Eastertide

April 22, 2022

Scripture Reading: Revelation 1:4-8

John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds;
   every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
   and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
So it is to be. Amen.

‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

I love this phrase particularly, To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom. Personally, I cannot hear enough that God loves us and freed us from our sins. The bold statement that we, you and I, and everyone else were created to be the populace of God’s kingdom is even more powerful.  Our challenge of being members of God’s kingdom is living into the perfection of God’s kingdom. At times we get it so right but at other times we pull against the grain and join those who work against a kingdom ruled by God’s love.

This summer I am going to explore the gospels particularly the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 25 paying special attention to verses 31-46 titled in my Bible, The Judgement of the Nations. We are blessed to live in a country established of the people, by the people, for the people. I am a strong believer in the separation of church and state, but I am also a strong advocate of all the people’s best interests being the priority of our government, not just the interest of the principalities and powers. Jesus identifies the most basic needs of the people in Matthew 25 and says we and the nations will be judged by whether these priorities are met. Yet many of our leaders invest most of their time and our tax dollars trying to divide and conquer us by distracting us with issues that do not impact our lives when they should be searching for common grounds to provide for the Common Good which is fundamentally the purpose of any government. You are invited to join me in this search for how Jesus defines the Common Good.

Prayer: Lord, guide us in our decision-making as we choose the leaders of all our various levels of governance.  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.