Stir up your power...*Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us… Wouldn't it be amazing if God were to rise up in power, right here in our midst, in our day! How many generations have cried out in this same way: “Show up in all your strength God!” The psalms are full of cries like this. It's portrays the great confidence they had that God would indeed show up. Stir up your power…I wonder if we've become numb to these words. Yes, we know that God did those things in the past. Yet when we look around, the world is full of problems that threaten to undo us. But where is his power today…what has he done here on earth lately? “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Luke 3:16 The truth is that God has not stopped stirring up his power. He has poured out his Holy Spirit upon us. Sometimes I don't see the extent of God's power because I'm too busy relying on my own. How many times have I thwarted the work of the Holy Spirit because I refused God’s help? What might happen if I prayed: “Stir up your power in me, O Lord,” instead? Something profound happens when we cooperate and collaborate with God in the work he is already doing. Just one problem… because we are sorely hindered by our sins… Sorely. Not a word we often use in casual conversation. Profoundly. Greatly. Deeply. We are more familiar with these. We are not “sort of” hindered. We are profoundly mired and stuck because of our sins. Like those old jungle adventure shows where the hero is up to his neck in quicksand with no help in sight. Do you and I recognize that we are truly in a dire situation. With out God’s help there is no hope. And how can we hope to be of service to God when we are trying to pull ourselves out of the quagmire of our sins with our arms stuck the mud. The good news is that we a savior who is not afraid to get his hands dirty on our behalf, if we will let him. Let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us… Do I truly believe that God’s grace and mercy is bountiful? Perhaps a better question is whether I will let His abundant mercy and grace into my life to help and deliver. “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 God’s love, grace, and mercy is always available if we will but ask. Like the parent standing alongside their child as they take those first tentative steps, our heavenly father stands by ready help. And he already has in so many ways: “for the goodness and love which you have made known to us in creation; in the calling of Israel to be your people; in your Word spoken through the prophets; and above all in the Word made flesh, Jesus, your Son.” BCP p. 368 Blessings, Matthew+ Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen. BCP p. 212 *reprinted from December 10, 2021 | 
