Last week, in my reflection on the Collect, I talked about being prepared to meet God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the somewhat confusing subject of God’s judgement. This week, the Second Sunday of Advent, we have a different emphasis, and we go beyond meeting, to receiving, into our hearts, him who is our Lord and our God.

For me, one of the important things about receiving our Lord and our God into our hearts is that it’s something we do by choice. We can choose to receive God/Jesus into our hearts. And we can choose not to. And the truly amazing thing is that whichever way we decide, it won’t make an iota of difference to the way God feels about us. His love for us isn’t dependent in any way on our love for him. His love for us is a gift, freely offered, with no strings attached.

That’s the God, the Jesus, that we’re praying we’ll be ready to receive in this Collect. And it’s that love that controls everything else. We don’t need to fear the scary things like “judgement”, because our Judge is also our Saviour, and he loves us, each and every one of us, as much as if we were the only ones too love.

For us to love God in the way that he would want us to, it has to be a free choice on our part. You can’t force someone to love you, it wouldn’t be love, it could never be love.

I came across a great quote by the theologian, Greg Boyd, which I’ll finish with:

To refuse to create a world where love was possible because the risk was too great seems to be beneath God. Love is really the only reason worth creating! It’s not freedom for the sake of freedom that God values — it’s love. Freedom is simply the only possible means to this end.

Greg Boyd

Love! It’s our raison d’être.

Almighty God,
purify our hearts and minds,
that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again as
 &bbsp;   judge and saviour
we may be ready to receive him,
who is our Lord and our God.

Additional Collect for The Second Sunday of Advent
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

I have always enjoyed sitting by water of any kind — rivers, lakes, gravel pits, or the sea — and probably don’t do it often enough nowadays. For me, it’s a great way to become aware of the presence of God, through the beauty of his created world. I very nearly took up fishing once, just for the excuse it would’ve given to sit by the water for hours at a time, absorbing the peace of God which passes all understanding.

But when the disciples met with Jesus by the lakeside after that first Easter (John 21:1-19), it would not have been the peaceful event I describe. Jesus was dead. Their dear friend and leader, the person they’d invested all their hopes in, was dead. They must’ve been completely devastated, and probably only went fishing because they just didn’t know what else to do.

They’d worked hard all night, but to no avail, and were heading back to shore. Nothing was going right for them, and I imagine they must have been extremely depressed. As they approached shore they saw a man standing watching them. As happened in many of the resurrection stories, they didn’t recognize him immediately. But this stranger encouraged them to do something a little differently, shift their position so to speak. Perhaps they thought he could see something from his vantage point that they couldn’t. But, whatever the reason, they followed his advice, and caught a huge net-full of fish. It was then that they realized who it was on the beach.

And when they finally hauled their catch to shore, Jesus welcomed them with a warm fire and breakfast cooking. That must have been an incredible welcome for those disciples, cold and wet as they were. I can imagine the turmoil their emotions were going through.

One of the things that grabs my attention in this story is that Jesus didn’t really mention the huge catch of fish. Apart from a few fish to add to what was cooking on the fire for them all to eat, nothing is said about them. They were a gift; freely given for the disciples to do with as they would, there were no pre-conditions, no strings attached, nothing — just a gift.

After they’d eaten their breakfast, after they’d been given the gift of a huge catch of fish, Jesus asked Peter, three times, if he loved him. And in doing so, renewed Peter’s calling, and through him the rest of the disciples’, and even our calling too — theirs, and our, calling to love and care for our fellow human beings.

Maybe when we truly recognize, and act on, that calling, that vocation, we might be able to bring others to warm themselves in the fire of Jesus’ love.

Risen Christ,
by the lakeside you renewed your call to your disciples:
help your Church to obey your command
and draw the nations to the fire of your love,
to the glory of God the Father.

Additional Collect for The Sixth Sunday of Easter
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Last week, in my reflection on the Collect, I talked about being prepared to meet God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the somewhat confusing subject of God’s judgement. This week, the Second Sunday of Advent, we have a different emphasis, and we go beyond meeting, to receiving, into our hearts, him who is our Lord and our God.

For me, one of the important things about receiving our Lord and our God into our hearts is that it’s something we do by choice. We can choose to receive God/Jesus into our hearts. And we can choose not to. And the truly amazing thing is that whichever way we decide, it won’t make an iota of difference to the way God feels about us. His love for us isn’t dependent in any way on our love for him. His love for us is a gift, freely offered, with no strings attached.

That’s the God, the Jesus, that we’re praying we’ll be ready to receive in this Collect. And it’s that love that controls everything else. We don’t need to fear the scary things like “judgement”, because our Judge is also our Saviour, and he loves us, each and every one of us, as much as if we were the only ones too love.

For us to love God in the way that he would want us to, it has to be a free choice on our part. You can’t force someone to love you, it wouldn’t be love, it could never be love.

I came across a great quote by the theologian, Greg Boyd, which I’ll finish with:

To refuse to create a world where love was possible because the risk was too great seems to be beneath God. Love is really the only reason worth creating! It’s not freedom for the sake of freedom that God values — it’s love. Freedom is simply the only possible means to this end.

Greg Boyd

Love! It’s our raison d’être.

Almighty God,
purify our hearts and minds,
that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again as
 &bbsp;   judge and saviour
we may be ready to receive him,
who is our Lord and our God.

Additional Collect for The Second Sunday of Advent
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

The gift of God’s love is a tremendous thing. It’s good to know that God loves us as much as he does, even more than the person who loves us the most. It’s a good feeling.

The gift of God’s love, however, is about more than how much God loves us. It’s also about our love for God, and for each other. It’s about our inner beings knowing how to love. And an inner being which knows how to love will be close to God, living and loving with him, but an inner being that has never discovered how to love will be unable to experience God. It’s love, an unbreakable love, than binds everything together.

Reminds me of the chorus of one of the few praise songs I know, one we used to sing a lot with the Church Youth Group when I led it a few years ago, written by Bob Gillman:

Bind us together, Lord,
Bind us together
With cords that cannot be broken.
Bind us together, Lord,
Bind us together
Bind us together with love.

But I think this Collect, for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, reminds of something else very important. This amazing gift of love isn’t just a one off event, or even an occasional event. No, this gift of love is a gift that never ends. It’s a gift that is new and fresh every day.

It doesn’t matter how much of God’s love you give away, you’ll never be short of it yourself. Give it all away; and you’ll still have all that you want, all that you need, all that you desire.

Faithful Lord,
whose steadfast love never ceases
and whose mercies never come to an end:
grant us the grace to trust you
and to receive the gifts of your love,
new every morning,
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

I came across this poem about the ‘smile’ recently, and really like it. Smiling is so contagious. You can give a smile away, and yet keep it yourself, and it genuinely changes many you give it to.

I have always enjoyed sitting by water of any kind — rivers, lakes, gravel pits, or the sea — and probably don’t do it often enough nowadays. For me, it’s a great way to become aware of the presence of God, through the beauty of his created world. I very nearly took up fishing once, just for the excuse it would’ve given to sit by the water for hours at a time, absorbing the peace of God which passes all understanding.

But when the disciples met with Jesus by the lakeside after that first Easter (John 21:1-19), it would not have been the peaceful event I describe. Jesus was dead. Their dear friend and leader, the person they’d invested all their hopes in, was dead. They must’ve been completely devastated, and probably only went fishing because they just didn’t know what else to do.

They’d worked hard all night, but to no avail, and were heading back to shore. Nothing was going right for them, and I imagine they must have been extremely depressed. As they approached shore they saw a man standing watching them. As happened in many of the resurrection stories, they didn’t recognize him immediately. But this stranger encouraged them to do something a little differently, shift their position so to speak. Perhaps they thought he could see something from his vantage point that they couldn’t. But, whatever the reason, they followed his advice, and caught a huge net-full of fish. It was then that they realized who it was on the beach.

And when they finally hauled their catch to shore, Jesus welcomed them with a warm fire and breakfast cooking. That must have been an incredible welcome for those disciples, cold and wet as they were. I can imagine the turmoil their emotions were going through.

One of the things that grabs my attention in this story is that Jesus didn’t really mention the huge catch of fish. Apart from a few fish to add to what was cooking on the fire for them all to eat, nothing is said about them. They were a gift; freely given for the disciples to do with as they would, there were no pre-conditions, no strings attached, nothing — just a gift.

After they’d eaten their breakfast, after they’d been given the gift of a huge catch of fish, Jesus asked Peter, three times, if he loved him. And in doing so, renewed Peter’s calling, and through him the rest of the disciples’, and even our calling too — theirs, and our, calling to love and care for our fellow human beings.

Maybe when we truly recognize, and act on, that calling, that vocation, we might be able to bring others to warm themselves in the fire of Jesus’ love.

Risen Christ,
by the lakeside you renewed your call to your disciples:
help your Church to obey your command
and draw the nations to the fire of your love,
to the glory of God the Father.

Additional Collect for The Sixth Sunday of Easter
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Last week, in my reflection on the Collect, I talked about being prepared to meet God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the somewhat confusing subject of God’s judgement. This week, the Second Sunday of Advent, we have a different emphasis, and we go beyond meeting, to receiving, into our hearts, him who is our Lord and our God.

For me, one of the important things about receiving our Lord and our God into our hearts is that it’s something we do by choice. We can choose to receive God/Jesus into our hearts. And we can choose not to. And the truly amazing thing is that whichever way we decide, it won’t make an iota of difference to the way God feels about us. His love for us isn’t dependent in any way on our love for him. His love for us is a gift, freely offered, with no strings attached.

That’s the God, the Jesus, that we’re praying we’ll be ready to receive in this Collect. And it’s that love that controls everything else. We don’t need to fear the scary things like “judgement”, because our Judge is also our Saviour, and he loves us, each and every one of us, as much as if we were the only ones too love.

For us to love God in the way that he would want us to, it has to be a free choice on our part. You can’t force someone to love you, it wouldn’t be love, it could never be love.

I came across a great quote by the theologian, Greg Boyd, which I’ll finish with:

To refuse to create a world where love was possible because the risk was too great seems to be beneath God. Love is really the only reason worth creating! It’s not freedom for the sake of freedom that God values — it’s love. Freedom is simply the only possible means to this end.

Greg Boyd

Love! It’s our raison d’etre.

Almighty God,
purify our hearts and minds,
that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again as
 &bbsp;   judge and saviour
we may be ready to receive him,
who is our Lord and our God.

Additional Collect for The Second Sunday of Advent
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

A Box Full of Kisses

This story arrived in my inbox this week, thanks John, at just the right time. I’ve been having something of a bad spell with my health, and was beginning to get a bit disheartened. My box full of kisses has helped me to break free from that mood.

Receive the gifts of your love, new every morning

The gift of God’s love is a tremendous thing. It’s good to know that God loves us as much as he does, even more than the person who loves us the most. It’s a good feeling.

The gift of God’s love, however, is about more than how much God loves us. It’s also about our love for God, and for each other. It’s about our inner beings knowing how to love. And an inner being which knows how to love will be close to God, living and loving with him, but an inner being that has never discovered how to love will be unable to experience God. It’s love, an unbreakable love, than binds everything together.

Reminds me of the chorus of one of the few praise songs I know, one we used to sing a lot with the Church Youth Group when I led it a few years ago, written by Bob Gillman:

Bind us together, Lord,
Bind us together
With cords that cannot be broken.
Bind us together, Lord,
Bind us together
Bind us together with love.

But I think this Collect, for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, reminds of something else very important. This amazing gift of love isn’t just a one off event, or even an occasional event. No, this gift of love is a gift that never ends. It’s a gift that is new and fresh every day.

It doesn’t matter how much of God’s love you give away, you’ll never be short of it yourself. Give it all away; and you’ll still have all that you want, all that you need, all that you desire.

Faithful Lord,
whose steadfast love never ceases
and whose mercies never come to an end:
grant us the grace to trust you
and to receive the gifts of your love,
new every morning,
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Sometimes Gifts Are Hard To Recognize

This is another one of those stories that is probably not true. When I first read it, I thought it couldn’t possibly be true, because, surely, no one would allow their marriage to break up over something as unimportant as the wrong gift. But as I thought about it some more, I realised that, sadly, people do; or at least, something like that can be the final straw. Putting all of that aside, though, I think there is something for each of us in this story.