Kingdom Building

October 25, 2019

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

At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. –2 Timothy 4:16-18

This scripture reminds me of the Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross. It also makes me remember Abram’s aloneness when dreadful and great darkness fell upon him; Moses’ encounter with a burning bush; Jacob’s fight with an angel; Elijah’s running away and encountering God in the silence; Jesus dying on the cross; in this scripture, Paul feeling deserted; Dietrich Bonhoeffer standing naked and alone facing a hanging noose; and Martin Luther King Jr. with tears in his eyes, crying out I have a dream.

Finding connection with the all-powerful God is a life-changing experience where one never sees the world the same again. Most of us encounter God in perhaps less dramatic ways but no less meaningful than those I have named. Most of us will not be remember for our encounter 5000 years later or even 50 years later. All of us are called to be a part of building the Kingdom of God ruled by love. The only way that can happen in each of our quest is for us to form a relationship with the God of Love. We must feel as totally loved by God as Paul did standing alone facing his accusers. We must love all of God’s other children as much as Paul did when he continued his ministry to the Gentiles despite the danger.

In our world today, as was true in times such as these ancestors in faith lived, hate and division is epidemic, and the ways of love may seem lost in the ways of the world, but they are not. For the God of Abram, Moses, Jacob, Elijah, Jesus, Paul, John of the Cross, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther King Jr. still has our backs and always will.

The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’

John 16.32-33

Prayer: Lord, strengthen us for the loving required to heal the world in which we live. 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.