Tag Archives: grace

Make Sure You Are Hungry

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This week I came across a devotional that really touched me and seemed to continue in the same thought as my message last Sunday.* It comes from a daily email devotional by Fr. Richard Rohr. I thought it best to share it in full.

* Note: Eucharist is the same as Communion or the Lord’s Supper.

In my message last Sunday I applied my equation of Proximity + Process = Presence to Eucharist. At the Lord’s table we draw near to God (proximity), expecting to be changed through healing, forgiveness, salvation (process), and thus experience God (presence). Fr. Richard describes an aspect of how this works.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Make Sure You Are Hungry

“Christ is the bread, awaiting hunger.”  – St. Augustine

Bread and Wine by Anna Tikhomirova

Bread and Wine by Anna Tikhomirova

Eucharist is presence encountering presence-mutuality, vulnerability. There is nothing to prove, to protect, or to sell. It feels so empty, simple, and harmless, that all you can do is be present. In most of Christian history we instead tried to “understand” and explain presence. As if we could.

The Eucharist is telling us that God is the food and all we have to do is provide the hunger. Somehow we have to make sure that each day we are hungry, that there’s room inside of us for another presence. If you are filled with your own opinions, ideas, righteousness, superiority, or sufficiency, you are a world unto yourself and there is no room for “another.” Despite all our attempts to define who is worthy and who is not worthy to receive communion, our only ticket or prerequisite for coming to Eucharist is hunger. And most often sinners are much hungrier than the so-called saints.

– Fr. Richard Rohr

Grace in Communion

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Lately I’ve been meditating on Communion (also known as the Lord’s Table and the Eucharist). In fact, it’s been intersecting me on a regular basis for the last few weeks through reading, listening, and just thinking. At VLC we’ve been talking about grace for the last month or so, and thus my thoughts about Communion are infused with grace. Below is a thought stream on grace in Communion.

On a Thursday Jesus established the Lord’s Table, knowing that the next day, Friday, would be the worst day of his life. He was able to do this because his faith was firmly rooted in the hope that on Sunday everything would be made right again.

Bread and Wine by Anna Tikhomirova

Bread and Wine by Anna Tikhomirova

The grace in Communion for us today is that Jesus is inviting us into his Friday. Jesus will take everything that has brought us to Friday and stay with us as we process toward Sunday.

The grace in Communion is that it is not to practiced alone. The grace in the bread is that through Jesus’ broken body we are brought into his unified body. The grace in the cup is that we now stand as a people who are adopted, redeemed, and justified.

We, God’s people, are a grace. At times we can stand with those who are facing a Friday, embodying the hope of Sunday. At other times we are walking through the hell of a Friday and need the grace of people who will love us, remain with us, and even help us bear the cross with us and for us, embodying the hope of Sunday. That is grace in Communion.

I pray that as you practice Communion you will also experience God’s grace through the symbols and through God’s people.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing Presence, Part 2: Thin Places for Thin Times

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On a regular basis I hear friends and family comment on how busy and tired they are, and I wholeheartedly lump myself in with them. Those comments, which are not always complaints, remind me of Bilbo Baggins’ remarking to Gandalf in the book The Fellowship of the Ring,
“I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”

bread and butter

Image courtesy of Paul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I know not everyone is in this place, but I do know that a lot of us are. It is in such places that we need a sense of God’s presence, but we tell ourselves that due to our tiredness and busy-ness we have failed to draw close to God, and thus don’t deserve the comfort of God’s presence.

I also believe that with Jesus’ giving of the Holy Spirit to the church the kingdom of God is here with us now. In this holds the promise of God’s kingdom breaking in on our daily lives in life-giving and life-changing ways. These can be called holy places, and, if I understand correctly, the Celtic Christian tradition calls these “thin places.”

Jesus started his rabbinical career with the message,
“Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!” (Mark 1:14)
It was to a thin time that Jesus made the invitation to break through at the thin place. God’s presence is here now, and as I shared last week, God’s presence is experienced when we make ourselves apparent to God.

“Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Jesus understands thin times. He isn’t looking for us to work our way to God. He is inviting us. The thin times will not always stay thin, but the thin places are as available as our willingness to turn toward God. The hope of the kingdom of God is that as we experience the restorative presence of God, we too will become “thin places” for Christ’s  salvation to break through.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing Us, Because There Is No Them: Audio Version

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This is a talk I gave at Valley Life Center Foursquare Church on Sunday, February 17, 2013. I address what I call the “us and them” perspective and the implications past and present of holding such a perspective. There is a lively dialogue that follows the talk. Enjoy!

2013-02-17.mp3

Embracing Us, Because There Is No Them

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I was talking with a friend the other evening, and I asked him about how it is possible that people can do unthinkable acts of violence. His response was that we are all a split second away from doing the same, meaning we all have the capability, but don’t allow ourselves to do it. That is an unsettling response, to say the least. I took away from this conversation that there is no us and them, only us.

 

This is what it means to be Jesus in our world. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Now we are the visible expression of Jesus in the world. Jesus lived out “there is no them,” which I believe is the heart of his inaugural statement in Luke 4:16-21.

 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    because the Lord has anointed me.

He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,

    to proclaim release to the prisoners

    and recovery of sight to the blind,

    to liberate the oppressed,

    and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.(v. 18-19)

 

It was as a human being and living within a system that separated people that he sought to bring God’s salvation. This declaration of ministry sought to close the gap that perpetuated the us and them mentality.

 

If we are honest with ourselves, we can recognize our own poverty, captivity, blindness, and oppression, but, as well, we can receive the Lord’s favor and extend it to others, embracing the “us” in us all. God’s salvation is only a split second away.

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

Grace to Live

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For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self- controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope-the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.  (Titus 2:11-14)

 

This is one of my favorite passages in the Scriptures. When I was younger, I would use it to straighten myself out. I read it singularly, telling myself that if I really loved Jesus, I wouldn’t do stupid things. But as I read it this morning, I realized that Paul wrote it in the plural. He is basically rephrasing Jesus’ “love God by loving others” teaching. (Mark 12:30-31) The point of living “self- controlled, upright and godly lives” is not to make sure we keep a clean record, but rather to keep in mind that when we sin, we sin against someone and are not walking in love. Jesus didn’t give himself for our salvation to make a society of goody-two-shoes, but a community of lovers, “eager to do what is good.” We love God best when we love others well. The grace for salvation we received from Jesus and his people is extended and embodied as we choose to love as his people empowered by his grace. “Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

Grace to Forgive

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Here’s a thought. When we forgive, we do so by faith, extending grace to the one we forgive. What if we are the one seeking forgiveness? We, too, can extend grace to help bring reconciliation. The way I see it is that grace is only ever a free gift. In humility, we can give the gift or ourselves, with openness of heart and willingness to change, bridging the gap to make a way for forgiveness to flow.

 

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift at the altar and go. First make things right with your brother or sister and then come back and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

Salvation: A Collective Experience

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At last Sunday’s VLC worship gathering, Pastor Stuart talked about the Essentials of Family Culture in which he made some comparisons between church family and natural family. As part of this comparison, he asked the gathering, “What are some qualities of a ‘perfect church?’” In VLC fashion, responses were shouted out, one of which was “grace,” “grace for those coming into the local church and grace for those moving on from that local church.” At this moment I started reflecting on the phrase from Ephesians 2:8, “It is by grace you have been saved.” Families are integral to salvation, which is more than just making sure we get to go to heaven when we die.

 

The Greek word for “save” is a common word with a broad range of definition. It, of course, carries the meaning of rescuing or delivering from danger, peril, or judgement. But, it also can mean to make well, heal, restore to health, or deliver from suffering.

 

The grace we extend to one another is a gateway for salvation, both in the here and now and for eternity. When grace is extended, it affords the opportunity for people to receive salvation by placing their faith in God and in his people. Faith is the act of receiving the gift of grace, which is only ever a free gift. A church that is maturing in Christ will be a family of grace and a community of healing. Salvation is a collective experience.

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

Grace for the Humbled

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This week I had a conversation with a friend that is going through an ordeal. She commented, “I must have quite a bit of pride in my life, because I feel like God is humbling me.” This comment brought to mind the passage in James’ letter, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) My response to her comment was, “Then receive God’s grace.”

 

So often we feel that when a difficult situation comes through our life it is directly from God’s hand with the intent to humble us. The thing to remember, though, is that difficult situations are a part of our broken world and are humbling in themselves. God’s grace is extended to us in the moment of humiliation and helps us to see the situation from a different perspective. It’s from this perspective that change can occur in our lives. Receive God’s grace to those who are humbled and follow him in the the power of his Holy Spirit. 

 

The way of Jesus is the way of humility, which means dying to self, one way or another. In Christ, when we die there is the promise of resurrection. When we receive the grace of humility, James reminds us that God will lift us up. (James 4:10)

 

Grace and peace,

Brook