Tag Archives: Kingdom of Heaven

Help Wanted

quote-costly-grace-is-the-treasure-hidden-in-the-field-for-the-sake-of-it-a-man-will-gladly-go-and-sell-dietrich-bonhoeffer-212186Living in the Spirit
June 19, 2015

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. – 2 Corinthians 6:3-10

Help wanted: We are looking for a few select people who possess purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God which at all times manifests itself in righteousness.  Persons applying must possess great endurance as the job may entail afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger. All interested applicants please contact your local church.

I laugh sometimes when I hear the TV advertisements for drugs. They usually illustrate the ads with idyllic scenes of attractive, healthy people enjoying life at its fullness as the voice over disclosures sound out a horrifying list of side effects often ending in the possibility of death. Perhaps the pharmaceutical companies used Paul’s letter to the Corinthians as their template. If Paul is using his personal experience as encouragement to sign up for the life of Christ, it might give some reason for pause.

The real question in any task we undertake comes down to: Is the end result worth the investment of our time, energy, hardships, and even death? Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is worth everything and gave his life in pursuit of realizing the Kingdom.  So did Paul.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:44-45)

Prayer: Lord, we long for your kingdom of justice and love. Equip us for the journey as we work toward its fulfillment. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Fish and Strawberries

Living in the Spirit
July 27, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. — Matthew 13:47-50

I eat a lot of strawberries and have discovered that every box of strawberries contains a diverse assortment of these tasty delicacies from barely ripe to over ripe, from small to very large. I try to eat the ripest first so they do not spoil before I get to them thus I usually finish the box with the not so ripe berries left. This morning I had a combination of both as I finished the last three berries in one box and added three berries from a new box. Refrigeration is the key to maintaining the very ripe as long as possible. Sunshine might encourage the under ripe to mature. Occasionally I find a berry with a bad spot that I cut out and rarely, but sometimes, I find one that is so rotten, I must throw it out. And so goes our example regarding fish from our scripture today.

The first thing I notice about this scripture is that every kind of fish were caught. I take that to mean that God’s desire is for all people to be included in God’s Kingdom. The second thing I notice is that God has assigned angels to separate the evil from the righteous that is not our job.

So if we believe that the Kingdom of God was initiated with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, what is our role right now in regard to preparing for the full fruition of God’s Kingdom? I believe, we are called first to stay in synch with God in our own lives. If we are all capable of both good and evil, we need to be intentional in our striving for God’s good that is reflected in our love for God and our love for one another. We are also called to be stewards of the fruits of the Spirit available to everyone, working toward a world where all can experience these fruits in their fullness whether they are mature and ripe or blossoms on the vine. Our goal is to reduce as much as possible the work of those angels assigned to sort out evil.

Prayer: Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me*. Amen.

*From Spirit of the Living God by Daniel Iverson

 

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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Kingdom of Heaven

Living in the Spirit
July 26, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

 He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’ He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’ —13:31-33

What Jesus doesn’t point out in his parables about the Kingdom of Heaven is that evil spreads in very much the same way. Like a cancer that starts as what appears to be an innocent mole, melanoma grows above the skin but the worst damage is not so visible. It is cancer’s tentacles reaching and spreading beneath the skin that are so deadly. We humans have finite capacity for both good and for evil. Unless we actively pursue the dominance of good, evil will soon fill the void. On the other hand, when even the smallest bit of love is nurtured, it will grow and grow leaving no room for evil.

Carl Jung says, People tend to believe evil is something external to them – yet it is a projection of the shadow onto others. As one who projects the principle for absolute and unresolvable evil onto others – it is to the degree that one condemns others and finds evil in others, that one is unconscious of the same thing within oneself, or the potential of that within oneself. It is a projection of one’s own shadow. What Carl Jung does not say here is that our projection of good on the other, loving them as they are, projects our own God-authored love for ourselves.

The foundation of the Kingdom of Heaven is loving God and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. It is as old as time as old as God and it is upon this rock that we must do our part of living into the Kingdom of God right now and every day forward.

Prayer: Ancient of Days, fill us with your love so that we can love others as you would have us to love them seeing past what we perceive as evil and seeing your image in everyone. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.