Kingdom Building

October 24, 2019

Scripture Reading:
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. —2 Timothy 4:6-8

I hear talk about current world conditions being the forerunner of the second coming of Jesus. I doubt that Jesus ever intended for us to sit around waiting for his return so he could set everything right. I think he called us to do all that we can toward creating a world dominated by love for God and love for all God’s children. I think he would be happiest, (pleasantly surprised?) returning to everything already being set right. What 2 Timothy describes above is the final words of perhaps Paul before his execution, perhaps to his fellow Christ followers who supported him to the end. The words are his reckoning of getting all the things done toward answering Christ’s call to serve he possibly could up to the end of his life. He most likely shared these thoughts to encourage his supporters to continue the work.

We read these words today as people also committed to creating a world dominated by love for God and love for all God’s children. I think it is a good idea to routinely evaluate our progress individually and as the Body of Christ. Right now, the Body of Christ is not readily discernible as a force in the world today because it is so divided and investing much of its energy in fighting over who has a corner on God or at least the “correct” corner. We desperately need to identify one or two things on which we can work together and let the rest go for a while. I think we would all be surprised at what we would accomplish. Yet we cannot even agree on something as basic as feeding the hungry.  

A good start might be going deep into the four gospels and identifying how Jesus worked. We might be surprised how far afield we have drifted from the ways of our role model.

Prayer: Lord, teach us your ways so that we can be one in your service. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.