Hello my friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome to another segment in our series,
The Invitations of Jesus.
As we begin,
As always,
I invite you to take a few moments to just settle yourself.
It becomes still.
To notice your breathing and being aware of its quiet rhythm.
Each breath reminding us that life is continually being received before we ever have to do anything.
Just let yourself settle into the present moment.
Notice the sounds around you,
The weight of your body being held.
Notice that beneath all the activity of your mind there is a deep stillness,
A place where God has been waiting.
So today we come to the second last invitation in this series of our journey through the invitations of Jesus.
And so far,
Jesus has invited us to come and see,
To follow him,
To let go of fear,
To rest.
To bring our burdens.
To learn from them,
To remain in them.
And to take up the cross of self-giving love.
Has drawn us deeper into relationships.
And today something changes.
Until now.
We've been invited to come towards Christ.
Now,
However,
Christ comes towards us.
He breathes on his disciples and says,
Receive the Holy Spirit.
And so this isn't just an invitation to walk with Jesus.
This is an invitation to allow the very life of God to dwell in you.
Within you.
So listen to the words of Jesus in John chapter 20 verses 19 through 23.
When it was evening.
On that day,
The first day of the week,
And the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews.
Jesus came.
And stood among them and said,
Peace be with you.
After he said this,
He showed them his hands and he sighed.
Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again,
Peace be with you.
As God has sent me.
So I send you.
When he'd said this,
He breathed on them.
And said to them,
Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive the sins of any,
They are forgiven them.
If you retain the sense of any.
They are retained.
Now it's a beautiful scene filled with quiet emotion.
The disciples are gathered behind locked doors.
The resurrections happen,
But they're still afraid.
They've heard rumours.
Some have seen the empty tomb.
But fear continues to shape their lives.
The doors remain locked.
And it's into that room that Jesus comes.
Coming right in the midst of the locked doors.
There's no courage,
There's no perfection,
There's no having everything figured out here.
And maybe that's why it's one of the most hopeful images in all of scripture,
Because Jesus isn't kept out by the locked doors of our lives.
He enters anyway.
Think of the locked doors that we put up around us.
Grief,
Disappointment,
Doubt.
Shame,
Fear,
But Christ's presence is always greater.
Than whatever we imagine separates us.
And the first words Jesus speaks should be familiar.
Peace be with you.
And this isn't because everything.
Is now going to be easy.
Or all the questions have been answered,
It's none of the above.
This is because peace is first and foremost the gift.
Of Christ's presence,
Biblical peace is much deeper.
Congested.
Having the absence of conflict,
It's homeless.
That beautiful assurance that we're held within the love of God.
Think about the disciples in the storm.
Before the storm even gets calm,
Jesus is there saying,
Peace be with you.
The calming comes later.
And so it's possible to experience the peace of God even while our circumstances change.
Remain uncertain.
Because peace isn't dependent on the circumstances.
Peace is rooted deeply in our communion.
With God.
And then comes that remarkable moment when Jesus breathes on them.
And the image immediately takes us back.
To Genesis Chapter 2 where God breathes into the dust of the earth and humanity becomes a living creature.
Being.
And now the risen Christ breathes once again.
This is a new creation.
The same spirit who brought life in the beginning now breathes new life into these frightened disciples.
The Christian life then.
Is about.
This beautiful participation together.
In the very life of God,
Because the very life of God has been breathed through us.
And look,
Let's be honest,
In Christian circles,
The Holy Spirit is probably incredibly misunderstood,
And that's an understatement.
Some imagine the spirit.
Only in extraordinary experiences or powerful emotions or dramatic miracles or remarkable gifts and all of these have their place but throughout scripture The spirit is often recognized.
In more subtle ways.
The Spirit gives wisdom.
The Spirit reminds us of Jesus' teaching.
The Spirit produces love,
Joy,
Peace,
Patience,
Kindness,
Generosity.
Faithfulness,
Gentleness,
Self-control,
The Spirit enables forgiveness.
The Spirit gives us courage to speak with truth and compassion.
The Spirit.
It transforms us from the inside out.
Like the wind,
We can't always see the Spirit directly,
But we can notice the movement.
The fruit.
The change.
And so there's something that's incredibly freeing about Jesus' invitation.
He says receive.
And receiving's not hard to do.
And this receiving comes with absolutely zero effort on our part.
And I think this is probably the deepest posture of the spiritual life,
This receiving,
And probably the hardest thing,
Because in our human minds it doesn't comprehend.
There's always this idea that it has to be an exchange,
It has to be a transaction.
But in just the same way we receive breath.
And in just the same way we receive life,
We also receive grace.
We receive forgiveness.
We receive love.
And the Christian life begins and continues through openness.
And that's why contemplation is so important.
Because when we're in silence and stillness.
.
.
We're reminded and taught how to receive.
And how to notice and prayer.
Becomes more and more about consenting to that move of God.
The Spirit has always been present.
And so what prayer does is it opens our eyes and our hearts and awakens us to that presence of the Spirit that's already there within us,
Wanting to move through us.
And there's another detail.
In this little passage that deserves our attention.
Immediately after giving the Spirit,
Jesus talks about forgiveness,
And that's not an accident.
The Spirit always moves towards reconciliation,
Towards healing,
Restored relationships.
Whenever the Spirit is genuinely at work,
Love expands,
Compassion deepens,
Enemies begin to be seen as neighbours,
Walls come down.
The spirit never,
Ever,
Will make us less human.
But the spirit will make us more fully alive.
Both to God's presence and to the humanity that's around us.
And therefore makes us more capable of loving.
As Christ loves.
And maybe one of the greatest mistakes we make.
Is imagining that holiness is something we manufacture,
That we have to create.
The New Testament,
However,
Paints a very,
Very different picture.
Holiness grows through cooperation.
Like a sail that's open to the wind.
The sailor doesn't have to create the wind.
The sailor learns how to receive it.
The spirit is already blowing.
And so the question is whether we're willing to open our lives.
To that moment.
And receive it.
The invitation today is beautiful friends.
Just become available and say,
Holy Spirit,
I'm here.
So let's slow ourselves down for a moment and allow this to sink in.
To become aware of your breathing.
And as you do,
Imagine yourself in the upper room with the disciples,
Doors closed,
Rooms quiet.
Maybe uncertainty,
Maybe hope,
Maybe a bit of both.
And then Jesus stands among you.
He looks at each person with love and then he looks at you.
There's no judgment,
No disappointment,
Just love and compassion.
And hear him say,
Peace.
Be with you.
Just let those words settle deep.
And then imagine Jesus breathing gently,
Quiet breath,
Breath of life,
Breath of new creation.
And as he does,
He says,
Receive the Holy Spirit.
And as you sit with that,
Just move into a breath prayer.
As you breathe in.
Come Holy Spirit,
And as you breathe out,
Live in May.
Become Holy Spirit.
Live in May.
And then ask Holy Spirit.
Where are you already at work within me?
And just sit with that trusting,
That even silence.
Can become language of the Spirit.
Holy Spirit,
Breath of the living God,
Renew our hearts.
Awaken us to the presence of Christ.
Where there is fear,
Breathe courage.
Where there's resentment,
Breathe forgiveness.
Where there's exhaustion,
Breathe new life.
Where there's confusion,
Breathe wisdom,
Open our eyes to the quiet ways that you're already moving within us.
Teach us to become people who receive your grace with open hands and generous hearts.
May your fruit become visible in our lives so that other encounter the love of Christ through us.
And may grace,
Peace,
And love be with us,
Flow through us,
And remain with us today and always.
Amen.
As you return to your day,
Just remember that every breath can become a prayer each time you notice your breathing.
Just whisper gently,
Come Holy Spirit.
Knowing that you're awakening once again to the gift that has already been given.
And may you live today with open hands and attentive heart and the quiet confidence that the life of God is already at work within you.
And so until next time,
May the peace of Christ remain with you and may the Holy Spirit continue to breathe new life into your soul.
Blessing hell.
