As we get used to the shape of this season, we wanted to highlight again that we won’t be releasing a daily office over the weekend. Instead, we want to invite you into the intentional practice of Sabbath this Saturday or Sunday – a day for rest, worship and delight.
We have created a practice guide to help you and your family as you weave Sabbath into the rhythm of your week. You can find the practice guide and video here.
Matthew 28: 20 and Deuteronomy 31: 6
Take a moment to be still and to pray ‘Come, Holy Spirit’ before reading the scriptures. If you are in the company of others, invite someone to read the text aloud.
If you are gathering with your family, invite someone to read this reflection aloud.
One of my favourite things I have ever randomly come across is a sprawling list written by an anonymous person online.
“Do you ever just think about Jesus living here on earth?
I think sometimes we tend to think He just bounced from one miracle to another and everyday was a Bible story, but His ministry lasted for three years and the Gospels don’t actually cover that much, so imagine all those ordinary days??”
The author goes on to list things like Jesus having favourite foods, getting sore blistered feet, snoring when he slept, sharing inside jokes with the disciples. Each thing is punctuated by an exclamation of wonder: “Imagine laughing with the person who gives you breath to laugh in the first place.”
It is a beautiful expression of something I think we must all forget, more often than we would care to admit. You go about your every day, taking an extra few minutes in bed, forgetting to eat lunch, getting the shopping. The mundane actions that happen simply because they do. They may take on very different forms depending on your culture, your income, your health, but they exist all the same. Do you ever stop to remember that the God of the universe used to do these same things in His every day on earth? That He understands the mundane. Not just understands, but has made these small actions essential.
The thought of Jesus cooking… The image of Him wrapping an arm around one of His friends and belly-laughing at something they said… The idea that He lay down every night to go to sleep and woke up every morning… I can’t think of this without tears springing into my eyes.
We are living in a strange world where businesses, jobs, even people are now classified as essential and non-essential. Our day to day lives have been peeled back to “the bare minimum.” There has been extraordinary loss. Of routines, of treats, of hobbies, of company. Of jobs, of income, of security, of health. Of so much of what makes normal life normal. And there is grief in this – on top of everything else, because life never just stops no matter what else might be going on. It has been hard to not lose hope. We have all had our strong days. If we’re honest, we’ve also had our wobble days. We might even have had half-and-half days.
On the days I have felt at a loss and on the days I have felt bursting with joy, I imagine Jesus with me. I know you probably read this thinking, “Yes, I totally get that Alex, feeling His presence with you, absolutely I’ve been there.” And yes, that is what I mean in some capacity. But what I actually mean is that I imagine Jesus standing next to me. In Tesco, searching for flour. In Wallace Park, walking my puppy. In my living room, laughing at the television. He has the kindest eyes in the whole world, and the most encouraging smile.
There is something ridiculously calming, overwhelmingly peaceful about imagining our Jesus walking through life with us. When He came to earth, He came to save us. To show us how to follow His Word and His teachings. The Great Commission is the greatest thing any of us can take on and apply to our lives. It is the point, the reason, the purpose. But if that was all, Jesus could have just appeared as a vision in the clouds and commanded His people to follow them. If all He wanted was to end suffering and stop the persecution of His people, He could have made Himself the son of an earthly king, with the right connections to reach the masses while living as comfortable a life as ever existed.
Instead, He came as a poor carpenter. Sawdust in His hair, splinters in His fingers.
“It’s not the miracles that are unthinkable.” It’s that our God would choose to embrace suffering over comfort, hunger over plenty, toil over leisure. That the God of the universe would even be concerned with the normal of the world and use it to demonstrate a true life of faith. That after He was subjected to cruelty and pain, to a horrible death at the hands of His enemies, He returned to leave His Spirit with us.
“I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Even when you’re looking for flour at Tesco.
Depending on which time of day you are practicing this office, you can use the morning or evening prayer. All to pray the following words aloud.
Morning Prayer
Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
Amen.
Northumbria Community
Evening Prayer
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake.
Amen.
Compline Prayer – Common Book of Prayer
If you are gathering with your family, wait a moment and listen for the voice of God. Prayerfully share any words, pictures, encouragements or scriptures with each other by the laying on of hands.
Whether you are by yourself, or in the company of others, take time to pray for others that the Holy Spirit brings to mind, blessing them in His name.
Close your time by singing or saying aloud the Doxology.
“Fight back the dark with doxology. Doxology can detox the day.”
Ann Voskamp
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, you heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Amen and Amen.
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Acknowledgements
Anonymous Author