Kingdom of God

November 10, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 20:27-38

Jesus said to them, ‘Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.’ – Luke 20:34-38

Many years ago, I attended a Bible study centered on Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. We explored the question are we like the dead buried in a tomb of ennui wrapped in distractions like a mummy that keeps us from fully serving the living God Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.

I think a lot of us can identify with the first few lines of William Wordsworth’s poem, The World Is Too Much With Me as we get caught up in the craziness of what is happening around the world today.

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

We may want to cocoon ourselves in some deep cave hoping that when we come out everything will be OK. Truth is Christ calls us to do all we can to turn the world into the vision Jesus gave us of the Kingdom of God. It starts with each of us looking deep within ourselves and with God’s help start clearing out the spiritual cobwebs wrapped around our souls. Love cannot win if we do not love. People cannot see the ways of Christ unless we model it for them. Like Lazarus we need to have the grave clothing removed from are beings and live alive in Christ.

Prayer: God forgive me when I let the world become too much with me. Create in me a clean heart and a right spirit for the facing of these times. 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.