Nobody came

Posted on Dec 11, 2022 by M Emlyn Humphries

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35:1‭-‬10 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/isa.35.1-10.NRSV

This hasn’t happened in a while but nobody came this morning. The advent candles were lit…

The leaflets were printed and the crib was set up…

But only me.

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
James 5:7‭-‬10 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/jas.5.7-10.NRSV

A full pot of coffee to myself and a warm room.

We usually pray, read the liturgy, chat about what we have read and its impact then we pray again. Sometimes we sing.

Matthew 11: 2-11 (2022)

If I had been able to share I would have said something about how I have come to see that God speaks to us all the time and his speaking in the stillness and the absence is as profound as when we hear him and feel his guidance. He is never not guiding us, pouring out speech day by day drawing us to his loving presence. His ever flowing message to us is, come to me! Advent is a celebration of Christ’s dawning, in history, in our hearts and to the end of the ages. And we wait, not limiting God, knowing he is drawing us in doing good, serving the weak and caring for the needy; he delights us in song, art and words; he enlarges our hearts through justice and mercy as we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

It is a beautiful morning this morning. Just saying…

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Advent 1 2022

Posted on Nov 27, 2022 by M Emlyn Humphries

In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2:2‭-‬4 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/isa.2.2-4.NRSV

the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Romans 13:12‭-‬14 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/rom.13.12-14.NRSV

Matthew 24: 37-44 (2022)

Today we lit a candle, sang two hymns and shared bread and wine. We also prayed for one another and for those we knew in particular hardship .

Our discussion touched on being ready and aware of Christ in our midst and the coming of Christ, especially in times when God appears distant or times are troubled.

It was good being together.

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Thy will be done.

Posted on Oct 30, 2022 by M Emlyn Humphries

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
Isaiah 1:16‭-‬17 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/isa.1.16-17.NRSV

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.
2 Thessalonians 1:3‭-‬4 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/2th.1.3-4.NRSV

Luke 19: 1-10 (2022)

So where did we land with these scriptures. We spoke a lot about the nature of prayer and how in prayer we enter the heavenly courts, encounter God and articulate, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Or not.

We live in a complex world and our prayers serve to centre us in God, our eyes are opened and we know what to do, Wash yourselves… learn to do good…

There is some effort though and some of us have had our performance anxiety played upon by past experiences so that to pray is to fail. But there is a way back.

Some of us pray through the psalms opening us up to prayers that allow the full spectrum of human emotions to be prayed, encouraging and sometimes unsettling.

Some pray, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, and, when they find peace in the repetition of this, substitute a name and allow God to open up their imaginations for those they name. And from this they pray for loved ones and, encouraged, move wider to neighbours, towns and nations. Or often not.

Others calm themselves by praying the words from psalm 46, saying slowly, finding God in the silence and solitude,

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I am.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be.

A teaching of James Finley. For more visit https://youtu.be/LRUgLFToysg

Whatever we do we are walking into an inheritance of grace; Jesus has done the work.

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What Jesus said.

Posted on Oct 23, 2022 by M Emlyn Humphries

This morning we were encouraged by the gospel of Luke and spent a lot of time discussing it.

Luke 18: 9-14 (2022)

Because of the way Luke tells it, it is hard to judge what he added and what Jesus said. The most, what Jesus said bit for me is,

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
Luke 18:10‭-‬13 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/luk.18.10-13.NRSV

Without the scaffolding, I put myself in the story and ask Jesus to examine my heart.

I wonder at the explanation in Luke as it seems so obvious. But the Pharisee was praying in the tradition of his day; he probably thanked God each morning that he was not a woman or a slave. And the Tax collector, he too was in his rightful place according to the traditions.

The parable for me cuts through this and says, the only place that matters is our place before God, not our standing before men.

… for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 18:14 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/luk.18.14.NRSV

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How we speak matters.

Posted on Oct 9, 2022 by M Emlyn Humphries

The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening.
2 Timothy 2:11‭-‬14 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/2ti.2.11-14.NRSV

Jesus teaches us to love God and love people even as far as loving our enemies. Christians wrangling amongst themselves denies this truth and is ruinous.

God can only deny and give people up to the desires of their hearts… to be right in their own eyes. This is a reality check.

The letters to Timothy are about contention, strife and arguing, a denial of the gospel.

Luke 17: 11-19 (2022)

Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me. I cried aloud to him, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has given heed to the words of my prayer.
Psalms 66:16‭-‬19 NRSV

https://bible.com/bible/2016/psa.66.16-19.NRSV

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