GOD HAS BEEN MANIFESTED IN FLESH (III)

Crowds acclaimed Him, disciples kept by Him;

Yet in time, disowned, betrayed and denied:

No human company.

 

(Inverness, Whisk Away Café 4 June 2022)

 

God’s action: He “gave his strength into

Captivity, and his glory into

The hand of the oppressor”.

 

There is no garden in Gethsemane;

All was the press of the spirit of Jesus:

Oppressed; depressed.

 

Unbounded in blessing; dweller in

Unbounded light; unbounded grace led

To being bound.

 

The Leader and Completer of faith has been

Led; the Leader of salvation led; the Originator of life

Has been slain.

 

(Tushielaw, 10 June 2022)

 

The feet that had walked in the Father’s way;

The hands that had reached out in blessing:

Men pinned to the cross.

 

(Tushielaw, 11 June 2022)

 

Denizen of eternal glory;

Habitue of the Father’s presence;

A forsaken Man.

 

(Dawyck)

 

Emmanuel, the Root and Offspring of David;

The Lamb of God; the Saviour of the world;

A forsaken Man.

 

(Loanhead, Lord’s day 12 June 2022)

GOD HAS BEEN MANIFESTED IN FLESH (II)

On the whale-route between Lewis and Ullapool

 

The Ocean-master, Lord of whale-routes,

Could come to be buffeted by winds,

Asleep on a boat.

 

But nothing could prevent

The Lord of wind and waves from

Making waves His path.

 

(Gearrannan junction 3 June 2022)

 

Confined to Israel, His recalcitrant people,

His grace ensured crumbs from the table

Reached Gentile dogs.

 

Birds had nests; and the foxes their earth;

Mem, palaces and hovels; but the Son of Man

Had no place on earth.

 

Yet what did it mean

To Him, that He could spend His nights

Abroad on the Mount of Olives?

 

(Stornoway, Loch Seaforth 4 June 2022)

 

Babes only He consorted with, fishers,

Yet His time and patience made them truly

The wise and prudent.

 

Thus the footsteps of Jesus funnelled

To Israel narrowed in His straitening

Towards Jerusalem.

 

The city of the great King, Jerusalem;

How He desired that the murderous city

Should rather nestle to Him!

 

The Eternal One, entering His creation

Found the time limits He accepted

Meant His time must come.

 

(Loch Seaforth, The Minch)

GOD HAS BEEN MANIFESTED IN FLESH (I)

 So He came forth, the Universe-maker,

Heaven-measurer, to be confined within

The breadth of a womb.

He who had stretched out the heavens

As a gauze curtain was prepared to be

Swaddled in linen.

The Earth-founder, Layer of foundations

Upon nothing, came where He could be

A Babe in a manger.

The Creation-commander, Orderer of 

Star, and planet, and comet became

An obedient Child.

Maker of the rivers, and the Former

Of the baptising saint, He willingly

Was baptised in Jordan.

Himself the Word, whose breath can consume,

Yet He answered Satan's assaults

With words of Scripture.

This restriction, to not please Himself

But do the will of His Father,

Gave Him great joy.

Some ruled as kings, or emperors, or priests

Over God's people; but in God's Messiah

Men saw the Carpenter.

He who could move on the wings of the wind

Or fly on the cherub, contented Himself

To walk on His feet.

Through these restrictions

There was this that was unlimited:

The communion of a Son with a Father.

(Callanish, 3 June 2022)

Farewell to Lewis

VIGILANCE

 

VIGILANCE

O Holy Spirit, Thou didst show
Thy vigilance above the waste,
Alert on God's behalf to know
Firstfruits of what would suit His taste.

Although in Christ Thou didst have rest,
And, in His church, Thy dwelling-place
Thy skill and movements still attest
To patient watchfulness in grace.

Still Thou dost seek what suits God's heart,
Resulting from Thy work and ways;
Blest Spirit, knowing who Thou art
Thy patient love draws out our praise.

Arise Early

 A few more from Lewis

Arise early,

Serve God devoutly,

Then to thy work, busilie,

To thy meate joyfully,

To thy bed merilie,

And though thou fare poorly,

And thy lodgings homelie,

Yet thank God highly.

Katherine Dowe (before 1588)

JACOB

 More than a mother's love,

A divine secret,

Moved Rebecca to discern

Jacob was loveable.

"What was torn I have not

Brought to thee", Jacob attested,

The words of a man

Who did justly.

Renamed, after his wrestling,

And his maiming

He, Israel, could walk as one

Of God's nobility.

To approach God's house

- "Put away the strange gods ...

And cleanse yourselves" -

Demanded purity.

After the byways, 

Skewed routes, now

Leaning on his staff,

A true worshipper.

Seat by the shore: what you can see from it is below.  All near Callanish.

BETHEL

 

Genesis 28 & 37

The place made Jacob's flesh recoil
In face of things which were divine;
Yet, if he first poured only oil
Returning he poured oil and wine.

The Spirit graciously portrays
Himself as substance to deploy
To honour God and as God's ways
Adjust our souls we give God joy.

And substance whereby God anoints
The saints He chooses to refine
To fill the places He appoints,
Whose hearts are glad, and faces shine.

The standing stones of Callanish

JACOB AT BETHEL by Lucy Hutchinson

Order and Disorder 19 from line 65:

 

Such in his desolate lodging Jacob found

Who sees the ladder standing on the ground,

The  top up to high heaven advanced, from whence

The angels waiting on God's providence

Perpetually in thick troops made descent

And back to heaven by the same steps went:

To heaven where his penetrating sight

Beheld the glorious uncreated light

Where are the ladder's top Jehovah stood

And thus His lasting promises renewed:

'I am that God whom Abraham did before,

And since, thy father Isaac did adore.

The land on which thou liest, I have decreed

To give unto thee and thy blessed seed

Which I will make as numerous as the sands,

Dilate to the east, west, north, and southern lands.

Blessings unto the whole earth's families

From thee and thy successors shall arise.

Lo, I am with thee and in every place

Where'er thou goest will be thy guard; my grace

Shall thee in all thy wandering sustain

And to this land conduct thee back again.

Till all my promises accomplished be

I will in no distress abandon thee.'

O PRAISE THE SAVIOUR FOR HIS LOVE V

O praise the Saviour for His love –
But what is love? Touching the sick,
Weeping with the bereaved, feeding the hungry,
Washing the disciples’ feet; submitting
To swords and bonds; going alone
To face the cross. And going alone
To the Father’s house to prepare a dwelling
For us. And desiring the presence of His own.
What is love? All that the Saviour
Showed to us, and shows us still.
 

O PRAISE THE SAVIOUR FOR HIS LOVE IV

 

O praise the Saviour
For His love ...

Is a husbandly love
Pleading with his unfaithful spouse;

Is a fatherly love
Gently taking my hand to help me walk;

Is an observant love
Rejoicing to see fruit ripen;

Is an alluring love
That speaks from His heart to ours.

O PRAISE THE SAVIOUR FOR HIS LOVE III

 III

O praise the Saviour for His love
That has displayed heaven’s fulness.
Bless Him since He has descended
To demonstrate the heart of God.
He came into the world to die
And He came to fulfil God’s will.
How love shone at Golgotha’s cross!
How love shines in His present care!

O praise the Savior for His love (II)

 Triolet

O praise the Saviour for His love
That took Him to a world of strife
Where humans elbow, kick and shove.
O praise the Saviour for His love
That came from peaceful scenes above
And caused Him to lay down His life.
O praise the Saviour for His love
That took Him to a world of strife.