Today’s Thought & Prayer is supplied from the weekly Advent Oasis service, happening on zoom on Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm. Please plan to come to this brief (15-20 minute) gathering. Here are the coordinates:

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83561561966?pwd=V1B5ZmtZYktnNDRzRVlWMkpmclp3UT09
Meeting ID: 835 6156 1966
Passcode: 358775

View the 3rd Sunday of Advent service on JOY

Tuesday, December 14

In the chapters and verses prior to this Advent Oasis reading (John 16:16-24), Jesus has been teaching the disciples to prepare for what was coming next – his arrest and crucifixion. The two main themes in this passage are sorrow and joy.

Joy is a small word but is a feeling that there are no words to describe. Joy is not simply being happy. Think for a moment what it will be like when this pandemic is over and we can all be together again and we can hug during the peace. True joy is having that feeling all the time.

In verse 16 Jesus tell his disciples that in a little while they won’t see him but in a little while they will. What? Wait a minute. One of the saddest things to hear, for me. is a friend saying “I am leaving” or “I am moving away. Even though you may stay in touch their leaving changes things. In essence this is what Jesus is saying, and just like those friends who move away, the relationship is going to change. The disciples are confused. These dudes were still hoping that Jesus would mount some sort of military operation and oust the Romans. It wasn’t that long ago that they entered the city of Jerusalem to shouts of Hosanna and cheering crowds. Why was Jesus talking about leaving now? The disciples wanted Jesus with them. He was their rabbi, teacher, and friend, they had given up their livelihoods to follow him. His leaving would cause a huge void. Telling them but in a little while after that you will see me only confused them more. Of course, we know Jesus was speaking of the resurrection.

Jesus knew his disciples were confused but his response is not to simply fill in the blanks of what was going to happen but rather to explain how they would feel throughout it.

Jesus acknowledges that they will be sorrowful – not just a little sad – but totally overcome. He goes on to say that the world will rejoice. Here is referring to pharisees and those others who viewed Jesus as a troublemaker and an instigator. They would be saying Yippee, we have got rid of him, we don’t need to worry anymore – WRONG!

Finally, in verse 20, we get some good news – their sorrow will turn into joy. He goes on to give an illustration of this. I have often wondered why Jesus chose to compare the birth process to how sorrow will turn into joy when speaking to men, but I guess it is the miracle of new life and the joy that everybody feels at the event even if you weren’t the one suffering through labour.

Granted there will always be people or circumstances that seem to take away our joy. But that is not the joy Jesus is talking about. The joy Jesus is talking about is the joy we have because we know Jesus and have invited him into our hearts. That joy can not be taken away from us even though we sometimes lose sight of it. This is the Joy that came down at Christmas

Octavius Spencer, a 19th century preacher, summed up joy with these words – I apologize for non inclusive language but this is a quote from the 1800’s:

The religion of Christ is the religion of joy. Christ came to take away our sins, to roll off our curse, to unbind our chains, to open our prison house, to cancel our debt; in a word, to give us the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Is not this joy? Where can we find a joy so real, so deep, so pure, so lasting? There is every element of joy – deep, ecstatic, satisfying, sanctifying joy – in the gospel of Christ. The believer in Jesus is essentially a happy man. The child of God is, from necessity, a joyful man. His sins are forgiven, his soul is justified, his person is adopted, his trials are blessings, his conflicts are victories, his death is immortality, his future is a heaven of inconceivable, unthought-of, untold, and endless blessedness. With such a God, such a Saviour, and such a hope, is he not, ought he not, to be a joyful man?

Prayer: 

Lord God, let your blessing come upon us with the lighting of this candle of JOY. May its light be a sign of Christ’s promise of salvation, in this time of darkness. Now we watch and wait for his coming. Amen.

December 10, 2020

Have you ever wondered why we have so many “special days” between Remembrance Day and Christmas Day? It starts with the celebration of Christ The King (or The Reign of Christ according to the Anglican Church of Canada) on the last Sunday before Advent, continues with the Advent Services with the special lighting of the Advent Candles at the beginning of each service, and is followed by Lessons and Carols Services and, in the UK, Christingle Services. All these services have Jesus as the light of the world as their theme and by the time we reach the Christmas Day reading of the Gospel of John (1:4-5 “In him was life, and that life was the light of mankind.”) we get the message!

To add to these Services, we have had a special feast day this week on December 8th when the Church celebrates The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This festival, in honour of the conception of the mother of Jesus, is celebrated on this day in both the eastern and the western Church. This feast, which dates from the seventh century, acknowledges the preparation by God of his people to receive their Saviour and Lord, bringing heaven to earth and showing that mortal flesh can indeed bring Christ to the world.

So, why all these services and why the theme of light? Well, theologically, we can see that the words of John’s Gospel would inspire the theme, but the surfeit of Services may well have human origins. We have to remember that the early church from its formation in the Acts of Apostles through its spread into the European medieval and middle ages would have had no source of light other than the sun by day and candles/torches by night through the winter months. Hence the need to relieve the gloom of “The Bleak Midwinter” with these extra services. Both the Reign of Christ Service, the Christingle Service, and the Conception of the Blessed Virgin were all introduced into the church in medieval times and serve as a reminder to all of us that the manger baby is indeed the light of the world and our Lord and Saviour, whose reign on earth and in heaven will never cease. Let’s not forget that in this Advent and Christmas season.

Prayer for The Day:
Collect from The Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Almighty and everlasting God, who stooped to raise fallen humanity through the child-bearing of blessed Mary: grant that we, who have seen your glory revealed in our human nature and your love made perfect in our weakness, may daily be renewed in your image and conformed to the pattern of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

P.S. Never heard of Christingle Services? Either come or tune in on Zoom to the Lessons and Carols Service on December 20th and discover for yourselves!

Thursday, November 26

In Advent, we turn towards the light, the shining star, and the incarnation of God among us. Those who are seeking Jesus in a time of darkness, those who are tuning into church at Christmas, perhaps out of habit or a sense of duty, are once more turning to see what God has done and to witness what a difference God might make in their lives. Let us take this time, amidst the daily turmoils that divert our attention and the news reports that turn our heads, to focus on our own orientation towards God and to be ready to invite others into that habit, the habit of turning to God, of having his face shine upon us, and of knowing that we are so loved.The prayer of the day is an alternate version of Psalm 80: 1-7 from Nan Merrill’s Psalms for Praying:

November 19, 2020

How do geese know to fly south in winter?

To be ready to migrate in the autumn, geese start preparing in midsummer. Babies born in the spring are mostly grown up by then. Adult geese grow a new set of plumage after shedding their old feathers (a process called molting) – mostly over the golf courses I play on! They need flight and body feathers to be in good condition for the long flight ahead and to insulate their bodies from the winter cold. For a few weeks during this process, geese can’t fly at all, and they stay out of the water to avoid predators. Geese have a clock in their brain which measures how much sunlight there is each day. The days grow shorter during the late summer and early autumn and that’s how geese know it’s time to get ready for the journey south.

Families join together in larger flocks and then those flocks join with other flocks, showing they’re ready to migrate by honking loudly and pointing their bills towards the sky. Then they’re off! They fly south by day or by night, depending on factors like weather conditions or brightness of the moon. They navigate based on experience, using landmarks including rivers, coastlines and mountain ranges and celestial cues such as the sun and stars. They have a physical compass in their head that allows them to tell north and south by detecting the earth’s magnetic field. All of this enables the geese to remember their migration routes, teaching their kids as they go in their V formation (the kids fly towards the back of the V in the slipstream of the adults in order not to use as much energy as their stronger parents – hence the formation).All this preparation, all this using the natural signs God has provided for them and their guidance and care for their children enables the geese to reach the promised land of the warm south to escape the rigors and harshness of the northern winter.

Doesn’t all this remind us of our journey through the rigors and harshness of this life to land in the promised land of heaven with Jesus? We’ve prepared ourselves with lives of love and care, shedding not feathers but the ways of this secular world. We’ve joined up with large flocks not of geese but of fellow Christians and we’ve all used the landmarks of bible, worship and fellowship to guide us on our way towards our Heavenly Father. This coming Sunday we celebrate the reign of Christ, not just in the heavenly realms but also in this world in the hearts and good works of Christians around the world. Like the geese, may we be prepared to travel to the promised land and join our Lord and Saviour and our loved ones who have preceded us there.

Prayer:

Father, we thank for your perfect creation and particularly the geese we see all around us. What wonders you have made for us in them. As we approach once again the time of Advent, anticipating the arrival of Christ in this world, we praise you for sending Him to us to provide the essential landmarks on our journey towards the promised land where Our Saviour Christ reigns with You in glory. Amen.