” here as “meekness.”
So why do we dismiss the gentle and meek of heart so easily? Why do we, as believers in our modern era, put such higher importance on being forceful, confrontational, fiery and assertive? (That is not to say that one should not be assertive for the Lord, but rather to balance how to do so while still acting with gentleness and respect. Too many are assertive without the gentleness.) Why have we allowed gentleness, so valued in the eyes of God, to be put on the back shelf as a virtue seldom extolled in our churches and Bible studies?
I believe it is because we have allowed the world to influence us too much. Our society champions the abrasive, the loud, the flashy, the assertive and mocks the quiet and meek. Our sports stars are glamorized not only for athletic ability but for their larger than life personalities, which are often displayed in negative fashion. We have made household names out of "stars" that do nothing more than live tabloid lives in brazen, tawdry style. We love, in our culture, law shows where people thunder away in closing arguments, and honor "preachers" who live glamorous lives and have entertainment style services. There is no room for the gentle on the world's stage, they simply get pushed to the side.
"The Scriptures make much of meekness … and so it is the more appalling that meekness does not characterize more of us who claim to be Christians. Both at the personal level, where we are too often concerned with justifying ourselves rather than with edifying our brother, and at the corporate level, where we are more successful at organizing rallies, institutions, and pressure groups than at extending the kingdom of God, meekness has not been the mark of most Christians for a long time."
D. A. Carson, The Sermon on the Mount
But this world isn't our focus. We're waiting for the time when Christ will come and reclaim what is His, and the old will pass away and the new shall stand forever. When this sorry, broken world is made anew, and we are under the glorious reign of Christ forevermore....it is the gentle and meek, the humble of heart, who shall inherit the earth.
"The renewal of the earth begins at Golgotha, where the meek One died, and from thence it will spread. When the kingdom finally comes, the meek shall possess the earth."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship.
While there are those, even within the Church, who mock the meek and gentle, it is the Lord's approval we should ever seek. He values gentleness of heart and meekness of spirit; and promises those who live in such a way shall inherit the earth. God is faithful and His Word is sure; the question then becomes...is that the inheritance you want?
If so, then seek to cultivate a gentle heart, to love as Christ did, and to humble yourselves to serve God and neighbor. Striving for power, honor and prestige is not the path to being blessed as Christ taught in the Beatitudes. Meekness is.
May you be blessed my friends, and may you choose to be a blessing unto someone else,
-Beth Haynes Butler
Friday, December 12, 2014
When you pray, pray with the expectation that God will use your prayers to shape you, connect with Him, and perhaps help others.
There are times I pray and there is just peace in the connection to God. There are times of intercessory prayer where I feel sorrow and anguish, or joy and merriment as I have the privilege of lifting others unto God. There are times of silence, and I have learned to wait upon the Lord for His answers. There are times prayer is a struggle, as my inner self wars against being too open and vulnerable....and those are the exact moments I need pray the most. And there are times, quiet moments, where I feel a nudge and an unbidden thought, or feeling, or person comes to mind and I know God is moving me to pray for them, help them, encourage them or take action for them.
Prayer is vital to the well being of a soul wanting to stay in communion with God. It is not a wish list, a time to demand things of God or to try and "use" God; but a time to worship, to connect and commune, to prayerfully bring our petitions to a Lord who knows us and our needs, and to bring to a most loving God those who move your heart and whose needs stir you to bring them to a King's throne. Most of all...it is a time to cherish being with the God who is madly in love with you. He longs for us to approach Him, He invites fellowship, He calls us His and beckons us. Prayer is walking into your Father's arms.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
In a world full of hurt people, broken lives, shattered dreams and the struggle of just getting by, faith can be a wonderful source of peace and consolation.
Can be, you ask?
I say it as such because it is no help to the wounded walking amongst us (and really, isn't that everyone at one time or another?) if you choose to show them your faith in an ugly, condescending manner, or as a weapon to make them feel inferior and worthless.
When we use our faith to be snide, cruel, jeering, or condemning of a person's heart and soul, we are not carrying the Gospel of life to them. We are not bringing them the Good News. We are not sharing the joy of Christ. We are not doing anything that is good, but rather that which belongs to the devil.
If we use faith in such a destructive manner, we have warped the Gospel into a new creation, and it is an ugly creation at that. There is nothing holy in such a false gospel, nothing life giving, nothing worth sharing.
The Gospel is offensive enough to a fallen world without you or I being personally offensive in how we live and share it.
The Gospel? Offensive? Have you lost your mind, you ask?
The Gospel IS offensive to those who reject it; the idea of sin and accountability is everything our generation does not want to hear, does not want to face. The idea of carrying your cross for love of Christ is not what a pampered society thinks of as worthwhile. The commandments to turn the other cheek, love not only our neighbors as ourselves, but love and bless our enemies is repugnant to a people who love to live in polarized positions and bash those whom are different. (Just look at our politics.)
In our society we don't want to be accountable to God. We don't want to be loving to those we don't like. We don't want to forgive. We don't want to show mercy. We don't want to repent and put our trust, not in ourselves, but in Christ to save us. We don't want to be helpless.
So yes, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is offensive to the heart and mind, it causes us to either choose it, or reject it. We must either submit and have our "old selves" die so that a new creation is born, or we set ourselves against God. Jesus tells us there is no other way. "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters (works against Christ)" Matthew 12:30
In a culture that likes to pick sides (you are this political party, I am that. You root for this team, I root for that one.) we don't like the idea of having to pick a side for faith. But Jesus leaves us no choice; we are either with Him, or against Him.
(Pick wisely.)
So how, you ask, are we supposed to carry an "offensive" Gospel into the world without being offensive ourselves?
By carrying it in love. By speaking the Gospel truth in love. By acting in love.
By not name calling and picking petty fights.
By not looking for a reason to use the Bible to hurt someone, but rather for times to use it to heal people.
By trying to see people as made in the image of God and worthy of love...because they are.
By caring, really caring. By listening. By helping.
By realizing you're not the judge of someone's soul, and neither am I. God is, let Him handle it.
One of my favorite verses comes from 1 Peter. It sums up, I think, how Christians should present their faith to the world, and how we should live in our faith *in* the world.
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15
No faith based in the glee of hurting other people will ever help bring someone into God's kingdom. A false gospel based in the darkness of human cruelty does not shine with Christ's eternal light. An angry, bitter faith doesn't reveal the joy and peace of Jesus. It cannot share what it does not have.
If you use your personal faith, my friends, to hurt people around you, examine yourself against Christ's Word to see if you are truly in the faith. Someone walking with God will show the fruit of the Spirit in their life as their walk progresses.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23.
Are the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life? Is His peace and joy showing in you? Are you sharing the Good News with gentleness and respect? (And could there be any better "Good News" than to learn of Christ, who loves us enough to have come down amongst us-- Emmanuel, God *with* us-- to teach, love, suffer and die upon a Cross so that we might find salvation and eternal life? There is NO better news!)
In a world so broken, with people so hurt, let the love of Christ flow through you to those in need. To the lonely, the depressed, the hurt, the scared, the angry and defiant. We have truly Good News to bring to the world, let us do so in love. In gentleness. In respect.
When people know you love them, they'll listen. But if they think you're using faith as a weapon to hurt them, they'll run...and who can blame them? Let our words only further the Kingdom work, not hinder it, my friends.
Be blessed, and may you be a blessing unto someone else,
-Beth Haynes Butler
Can be, you ask?
I say it as such because it is no help to the wounded walking amongst us (and really, isn't that everyone at one time or another?) if you choose to show them your faith in an ugly, condescending manner, or as a weapon to make them feel inferior and worthless.
When we use our faith to be snide, cruel, jeering, or condemning of a person's heart and soul, we are not carrying the Gospel of life to them. We are not bringing them the Good News. We are not sharing the joy of Christ. We are not doing anything that is good, but rather that which belongs to the devil.
If we use faith in such a destructive manner, we have warped the Gospel into a new creation, and it is an ugly creation at that. There is nothing holy in such a false gospel, nothing life giving, nothing worth sharing.
The Gospel is offensive enough to a fallen world without you or I being personally offensive in how we live and share it.
The Gospel? Offensive? Have you lost your mind, you ask?
The Gospel IS offensive to those who reject it; the idea of sin and accountability is everything our generation does not want to hear, does not want to face. The idea of carrying your cross for love of Christ is not what a pampered society thinks of as worthwhile. The commandments to turn the other cheek, love not only our neighbors as ourselves, but love and bless our enemies is repugnant to a people who love to live in polarized positions and bash those whom are different. (Just look at our politics.)
In our society we don't want to be accountable to God. We don't want to be loving to those we don't like. We don't want to forgive. We don't want to show mercy. We don't want to repent and put our trust, not in ourselves, but in Christ to save us. We don't want to be helpless.
So yes, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is offensive to the heart and mind, it causes us to either choose it, or reject it. We must either submit and have our "old selves" die so that a new creation is born, or we set ourselves against God. Jesus tells us there is no other way. "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters (works against Christ)" Matthew 12:30
In a culture that likes to pick sides (you are this political party, I am that. You root for this team, I root for that one.) we don't like the idea of having to pick a side for faith. But Jesus leaves us no choice; we are either with Him, or against Him.
(Pick wisely.)
So how, you ask, are we supposed to carry an "offensive" Gospel into the world without being offensive ourselves?
By carrying it in love. By speaking the Gospel truth in love. By acting in love.
By not name calling and picking petty fights.
By not looking for a reason to use the Bible to hurt someone, but rather for times to use it to heal people.
By trying to see people as made in the image of God and worthy of love...because they are.
By caring, really caring. By listening. By helping.
By realizing you're not the judge of someone's soul, and neither am I. God is, let Him handle it.
One of my favorite verses comes from 1 Peter. It sums up, I think, how Christians should present their faith to the world, and how we should live in our faith *in* the world.
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15
No faith based in the glee of hurting other people will ever help bring someone into God's kingdom. A false gospel based in the darkness of human cruelty does not shine with Christ's eternal light. An angry, bitter faith doesn't reveal the joy and peace of Jesus. It cannot share what it does not have.
If you use your personal faith, my friends, to hurt people around you, examine yourself against Christ's Word to see if you are truly in the faith. Someone walking with God will show the fruit of the Spirit in their life as their walk progresses.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23.
Are the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life? Is His peace and joy showing in you? Are you sharing the Good News with gentleness and respect? (And could there be any better "Good News" than to learn of Christ, who loves us enough to have come down amongst us-- Emmanuel, God *with* us-- to teach, love, suffer and die upon a Cross so that we might find salvation and eternal life? There is NO better news!)
In a world so broken, with people so hurt, let the love of Christ flow through you to those in need. To the lonely, the depressed, the hurt, the scared, the angry and defiant. We have truly Good News to bring to the world, let us do so in love. In gentleness. In respect.
When people know you love them, they'll listen. But if they think you're using faith as a weapon to hurt them, they'll run...and who can blame them? Let our words only further the Kingdom work, not hinder it, my friends.
Be blessed, and may you be a blessing unto someone else,
-Beth Haynes Butler
Monday, December 8, 2014
Peace and Repentance
"A voice of one calling: "In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Isaiah 40:3
This week in Advent, we light the Peace candle at night, and we ponder the words of the Prophets who foretold the birth of Christ, and told us of the need to prepare a way for the Lord.
A quick check of the news shows that peace can be hard to find.
Massacres. Protests and riots. Family members killing one another. Persecution and hatred in so many guises. Evil gleefully seems to romp through the world.
It's no wonder we long for peace. We want to know that the horrors will cease, that the unthinkable will become the undo-able. We want nightmares just to be bad dreams, or scary moves on the screen....not what is lived out around the world, and in our country.
So we wait, and we pray, and we struggle for peace. For the surety of peace that only Christ can bring, that only His hand can bestow.
We understand lighting the candle of peace with our prayers.
It's the "preparing the way of the Lord" part that gets so many of us.
Because that involves repentance. And we don't like that word.
Repentance means we have to acknowledge we're in sin. We'd rather just pretend that "you're fine, I'm fine...everyone got the story?" But we're not. We're selfish and sometimes cruel, we can be greedy or gossips. We can love to condemn other people and hold them to standards that we ourselves can't live up to. We so often secretly hate, and envy, and we're not as into that forgiving other people thing as we're supposed to be.
We all have things we need to repent of. Or...is it just me?
I'm impatient and not as caring as I should be all the time. Sometimes I'm so worried about pleasing everyone around me that I neglect my heath, or worse..neglect my time with God. He gets shuffled in my need to please. Forgiving people takes work for me, I can be like a dog with a bone, cherishing a grudge, and I have to force myself to pray, "God, this isn't healthy, You have to help me with this, to forgive. I cannot do it on my own." I can be too quick to be defensive, and I can use that defensiveness to wound others as a reflex, even when deep down I know they weren't trying to hurt me at all. I'm broken and fallen, and in need of the Lord.
My heart has twisted, thorny paths within it, it is dry and parched as a desert and I must prepare a path for the Lord.
I need this season of Advent, like I need Lent, to remind me to lay forth my transgressions and turn from them. By facing the sins I struggle with and laying them before both the manger and the cross, I turn them over to Christ, asking forgiveness and aid to help be free of them. And the mercy is, as the prayer throughout Advent, "O Come Lord" is truly spoken...He answers and comes in compassion and love.
And my thorny patches are pulled, His Word waters my heart, His love gentles my tempests, and the paths in my heart are cultivated.
Prepare the way of the Lord.
Search your hearts, my friends, would the Lord find smooth paths to walk upon? Or is your heart scattered with boulders and thorns, an obstacle course where little can grow?
We want peace, in our lives and in our world, but we cannot have the true measure of peace in either place until Christ rules and sin in all its forms is defeated.
This world, which so badly needs peace, will only have it in moments and glimpses for now. Only the Father knows when the Second Coming, the Second Advent, will be; when all that is wrong on earth will be set right, all knees will bow and Christ will reign. Only then will this whole world know peace. That doesn't mean we should not work for justice, for peace, but do not let yourselves be troubled that no lasting peace is found. Only Christ will give us that, and He has promised that He shall.
In our own lives it can be different. We can have peace within our hearts, if Christ presides there. He is not a cruel tyrant, He does not chain us with un-keepable laws and heartless tasks. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. His living presence within our lives brings joy, peace, compassion and mercy, and we feel these virtues planted within our hearts by the Holy Spirit take fruit and blossom in our lives.
But first though....we must do as the Prophets throughout the ages told us to do; we must make a way in the wilderness (of our hearts), we must prepare a path, we must repent. For repenting turns our hearts to Christ; and as we call and beseech Him, He will come to us. It is not so great a task, beloved friends, to look full onto our sins and name them to God as they are, laying them at the Cross in repentance. We exchange something heavy and hateful, the burden of those unconfessed sins, for the beauty of having a heart made ready for Christ.
Prepare the way of the Lord.
Be blessed, my friends, and may you be a blessing unto someone else,
-Beth Haynes Butler
This week in Advent, we light the Peace candle at night, and we ponder the words of the Prophets who foretold the birth of Christ, and told us of the need to prepare a way for the Lord.
A quick check of the news shows that peace can be hard to find.
Massacres. Protests and riots. Family members killing one another. Persecution and hatred in so many guises. Evil gleefully seems to romp through the world.
It's no wonder we long for peace. We want to know that the horrors will cease, that the unthinkable will become the undo-able. We want nightmares just to be bad dreams, or scary moves on the screen....not what is lived out around the world, and in our country.
So we wait, and we pray, and we struggle for peace. For the surety of peace that only Christ can bring, that only His hand can bestow.
We understand lighting the candle of peace with our prayers.
It's the "preparing the way of the Lord" part that gets so many of us.
Because that involves repentance. And we don't like that word.
Repentance means we have to acknowledge we're in sin. We'd rather just pretend that "you're fine, I'm fine...everyone got the story?" But we're not. We're selfish and sometimes cruel, we can be greedy or gossips. We can love to condemn other people and hold them to standards that we ourselves can't live up to. We so often secretly hate, and envy, and we're not as into that forgiving other people thing as we're supposed to be.
We all have things we need to repent of. Or...is it just me?
I'm impatient and not as caring as I should be all the time. Sometimes I'm so worried about pleasing everyone around me that I neglect my heath, or worse..neglect my time with God. He gets shuffled in my need to please. Forgiving people takes work for me, I can be like a dog with a bone, cherishing a grudge, and I have to force myself to pray, "God, this isn't healthy, You have to help me with this, to forgive. I cannot do it on my own." I can be too quick to be defensive, and I can use that defensiveness to wound others as a reflex, even when deep down I know they weren't trying to hurt me at all. I'm broken and fallen, and in need of the Lord.
My heart has twisted, thorny paths within it, it is dry and parched as a desert and I must prepare a path for the Lord.
I need this season of Advent, like I need Lent, to remind me to lay forth my transgressions and turn from them. By facing the sins I struggle with and laying them before both the manger and the cross, I turn them over to Christ, asking forgiveness and aid to help be free of them. And the mercy is, as the prayer throughout Advent, "O Come Lord" is truly spoken...He answers and comes in compassion and love.
And my thorny patches are pulled, His Word waters my heart, His love gentles my tempests, and the paths in my heart are cultivated.
Prepare the way of the Lord.
Search your hearts, my friends, would the Lord find smooth paths to walk upon? Or is your heart scattered with boulders and thorns, an obstacle course where little can grow?
We want peace, in our lives and in our world, but we cannot have the true measure of peace in either place until Christ rules and sin in all its forms is defeated.
This world, which so badly needs peace, will only have it in moments and glimpses for now. Only the Father knows when the Second Coming, the Second Advent, will be; when all that is wrong on earth will be set right, all knees will bow and Christ will reign. Only then will this whole world know peace. That doesn't mean we should not work for justice, for peace, but do not let yourselves be troubled that no lasting peace is found. Only Christ will give us that, and He has promised that He shall.
In our own lives it can be different. We can have peace within our hearts, if Christ presides there. He is not a cruel tyrant, He does not chain us with un-keepable laws and heartless tasks. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. His living presence within our lives brings joy, peace, compassion and mercy, and we feel these virtues planted within our hearts by the Holy Spirit take fruit and blossom in our lives.
But first though....we must do as the Prophets throughout the ages told us to do; we must make a way in the wilderness (of our hearts), we must prepare a path, we must repent. For repenting turns our hearts to Christ; and as we call and beseech Him, He will come to us. It is not so great a task, beloved friends, to look full onto our sins and name them to God as they are, laying them at the Cross in repentance. We exchange something heavy and hateful, the burden of those unconfessed sins, for the beauty of having a heart made ready for Christ.
Prepare the way of the Lord.
Be blessed, my friends, and may you be a blessing unto someone else,
-Beth Haynes Butler
Advent Evening Prayer
In this Advent season, we await the coming of Christ.
Come, Lord Jesus, come to us this night. We await your coming.
We await the coming of God’s revealing light.
Come, Lord Jesus, come to us this night. We await your coming.
We await the coming of God’s saving hope.
Come, Lord Jesus, come to us this night. We await your coming.
We wait the coming of God’s redeeming child.
Come, Lord Jesus, come to us this night. We await your coming.
We await the coming of God’s revealing light.
Come, Lord Jesus, come to us this night. We await your coming.
We await the coming of God’s saving hope.
Come, Lord Jesus, come to us this night. We await your coming.
We wait the coming of God’s redeeming child.
Come, Lord Jesus, come to us this night. We await your coming.
(Pause for lighting of the Advent candle)
We wait for the God of life,
We wait for the Christ of love,
We wait for the Spirit of truth,
Come down, come in, and dwell among us.
We wait for the Christ of love,
We wait for the Spirit of truth,
Come down, come in, and dwell among us.
We wait in expectation of your coming,
We wait in hope for your promises,
We wait in joy for your salvation,
Come down, come in, and dwell among us.
We wait in hope for your promises,
We wait in joy for your salvation,
Come down, come in, and dwell among us.
Come into our hearts that we may love you,
Come into our minds that we may know you,
Come into our lives that we may serve you,
Come down, come in, and dwell among us.
Come into our minds that we may know you,
Come into our lives that we may serve you,
Come down, come in, and dwell among us.
(Evening Psalms)
Child of promise, come,
Revealer of God, come,
Bringer of life, come.
Revealer of God, come,
Bringer of life, come.
Come to the beaten and the battered,
Come to the despised and rejected,
Come to all in whom the divine image is still distorted.
Come to the despised and rejected,
Come to all in whom the divine image is still distorted.
We wait in joyful expectation.
Come not as an distant emperor, but as a helpless babe,
Come not as a prince in a gold palace, but as a displaced and frightened refugee,
Come not as a man of power, but in love and compassion,
Come to those outcast like shepherds in the field,
Come to foreigners like Magi watching from afar,
Come to rich and poor, young and old, male and female,
Come not as a prince in a gold palace, but as a displaced and frightened refugee,
Come not as a man of power, but in love and compassion,
Come to those outcast like shepherds in the field,
Come to foreigners like Magi watching from afar,
Come to rich and poor, young and old, male and female,
We wait in hopeful anticipation.
Come to bless all creation with your love,
Come to bring salvation on the earth,
Come to rule with justice and in peace.
Come, child of promise, open the windows of our hearts,
Come, Christ of compassion, open the doors of our homes, Come, Prince of Peace, open the pathways to our lives.
Come to bring salvation on the earth,
Come to rule with justice and in peace.
Come, child of promise, open the windows of our hearts,
Come, Christ of compassion, open the doors of our homes, Come, Prince of Peace, open the pathways to our lives.
We wait with all the peoples of the earth.
Child of hope, we welcome your coming,
Christ of life, we welcome your coming,
King of glory, we welcome your coming.
Child of hope, we welcome your coming,
Christ of life, we welcome your coming,
King of glory, we welcome your coming.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,
for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,
for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus, and lead the captives from their prisons,
Come, Lord Jesus, for in you we trust, O King of kings.
Come to bring peace in the midst of war,
Come, Lord Jesus, for in you we trust, O King of kings.
Come to offer comfort in the presence of mourning,
Come, Lord Jesus, for in you we trust, O King of kings.
Come to provide abundance in the midst of hunger,
Come, Lord Jesus, for in you we trust, O King of kings.
Come to show forth justice for those who have been oppressed,
Come, Lord Jesus, for in you we trust, O King of kings.
Christ our Savior comes, and we welcome his coming,
Come, Lord Jesus, for in you we trust, O King of kings.
Come to bring peace in the midst of war,
Come, Lord Jesus, for in you we trust, O King of kings.
Come to offer comfort in the presence of mourning,
Come, Lord Jesus, for in you we trust, O King of kings.
Come to provide abundance in the midst of hunger,
Come, Lord Jesus, for in you we trust, O King of kings.
Come to show forth justice for those who have been oppressed,
Come, Lord Jesus, for in you we trust, O King of kings.
Christ our Savior comes, and we welcome his coming,
Not as a king, but as a babe,
Not as a master, but as a servant,
Not as a warrior, but as a man of peace.
May we put on the armour of light this night
And clothe ourselves with Christ.
Not as a master, but as a servant,
Not as a warrior, but as a man of peace.
May we put on the armour of light this night
And clothe ourselves with Christ.
Put on hope to guide you,
Put on love to surround you,
Put on joy to sustain you,
Put on peace to inspire you,
May we put on the armor of light this night
And clothe ourselves with Christ.
Put on love to surround you,
Put on joy to sustain you,
Put on peace to inspire you,
May we put on the armor of light this night
And clothe ourselves with Christ.
We wait for the day of justice,
We wait for the dawn of righteousness,
We wait for the coming of light,
We wait for the advent of peace,
May we put on the armour of light this night
And clothe ourselves with Christ.
Amen
We wait for the dawn of righteousness,
We wait for the coming of light,
We wait for the advent of peace,
May we put on the armour of light this night
And clothe ourselves with Christ.
Amen
A New Year's Prayer (a little early..but hey)
O God of new beginnings and wonderful surprises, thank you for the gift of a new year. May it be a time of grace for me, a time to grow in faith and love, a time to renew my commitment to following Your Son, Jesus. May it be a year of blessing for me, a time to cherish my family and friends, a time to renew my efforts at work, a time to embrace my faith more fully. Walk with me, please, in every day and every hour of this new year, that the light of Christ might shine through me, in spite of my weaknesses and failings. Above all, may I remember this year that I am a pilgrim on the sacred path to You. Amen.
Friday, December 5, 2014
“The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing—to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from—my country, the place where I ought to have been born. Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home? For indeed it now feels not like going, but like going back.” (C.S. Lewis)
Thursday, December 4, 2014
A thought about Advent....
Whenever someone comes to Christ, and is made a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17).....God will come and abide within that person. "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." (John 14:23 )
So when we come to Christ, Christ draws near to us. Emmanuel, God with us, comes closer than in the Stable....He comes to us directly.
Each time a heart comes to Christ, the Nativity happens all over again.
Each time we return to Christ, the Nativity is renewed.
Each time we share the love and joy of Christ with others, the Nativity is celebrated.
So let us pray, Come Lord. Emmanuel, God with us, be praised.
A blessed Advent to you, my friends,
Ferguson, New York and perspectives on justice
I've been trying to think of words for this since yesterday....
I live in a pretty simple, comfortable style of life. No, we're not wealthy by a far stretch in the eyes of what the "world" considers wealthy; we live in a small cottage outside a little town, smack in the middle of America. God always sees we have enough, and enables us to help others as we can, which is a blessing. We live with some health concerns, but those help keep us focused on God, so really they're blessings, not burdens.
I can go anywhere, almost, in the US and feel pretty safe. I've been through big cities and small towns, high mountain villages and bustling metropolises. I am generally treated with kindness and respect most places we go to...and oddly, the few people who have been rude due to my disabilities have been upper class whites.
Charles is happy to walk into any neighborhood God sends him; be it a suburb or barrio, hip inner city scene or the poorest section of North County, St. Louis. I've seen Charles hug, laugh, joke, commiserate and rejoice with people from Goodfellow Blvd (not considered the safest area of our metroplex) to downtown parks filled with the homeless, to affluent suburbs, and he treats the people all the same. I was blessed to grow up in the wonderful town of Tulare, CA, where I had friends, teachers and mentors of all different cultures...and my parents instilled in me that every person, of every culture, is worthy of being treated the same....period. And to do otherwise is to sin in the eyes of God.
Now, I was also raised to be pro-cop, married a former cop (ie, that Charles guy, lol)...and have friends who are cops. I completely believe that almost all police officers really get into the field to try and help their communities, and they work hard to do the right thing. They're not paid what the risk is worth (a cop dies every 58 hours), and they deserve our respect. There are bad cops (just as there are bad people in every field) and they need to be weeded out and prosecuted, so that the public can have trust in those who serve and protect.
Ferguson, with all the problems thereof, is a murky case. Conflicting witnesses, and evidence that showed a struggle for the gun in the car. As I wasn't on the Grand Jury, I'm not passing any judgement, other than to say, with the evidence and the conflicting testimonies and what Missouri laws are, it was expected that there be a return of no indictment. The anger at systemic injustice (which the case in question was not necessarily about) is understandable, but the resulting violence is inexcusable.
But New York's case, with the video, troubles me. I don't think a man should have died over selling illegal cigarettes, and it calls for us, as a nation to deeply look into ourselves. I wasn't there, and I wasn't on the Grand Jury, so again I can't pass judgement, but it troubles me, and sorrows me. Six children are left without a father now, and a wife without her husband. I pray for all parties involved.
We have to do something in this country, through our laws and courts, to ensure that every case, for every person, receives equal scrutiny and equal application of the law. Right now, that just isn't the case in so many instances...and that's wrong. We can do better. We must do better.
We also need for the race baiters, in the liberal and conservative camps, and the media sensationalists, to all shut up and go home. That's not going to happen, but it should. Since it won't happen, we have to stop giving them any attention...that is what they feed off of. Attention and the hate it spawns. We also need our politicians to stop using this for their own glory and using it as a tool for division, and actually put the American people first, ahead of themselves. Alas, I don't see that happening soon either, on either the left or right.
As Christians, we have to try and see each person as Christ sees them, and show each person that love and dignity, respect and compassion. And the Bible is clear we are not to remain silent in the face of injustice or oppression. As we are happy to stand up for our Christian brethren in Iraq, so we must stand up for people in our own country to see that they are treated the same as so many of us are.
I'm not opening the comment section to arguing. If you want to argue, find someone else. I'll just delete the comments (because it's my feed, and I can.) What I'd rather people do is to pray that we, as individuals (of every culture) learn to see all people--white, black, hispanic, asian--as people, worthy of love and respect.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Someone declared war on Christmas?
Someone just posted a serious (I suppose) question about how I'm handling the "War on Christmas."
Now....granted, I think "Holiday trees" are dumb, since in this country they've been traditionally called Christmas trees...but really...a war?
Last I checked, I can go to Church to celebrate Advent and Christmastide....I spend a LOT of time here on social media talking about Christmas and Advent. I can say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or any other seasonal greeting I like while out in public. I can play religious hymns with ties to the holiday. I can go into a plethora of shops and buy Christmas cards (with Wise Men, and Nativities, and Angels and everything....I promise!) and Christmas wreathes, and Christmas presents, and wrap them with Christmas wrapping paper. I can put a Nativity up in our yard (though Monroe, heathen dog that he is, would knock down Joseph, I'm sure.)
It doesn't sound very "war like" to me. Not when I consider the people massacred for their faith in Kenya, or those still running and hiding from ISIS. I'm not in any danger, I don't feel threatened, I'm not in any discomfort, in fact....I'm doing exactly what I want to do, as I want to do it. I don't think war works like that.
Are there some corporations that tell their employees what greetings to use? Yes...because those corporations serve not only Christians, but also Jews (who have a holiday in the same few weeks), Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans, Agnostics, Atheists and whomever else. Those corporations have made a business decision to try and appeal to as many people as possible. It's a money thing for them, not a hatred for the holiday that brings them the most financial gain through the course of the year. Yearly this seems to be what I hear people complain about the most...that cashiers either don't offer a season greeting or they offer the standard Happy Holidays. (Which only means Happy Holy Days...so what is the huge offense, really?)
If you want to see more of Christ in Christmas, here are a few ideas:
Go visit the elderly, and bring them Christmas joy.
Go feed the hungry, and take them a blanket or coat while you're at it.
Be generous to charities collecting for the needy...there is far more need out there than you probably realize.
BE NICE. Show the love of Christ to people in how you treat them and talk to them.
Go caroling, and sing those carols and hymns you love. (I think visiting senior centers is the best place to carol, as they love the visit and the music.)
Help your Church put up a Nativity, if every church and every Christian home in your town put up a Nativity in their front yards, it wouldn't matter if there was one in the park or not.
Look to see the good in people. And look to see if anyone is acting sad or withdrawn, there is a lot of depression at this time of year. If you know someone is having a hard time, listen to them, talk with them, let them know you love them.
No one is keeping you from celebrating Christ's birth, but there are a lot of people trying to trick you into thinking you should be spending this season of joy snipping and snapping at people who have the "audacity" to give you a seasonal greeting that's not on your preferred list of greetings. (Gasp...they said Happy Holidays to me instead of Merry Christmas...do you think Jesus wants me to celebrate His birth by yelling at them and calling them names?) By being stirred up and angry, you're missing out on the whole point of the season of Advent, and the celebration of Christmastide....peace, joy and goodwill.
Peace, joy and goodwill. Kinda hard to find those in the middle of a "war." So I don't know about you, but I'm not going to play that game. I'd rather go to services, laugh with my husband, sing carols, drink eggnog, shop for those I love, decorate and maybe...just maybe bake cookies. (Don't hold your breath though Charles.....) With so much joy to be had, why focus on anything else?
During Advent we pray "Come Lord"
During Advent we pray "Come Lord" and in watchful anticipation we look towards both the celebration of the Nativity and that time when Christ will return. This season fills our need to plead for God to come close (even though it is usually we who have meandered far from God) and to focus upon our desire and longing for hope. It lifts our eyes and our hearts above the common and fixates us instead on that which is to come; Advent promises that this life is not all there is, that God is bringing about a new creation and a new order.
An order that was begun in a stable long ago, confirmed upon a bloody cross, promised in an empty tomb, and will celebrate with a triumphant King returning to claim what is His.
I wonder...as we pray, "Come Lord"....if there is not something more we can do during all the year, but perhaps especially at Advent and Christmastide.
Can we not also pray, "Come Lord, and direct me to Your people who are broken and outcasts from society? Let me see them with Your eyes and show them Your love."
Can we not pray, "Come Lord, so many are hungry, both for food and for Your word, which is eternal. Show me who to feed and let my hands distribute Your love?"
Can we not pray, "Come Lord, there are so many who are lonely during this time of rejoicing, fill me with Your compassion for them that I may seek them out and let them know they are loved?"
Can we not pray, "Come Lord, there are so many who are angry and divided from one another, let me sow seeds of fellowship and unity, so that Your peace might grow in hearts, and Your love be spread?"
In this time of preparation for the heart and soul, we pray, Come Lord. Let us seek You as faithfully as the wise men and be drawn near. Let us rejoice in Your coming with the simple, trusting faith of the shepherds. May we drink of Your living water, may we rest in Your peace, may we follow You faithfully. May we be eager to not only kneel at the manager, but also at the cross, may we rejoice at the empty tomb and fix our hopes upon Your return. Come Lord, into my heart, and make my hands reach in love to those who hurt, my voice speak Your words of life, my feet travel to those in need, and my ears open to the cries of the oppressed. Come Lord, make Your home again within my heart, that I might celebrate the nativity all the year round. In the name of Him who left heaven for a stable's manager for love of you and I, Amen.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Monday, December 1, 2014
And in the darkness, the world waited for the light. In the stillness, the faithful knelt and prayed, "O Come Lord."
As we begin tomorrow to celebrate the anticipation of the first Nativity, are we still waiting and praying for the second coming of the King?
In the darkness of the gathering storm, of coldness, avarice and darkest parts of a man's nature, the world still seeks the light; let the light of Christ shine out from us, as beacons of hope in a despairing world.
And let our prayer be, "O Come Lord."
Soooo, I see it has started.
The "I won't accept Happy Holidays, only Merry Christmas," movement.
And I get it. Really. For a lot of people, myself included, this is a deeply meaningful season of the year in which to honor the Nativity of the Lord who loves us enough to have come down to be born amongst us.
But do you think Jesus wants you to pick fights with people over "Happy Holidays?" Really?
If someone, at any other time of the year, wishes you well by saying, "Have a good day!"...do you quarrel with them? Hopefully not.
So why pick a fight now?
You see, you don't know the faiths of everyone around you...some are Christian, but some might be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Wiccan or gasp, agnostic or atheist. And it is the time of year people want to be extra friendly, we're generally in a good mood, we're laughing, buying gifts for people we love, getting into the spirit of the season as it is, so we want to exchange cheery greetings with each other.
And maybe someone who isn't of our faith wants to exchange such a happy sentiment with you, so they call out, "Happy Holidays!" Full of goodwill and merriment. That is not the time for ANY disciple of Christ to snap back, in bad humor and with bad manners, "It's Christmas, you idiot. We say Merry Christmas in this country."
Because if you were to do that, even in a less obnoxious manner, you've a) just ruined the moment of goodwill and fellowship, and b) done nothing at all to show people the love of Christ. In fact, you just pushed them further away.
So...if someone wishes you Happy Holidays (which only means Happy Holy Days, after all) be gracious and say it back, with warmth and love. If you know someone who is Jewish, feel free to wish them a Joyous Hanukkah when the time is right. I have friends who celebrate Yule, and I wish them a Happy Yule. That doesn't diminish my faith in Christ, or take away from my enjoyment of Advent and Christmastide....it just means I can be friendly and loving to the people around me.
This Christmas, let's try and be a little more generous with those around us...and if they wish us Happy Holidays, smile and accept it for what it is...someone wanting to wish you joy and happiness during this season of celebration.
Whatever you may celebrate this time of year (and I have friends of multiple faiths) I wish you well. I wish you joy, happiness, love and fellowship. Because you are all dear to me.
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