Tag Archives: Kingdom of God

Gift of Hope

Kingdom Building

November 11, 2019

Scripture Reading:
Isaiah 65:17-25; 12

They shall build houses and inhabit them;
   they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
   they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
   and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain,
   or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
   and their descendants as well.
Before they call I will answer,
   while they are yet speaking I will hear.
 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
   the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
   but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
   on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord. –Isaiah 65:21-25

The above selection is a song of hope for the oppressed in the world where their labors support the well-being of others but not their own. We live in a world where children are being killed in the cross fires of greed and lust for power whether by gang members or governmental leaders who are more concerned about assuring the rich get richer than about everybody having enough. This song of hope describes peace even among predatory animals and their prey.

Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom of God was surely fostered by his reading of the Psalms and the prophets of old.  He never lost that vision even through the cross and he called us to continue establishing the changes in our world needed to make such a dream possible in real time.

Prayer: Thank you God for the gift of hope that even in the bad times we can see a glimpse of your vision unfolding. 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.

We Serve a Living God

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.

The Lord’s Table for All

Kingdom Building

October 31, 2019

Scripture Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfil by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul seems so please with the church of the Thessalonians who love for one another is increasing. I wonder if Paul in his wildest imagination could have envisioned a world with so many Christian denominations, they cannot even be counted each with a slightly different nuance on Christ. Even within so-called denominations there are differences. I write this when one faith group refused to serve communion to former Vice-President Biden for supporting legislation related to abortions. Upon hearing that I was first stunned coming from a faith group that recognizes the Lord’s Supper as open to all followers of Christ no matter what. I realized after thinking about it that my faith group and this other faith group have very different interpretations of the meaning of one of the most central acts in Christian worship.

My second reaction stemmed from my strong support of separation of church and state. I do not think God ever wants anyone to choose to follow God because they are forced to follow God. I do not even think that is possible. What people do on the outside to survive in a dogmatic world does not always reflect what they experience internally. God looks at the heart and judges each of us accordingly and I have grave doubts God surveys our fellow humans sampling their opinions of our behavior to help God judge us. Thus, regarding civil law, I think God endow us with the ability to think and reason, to form values, and to use those values as individuals to find common ground among people of all faiths toward providing for the Common Good. In similar vein USA citizens are blessed to live in a nation that protects our rights to practice our faith broadly without any interference from the state.

Prayer: Lord, as your Spirit still moves among us searching for ways to make us the one Body of Christ, guide us in our role as citizen to foster values that complement the building of your Kingdom ruled by love. 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.

Do We Want a World Ruled by Love?

Kingdom Building

October 20, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 18:1-8

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city, there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’

War in the middle east raises interest among those who await the second coming of Christ. I confess I do not invest time in the second coming. I try to concentrate my work on building the Kingdom of God as the only thing over which I have much control is my own behavior.

I cannot help but think Christ would rather return to a world ruled by love than one caught up in greed, lust for power, hate, and divisiveness.  It begs the question with which Jesus ended the parable in the scripture above: will he find faith on earth?  It leads me to wonder for all of us who identify as Christ-followers, whether we would be comfortable in a world ruled by love, if we have become so enamored with the things of the world we would feel out of place surrounded by love and would not know how to love either God or our neighbors as we love ourselves. If we imagine the Kingdom of God including only people who look and act like us, I think we will have a lot of adapting to do.

I am reminded of The Allegory of the Long Spoons where when some died, they found themselves in a place where they are provided spoons that are too long for them to be able to feed themselves and they starve. Others with the same spoons quickly saw how to feed each other across the table and they thrived. It is something to think about.

Prayer: Lord, teach me your way and your truth and your life so that I may grow in loving like you. Amen.

*The Allegory of the Long Spoons by Sofo Archon see at https://theunboundedspirit.com/heaven-and-hell-the-parable-of-the-long-spoons/

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.

Higher Ground

Kingdom Building

September 16, 2019

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

My joy is gone, grief is upon me,
   my heart is sick.
Hark, the cry of my poor people
   from far and wide in the land:
‘Is the Lord not in Zion?
   Is her King not in her?’
(‘Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
   with their foreign idols?’)
‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
   and we are not saved.’
For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt,
   I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. –Jeremiah 8:18-21

Our world seems to be at a crossroad or perhaps more complex in a matrix a place or point of origin or growth*. The Israelites encountered such an event in the days of Jeremiah mid 600’s BC. He saw the way his people were distracted from the challenges of changes that were necessary for their survival. They continually followed the lesser ways of greed and power struggles, of trading the God of Abraham, Moses, and David for the god’s they could shape with their hands. Rather than step into a new tomorrow not being sure what the future held they chose to follow the path of self-righteousness and self-aggrandizement.  They chose what Paul would later call the world.

God seeks people that know how to build a kingdom that is ruled by love erected on God’s love and love for one another. God created all humans with such capacity. When he finds those who share God’s vision, God travels with them, communes with them, and delights in their development of that kingdom and they respond in kind. We, too, must make that decision whether we have the faith and the courage to follow God’s ways taking a step closer to God’s kingdom or get more and more mired in the wisdom of the world.

Prayer:
Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith on Canaan’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
  Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Amen.                                                                                        

*http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/matrix
**From I’m pressing on the upward way by Johnson Oatman Jr. See at https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/396

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.

Light over Darkness

Kingdom Building

August 22, 2019

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 12:18-29

You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.’ Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I tremble with fear.’) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. –Hebrews 12:18-24

The author of Hebrews draws pictures to aid our imagination regarding the Kingdom of God. I see them in movie format. The author, we do not know who he or she was, portrays a terrifying picture of darkness and blazing fire and trumpets and death when describing Moses’ experience on Mount Sinai. I imagine light as I read about the once and future Kingdom of God with angels in a festal gathering at Mount Zion. This picture illustrates the judge of all not at all threatening among the spirits of the righteous made perfect. A new covenant mediated by Jesus brings about justice even greater than the justice that Abel deserved after his death at his brother’s hand. It is this kingdom we are charged to live into in the here and now with the promise of its attainment.

The early Christians suffered much persecution and that promise meant a lot to them I am sure as it does for us today. It is not the promise that if we are good, we will get a treat. It is the promise that good will overcome evil and God’s justice will reign on throughout the lands. We live in a dark, sometimes gloomy uncertainty at times where we may lose sight of the promise of justice made real. Our part is to live God’s love no matter what and God is taking care of the rest. When we get discouraged, we should remember what Margaret Mead said: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. I always think of Jesus’ disciples when I read that. We are those disciples today.

It only takes a spark
 To get a fire going 
 And soon all those around
 Can warm up in its glowing
 That’s how it is with God’s love
 Once you’ve experienced it
 You spread His love to ev’ryone
 You want to pass it on*

Prayer: Lord, help us see the light that supersedes all darkness as we strive toward your vision for our world. Amen.

*First verse of Pass it On see at https://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/pass-it-on/

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.

Deep Calls to Deep

Kingdom Building

June 19, 2019

Scripture Reading: Psalms 42 and 43

My soul is cast down within me;
   therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
   from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
   at the thunder of your cataracts;
all your waves and your billows
   have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
   and at night his song is with me,
   a prayer to the God of my life. –Psalm 42:6b-8

There are times in my life when I find myself searching for something that I just cannot seem to put my finger on. I tend first to think I need something to eat but I cannot decide what it is I want. Nothing satisfies that longing. Companionship may distract me from my search, but it does not fulfill it. Yoga calms me just enough to finally realize that My soul is cast down within me and the only thing that will help my soul is communing with God, or as the Psalmist says in the scripture above when Deep calls to deep. In my mind I like to sit on a hillside with Jesus and just look out over the valley as I imagine him doing when he gazed over Jerusalem. He was weighted down with seeing what others were not and knowing that only changes in our souls can lead us to God’s justice and righteousness.

I do not have the deep insight that Jesus had but I have, as I think all do, glimpses of his knowing. I must confess that my perceptions may be skewed by my world view. I must invite God to create in me a clean heart and a right spirit* so that my actions are driven by God’s ways not the worlds. My restless soul probably resulted from the very human battle with which we must deal as we live in the world but are a part of forming the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: God bring me more quickly to rely on your ever-present love rather than wrestling with the distractions of the world on my own. Amen.

*Derived from Psalm 51:10

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.

Thy Kingdom Come

Eastertide

May 23, 2019

Scripture Reading: Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

And in the spirit, he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. –Revelation 21:10, 22-27

I visited northern Sweden during the summer equinox and experienced a day with virtually no night. I must admit it was a little eerie. We, of course, stayed up until after midnight to witness the event. The locals went to bed and pulled down shades. Humans must have their rest. If there is no night is there no need for rest in eternity? The writer of Revelation, attributed to a man named John, is attempting to describe that which is indescribable, and he does a good job of making us think out of the box as we contemplate the possible nature of the Kingdom of God.

We have a taste of the glory of God being with us in the now as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13:12, For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

As people called to live in the now as citizens of the Kingdom of God, we might take some clues from the scripture above which talks about what we bring into the Kingdom with us and how we live differently than we might live in the world. The language used to describe these realities is ancient and thus requires us to consider their meaning for today. My guess is that would result in much discussion and many theological perspectives. In the final analysis, my fall back is Jesus’ instruction that we are to love God, placing God first in our lives, a part of which is loving ourselves as God created us in honor of God, and  ultimately loving all of God’s other children as much as we love ourselves. Thus, we only must study the way Jesus loved and follow his model of loving.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for our ancestors in faith who were visionaries of the way your world eventually is melded successfully with the world. Help us to see you more clearly as our role model in the now of your Kingdom coming. 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.

Finding Our Faith Niche

Eastertide

May 20, 2019

Scripture Reading: Acts 16:9-15

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
–Acts 16:9-10

This is often noted as a key scripture because it records the first indication that Luke had joined Paul in his travels. It is the first use of Luke writing in first person, we/us. He felt he had been called to proclaim the good news along with Paul. Luke was a doctor and Paul had some sort of reoccurring health issue, which has made me wonder if Luke join the crew to be available if Paul needed medical care.  In any case, Luke identified as a lay leader sharing the call of ministry like most of Christ’s followers.

Paul outlines in 1 Corinthians 12 the diverse skills needed to complete the work we are called to do as we work together to usher in the Kingdom of God. All our varieties of talents are needed. As with Paul and Luke some preach, and some enable preaching. The list includes the following:

Apostles
Prophets
Teachers
Deeds of Power
Gifts of Healing
Forms of Assistance
Forms of Leadership
Gifts of Speaking in Other Languages

Most have skills for more than one of these areas of work, some multitask while others concentrate on one specific area. When I was a child my mother was almost always a teacher, and usually a leader, and one of the hardest working people around. I noticed as she aged, she shifted out of things she no longer had the stamina to do. My guess is she sent at least one get well, thinking of you, in sympathy card, to someone every day. Even when she was bedfast and to weak to write she practiced intercessory prayer. We have the same call as we work together to become one and change the world into one being ruled by love.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for equipping us to serve you more nearly. Help us each to find our niche and develop it fully. 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.

Living Love

Eastertide

May 10, 2019

Scripture Reading: Revelation 7:9-17

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are before the throne of God,
   and worship him day and night within his temple,
  and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
   the sun will not strike them,
   nor any scorching heat;
for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
   and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ –Revelation 7:13-17

Made white in the blood of the lamb is, I suppose, an oxymoron. Blood is one of the hardest stains to remove. The idea that anything could be made white by laundering it in blood is not feasible.  Sun-bleached bones were most likely once drenched in blood. Yet time, heat, and wind can make them very white. Of course, death had to have occurred for that to happen. Crucifixion was a horrid way of death and marked the onset of resurrection for all.

Jesus taught through word and deed that living love was the only way to salvation. Living love in a world filled with hate and selfishness would be impossible without the power of the greatest love enabling and sustaining us. Jesus gifted that to us through the Holy Spirit. He never said living love would be easy. He did say we would never have to do it alone.

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matthew 11:28-30)

The point at which all God’s children live love to the fullest will be the full realization of the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: Let your love so impower us that we move the whole world a little closer to the fulfillment of your Kingdom. 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.