Advent Favorites: Within Our Grasp (St. Leo the Great)

Originally Posted Thursday, December 8, 2005

Within our grasp

Filed under: Advent Devotionals, Saints & Church Fathers — Karen B.

Invisible in His own nature,
God, in His great love
became visible in ours.

Beyond our grasp
in His great love
He chose to come
within our grasp.

– St. Leo the Great
(1002-1054)

Advent Favorites — Henri Nouwen: Teach Me to Pray

Originally Posted Monday, December 5, 2005

Henri Nouwen — Teach Me to Pray

Filed under: Prayers & Prayer Themes, Advent Devotionals — Karen B.

This prayer by Henri Nouwen was included in an Advent Devotional Guide that Truro Church published a few years ago. It is very appropriate for Advent with its theme on waiting on the Lord, resting in His presence, and asking the Lord to “create new doors” in our lives that we might draw closer to Him.
———–

Teach Me to Pray
Henri Nouwen

Every day I see again that only you can teach me to pray,
only you can set my heart at rest.
Only you can let me dwell in your presence.

No book, no concept or theory will ever bring me close to you
unless you yourself are the one who lets them become the doors to you.

But Lord, let me at least remain open to your initiative.
Let me wait patiently and attentively for the hour when you will come
and break through the walls I have erected.

Create new doors.
Teach me, O Lord, to pray

Spurgeon: Thou Art My Lamp, O Lord

Another Advent post I owe to Pat Dague.  She posted this devotional from Charles Spurgeon in August. The reflection and verses I have posted after the Spurgeon excerpt are my own. (KB)

***

For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness. 2 Samuel 22:29

Am I in the light? Then Thou, O Lord, art my lamp. Take Thee away and my joy would be gone; but as long as Thou art with me, I can do without the torches of time and the candles of created comfort. What a light the presence of God casts on all things! We heard of a lighthouse which could be seen for twenty miles, but our Jehovah is not only a God at hand, but far off is He seen, even in the enemy’s country. O Lord, I am as happy as an angel when Thy love fills my heart. Thou art all my desire.

Am I in the dark? Then thou, O Lord, wilt lighten my darkness. Before long things will change. Affairs may grow more and more dreary and cloud may be piled upon cloud; but if it grow so dark that I cannot see my own hand, still I shall see the hand of the Lord. When I cannot find a light within me, or among my friends, or in the whole world, the Lord, who said, “Let there be light,” and there was light, can say the same again. He will speak me into the sunshine yet. I shall not die but live. The day is already breaking. This sweet text shines like a morning star. I shall clap my hands for joy ere many hours are passed.

CH Spurgeon

***

In my opinion, Spurgeon’s opening question is crucial.  Am I in the light? I think there are two senses to Spurgeon’s question. It is important not merely to ask “Are my circumstances joyful and sunny? Can I see my way clearly?” But more importantly to ask: Am I walking in fellowship with Christ? If so, I can cling to His promises, even in the darkest times. The key is whether the darkness internal or external?

Here are a few NT passages on light and darkness to meditate on this Advent. (All texts from NIV)

John 3:19-20
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

John 8:12
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

2 Cor 4:6-8
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

Eph 5:8-11
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.
11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

Col 1:13
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

1Thes 5:4-5
4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

1 Pet 2:9
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

I Jn 1:5-7

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Lord, help us to live as children of Light, to walk in fellowship with You in obedience to Your commands, to allow Your Spirit to work in our lives this Advent to expose any dark and hidden motives and sins in our hearts. May we not only look to You to be our light to guide us in times of darkness and confusion, but allow You to fill every part of our hearts and lives with Your light that all who know us will truly see the Light of the Glory of Christ shining forth from our faces and our lives.

image credit

(posted by Karen B.)

Advent Favorites — Lord, Let Us Receive Your Clear Light

Originally Posted: Monday, December 20, 2004

Lord, let us receive Your clear light

Filed under: Advent Devotionals — Karen B.

The Word made flesh for us gives us the greatest hope
that the murky night of darkness will not overwhelm us,
but we shall see the daylight of eternity.

Lord, let us receive your clear light; be for us such a mirror of light
that we may be given grace to see you unendingly.

If we are overcome, you have the power to forgive us;
Therefore, in my sin I call on you,my Lord, my Light, for help.
For you were sent into the world to enlighten my heart,
to nurture true repentance and to make the Holy Spirit’s
work grow more powerfully in me.

With the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign for ever!

–Hildegard of Bingen

Advent Favorites — Canon John Heidt: An Advent Meditation

Originally posted: Friday, December 2, 2005

Canon John Heidt: An Advent Meditation

Filed under: Advent Devotionals, Meditations, — Karen B.

Canon Heidt is the Canon Theologian for the Diocese of Fort Worth. This is taken from his blog Transfiguration.
—————-

art credit: web gallery of art. Sandro Botticelli, Adoration of the Child, 1495. Click here for background on this painting.

An Advent Meditation

By Canon John Heidt

A Virgin conceives and now gives birth
And God becomes a helpless child:
Infinity now in an infant found
And Majesty now on a manger throne
Becomes the site where angels sing.
Where a star leads wise men to a simple inn,
And turns this night into the world’s light.
For in cattle’s crib a child is born,
And the world’s turned upside down.

Another Christmas; the Christ Mass here
Where our labor and joys, the bread and the wine,
Become the flesh and blood of God.
Where souls and bodies offered to Him,
Become His living Body again.
For in us He is reborn today,
As first He was in Mary’s womb.
We are the manger where angels sing,
Simple children that wise men seek,
For On our altars God has come
And the world’s turned upside down.

Humility conquers the world’s pride
And kings pay homage to the servants of God
An Empire crumbles before a saintly man
Tyranny ridiculed by the world’s damned.
Peace conquers war; the poor become rich
The weak become strong and the wronged become right
For a child is born; a son is given
And nothing shall ever be the same again.

————

Graham Kendrick, a worship leader and prolific songwriter from the UK, also echos Canon Heidt’s refrain “nothing shall ever be the same again” in one of his Christmas songs:

So many centuries of watching and waiting
But when the moment came well nobody saw
Traders and travellers hurried by
And life went on just like before
Just like before
In all the clamour just a new baby crying
One more poor family shut out in the cold
Nothing unusual sad to say
Hasn’t it always been this way?

But nothing will ever be the same again
This night has changed everything
Nothing will ever be the same again
Since the night he came

You can read all the words here.
And you can listen to a clip here.

The poem and the song have both got me thinking… What do I need to allow Christ to change in my own life?

Liturgical Yard Art?!?

Ok, I’m a huge advent-o-phile as this blog attests.  But this is just wild!  Liturgical Yard Art. That takes some guts.  I love it!

Advent Favorites — Will We Be Ready? (Madeleine L’Engle)

Originally published Wednesday, December 8, 2004

Will We be Ready?

Filed under: Advent Devotionals — Karen B.

When will he come
and how will he come
and will there be warnings
and will there be thunders
and rumbling of armies
coming before him
and banners and trumpets?
When will he come
and how will he come
and will we be ready?

Madeleine L’Engle
Advent, 1971

Advent Favorites — John Henry Newman: To Watch with Christ

Originally posted: Wednesday, December 21, 2005

To Watch with Christ: John Henry Newman

Filed under: Advent Devotionals — Karen B.

To watch with Christ
A reading from John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, 19th century

——————————————————————————–

Let us consider this most serious question – What is it to watch with Christ? I consider this word watching a remarkable word; remarkable because the idea is not so obvious as might appear at first sight, and next because our Lord and his disciples inculcate it. We are not simply to believe, but to watch; not simply to love, but to watch; not simply to obey, but to watch; to watch for what? For that great event, Christ’s coming…

Now what is watching?

I conceive it may be explained as follows: Do you know the feeling in matters of this life, of expecting a friend, expecting him to come, and he delays? Do you know what it is to be in unpleasant company, and to wish for the time to pass away, and the hour strike when you may be at liberty? Do you know what it is to be in anxiety lest something should happen which may happen or not, or to be in suspense about some important event, which makes your heart beat when you are reminded of it, and of which you think the first thing in the morning? Do you know what it is to have a friend in a distant country, to expect news of him, to wonder from day to day what he is now doing, and whether he is well? Do you know what it is so to live upon a person who is present with you, that your eyes follow his, that you read his soul, that you see all its changes in his countenance, that you anticipate his wishes, that you smile his smile, and are sad in his sadness, and are downcast when he is vexed, and rejoice in his successes? To watch for Christ is a feeling such as these; as far as feelings of this world are fit to shadow out those of another.

He watches with Christ, who, while he looks on to the future, looks back on the past, and does not so contemplate what his Saviour has purchased for him, as to forget what he has suffered for him. He watches with Christ, who ever commemorates and renews in his own person Christ’s cross and agony, and gladly takes up that mantle of affliction which Christ wore here, and left behind him when he ascended. And hence in the Epistles, as often as the inspired writers show their desire for his second coming, so often do they show their memory of his first, and never lose sight of his crucifixion and in his resurrection.

Source: http://www.rc.net/wcc/advent.htm

Advent Favorites — Lord, Revive Us! (Charles Spurgeon)

Originally Posted: Friday, December 3, 2004

Lord, revive us!
All our help must come from you.
Give to your people your love,
Your confidence,
Your holy daring,
Your consecration,
Your liberality,
Your obedience,
Your holiness.

Walking among the golden candlesticks,
Trim every lamp and make every light,
even those that burn feebly now,
Shine out gloriously through Your Spirit.
– C.H. Spurgeon

Advent Favorites — Luther: Let God Mould Thee

Originally posted: Thursday, December 1, 2005

Wait on God that He Might Mould Us and Fill Us

Filed under: Advent Devotionals, Quotable, Karen B. — Karen B.

Pat Dague, of the Transfigurations blog and I seem to have formed a mutual admiration society. Her blog has become one of my favorites because she consistently turns up wonderful prayers and quotes which have challenged and encouraged me spiritually. Here are two quotes she posted on Nov. 29th which seem very appropriate for Advent.

Eternal Lord, how faint and small
Our greatest, strongest thoughts must seem
To Thee, who overseest all,
And leads us through Life’s shallow stream.

How tangled are our straightest ways;
How dimly flares our brightest star;
How earthbound is our highest praise
To Thee, who sees us as we are.

Our feet are slow where Thine are fast;
Thy kiss of grace meets lips of stone;
And we admit Thy love at last
To hearts that have none of their own.

… Robert MacColl Adams

Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him. In Hebrew, “Be silent in God, and let Him mould thee.” Keep still, and He will mould thee to the right shape.
… Martin Luther

Advent Quotes — Mother Theresa: keeping our lamps burning

Another gem from Pat Dague’s blog Transfigurations, originally posted back in October.

***

Don’t think that love, to be true, has to be extraordinary. What is necessary is to continue to love. How does a lamp burn, if it is not by the continuous feeding of little drops of oil? When there is no oil, there is no light and the bridegroom will say: “I do not know you”. Dear friends, what are our drops of oil in our lamps? They are the small things from every day life: the joy, the generosity, the little good things, the humility and the patience. A simple thought for someone else. Our way to be silent, to listen, to forgive, to speak and to act. That are the real drops of oil that make our lamps burn vividly our whole life. Don’t look for Jesus far away, He is not there. He is in you, take care of your lamp and you will see Him.”

– Mother Teresa

image credit

Advent Favorites — I Am Not Worthy (St. John Chrysostom)

Originally Posted: December 6, 2004

Collect: Second Sunday of Advent

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

———-

I am not worthy, Master and Lord,
that you should come
beneath the roof of my soul;
Yet, since you in your love for all people
wish to dwell within me,
in boldness I come before you.

You command “Open the gates!”
Gates you alone have forged;
And you will come in
with love toward all, as is your nature.
You will come in and enlighten my dark reasoning.

I believe you will do this,
for you did not send away
the harlot who came to you with tears,
nor cast out the repenting publican,
nor reject the thief
who acknowledged your kingdom.
You did not forsake the repentant persecutor,
the apostle Paul, even as he was.

But all who came to you in repentance,
you counted in the band of your friends;
You, who alone lives in glory forever,
now and unto the endless ages.

— St. John Chrysostom (347-407)

Another prayer by St. John Chrysostom

Advent in a single image

I found this image while doing a Google search for Advent art and images. It’s from a blog about Advent customs in Sweden.

I was stunned by the powerful message of this picture. It is a perfect representation of Advent and what Christ’s coming means — the light and transformation He brings to our hearts and lives.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”

made his light shine in our hearts

to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God

in the face of Christ.

2 Cor 4:6 (NIV)

Yes Lord, may it be so. May Your light pierce the darkness and dreariness of our hearts and lives, and may Christ’s glory and beauty shine out from our faces.

Wonderful Advent Prayers from Scotland

Friend of this blog, David McCarthy (aka Gadget Vicar), vicar of St. Silas church in Glasgow, Scotland has posted a link to an Advent prayer blog created by women of his church. There is a brief Scripture and prayer for each day. It is wonderful.

Check it out!

Here’s Advent Day One’s entry.

Day One

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Father help me in dark days to see you light and to take pleasure in the day to day, in the moment, and give you praise for my very breath. Make the desires of my heart your desires, whatever is true, pure, lovely, admirable, right, excellent and most worthy of praise, may my desires be. Strip away everything else until I am all those things without even thinking or trying, until they are my very being, in harmony with you.

Amen.

Advent Favorites — The Twofold Coming of Christ (Cyril of Jerusalem)

Originally posted: Friday, December 16, 2005

The Twofold Coming of Jesus Christ: Cyril of Jerusalem

Filed under: Advent Devotionals, Saints & Church Fathers — Karen B.

The Twofold Coming of Jesus Christ
from the Catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem, 315-386 A.D.

We preach not one coming only of Jesus Christ, but a second also, far more glorious than the first. The first revealed the meaning of his patient endurance; the second brings with it the crown of the divine kingdom.

Generally speaking, everything that concerns our Lord Jesus Christ is twofold. His birth is twofold: one, of God before time began; the other, of the Virgin in the fulness of time. His descent is twofold: one, unperceived like the dew falling on the fleece; the other, before the eyes of all, is yet to happen.

In his first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger. In his second coming he is clothed with light as with a garment. In his first coming he bore the cross, despising its shame; he will come a second time in glory accompanied by the hosts of angels.

It is not enough for us, then, to be content with his first coming; we must wait in hope of his second coming. What we said at his first coming, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”, we shall repeat at his last coming. Running out with the angels to meet the Master we shall cry out in adoration, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’.

The Savior will come not to be judged again but to call to judgment those who called him to judgment. He who was silent when he was first judged, will indict the malefactors who dared to perpetrate the outrage of the cross, and say, ‘These things you did and I was silent’.

He first came in the order of divine providence to teach men by gentle persuasion; but when he comes again they will, whether they wish it or not, be subjected to his kingship.

The prophet Malachi has something to say about each of these comings. ‘The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple’. That is the first coming.

Again, of the second coming he says, ‘And the angel of the covenant whom you seek. Behold, the Lord almighty will come: but who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap; he will sit like a refiners and a purifier’. Paul pointed to the two comings when he wrote to Titus, ‘The grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ’. You see how he has spoken of the first coming, for which he gives thanks, and of the second to which we look forward.

Hence it is that by the faith we profess, which has just been handed on to you, we believe in him ‘who ascended into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; and his kingdom will have no end’.

Our Lord Jesus Christ will, then, come from heaven. He will come in glory at the end of this world on the last day. Then there will be an end to this world, and this created world will be made new.

Source: http://www.rc.net/wcc/advent.htm