An Angel of the Lord

Scripture             Luke 2:8-20       
Focus Verse        Luke 2:10
The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people …”

 

When we drop in on the shepherds, they are living their simple, humble lives “keeping watch” over their flock of sheep.  They probably didn’t get a lot of night visitors, so when the angel appeared the them, glowing in the night, of course they were terrified.  Once again, we hear those comforting words, “do not be afraid” and they enter a moment that would change the world forever. 

These humble shepherds are entrusted with a message for ALL of the people, a message that would make them famous!  The angel told them, “born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is the Messiah.”  Then the angel sends them to Bethlehem to seek the newborn baby in a manger.

Reflection:  Where have you been seeking God recently?  How do you celebrate the good news?  How have you found the presence of God in unlikely places and in unlikely people?

If music is a spiritual pathway for you, listen to Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige sing, "What Child is This?" as you envision shepherds and angels rejoicing at the good news of great joy for all people!

Prayer: Breathing “The Jesus Prayer”       
Breathing in … Lord Jesus Christ
Breathing out … Have mercy
*pray by breathing this prayer repetitively until the prayer prays you. You’ll know the prayer is praying you when the words come to you at random times in random places.  You will simply feel the words on your lips, in sync with your breathing.  And you have begun the process of praying unceasingly through the power of the Holy Spirit! For more information about praying The Jesus Prayer, an ancient prayer form from the days of early Christian History, practiced by the Desert Mothers and Fathers, take this LINK ...

The God Who Seeks and Finds and Rejoices in our Journey ...

Friends, I am struggling with the passage this week.  I struggled with the title of the blog post (it only changed 5 times) and especially the punctuation (should it be exclamatory or ... pensive?:-)!   I believe this means I am finding a depth within the text that is inviting me to see something ... think something ... feel something ... be something ... do something ... Something?  Yes ... something new, different, fresh, deeper!   Have you ever felt this way?   I once had a friend who said, "It is the passage that gets under your skin that you must pay special attention to."  Indeed!

I'll share the journey I took to give us a little context for the prayerful reading of our lives.  I think the first thing that attracted me in this passage was the various ways an extravagant sense of "joy" emerged from within the text as I read.  And yet, suddenly in the midst of my contemplation the context of this joy bubbled up for me: sin and repentance.  The verse I've had personally tucked away in my heart for some time (at one time, I was THAT sinner-now I am just THIS sinner) is:  

there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives

I was using the Common English Bible which seems to mask the power of the word repentance.  When I began looking at the words in Greek, I realized that this version chose to interpret the Greek concept of metanoeo/metanoia as "change" which really is a word more contemporary and recognizable in our own lives.  We know what it means to change.  We don't often like it but we understand it.  For me this word change actually brought the passage closer to my life.  A repentance kind of change is radical.  When we change in the sense of repentance our whole life changes ... and yet most of the time in our reality this only happens in small changes of perspective and small steps, one day at a time, I think ...

In this passage 3 different Greek forms of the word "joy" are used, 5 times.  Vs. 5-chairo {khah'-ee-ro} meaning to rejoice, to be glad and to be well.  Vss. 6&9-sugchairo {soong-khah'-ee-ro} meaning to rejoice together with one another.  And vss. 7&10-chara {khar-ah'} meaning the joy received from another.  In this passage we see that "joy" is quite communal.  The reason for joy in this passage: sin and repentance.   The Greek word used for sin/sinners is hamartolos {ham-ar-to-los'}.  In this passage the word is used 5 times and, especially illustrated by singling out the despised tax collectors, means devoted to sin and quite wicked.  In fact, Luke articulates a marked distinction between sinners who need to repent and those who don't.

Into the context of "sin" highlighted as such by the religious and legal experts, Jesus uses 2 parables to introduce a new word.  In Greek, the sheep and the coin representing the "sinners" are translated through the word apollumi {ap-ol'-loo-mee} ... loss! to perish, to be lost, ruined, and destroyed.  At the same time, God is imaged as a shepherd and as a woman, 2 marginalized persons in the world of Jesus.  While the religious and legal experts see no further than who a persons in/what a person is doing at the moment, which they label sin, God experiences their loss/our loss, searches for us until we are found and then rejoices with all!

At the end of my contemplation, I feel like Luke wants us to know that what he is writing about is a really BIG deal.  People who are lost are VERY important to God.  So important, in fact, that Luke uses these 2 parables to set up the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11b-32.  In that story we are reminded that no matter how far you and I run, wander, or fall away ... God is waiting to embrace prodigals with open arms when we return, full of grace and agape love!

When you are ready to lean into our passage for lectio divina and struggle with me, take a few moments to center yourself by engaging in a simple breath prayer (6-8 syllables) like this one (or one that emerges from within yourself)

Breathe in ... Seeking God (pause)
Breathe out ... I Seek You (pause)

James Tissot [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Pray for illumination of the text:  Spirit of the Seeking God, open my heart to the power of your Love in the written text.  Speak to my heart as I listen to your gentle whispers.  Amen.

Step 1: Lectio/Reading … Reading

Read John 15:1-10 (CEB) slowly and reverently, letting the words steep in your mind. Perhaps you might imagine yourself sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to him challenge the Pharisees with the parables.  Listen for a word or phrase that catches your attention.  Gently focus on that word or phrase.  Repeat it several times and allow it to be sifted through your heart and mind all the way to your soul. 

All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders. When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives.  “Or what woman, if she owns ten silver coins and loses one of them, won’t light a lamp and sweep the house, searching her home carefully until she finds it?  When she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost coin.’  In the same way, I tell you, joy breaks out in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who changes both heart and life.”

Step 2: Meditatio/Meditation … Receiving
Read the passage a 2nd time ...
Continue to focus on just a word or a phrase (it may be different on this reading)
Pay attention to the thoughts and feelings the passage evokes within you.
What images emerge in your imagination?  What memories come to your mind?
Ask God to continue to speak to you through this word.
Listen for God’s reply as you move through your day

Step 3: Oratio/Prayer … Responding
Consider any thoughts or feelings or desires that have been awakened.
Perhaps you have found an area of your life that needs attention.
Do not rush ... wait and listen as God forms your prayers

Step 4: Contempatio/Contemplative Silence … Resting
Allow yourself to rest in the silence.
Allow your mind to settle into the silence.
Allow your heart and breathe with the silence
When you feel the time to move on ...

Pray:  Spirit of the Seeking God, fill my heart with your love and the joy you feel as the lost are found and embraced by the communities in which they seek you with the passion that you seek us all.  Amen. 

Gathered together at the Water Gate!

After spending 3 weeks with Isaiah during and after the Exile, what a blessing to find this little passage from the book of Nehemiah in our lectionary cycle!  Isaiah was the prophet of the exiles in Babylon and beyond.  Ezra and Nehemiah were leaders in the struggling Jerusalem community back in the “Promised Land.”   These were difficult times for the Israelite people.  The Persian rulers sent Ezra and Nehemiah to provide order through spiritual and political leadership.  

In some traditions the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are one book together although many sources doubt they had actual contact other than on the pages of the bible.  Ezra was a “priest … a scribe and a scholar of the text of the commandments of the LORD” who is concerned with the spiritual lives of those returning.  (Ezra 7:11)  Nehemiah was the appointed governor and works to bring people home and restore their physical lives. At this point in the larger narrative Jerusalem has been restored.  We drop in on the Jerusalem community as the people call upon Ezra to read the Book of the Law.  We listen as they weep.  This reading seems a way of recommitting to God … this type of worshipful act echoes the reading of the Law by Moses on the Mountain and the revelation of the Law when King Josiah found the book of the Law on night when he couldn’t sleep.  And dare I say when Jesus read the scroll of Isaiah … “proclaiming release to the captives.”  God calls, we respond!

As you prepare your heart to read and pray the scriptures, remember the struggles of the people returning to their ancestral land from their exile ... going home to a desolate, dark and lonely place which was only a faint shadow of what it once was.    If you have ever moved from one location to another location, remember how it is to relocate to a new place.  They say you can’t go home … have you ever “gone home” after a long absence? 

Just sit with your "remembering" right now and breathe a gentle breath prayer

Breathe in … Holy God (pause)  
Breath out … here I am (pause) 

When you are ready to move into the text, use these verses from Psalm 19:7-10, 14 as a centering prayer ... The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb … Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.  Amen!

Read the Nehemiah passage with the "ear of your heart" using Lectio Divina, during which you will breathe and listen deeply to this beautiful worship experience of the new community in Jerusalem.

Reading 1.    Read the text slowly. Focus your attention on the sense of the passage as you hear it.   Perhaps there is a word or phrase full of meaning for you on your own journey right now.  Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready...

Movement 1 (Read) and repeat your word or phrase several times.  Let the word or phrase that has chosen you sink into your soul.   What word or phrase is most full of meaning for you where you are in your life right now?


Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
All the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had given to Israel.  Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month.  He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.  And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.  Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.  So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.  And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.  Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our LORD; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Reading 2.    Read the text slowly again ... As you read, listen for the still small voice of the text whispering to you, “Here I am, where are you?”  Where is God calling your attention?  Sit with the “word” God has for you … it can be from the text itself OR it can be a different word or phrase that has arisen from the text.  Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready ...

Movement 2 (Reflect) Where is your "water gate," the place where you gather with other or with yourself in order to experience God's presence and call to holy living?"

Reading 3.    Read the text slowly again.  Respond to God with prayers of surrender and commitment.   Sing praises, whisper confessions, laugh gratitude, breathe in discernment, breathe out commitment ... whatever emerges from within you as you pray.   Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready …

Movement 3 (Respond) How do you offer your prayers and your life to God today?

Reading 4.    Rest in the gentle silence of God's presence.  Breathe in the presence of God who is always with you, through your exiles and through your homecomings.  As you move on, breathe out the love of God upon the world!

Movement 4 (Rest) Breathe … Breathe … Breathe … Amen

As you come to the end of your time of “resting” prayer, recommit yourself to the path God is leading you on through this prayer.
 
Wesley’s Covenant Prayer:
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will,
Rank me with whom you will;
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by you,
Or laid aside by you,
Exalted by you or brought low by you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
To your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
you are mine, and I am yours.  So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven.  Amen.
 
If music is a pathway for you, check out I'll Follow You by Chris Tomlin.

Dancing with God!

Hello dear one ... I invite you to sit for a moment and breathe deeply of God's healing grace.   Take a few moments to center yourself on the source of wholeness and peace.  Know that God loves you and will save you from the depths of spiritual death and despair.   Remember that when I speak of healing, I mean a deeper sense of inner wholeness rather than physical cure.

Settle into a place of deep gratitude within yourself with a simple breath prayer.  Use this one or create your own (six to eight syllables) 

      Breathe in ... Holy God (pause)
      Breath out ... I praise you (pause)

and when you are ready to move deeper into the text ... Pray:

Holy God,  fill me with joy as I read your Word and listen to me as I meditate and seek your Presence.   Amen.    

Read the poetic Psalm 30 slowly, visualizing these beautiful words of praise for the powerful transformation that only God can bring into your life.

Psalm 30     Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
I will praise you, LORD!  You saved me from the grave and kept my enemies from celebrating my death.  I prayed to you, LORD God,  and you healed me, saving me from death and the grave.  Your faithful people, LORD, will praise you with songs and honor your holy name.  Your anger lasts a little while, but your kindness lasts for a lifetime. At night we may cry, but when morning comes we will celebrate.  I was carefree and thought, "I'll never be shaken!"    You, LORD, were my friend, and you made me strong as a mighty mountain.  But when you hid your face, I was crushed.  I prayed to you, LORD, and in my prayer I said, "What good will it do you if I am in the grave?  Once I have turned to dust, can I praise you or tell how loyal you are?  Have pity, LORD! Help!"   You have turned my sorrow into joyful dancing.  No longer am I sad and wearing sackcloth. I thank you from my heart, and I will never stop singing your praises, my LORD and my God. 

Read the passage again slowly and Reflect on the word or phrase that draws your attention.   Sit with your word or phrase and listen to the small, still voice of God calling you to transformation.  Where does this word or phrase touch you?   Tuck your thoughts deep into prayer and if there is any sadness, tears, sorrow, anger, or other darker emotions within you, allow those feelings to bubble up to the surface, knowing that God is with you and will never let your soul perish.    Sit with the emerging light of God ...

Read the passage again slowly and Respond.   Share the feelings that are emerging with God.  As you once again turn your attention to your word or phrase, perhaps it is a different one on this reading ... where are you finding the transforming grace of God in your life?   Finish this thought-ful prayer:  O God, you have turned my ___________ into ___________.   Sing or shout your prayer to God and continue in an attitude of praise and thanksgiving.    

Read the passage again and Rest.  Allow the presence of God to surround you and transform you from moment to moment.  Rest until all words have faded away and you are at rest with the peace of God cradling you in Presence ... Take time to journal your meditations!



When you sense the time to move on, Pray:  
God of transformation, I praise you and thank you for you have brought  healing in my troubled soul and peace in my aching heart!   I will never stop singing your praises, my Lord and my God!  Amen.



Cindy's Journal Reflection ... joyful dancing, joy-full dancing, dancing with joy, dancing in joy ... God of the dance, I praise you.   Come and dance in my soul.  Come and dance in my heart.  Come and surround me with joy.  Come and fill me with joy.  You are my joy and my dance ... With bare feet on holy ground, I will praise you with each step I take and I will dance with you forever, my Joy and my God.