PRESENCE

ANTICIPATION.... (d365.org - Sarah Councell Turner)
It's not what someone does for us that matters most; it's the very fact that they are with us when we need them that's important.

In moments of struggle and suffering - and in times of celebration and joy - we want another alongside us to share our experience.

The overriding message of Christmas is that God has come to be with us. And God is with you now.

SUNDAY, January 5     Leadership

Psalm 72:1-7  MSG

Give the gift of wise rule to the king, O God,
    the gift of just rule to the crown prince.
May he judge your people rightly,
    be honorable to your meek and lowly.
Let the mountains give exuberant witness;
    shape the hills with the contours of right living.
Please stand up for the poor,
    help the children of the needy,
    come down hard on the cruel tyrants.
Outlast the sun, outlive the moon—
    age after age after age.
Be rainfall on cut grass,
    earth-refreshing rain showers.
Let righteousness burst into blossom
    and peace abound until the moon fades to nothing.

      What more can we pray for that the gift of wise rule to the leaders of our world?  Today is a good reminder that we can be a part of that gift.  Our prayers for our politicians matter.  How often do I include them in my daily devotions?  More than not I utter some words of discouragement about their objectives and goals, perhaps their lack of conscience, and then ask for God to remain present in MY life!  May my prayers include those who rule, that God's presence with them will guide for justice and peace. 
     Luke flies out tonight with the Peace Fellowship delegation to Palestine and Israel.  May God's presence comfort and assure this group as they seek to "see, listen, support, and act" all sides in this troubled part of the Holy Land.  May the leadership of these lands rule wisely as they welcome these young people.  

SATURDAY, January 4    

John 1:14 GNT

The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son.
     It is probably a 'cop-out', but I thought Sarah Turner Councell's remarks on today's passage were right on.  God came to us in a form we could recognize and identify.  Until then we ran away.  We continue to run at times because we fail to recognize that God still appears in those around us.  The dog lovers in my family will appreciate Councell's analogy:

Two years ago my dog Rosie went missing. She was gone for a terrible 20 days. One day I got a call from a teacher who had seen Rosie near a school. Several people had tried to get close to her, with no luck. Even though Rosie was exhausted and starving, she ran away from every stranger she saw.

Finally, a volunteer brought her own dog to join the search. As soon as Rosie saw them she went right over, touched noses with the dog, and wagged her tail. That's when she stopped running and came home.

No one has ever seen God. Jesus became flesh so that we would see someone who looks, sounds, and smells human. Just like Rosie, we need one of our own kind to come find us and bring us home.

Are we tired and weary, but still running from God?  We needn't be.  God is present and with us.  

FRIDAY, January 3        God-Light

John 1:10 CEB

The light was in the world,
    and the world came into being through the light,
        but the world didn’t recognize the light.
How can we be sure?
What proof do we have?
Is God for real?
Is God truly present?
Give me a sign! 
Grant me a miracle!

Are you kidding?
Take a look around!!  
Look beyond the mortal doings,
Look beyond mankind's mistakes,
All Creation radiates God! 
The earth is ablaze with God-Light!
Sunsets! Alpine glow!
Mountain peaks! Red-rock Canyons!
Waterfalls, crashing waves. 
Minute wildflowers, blue orchids,
Hummingbirds and dragonflies.
The world is alive with God-presence. 

Are you kidding?
Take a look around!
Every healing hug or handshake,
Every act of compassion,
Every moment of mercy,
That's God! God at work!
The Light is in the world!
The Light is present!  
Recognize the Light!
Be part of the God-Light!
We can be sure!!!

THURSDAY, January 2    Life-Light

John 1:1-5 (Mixed)

In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 From the very beginning the Word was with God.  (GNT)
Everything was created through him;
    nothing—not one thing!—
    came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
    and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
    the darkness couldn’t put it out.  (MSG)

     I love the simplicity of the Good News in the first verses, but Life-Light blazing out of the darkness also sounds so great in Peterson's The Message!  So today?  Two translations!  

     Today is a day of departures.  Jack is flying back to Denver.  This could easily have been the last Christmas Jack spends in the States and hence, with us.  I don't think I gave enough thought to that, or perhaps paid enough attention to Jack.  Did I take his presence for granted?  Do I take God's presence for granted as well?  

      Luke also is leaving today - for an extended trip to Palestine and Israel.  I am excited for his opportunity; but naturally worried for his safety.  This is not the most secure area in the world.  Perhaps I will have MORE empathy now for the mothers who say goodbye to their sons traveling to Iraq or Afghanistan! 

      So,.... I find today's scripture comforting.  God is present with both Jack and Luke, wherever they may be.  Life-Light is blazing out to surround them.  God is present and at work in and through them.  Prayers will be heard on their behalf.  Safe travels my boys.  

WEDNESDAY, January 1

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 GNT

Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.

2 He sets the time for birth and the time for death,
the time for planting and the time for pulling up,
3 the time for killing and the time for healing,
the time for tearing down and the time for building.
4 He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy,
the time for mourning and the time for dancing,
5 the time for making love and the time for not making love,
the time for kissing and the time for not kissing.
6 He sets the time for finding and the time for losing,
the time for saving and the time for throwing away,
7 the time for tearing and the time for mending,
the time for silence and the time for talk.
8 He sets the time for love and the time for hate,
the time for war and the time for peace.

     I just finished reading a light little romantic novel about a couple and the three angels who brought them together.  The angels were in trouble from God because the couple met BEFORE God had planned.  The angels had messed things up.  Is there chance encounter, or is our life controlled as to God's choosing?  I think both!  We have free will!  We can mess up God's plan.  But I honestly believe God will just choose another opportunity to place before us.  Over and over.  We ignore the clues so often, but eventually we take heed and notice!  

     God is present in our lives.  God is at work in both the good and the bad.  We have lessons to learn in both the celebration and sorrow, in each 'season' before us.  May we recognize God's presence and live in and through it in the year ahead. 

TUESDAY, December 31

Psalm 8:3-9  MSG

I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
    your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
    Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
    Why take a second look our way?

Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
    bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
    repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us lords of sheep and cattle,
    even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
    whales singing in the ocean deeps.

 God, brilliant Lord,
    your name echoes around the world.

     'Oh, Lord, my Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!'  

The words to a popular praise song echo in my heart whenever I read this passage from Psalms, a song which puts the psalm to music.  And then....when I read through one of Jed's books on the universe or ponder the vastness of the night sky, when we visit an observatory and are given a scale model of the SIZE of God's realm, we can feel very small and insignificant.  And that is the marvelous majesty of it all:  The God of infinity cares and dwells about ME, personally.  The thought can blow you away.  David has the same reaction as he writes his psalm.  Why do you bother with us, God?  Why do you care?

     Why?  The power of LOVE.  God loves us.  He is present to help us experience and extend that love to others, to live in love.  May I take the time and seek the opportunities in the coming year to revel in, and share, such powerful love.  

       

MONDAY, December 30

Psalm 8:1

God, brilliant Lord,
    yours is a household name.  (MSG)

Lord, our Lord, how majestic
    is your name throughout the earth!
    You made your glory higher than heaven! (CEB)

O Lord, our Lord,
    your greatness is seen in all the world!
Your praise reaches up to the heavens.  (GNT)

Household name.  Ever present.  Majestic.  Seen everywhere.  That's our God.  That's the God that has come to live WITH us, IN us.  That's the God who is by our side in our triumphs, our celebrations, our sorrows, our trials.  May we spend time with our God, may we talk with the One who is ever with us, may we KNOW the God who lives in us.  Amen!  

BLESSING.... (d365.org - Sarah Councell Turner)

Now go with the assurance that
God is present in you at your strongest and weakest.
God is present in all creation, including you.
God is present in every moment and in a single word.
God is present, recognized or not.
And God is present in the flesh – like our flesh – to bring us home.

EPIPHANY

d365.org PRESENCE OF GOD

(based on Matt 2:1-12; from A Worship Sourcebook)

The Christ child is born!
All you who would find him, 
prepare for a journey, as determined as the Magi.
All you who would praise him, 
come with the faith to follow but a star.
All you who would worship him, 
come with humility to the child
who shows forth the immeasurable riches of God.

SATURDAY, January 12     "Wise Rule"
Psalm 72:1-8 (The Message)
Give the gift of wise rule to the king, O God,
    the gift of just rule to the crown prince.
May he judge your people rightly,
    be honorable to your meek and lowly.
Let the mountains give exuberant witness;
    shape the hills with the contours of right living.
Please stand up for the poor,
    help the children of the needy,
    come down hard on the cruel tyrants.
Outlast the sun, outlive the moon—
    age after age after age.
Be rainfall on cut grass,
    earth-refreshing rain showers.
Let righteousness burst into blossom
    and peace abound until the moon fades to nothing.
Rule from sea to sea,
    from the River to the Rim.
My comments today will be brief.  I want to simply send the scripture text to all leaders - from Presidents to Congress, to judges and magistrates.  Our CEO God manages the world with compassion and love, justice and righteousness.  The example is there, the bar is set high.  But if we focus on this kind of leadership, perhaps peace may someday "abound until the moon fades to nothing."  
What kind of leadership do I offer?  What is my part in all this?  

d365.org BENEDICTION (Joann Lee)

See the child, 

Gentle and kind,

Vision of God,

Image of the Divine.

Be the child,

Prepared to see

Images of God,

And all that will be.

All that will be.

Friday, January 11    "CEO God"
Ephesians 3:8 (The Message) 
When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.
I'm not qualified. 
Can't do that, don't know how. 
I don't have the background or knowledge. 
Too young; too old. 
We say this all the time,
Usually because the task is daunting. 
Or inconvenient. 
Or dangerous.
And we don't WANT to do it.  
But God sends the unqualified. 
The 'least of these' Christians.  
Rather like a company that prefers to 'train its own', 
God WILL equip us with the tools we need, 
The knowledge to share, 
The depth of compassion
Step by step. 
Not all at once, 
But as we need it. 
What is our part, our job?
Faith.  Trust.  
Confidence that God is in control,
And knows what is best for us, 
And for His creation.  
Big jobs, small jobs,
Nearby or far away jobs. 
God is equipping his workers. 
God is a GREAT CEO of the world. 



THURSDAY, January 10    "Epiphany Mystery"
Ephesians 3:6 (The Message)
The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I’ve been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board.

Mystery.  Secret or hidden plan.  Various translations use different terms.  But in all the reference is to God's plan for our world.  Through the 'mystery of Christ', ALL are welcome in the kingdom of God.  The arrival of the foreign, Gentile wise men signifies this EPIPHANY - this revelation of inclusiveness beyond the boundaries of the Hebrew nation.  How well have we gone beyond the boundaries of our comfortable lives and welcomed the newborn Christ as seen in the faces of our struggling neighbors, refugees, and hungry children.  
God has revealed his mystery - as he came among us, he brought us all together.  

WEDNESDAY, January 9
"Expectations"
Matthew 2:9-11 (The Message)
^" Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!  They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh."
     Picture this.  Important, busy, and wealthy scholars in a land distant and very strange from Israel see a sign in the sky.  They drop everything, gather their entourage of camels and servants, and set off for Jerusalem.  They are carrying gifts - gifts worthy of a royal king.  Expensive gifts.  They have high expectations for this journey.  They have put their life and work on hold in order to go on this pilgrimage. 
     They go straight to royalty in Jerusalem for answers.  The signal light reappears in the sky - they are on the right path!  And then it stops.  Not over a palace.  Not among the royalty.  It stops over a plain house with a lowly couple inside. And a baby.  What were the wise men thinking?  Did they feel like the trip was a bust?  Their gifts too extravagant?  Surely they were disappointed!  This wasn't what they expected at all!!  
     Yet...they believed.  They held the course.  They entered and worshiped   They presented their valuable gifts.  And in so doing, they were changed.  Worlds were changed.  
     What are we expecting?  Are we willing to drop everything to follow the Light of God?  Are we willing to find messages from God in lowly places?  And believe?  What journeys to new experiences or foreign cultures is God sending us on?   What gifts should be bring? Whatever our journey, we should never let our pre-conceived expectations prevent us from experiencing the glory of God! 

Addendum:  As today finishes the scripture passage from Matthew concerning the visit of the wisemen, I will include here the scribble from Sunday's sermon on the same text by Pastor Katy. 

TUESDAY, January 8
"Stars"
Matthew 2:1-6  (The Message)
They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.”

     I just read two more in-depth internet explanations of the "Bethlehem Star" and the magi.  Fascinating!  STARS!  In brief: No where in the Bible does it say the magi FOLLOWED the star  OR that it led to BETHLEHEM!  A brilliant light (star) in the region EAST of Israel (home to the magi!) signaled the birth.  The magi, knowing Hebrew prophecy up to a point, went to Jerusalem to investigate.  From there, a moving light led them to the PLACE where Jesus was.  Almost like a spotlight!  The Gospel of Luke indicates Jesus might have been back in Nazareth by then.  Did the wise guys go there? Did anyone else sees this light?  Could the star have been more like the pillar of fire that led the Israelites out of Egypt?  Hmmmm.....
      Regardless of the star's science, the star is God created, the presence of God's guidance.  It is all wrapped up in the glory and light of God.  And THAT is a star we can still follow today: God-light, reflected in the people who surround us and guide us.  God-Light that we can be to others.  Who are the 'stars' in my life?  For whom can I BE star-light?   
PS.  Guess the nativity scenes that don't have any wisemen are probably the most accurate!  They did not arrive with the shepherds!  Perhaps creches are more a merger of time and place - the juxtapostion of God-among-us in the birth of Christ.   Whoa!  Deep thinking this early in the morning!  
http://www.creationtoday.org/the-wise-men-and-the-star/
http://www.christmaspirit.com/christmasstar.htm

MONDAY, January 7
"Wise Guys"
Isaiah 60:4-6 (Good News Translation)

Look around you and see what is happening:
Your people are gathering to come home!
Your sons will come from far away;
Your daughters will be carried like children.

You will see this and be filled with joy;You will tremble with excitement.
The wealth of the nations will be brought to you;
From across the sea their riches will come.

Great caravans of camels will come, from Midian and Ephah.

They will come from Sheba, bringing gold and incense.

People will tell the good news of what the Lord has done!

    Perhaps it is from my morning devotions, the lectionary Bible Study, or from two sermons on Epiphany, but I have thought about the "Wise Guys" far more in the past week than ever before.  Who WERE these foreigners who traveled to find the Light?  The concept that they were of various religions from more than one country - a very diverse lot seeking the Messiah of the Jews - indicates to me we truly are talking about learned and well-read scholars.  The books of the Old Testament were known beyond the borders of Israel!  Perhaps they KNEW that this child was to be more than just Israel, more than just a Jew, but a child for the world.  Jewish prophets knew the Messiah was foretold - why didn't THEY see the star for what is was?  Or...maybe they didn't even see it!  Sometimes it takes an outsider to help us see what is right before our eyes. Maybe we should listen to them! 
    Do we come together today as the wisemen?  Our families sometimes gather from far places to celebrate Christmas.  They bring gifts - not just material gifts, but individual gifts of talents and abilities.  Can we gather as denominations, nations, as a world, with a common purpose: to celebrate the coming of Light for the World?   How can we share the Light? What gifts will we bring?  

SUNDAY, January 6

"Arise, Shine!

Isaiah 60:1 (Good News Translation)

Arise, Jerusalem, and shine like the sun;
The glory of the Lord is shining on you!

Wake up! 

Arise!

Acknowledge!

God is present!

God is among us!

A new Light is shining!

Darkness is no more!

A Christ-child star blazes brightly

To pave our way

To new experiences

To new opportunities

To a new relationship with God Almighty. 
Be filled with the Light. 

Follow the Light. 

Learn from the Light. 

The glory of the Lord!

A new day!