Lent

March 26, 2021

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:4-10

When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt-offerings and sin-offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘See, I have come to do your will.’ He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. –Hebrews 10:8-10

Sanctified means to be made holy. Holy means to be set apart. Through the death of Jesus Christ, we have been set apart, but for what? The term Kingdom of God appears 53 times in the four gospels. Also, Matthew uses the interchangeable phrase Kingdom of Heaven 31 times. When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were set apart to nurture and grown the Kingdom of God throughout our world toward the goal that God’s rule would be the rule and that rule is defined by love.

I was driving through the southeastern states a few years ago with a niece. We noticed a beautiful vine-like plant growing everywhere, covering trees and the ground. We learned it is called Kudzu. While it may look lush and healthy, it ruins the environment for other plants and animals to survive. Evil acts the same way. It wants exclusive use of resources until it has sapped the life out of everything. God created a world that is interdependent where care must be taken to assure that all parts of the world have enough to sustain them for their designated purposes. Humans were created to have dominion over the earth and ensure its vitality.

Our first step in nurturing the development of the Kingdom of God is to assure that all humans have enough love to embrace fully their ability to love one another. When we want the very best for everyone, we work together to make that happen. We do not, like the Kudzu, think we are the fairest in the land and try to claim it all for ourselves.

Prayer: Creator God, show us how to love one another as you love us. 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.