You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. ~ Acts 1:8

It’s one thing to believe that we have been given the Holy Spirit and that through the Holy Spirit God gives us power and guidance, but it is quite another to live our lives that way.

Recently, I’ve been trying to notice the Spirit’s leading in my life on a daily basis.  So far, I’ve been pretty unsuccessful at noticing it in the moment, or even thinking about it as the day happens.  But, I have been intentionally taking time at the end of the day to think back, to focus on times when I can see that God was present in situations, people, words, and actions throughout my day.  Sometimes it is easy and I can name lots of ways that God was working, other times it takes some real thinking to come up with just one, but I do it every day in hopes that some day I will see it as it happens, and that I will remember to look for those moments during the day.

Last week, I had one of those moments.  I was driving home from work for the day, thinking about what needed done at the house, what I could put off for a while longer, and what I was going to have for dinner, and as I drove several police cars passed me.  Before long, I saw them scattered across the road, blocking all but one lane.  As I nosed my way through the now heavy traffic with my mind still on random things, I took in the cause of the commotion.

A group of people was clustered around a young boy, who had his back to me sitting on the pavement.  His bike lay ten feet away from him, and a slightly damaged car stood idle beside him.  The police were there, asking questions and calming the distressed.  On the sidewalks around the area, others were gathered in clusters, families, friends, parents and teachers from the school across the street, all trying to get a better view and find out what happened.

As I drove past, some of the pieces fell together for me.  Obviously, a child had been hit by a car while riding his bike on the way home from school.  It was terrible to think about, but even more terribly and somewhat strangely, I could have sworn I recognized the boy.  Something about him had reminded me of a boy who attends the church where I serve, but I had only seen his back.

I tried to reason with myself.  How many boys look like that?  How many boys attend that school?  How many ride their bikes?  The chances of it being who I thought it was were slim.  In my mind, I wanted simply to continue home.  It probably wasn’t who I thought it was, and whoever it was was well taken care of by teachers and paramedics and police. 

Yet at the next opportunity to make a U-turn, I did, my heart ignoring my brain.  I crawled back to through the traffic and parked nearby.  I discovered through conversation with a watching parent that the child was indeed the boy from my congregation, and eventually made it across the street to his side as they loaded him into the waiting ambulance.  I quickly learned that he was not injured except for a possible broken ankle, and watched the medics care for him before they headed off to the hospital where his mother worked.

On my way home once again, I was able to call his family and leave them a message letting them know that they were all in my prayers and that I had been present to offer my comfort at the scene. 

It was a Holy Spirit thing that I was there at all.  My human brain had been half way home, planning the evening.  Yet, the Spirit had guided me to a better course of action, one that allowed me to see a child I cared for in need, one that placed someone else ahead of me.  I knew, as I headed home, that I had heard the Holy Spirit, and that I had responded to it in this instance.  I was reminded of what it felt like to hear the voice of God in my life, and what it means to respond to it – hope, service, and peace, suffering, sorrow, and pain.

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. ~ Acts 1:8

Lord, teach me the movement of your Spirit.  Amen

Well, Christmas season is in full swing according to the malls and shopping centers.  This year it seemed to start well before Black Friday, but now that Thanksgiving is over, we are full steam ahead.

It’s that season of Christmas carols and craziness, when we run ourselves ragged trying to accomplish all the extras.  It’s time to hit the malls and do some big-spending shopping, sit our kids on Santa’s knee, and listen to all the “I wants.”  It’s time to crank up the oven and turn out the baked goods, dust off the decorations, run our families to twenty different Christmas parties, stay out too late, and run like wild to fit everything in to our already busy lives.  It’s Christmas time!

Psalm 46:10 ~ “Be still, and know that I am God!”

Well NO…actually it isn’t Christmas time yet, at least not in the church.  Here, it is Advent, and there is plenty of space to simply breath in Advent.  It is a time of waiting, a time of anticipation, a time to get ready for the coming of Jesus.

I have several friends who are expecting babies this winter, and I have been reminded recently of all the preparation and planning that goes into getting ready for a baby.  You don’t wait until after the baby is born to get things like a crib, blankets, clothes, bottles, and diapers.  You get all that before, in anticipation of it being needed.  You clean out your old things and bring in new.  You child proof everything you keep.  You make certain that this baby is provided for and safe before you ever know anything about them as a person.

Advent is that time of preparation for us in the church.  It is a time to get ready, to make room in our hearts and in our lives for a very special baby, the baby Jesus.  It is the time before the joy and fulfillment of the actual birth.  It is the time before.  It is a time of hoping and dreaming and planning and waiting.

Advent is also the beginning of a new year in the church calendar.  So, just like we do on December 31^st when we make new year’s resolutions, Advent is a time to look back, to see where we have been and what we have done, and then to look forward.  It is a time to review our shortcomings and then to look ahead, to remember our hopes and dreams, and look for the coming of the one who is the source of that hope. 

Despite what the world tells us, Advent is a time of anticipation, of waiting with baited breath for the miracle of Christ’s birth to dazzle us on Christmas day.  It is a time of preparation and of hope, a time of stillness and reflection.  May you find those opportunities, and take that time, throughout this Advent season.

Lord help me to be still this season.  Amen.

Galatians 6:2 ~ Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Being a member of a family means being connected to the other people who are members of the family.  It means sharing in the joys they experience, and it also means sharing in their pain.  Family means we don’t get to choose if we want to share these experiences or not, just like it means we can’t choose who will be a part of our family. 

Family is about unconditional loving, about being with people we may not always like, and about bearing the burdens we may not want.  Trust me, I know.  My family is a messy place filled with people I wouldn't want to know otherwise, things they do or don't do that make me shake my head in sadness, and lots of pain.  But it is also filled with laughter, triumphs, moments of tranquility, and love.

Our family of faith works exactly the same way.  We cannot choose who is a part of it, or what kind of experiences they will bring to it.  There are people who are part of the family who we might not want to get to know very well, but they are a part of our church family anyway, and because of that, we are to love them.  Being a part of this family means we get to celebrate the joys that people experience, like new births and healing and faith renewal, but it also means that we share in the painful times as well, like death, illness, doubt, and loss.  We celebrate the joys, and bear the burdens, and this is what we are called to do in our family of faith.

In the last several weeks, I have been grateful for the family of the congregation that I serve.  As I have dealt with and continue to deal with the loss of my father in August, I have been uplifted by the sharing of the burden in this family.  They have shared with me through cards and sympathy and prayers.  They have offered their time to help in any way I need, their ears to listen, and their sholders to cry on.  They continue to be willing to let me drop everything and go home at a moment's notice and forgive my lack of focus and sometimes unfinshed jobs.  They are bearing the burden with me. 

This is the mark of a true family, and we need to continue to remember to “bear one another’s burdens” as Paul reminds us in Galatians, and to celebrate with those who are celebrating.  It spreads beyond our immediate family and our church family.  It includes our larger family of faith and the global family we share with the rest of the world. 

We can see sharing the burdens of our family, and our family of faith, but we are sometimes lax when it comes to being family to our community or world.  We are part of those families too, and we can't choose whether we will "bear one another's burdens" of poverty, hunger, or violence.  God calls us to this, to sharing the pain and the suffering, and to celebrating the joys of peace restored and wholeness found. 

God help us to bear each other's burdens. 

Amen