How much longer!?

Why doesn't God do something? What is taking Him so long? Where is He? What are we supposed to do in the meantime!? 
In church the other day we reflected on these questions. 

(photo by me taken in Kangaroo Valley October 2014)

I wonder if you have heard the imagery of God being the Bridegroom and the people of God are his Bride. It is one referenced a few times in the bible. "Your Maker is your Husband" (Isaiah 54:5). The story of Hosea taking a prostitute for a wife to symbolise God's relationship towards people, Him faithfully trying to keep us, people ever seeking pleasure elsewhere. In Isaiah we also read of God rejoicing over his bride: "as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 62:5). I often find this idea really odd, but also amazingly beautiful. That God commits himself to people so completely, makes promises to them. One day when Jesus returns there will be a great banquet, a wedding feast, a celebration. A wedding between God and His people, a celebration where "they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God" (Revelation 21:3b).

In light of this imagery of Jesus as the bridegroom and the church as the bride. And people waiting for the day when we can celebrate a beautiful and amazing wedding. Read Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus told this parable:

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."

Where is God? He, the groom, has gone to collect his bride from all across the world. We wait as those in the celebration are gathered together. Just look at the amazing growth of the church in China and parts of Africa. God is working in this world, bringing people into relationship with Him by His Spirit through his people. God is not silent, his timing is just very different to ours! "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day" (2 Peter 3:8).

And so while God brings in more people daily to his wedding banquet, let us not grow weary of waiting. The delay is bringing more people to the joy of God through his mercy. And so we pray for patience, for wisdom to keep our lanterns of faith burning brightly. We can't borrow faith later on, but must pray to each be satisfied in God's love each day. Let us keep watch.

Eternal God, you have taught us that the night is far spent and the day is at hand; keep us awake and alert, watching for your kingdom, so that when Christ, the bridegroom, comes we mat go out joyfully to meet him, and with him enter into the marriage feast that you have prepared for all who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Fast

In 2014 I am going to learn to fast. Well, I hope to learn a bit more about fasting...
The Prophet Isaiah writes about true fasting:

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion

    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 
For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them. 
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers. 
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high. 
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord? 

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke? 
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,

    and your night will become like the noonday. 
The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail. 
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. 

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 
then you will find your joy in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.*

So I'm not going to give up eating. Maybe I'll have a day or two of that, but instead will just try and keep the Sabbath. In January I'm going to fast from facebook, and in February I'm planning to fast from meat. Throughout the year I'm cutting back from mindless TV, so only the news or movies or a set program (extra hours on weekends :p) And hopefully this will mean, no technology after 10 pm and more time focusing on God and others! :D

Jesus was asked by John the Baptist's disciples why his disciples didn't fast. Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast."**

Jesus, our Bridegroom, hasn't returned yet. Let us watch and be prepared for a long wait. I think fasting is a good discipline to have an understanding of, and exercise in this period; especially the fasting that seeks justice, freedom, welfare, peace and healing.

*Isaiah 58
**Mark 2:19-20

december 27: quiet

Go to a quiet place, and pray. In the last few days I have been enjoying the lull of this time of year, for me anyway. There is pause, maybe I should call it a calm before a storm. Nevertheless, I have had the chance to read a bit, watch a few movies, relax, do craft, eat food, listen to music all in beautiful stillness and calm. Few people have disturbed it. Doing nothing isn't bad or wrong, even if I do feel that I have been a bit lazy. Truth is, I am trying to come away by myself and get some rest, and despite it being interrupted at times, sometimes with pleasant things, other times very unexpected things, I am also aiming to get away from the crowds so I can be closer to God, more focused on God, listen to Him, pray to him. 
Listen to Jesus and see him at work. He seeks quiet and yet when it is disturbed does the task at hand lovingly and then finds what he needs....

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.*

*Mark 6:30-46

December 25: Simeon's watchful patience

Waiting and watching for a promise to be fulfilled. Trusting that it's going to happen. Believing that it is worth being alive for. 

Simeon seems to me to have such hopeful faith that God will provide the "consolation of Isreal" who will be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles". And then, when he has seen Jesus, even as a little baby, he is satisfied and tells God "you may now dismiss your servent in peace"!! How crazy! What person would say that about seeing a baby!? What baby could bring someone to say such a thing? I'm sure Jesus' parents wondered there things!

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord  (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.  Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 

For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”*

*Luke 2:22-35

December 24: while they were there

A pet hate of mine at the moment is how often we trivialise and make fluffy poetry of history, especially concerning the birth of Jesus. 

Like, did Mary go into labor the moment she saw Bethlehem? 

Were all the people there truly so horrible that they turned out a woman about the have a baby? 

Maybe they stayed with some extended family from Joseph and slept in the main house, rather than the granny flat out the back that was full of other visiting relatives? 

And maybe the animals were kept indoors at night to protect them from wild animals or the cold? So the manger was actually a safe and warm place to keep a baby?

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. ....On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.*

*Luke 2:1-7.21

December 18: be strong

In bold are the bits that I am constantly in awe of. God gives us gifts so that we can defend ourselves, he doesn't leave us alone in the cold and dark.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, 

with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 

and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.*

*Ephesians 6:10-20

december 17: egypt

In bold are the bits that I am thinking about at the moment.

When [the wise men] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

“A voice is heard in Ramah, 

weeping and great mourning, 

Rachel weeping for her children 

and refusing to be comforted, 

because they are no more.”

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.*

*Matthew 2:13-21

December 14: pregnant pause

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.*

For about 400 years God was silent. The prophets had stopped warning, had stopped sharing God's promised restoration.

I'm sorry for blanking out for the last week! I have been away on a conference (which was awesome!) and then have been busy with pre-Christmas stuff. Nevertheless (for the week that I have missed) I'll share some great passages linked to the remembrance of Christ coming to earth and longing for his return.

When we wait for things we start to wondered what has happened, did we mis-hear what was happening, have we been looking in the wrong place, are they just delayed, what have we don't wrong, have we scared them off, have they decided not to come after all... The people back 2000 years ago in Israel were waiting for the Messiah, Roman rule wasn't that much fun and they longed for freedom. They looked for a warrior, for a king... someone to set them free -literally- from the situation they were in. Why didn't God give them exactly what they were looking for? Why would the Bible tell a story which doesn't fit what we would initially assume to be the promised King? How does Jesus fit into the Old Testament? Is He the fulfillment of many promises, or have Christians got it all wrong?

I'm learning that waiting is actually really healthy sometimes. Not answering a questions straight away means we have to really think about it all and wonder and wrestle. I don't have all the answers, I have part answers. I am happy to share them, but I also think I should be leaving more things open, asking more questions. How often do we hear kids ask questions, isn't it sad that we are trained to stop asking questions.
How does hail have the time to form before it falls? Why did God make humidity!? How are we supposed to say the "right thing" all the time? Why can't we talk honestly and bluntly with people?

Anyway, it might have taken a while, but in the end God did provide, he gave the world His Son. He loves the world, and although he might have left us hanging, waiting with all these questions and no immediate answers, the eventual answer was awesome! It IS awesome! There was, if I might use this phrasing, a pregnant pause in God's timing, which ended in a pregnant village virgin woman, in the baby Jesus.

*John 3:16

December 15: defend

May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!*

There is so much pain and destruction in this world! So many tragedies; some man-made, some natural, some both! So many people with curable diseases, so many struggling to achieved the bare necessities. I find it really overwhelming. There is comfort though in the Bible, because there I read of a God who cares, provides, restores, delivers, protects...

For he delivers the needy when he calls,

the poor and him who has no helper.

13 

He has pity on the weak and the needy,

and saves the lives of the needy.

14 

From oppression and violence he redeems their life,

and precious is their blood in his sight.**

God values and loves the needy, the poor, the weak! 

"May his name endure forever,

his fame continue as long as the sun!

May people be blessed in him,

all nations call him blessed!***

*Psalm 72:4
**Psalm 72:12-14
***Psalm 72:17

December 13: father's house

As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”*

When you were a child did you ever wonder off from your parents? What were the rules for when you found yourself in that situation? I remember being told to stay where I was. In some situations I was advised to retrace my steps, this was more of a lesson as I got older and gave me more independence and responsibility for myself. So I learnt when I was going to new places to glance back and see things from a different perspective so on the return journey I'd know where to go. This is a skill I still use today! Then again, I was never one to rush away from my parents or lag behind, the more common situation would have me rushing ahead of the family assuming that I knew the way and could lead everyone. I have -I admit!- taken wrong turns and then wondered by no one was following anymore! But waiting for them to catch up eventually meant waiting for them to realise I was lost, and thankfully my dad figured it out and found me!

Where can we go to ask questions and learn and discuss? I love being at uni for the environment of open searching and honest discussion, the freedom to make claims and seek answers, the time to read and speculate with people. The freedom to wrestle with complex ideas or controversial topics. But I also really enjoy asking questions and discussion things over meals with people. Earlier this year I was in England and I visited for a week a place called L'Abri, it is a manor house in the country side and there they host travelers who are seeking a refuge to explore the claims of the Bible. It was a really welcoming and honest place, amazingly interesting and helpful, and not at all threatening! Anyway, my favourite time of the day was lunch time because there we would eat in groups of about 8 and for the entire meal talk about one topic; at the beginning of the meal the facilitator would ask if anyone had a question or issue they wanted to discuss. Someone would pose their idea and the conversation would launch. Only one person spoke at a time and everyone listened to each others views, there didn't need to be a solution or solid answer at the end of the meal. It was great!

Anyway, when Jesus was twelve, he and his family went to another city to celebrate a festival. As the whole community was probably very close and all traveling together it's not from parental neglect that Jesus wasn't discovered on the return journey to be lost for a whole day. They must have assumed that he was with one of their friends or relatives, probably playing with their kids or something. But he wasn't!

"After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” 

“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them."**

All I want to say is, please feel free to visit a church, to see the great beauty of the architecture (some of my favourites in Syndey include St Mary's and St Andrew's Cathederal.) Enjoy the peace and reflective silence. Not only that, seek out friends or preachers/pastors/ministers who you can listen to and ask questions of. if the first person you find and ask isn't right for you, that's ok, don't give up. There will be people out there who will happily talk, listen, answer, explore with you. Be like the young Jesus and seek out those places, even if it's out of your comfort zone or people will be confused as to why you are there!

If we talk and discuss things, Jesus is bound to turn up on one way or another and ask what we are searching for, or give us more thought-provoking questions to discuss. Questions shouldn't be threatening, but rather truth seeking.

*Luke 24:15-17

**Luke 4:46-50

December 6: Saint Nicholas

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.*

A year ago today I was in Germany, I awoke in a warm home to find a little boy excitedly looking in his shoes. When I asked him what all the fuss was about, he explained. In one of his shoes was a gift from Saint Nicholas. As was one in his little sisters shoe, and to my great surprise, in mine as well! Saint Nicholas had visited during the night, and because people traditionally leave their shoes outside, and Saint Nicholas can't get into the house and directly give the gifts to the children, he leaves a gift in each of the children's shoes. A little chocolate, usually! Something small to brighten one's day.

(my little friend in Germany looking at the little gifts from Saint Nicholas)

St Nicholas, as far as I understand it, was a young man who lived in the 4th century. He was orphaned as a young man and inherited great wealth. He moved to live with his uncle a priest where he learn more about good news of Jesus. He was moved to generosity, he especially had compassion for children and is remembered for caring for orphans, he was also quite humble and sought to remain a secret donor. Hence the myth of Santa secretly coming and donating gifts to children emerged.

Anyway, I think it's a lovely encouragement to be generous to those around us, especially children. This is something we don't do out of duty but rather in thankfulness; imitating Christ, the one who had all the riches and gave it up for our sake:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!**

What a sacrifice, giving up so much! I am ashamed at how much I hold onto my few dollars, possessions and talents. What are they really? When Jesus, had everything, and was willing to die; for me, for you! If Jesus who created and sustains everything (like EVERYTHING) willingly gave it up, so that through his poverty we might be made rich. Not physically rich, but rich in the way of eternal life, boundless blessing, unconditional love, amazing grace. If Jesus gave up His riches to be poor, it follows through that believers and followers of Christ (Christians) would seek to imitate him. Saint Nicholas was just a man who had some money, but he didn't keep it for himself instead gave it to the weak and vulnerable in society; children.

Even with my little, I want to be generous. I want to have the same mindset as Christ with my relationships. That I would give up and be generous with what I have, so that in my poverty they might become rich. And in my poverty, God might be glorified as the One who inspires and challenges us to trust in His provision and generosity rather than our own abilities. Let us delight in the generosity of Jesus becoming man, as my little friend was delighted at chocolate in his shoe. Because really, Jesus is so much better than chocolate! :)

*2 Corinthians 8:9
**Philippians 2:5-8

December 4: Gifts

And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.*

A few days ago (November 28) was the USA tradition of Thanksgiving. There are so many small gifts that we take for granted. God gives them, and we forget to say thank you. Each day. Each meal we eat. Each safe commute to work. Each friend we have. Each penny we own. Our health. We say that we deserve them, but in my heart I know how much I really don't. I'm not worthy of the abundance I have, it's way above and beyond what I deserve!

Christmas is a time to give and receive gifts, I'm not much of a gift person, so I find this season challenging. Remembering to give good gifts and being thankful for all the gifts, great and small. But why do we only spend one (or two) days a year thinking of giving gifts or receiving gifts. And if Christmas really about how many and what presents we get? Or is it about a more significant and life changing Gift that God gave to the world? God's gracious gift of life, a solution to the worlds problems, an answer to our brokenness, a clear and safe passage for us at His own expense!

But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.**

What's amazing to me is that gifts are things we give away, and mostly don't feel regret about. Also, we give them away, and don't demand a return gift, although the custom of sharing is there. God's gift of grace is free, and it does not demand that we give something (our time, or money) to God in return or pay-back. Rather God's gift of forgiveness is one we only receive, and in receiving we allow it to change and transform us. The transformation will cause us to actions of generosity with time and money and skills, but they are an outworking and thankfulness of the gift we have received rather than a way of proving we earned or deserved the gift. I'm sure God doesn't regret the gift he gave of His Son, but I hope we don't forget just how precious, unique and wonderful this gift is.

I hope that this Christmas season will be a time to reflect on the Gift of God and the many small blessings we get from God every day of the year, and only in response to that abundant love and generosity seek to share that joy with others!

*Ecclesiastes 3:13

**Romans 5:15-17

December 1: Happy New Year

John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”*

The church calender traditionally begins in Advent, the time leading up to Christmas. So that makes, 30th of November, Christian New Years Eve, and today New Years Day!

Advent**: a coming into place, view or being; arrival
Jesus, at the appointed time, came into this world. He is the Prince of Peace, the point at which history turns; before hand people looked forward to a Messiah, not we look back at the Messiah coming into the world. The advent of coming into a place of peace, of coming into a different view of the world, of coming into being.

Advent: the coming of Christ into the world
You've heard the message before, the message of Jesus, you have an image of a little baby or a man on a cross. What does is mean that God came into the world? What does it mean that He became a man; was born, lived and died? So easily we can slip into routine and forget how amazing this is! I know that I often put God into a box, a set of ideas that I struggle to expand. God is my Friend, Comfort, and Saviour. I hope that this Advent period I will expand my understanding of Jesus, and not assume that I know everything already. Allow Him to surprise me, to be more than I give Him credit for.

Advent: the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas, observed in commemoration of the coming of Christ into the world.
Every Advent period my dad has an Advent Box, and each Sunday he brings out one item, and on the fourth Sunday he puts the four items together. The question is, what is in the box, and what does it all mean? Today he took out a toy lion.

(google image look-a-like)

It's hard not knowing everything, or understanding how things fit together, but that doesn't stop us enjoying what is around us or appreciating what we do know, it ought not to stop us from acting on what we already know. Maybe, the unknown actually helps us to expand our understanding as we allow for our box to expand. Like John the Baptist said, he is far greater than we are, and gives far better gifts, including the Holy Spirit!

Advent: the Second Coming; the coming of Christ on Judgement Day.
What does this coming year hold for you? Do you have any big plans? Or a whole bunch of small plans? Are you hoping to learn more, travel more, exercise more, socialise more, ask more, believe more, listen more, talk more? Are you going to look out for anything? Some times we make promises or set goals and then forget to keep an eye out for where we are up to. The waiting and looking forward to Jesus' second coming can be like that, we know Jesus promised to return, and return unannounced.*** So this year, starting this advent, why not join me in being ready and open for His return. Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Happy New Year everyone! 


*Mark 1:7-8
**www.dictionary.com 'Advent'
*** Luke 12:35-48

simple love

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.*

Hi everyone,
my life has been busy these last few weeks and so I haven't had the time to post. I noticed today that it has now been a year since I started this blog. I have enjoyed thinking through ideas and sharing them with you, dear reader. I hope you will continue with me into the future. Please feel free to comment your ideas and thoughts. I have a whole bunch of ideas that I want to get out, but I'll also love to hear if you agree, disagree with me or just want clarification or whatever!
So today, explore with me the complexity of love.

Love is not simple.
Love is hard and complex, challenging and stretching, it's rewarding and enriching. But it's not simple.
There are great things to do that can show love without getting personally involved in peoples lives or having close connections.** But most of the time love requires relationships that take time, energy and thought.
Loving forgiveness. Loving truth. Loving joy. Loving generosity. Loving peace. Loving kindness. Loving hope. Loving patience. Loving humbly. Loving unconditionally.
It's just not simple. Love is not just romance and marriage. Love is for the spouse, neighbour and enemy! I don't think it can be put down into law, it is beyond a law. In many places I find we have an expectation that if it's in policy to respect others that will result in respect in practice, but I just don't see that as who we are as people! So all those who are fighting for some set definition of how love looks like, I encourage you to think deeply about what the end result will achieve. Will a change in definition or policy or wording make the heart difference you are seeking? Love can't be forced! Love can't be contained. Love is shared, it fills and overflows.

I have spent the last day reflecting on these verses and what they say about love:

Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice on wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

[Jesus] was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

For I {God} will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember sin no more (Jeremiah 31:34).

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13).

In my own strength I find it hard to love. I am quick to judge and complain. I am proud and self-righteous. In God's mercy I am slowly and continually learning what it means that love is mainly not what I give to God, but what I receive from Him.* Perfect love is one willing to die for a friend and make sacrifices. It is one that will go to extreme lengths to restore relationships, as God did in becoming a man. Love keeps no record of wrongs and hopes for better things. If God can do that for me, how can I not seek to do that for God and others!

Reflection: my first blog post was about being a better friend. I guess the truth is that I am still learning this, and continuing to see how complex this simple four letter word really is!

*1 John 4:10
**http://www.st-thomas.org.au/simple-love-initiative/

that's ok

"Forgive your brother from your heart"*

Pride is a dangerous thing. It stops us from acknowledging we have done something wrong, stops us from admitting that to others, and it also stops us accepting and forgiving other people. How are we to respond when someone says sorry? what do we say? what to we mean? how does it change how we treat each other? what are they really asking for when they say sorry? 'Who can forgive sins but God alone?'**

I have recently been spending more time with pre-school aged children, which has been a wonderful blessing and delight. The other day one of the children pulled my hair. I told him that that wasn't a nice thing to do and asked for an apology. After he did so, I told him I forgave him, and then we continued playing.

When I get into a fight it is hard to admit that I might not be entirely correct, but it is also hard not to gloat or boast when someone admit their failure(s) that to me. What if I decide not to forgive, the friendship cannot be restored, the guilt will fester, the pride expand, I would become self-righteous and hold a grudge.

It's not only about saying "sorry", or hearing someone say "sorry". It's also important how we respond to that!

"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."***

Pride not only stops us from admitting fault, it also keeps us from forgiving and from having right relationships between people. Not only this but being proud and refusing to forgive also hinders our relationship with God!

So what is the alternative to pride? I think King Solomon was right when he said, "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom."**** Let us be humble, forgiving completely when people apologise. We can say "I forgive you", or "you are forgiven". That doesn't necessarily mean 'forget', it just means that that issue/thing is no longer held against them!

Paul writes to the church in Corinth about forgiving a fellow believer. I think his wisdom is useful for us today, not only in the church but with everyone. Paul says that if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not only to one but to many; as we all live in community, the fracture in one friendship will affect a wider group of people. Instead of punishment and pride, "you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him."*****

When someone withholds forgiveness and love, it is really painful, and can cause excessive sorrow. Can I encourage us all to forgive as we would like to be forgiven; remembering our own flaws, seeking to be humble in admitting fault, acknowledging mistakes and forgiving. Seeking also to forgive as God forgives, completely. Forgiving not just in words, but from the heart.

*Matthew 18:35

**Mark 2:7

***Matthew 6:14-15

****Proverbs 11:2

*****2 Corinthians 2:5-8

loved to love

We love because he first loved us.*

"I want you to want me, I need you to need me, I'd love you to love me and I'm begging you to beg me..." as I listened to those lyrics the other day on the radio I began to think about how much of life is focused on "me", also, I wondered about how despite the desperation and controlling nature of the lyrics there is a truth to the longing described in this song. Being wanted, needed, loved, desirable appears to be a good thing, so to speak. I started thinking about each of the words and what they were really asking. Want. Need. Love. Beg. Without much debate the one most valuable to myself -and I expect all people- is love. I believe we all have a spot in our hearts that can only be satisfied by true love (not romantic love). The song tries to fill that spot with a persons actions and responses... including something called love, but I don't believe that any person could adequately fit or fill that spot.

I also wonder if maybe it's all backwards, what if instead of it all being about what someone else can do for us, life is rather about what we can do for others! :o Maybe, we are loved in order to better love others, and blessed to be a blessing, and cherished to cherish others, and valued to value others: the things that are most precious once they are given away. want, need and beg don't fit that category, but love does.

Which brings about another question, -at least for me- why on earth would anyone love me? What have we done that deserves that? I think the song recognises that there is a contradiction in what we want and what is realistic that is why it is all a desperate wish that the singer has. There is an insecurity that the love might not be shown and so it is demanded. We have a desire to be wanted, but why? and what brings us to assume that that is something we can even ask for? is it innate in us to want these things?

People cannot love perfectly, we stuff up, are selfish, forgetful, unrealistic, demanding, manipulative. But that doesn't mean we should give up hope, we are still called to love one another, and when we fail to keep trying. In the old testament it says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."** This isn't a human claim or promise, but one from God. His love is everlasting, he continues to be faithful.

God doesn't explain why he loves the world, but He does show how much he loves us. This faithfulness in love extended to the point where He was willing to do anything to keep the relationship, to restore it. Jesus explained this when he said "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."*** Sometimes God points out just how incredible and undeserved that love really is! God asks one prophet in the Old Testament to experience the uneven relationship that God has with his people, whom He sometimes describes as his bride. Hosea is asked to:

“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”****

Everyone has fallen short of loving perfectly, even those God has chosen, they are forgetful and lazy and selfish and seek pleasure and satisfaction elsewhere. God however has not given up, does not give up, will not give up. He keeps on loving and forgiving. He keeps on seeking and restoring relationships. He loves perfectly because he has dealt with the horrible things we have done, which are so unworthy of love. Jesus came down to earth, willingly took on our failures and bore it to death on a cross, and rising to new life He proved that death and all other failings no longer have ultimate power. Love is amazing, in God we find unconditional love, that is the kind of love that satisfies. And it is the kind of love that transforms. Knowing God's love for me, I can go out and love others. Remembering how unworthy I am on being loved, I seek to forgive and restore relationships not crush them. I am loved to love others. We are all loved first by God, so that we can love others.

*1 John 4:19
**Jeremiah 31:3
*** John 3:16
****Hosea 3:1

breath-taking

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.*

I really enjoy breath-taking hugs, the ones that squeeze the ribs and -a great one- lifts me off the ground! The other week I was blessed enough to get a lot of hugs! I was on a camp, and seeing friends after many months of separation meant a lot of joy and love being shared each time we saw each other during those few days. It was heart warming and made the experience comfortable and affectionate, special and intimate.

There are some situations where intimacy happens naturally. But most of the time, we have to work hard at intimacy. It doesn't have to be hugs, but can happen in a variety of ways. One friend from that camp rightly stated, "There can be no intimacy without conversation. To know and love a friend over the years you must have regular talks."** If someone stops listening or speaking then it is hard to maintain a close relationship with them.

Practicing intimacy isn't easy. Especially working out what that looks like with which people in our many circles, these days we make so many connections... at work, at school, on conferences, in our neighbourhoods and churches. 

Paul writes to the Christians of Rome instructing them on how to treat one another, but also those around them. I cannot help but notice the generosity of spirit and the willingness to be open and honest with all sorts of people. The intimacy God asks for through Paul suggests much more than I would naturally give. Each of these instructions could be unpacked (or I could have just quoted one), but I'd rather encourage you to look through them all to see which one is challenging you today, and I feel they are more useful together than alone to help us know and understand what it looks like to be intimate with other people.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.***

We are not only called to cling to fellow men and women, and rely on their friendship which at times is stronger than family. In the Bible I have found it fascinating to read how much God likes to talk to and hear from people. God spoke to Abraham, Jacob, Noah, Jeremiah, Jonah and so many others! He spoke to share His wisdom, give guidance, warning and instruction. And in turn, God asks, hopes and expects that we will return the communication. If we fail to listen or fail to speak, how can we say we are daily working on the relationship? How can we expect the intimacy we are unwilling to give and share? Thankfully, we don't have to figure it all out on our own. God has given us the Bible so that we can know and begin to understand His character, and "the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words."**** The gift of His Spirit is awesome as He himself carries us through the dark days when our words fail, or our commitment to work at intimacy dwindles for a time. It's never too late to work at intimacy, it's never to late to try again at making the relationship with God work. He gives us innumerable 'second' chances. God is a friend who sticks closer than a brother or sister.

Sometimes I get lazy, I get comfortable in my life, and I forget to listen to God speak. I forget to tell Him what is on my mind. I forget to seek His counsel and wisdom. And so, this post is by me -in my failure- imploring us to keep working at intimacy. It is something I long for, I long to know that God knows my heart and I know His. I long to have friends whom I can trust with my life, and they trust me with theirs. I can't just wish these things into existence, I -and all of us- have to work to ensure we have and sustain such friendships that last.

*Proverbs 18:24
**N. Brown
***Romans 12:9-18
****Romans 8:26