PRAYER
BE WITH ME NOW...
O Lord, our Lord, dear Lord, God of earth and heaven,
Of place and presence and glory.
Keep our fragile faith alive and make it stronger Hold our fragile hopes secure and make them surer Fill our fragile hearts with love that will not let go That we might hold fast to you as you hold fast to us O Lord, our Lord, dear Lord,
God of earth and heaven,
Of place and presence and glory. Be present with us now…
Be with me now…
Be peace I cannot understand and yet can somehow know Be strength in times of weakness and humility in times of strength Be faith in times of doubt and hope in times of fear
Be love - pure, unadulterated love - within this heart of mine Be with me now…
...and always. Amen.
SONG God my Father God my Saviour God Almighty God my Safety God my Stronghold My true Refuge
You are Love, You are Hope, You are Faith, You are Strength, You are Light, You are Peace, You are Joy, You’re my Song You are Ho—ly… Ho——ly… God my Healer God my Mercy My deep Comfort God my Present God my Future Life Eternal
You are Love, You are Hope, You are Faith, You are Strength, You are Light, You are Peace, You are Joy, You’re my Song You are Ho—ly… Ho——ly… God my Shepherd God my Shelter My Protection God my Helper God my Teacher Always Faithful
You are Love, You are Hope, You are Faith, You are Strength, You are Light, You are Peace, You are Joy, You’re my Song You are Ho—ly… Ho——ly…
God my Courage God my Justice Full of Wisdom God my Sovereign God my Master Always Gracious
You are Love, You are Hope, You are Faith, You are Strength, You are Light, You are Peace, You are Joy, You’re my Song You are Ho—ly… Ho——ly… God my Blessing God my Blessing God my Blessing God my Blessing God my Blessing God my Blessing God my Blessing © Garrie C Griffiths 2019
READING
John 14.15 ‘If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever –
17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees
him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
19 Before long, the world will not see me any more, but you will see me.
Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my
commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.’
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, ‘But, Lord, why do you intend to
show yourself to us and not to the world?’
23 Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will
love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you
hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 ‘All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the
CONVERSATION
Jesus said, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’ John 14.23 Properly, fully home
Staring out of the window at a rather grey sky I wondered, as I do from time to time, about time… and space. I wondered about God being outside of time and space, and yet inside as well. “Its easier,” I thought, “to think of God outside of all this in some ways. But inside, just where is he, and when is he, and what is he doing?”
And, wondering about the mess the world is in, it made me think, “Why?” as well. And I thought, “Why should God be inside this when he can be outside of it all and away from the mess and the stress and the hurtful - and from me when I’m feeling moody and not wanting to face the world or anyone… even him?”
“I want to come home.” said the voice. “Properly home. Fully home.”
“I beg your pardon?” said I.
“I know you do,” said the voice, “and I freely give my pardon. But I do want to come home. Properly home. Fully home.”
“I don’t understand what you mean by home.” said I. “I thought home was in heaven - or at least outside of all this lot. I thought you came here once, lived here like us, met all the mess and the stress and the hurtful - and it killed you.”
“I did.” said the voice. “And it did kill me. And I rose and ascended beyond it all… but I still want to come home…”
“You see, while I am outside of time and space, there’s a part of me always seeking to be at home in time and space. Despite all that was and is and always will be wrong, I want to be here too.”
“Well,” said I, “where would you live? When and how would you live?”
“Have I?” said I in disbelief. “I’m not in the mood for any of this, how on earth can I have ‘put my finger on it’?”
“Not on earth.” said the voice, with a smile. “The ‘where’ is wherever, the ‘when’ is whenever, the ‘how’ is… Well, the how is you.”
“I’m confused.” said I.
“Nothing new there then.” said the voice, still smiling. “The how is you… You are home: your mind, your spirit, the real you, the heart of you. That’s where I want to come home.”
“But what about everyone else? People better than me, more faithful than me, more sure than me, more religious than me? I’m not up to much at the best of times, and even less at the moment.”
I heard a sigh, with a hint of gentle laughter.
“Do you love me?” said the voice.
I felt embarrassed and went red, even though there was no one there.
“That’s what you think.” said the voice, “But I can see you, and I can feel your shame and your sheepishness… and yet I still want to come home.”
“Do you love me?” said the voice.
“I think so.” said I
“Good”
“Do you want to do good things - the things I’ve shown you throughout
history, the things I’ve shown you in others, the good things I’ve taught you?”
“I think so.” said I
“Good” said the voice, “Now let me ask you another question.”
“As you seem able to imagine me ‘outside of time and space’, when really that’s beyond your imagination, do you think you might be able to imagine me, us, ‘inside time and space’… and in you?”
“Er, no, not really.” said I. “And I can’t really imagine you outside time and space - it’s just a feeling that its possible and that it’s where you are.”
“Well, these conversations we have seem to suggest you have a feeling for me. A feeling for me being inside time and space… and inside you. Don’t you think?”
“Er, well… (sigh)”
“Exactly.” said the voice. “Mind-blowing, mind-boggling (what a wonderful word, boggle is!) mind-boggling it may be, but it is possible, desirable, and I want to come home to you: me, my Father and my Spirit. All three facets. All three persons, yet one God… in you. Making our home in you. Dwelling in your heart. Abiding there. Being one with you. Properly home. Fully home.”
The sky remains grey, my feelings still subdued. “Imagination is a weird thing.” I thought, “But that’s all this is, isn’t it?”
“Weird and wonderful and nearer the truth than you can ever imagine.” said the voice. “But please don’t subdue your feelings. Open them up to the possibility that this is really real.”
If you stopped things getting in the way - stopped trying to squeeze all the things you want in to my kingdom - you could do it, you know.”
“Do what?” said I.
“I once prayed,” said the voice, ‘Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory… in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.’
“Let go of those thoughts and things that get in the way. Put them where they belong. Then you could do it…”
“Do what?” said I.
“Come into my kingdom… fully into my kingdom — by letting me come home. To be one with you... and you with me.
Home. Properly home. Fully home.”
POEM
Abide with me...
Almighty God,
Lord of the universe and yet... Friend to a sinner like me,
You know that I find it hard to face you and Still harder to find the right words to say. I am uncertain. I am unsure.
I am unconfident. I am unworthy.
While you sit on the throne of the heavens I inhabit the smallest of spaces on earth. While you contemplate eternity
I fret over tomorrow… and maybe the day after. Show me who I am.
Show me who I am to you. Show me who
I can be, I might be, I will be:
Who I am in you… and who you are in me... Abide with me;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless,
O abide with me.
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee; In life, in death,
O Lord,
Abide with me.
PRAYER
A PRAYER OF SURRENDER
To you, O Lord, I surrender: I surrender the shores of my will I surrender the shallows of my will
I surrender the salt-water tears of my will I surrender the storm-driven waves of my will I surrender the dark, hidden depths of my will My deep will
My whole will
That your will be done
Here on earth as it is in heaven Here in me as it is in heaven
Your kingdom come as it is in heaven Your will be done as it is in heaven In me…
I surrender… me. Amen.
