Tag Archives: presence

Embracing Proximity, Part 2: Getting Messy

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There is a time for everything, a time for getting close and a time for backing off, a time for getting messy and a time for staying clean. I think the former should be a prominent feature of the Christian life, but we often to default to the latter. It is just easier that way. But, convenience always comes at a cost.

What do you think? If someone had one hundred sheep and one of them wandered off, wouldn’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillsides and go in search for the one that wandered off? If he finds it, I assure you that he is happier about having that one sheep than about the ninety-nine who didn’t wander off. In the same way, my Father who is in heaven doesn’t want to lose one of these little ones. (Matthew 18:12-14, CEB)

'Shepherd and Sheep' by Anton Mauve

‘Shepherd and Sheep’ by Anton Mauve

Here the shepherd felt that “cutting his losses” at one sheep was too costly compared to the convenience of staying back with the ninety-nine. Jesus said that God feels the same way about us.

This required the shepherd to get messy, to get involved, in order to restore this sheep to his flock. It was a price worth paying.

Yes, there is a time for distancing ourselves, but but it should be a means of ensuring and/or restoring safety. It should not be a lifestyle. Let’s face it, life is messy and not always safe. It takes getting close to the lost, the broken, the sinner, the other if we want to God’s kingdom established in our world. It’s God’s mission. Is it ours?

I admit that these are hard words to swallow. It goes against my inclinations of self-preservation and comfort, but my prayer is that by getting messy a little bit at a time, I will begin to see and love people as Jesus does. This is my prayer for you, too.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Finding God in Forgotten Places

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The human body has an amazing ability to filter out or prioritize the stimuli so that we can focus on what is presently at interest. This capability is also used to navigate socially. It only makes sense that we make family, close friends, organizations we associate with a priority. Yet, there are times when we are faced with situations that are out of the normal. Physiologically, it could be stubbing your toe, or socially, getting an unexpected phone call. Further more, we can place ourselves in situations that are completely outside our context for living. In a sense, these are forgotten places. We know they exist, but since they are not an immediate priority in our life, we simply don’t pay attention to them.

Guatemalan girlThey are forgotten because they are also undesirable and uncomfortable. To the affluent, these things are refuse, to God they are holy. In God’s economy, that which is set apart is holy, even that which is considered refuse.

For me, our trip to Guatemala is just that, putting myself in a forgotten place. Though it is forgotten to me, it is not forgotten to God. My prayer as I’m in Guatemala is to continue to find God and experience the holy with these forgotten people and in these forgotten places. As I walk through my day, may I make place for the holy, discovering it as God reveals.

Soon enough I will forget this too, just like when our bodies filter out unnecessary stimuli. But, by experience a pathway is formed, recall is faster, and the forgotten is not so forgotten anymore.

Thanks for reading.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Preparing a Place

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We are just about finished preparing for our service trip to Guatemala. I will be taking my two eldest children with me. I am excited for the opportunity and humbled by their willingness to go serve people who live in extreme poverty in a developing country. The phrase, “a child will lead them,” is truer than you know.

As the three of us we going out to run errands last night, the thought came to me that we are not the only ones preparing for this trip. Jesus is too.

Antigua, Guatemala

Antigua, Guatemala

“Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too. You know the way to the place I’m going.” (John 14:1-4, CEB)

Jesus was not only preparing an eternal home for his followers, but a place among the communities of the world. The Father’s house, the family of God, spans the globe as much as it spans eternity. Just as Jesus is preparing our hearts for this service trip, I trust that he is preparing hearts in the communities that we will be serving in. As a friend said to me this morning, “Jesus is already there and is waiting with a warm welcome.”

This is as true across the street as it is across the globe. Jesus is preparing a place for you.

Grace and peace,
Brook

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