ludicrous

Ludicrous: causing laughter because of absurdity; ridiculous; laughable.

It’s impossible to read the story of the nativity without realizing how wonderfully bizarre the whole thing is.  I mean, who in their right mind would do it this way?  The answer?  God would.  Only God would come in such a way that it would leave us laughing in disbelief, just ask Sarah (Gen. 18:12). 

So when God chose to bypass Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, Anna, and Caiaphas, to send his word to John, son of Zechariah, in the desert (Luke 3:1-3), there’s only one word for it—ludicrous.  God often acts in such a way, it seems, that the only appropriate response is to laugh and shake our heads in awestruck amazement.  God is not like man; he has a wild and wonderful imagination.  He is just as likely to sneak into his world as he is to make a grand entrance.  We just never know how or where or when—or through whom or to whom—he might show up, so we have to pay careful attention.  It certainly keeps us on our toes, if not on the edge of our seats.

So, during this season, we might do well to look for God in the ludicrous.  After all, that seems to be where he shows up more often than not.

O Lord, help us to look for you in the ludicrous.  For if we do not, we are likely to miss your coming.

 

savor

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5)    

It seems to me that there are two ways of looking at waiting for the Lord.  We can either look at it as an opportunity to savor, or as an obstacle to endure.  We can believe that God is present and active and at work in the midst our waiting, or we can believe that he is not.  One feels really hopeful and one does not.  One leads to trusting the Lord and the other leads to trusting ourselves.  So which will it be?

During this season, where we are asked to embrace this posture of waiting, let’s not miss what God is up to in us and around us as a result.  Let’s choose to savor Him in everyone and everything.

oil

“Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.” (Matthew 25:8)

No one else can live your spiritual life for you.  No one else can read your Scriptures, no one else can offer your prayers, and no one else can engage with God in the silence and stillness of your own heart.  You must do it, or it will not be done.  

Those around you can encourage you to have oil of your own, but, ultimately, whether or not you have any when the time comes is completely up to you.  No one else can give you their oil; you are responsible for that yourself.  So make sure you have enough, even if the bridegroom is a long time in coming.

prepare

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” (Luke 3:4)

Prepare is an interesting word.  It usually conjures up images of running around in a million directions, trying to get all of your ducks in a row.  But if you break it down, the word prepare might just mean something different than what we think.  The first part, pre, obviously means beforehand.  And then pare means to remove or reduce by cutting; to diminish or decrease.  So rather than creating a long list of what needs to be done, it’s actually more about reducing things to what is most important.  It involves being focused on the one thing, rather than being distracted by the many things.  It involves living life in a certain way, rather than doing a whole bunch of random things.  It involves living in a state of perpetual preparedness in which the things that we do naturally and organically flow out of what God is doing within us.   

That definitely seems to be the kind of preparedness that’s called for during the season of Advent.  A preparedness that involves cutting more things out, rather than adding more things on.  A preparedness that involves sitting at his feet and listening to what he has to say, instead of running around like a crazy person, trying to get things done.  A preparedness that involves doing less, rather than doing more.  A preparedness that is more about subtraction, than it is addition.

Which begs the question: What do I need to cut out in order to be prepared for His coming?

burn

luke12:35

keep your lamp burning

tend and nurture the flame

of the Spirit that dwells

deep within you

it will light the way

for you and for others

don’t ignore it

don’t neglect it

don’t let it wane

don’t let it go out

don’t allow the cares

of this life to extinguish

the light and life within you

pray continually

make space and time

pay careful attention

watch and wait

this is how

we stay ready

for his coming

O Lord, help me to never neglect or ignore the flame within.  It is your very life within me.  Help me, by your grace, to keep my lamp burning, so that your light illuminates my heart, as well as your world.  Amen.

gratitude

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Gratitude is not a feeling, it is a choice.  It is a way of seeing, and then a way of being.  It is a way of looking at life that recognizes that everything is a gift.  It is a way of trusting that even in the most challenging of circumstances there is something to be grateful for.  God is still at work.  That’s why Paul reminds us to “give thanks in all circumstances.”  In fact, that is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.  God’s will is not for us to complain and ask “why” and get frustrated and angry about the things in this life that we can’t control, it is an invitation to find him and his goodness in the midst of them.

Unfortunately, that is not always easy to do.  Sometimes we let our circumstances get the best of us.  Sometimes we let our circumstances turn us into the worst possible version of ourselves: frustrated, angry, and entitled.  In fact, one of the biggest enemies of gratitude is entitlement.  Entitlement does not see everything as a gift that should be received, but as a right that must be possessed and defended, which, seemingly, makes loving each other an impossibility.

So let’s choose gratitude instead of entitlement.  Let’s make each day an opportunity for joy and thanksgiving, because joy is the fruit of gratitude.  As a wise saint once said, “Gratitude makes the heart great.”  So let’s make each day great.

Give us, O Lord, a heart of gratitude, rather than a spirit of entitlement.  Help us to see that all of life is a gift to be received and not a right to be possessed and defended.  Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving!

keep watch

My guess is that one of the main reasons the angels came to the lowly shepherds was because they were the ones “keeping watch.” (Luke 2:8-15) It was an art they were well-practiced in; such an integral part of their everyday lives.

Keeping watch is so important in the spiritual life.  Yet, it is not as easy as it seems.  Oftentimes, our expectations of what we will see, or how, where, or when we will see it, get in the way.  We are busy looking for one thing, when God is doing another.  We are expecting him to make a grand entrance, when he is trying to sneak in the back door.  He is often more quiet and hidden and subtle than we give him credit for.

I mean, who in their right mind would expect God to come into his world as a baby?  Yet that’s exactly what he did.  So if we are trying to “keep watch” over these next days or weeks or months, we might do well to look for God to come in the ways we least expect.

Teach us, O Lord, to keep watch for your coming.  For you are likely to come in a way that we least suspect.  Amen.