Posts Tagged: God’s Kingdom
“WHEN GOD ISN’T IN THE PICTURE”
I receive a daily e mail from Loyola Press entitled “3-Minute Retreat.” (You may access today’s meditation at http://www.loyolapress.com/retreats/like-sheep-with-a-shepherd-start-retreat, accessed 06-01-2017.) Each meditation has a brief passage from the Bible, a few thought-provoking comments, a couple of questions, and a closing prayer. It also has a background picture.
The Scripture today was Luke 12:32. “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”
Part of the comment from the author of this meditation is as follows: “We are created and sustained by a loving God, on whom we depend as sheep on a shepherd. With our generous God as shepherd, we have no more reason to fear.”
Luke 12:32 is a wonderfully comforting and energizing verse, and the comment was right on target. However, it was the juxtaposition with the background picture that especially struck me this morning. There is no shepherd anywhere in the picture!
And that is the way feels most of the time, isn’t it? God seems very absent from our daily lives. There is grass, sky, hill, other sheep, but no Shepherd.
However, neither cameras nor our eyes can catch all that is there. God is indeed working in our lives, though we rarely suspect it. He is indeed pleased to give us his kingdom.
In the background picture, one sheep out of the approximately fifty-seven sheep is looking directly at the camera. Most of the time, I am like the fifty-six. I’m eating, looking at other sheep, and doing whatever else it is that we human sheep do.
Perhaps the person who is taking the picture is the shepherd. Perhaps our Great Shepherd is taking the picture that we call “our lives”. Perhaps we are the subject of God’s shutter art. Perhaps God is too humble to be very obviously present in our lives.
It may be that you and I could choose to look up every once in a while, and look in the direction of the One who is taking the picture.
“GOD’S KINGDOM: SOME REALLY GOOD POLITICAL NEWS AND OUR RESPONSE”
“Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’ (Mark 1:14 NAU).”
Are you ready for some really good political news? I know I could stand some.
Well, here it is: No human being is in control of this world. God is!
Now, I’m not stupid, and I do pay attention to the news a bit. It certainly seems as if human beings are in control of our world. And (also certainly) God does allow humans to have a lot of freedom to mess up our own lives, the lives of others, and even the planet.
However, ultimately, God is the King! I believe that this is objectively true, even though many people aren’t sure there is a God. Even those who do believe that a God (or Gods) exist may have a very difficult time believing that God (or the Gods) actually rule this world in any meaningful sense.
About two-thousand years ago, a man came to this planet proclaiming that, against all appearances, God was in control. That man was Jesus.
There was a problem—a HUGE problem: This was the area where this man appeared (Judea) was at the eastern curve of the Mediterranean, and the Romans thought they were in control of this area.
And, in a sense, the Romans were in control.
But along comes Jesus who says, “No, God is in control.”
Now, at this point in the blog, I need to go all scholarly on you. Scholarship is often very boring. Believe me: I know this, because I am a scholar!
However, there are also times when it is fascinating. More importantly than being fascinating, there are times when it really matters—a lot. So, slog with me through this swamp of boring. I promise you that this slog will bring us onto solid ground, and that the view will be well worth the slog.
Mark 1:14-15 comes right after Jesus’ baptism and the account of Jesus’ temptation. Mark is giving a summary of what Jesus was proclaiming from the beginning of his public ministry. God’s good news, which Jesus proclaims, is that the time is fulfilled, that the kingdom of God has come near, and that Jesus’ hearers. His words includes us, if (as I believe) the Bible is for everyone and for every time.
God is king, and not the Romans! That is both good news and fairly easy to understand.
But even here, in these seemingly simple words, a little knowledge of the Greek is helpful.
For example “[t]he time is fulfilled” is in the perfect tense in Greek. The perfect tense usually signifies action completed in the past with ongoing results. Is it not a wonderful thing that the time for proclaiming the good news (which is what the word “gospel” means) has been completed in the past, but has ongoing results?
The word for “is at hand” regarding the kingdom is also in the perfect tense. The kingdom of God has been made to come near to us in the past, but it also has ongoing results. The kingdom is an accomplished fact, says Jesus, and it continues to be an accomplished fact.
However, the next verbs are in the present tense. The present tense is used for actions that are and must be continually going on. Jesus is saying that his hearers (and we) need to respond to God’s completed-in-the-past-but-with-ongoing-results kingdom with an ongoing, continual, life-style repentance and faith.
What is repentance? It is often said that it is “a change of mind.” This is both true and false. If what we mean by this is merely changing our minds about who God or Jesus is, I would say that this is only part of the equation. Repentance is a deep change in how we think of Jesus and God, ourselves, other people, and the world. Repentance is also about transformed action that is based on transformed thinking.
And faith? The word faith does not mean (as one twelve-year-old was reported to have said it meant) “believing in something that you know isn’t true.” Faith, in both the Old and New Testament, seems to have three meanings:
- Faith is believing certain things about God, humankind, salvation, the church, and the Bible.
- Faith means a personal relationship with God. Most Christians (and I include myself at this point), believe that personal relationship comes about through a commitment (faith) in Jesus Christ.
- Faith also means fidelity in how we live our lives.
So, according to Jesus, the kingdom of God is an accomplished fact with ongoing results.
Of course, there is a catch; there’s always a catch. The catch is that, if we wish to enjoy the good news of Christ’s kingdom, we must commit ourselves to a life-style of repentance—transformed thinking that leads to transformed actions and transforming actions. And we must commit ourselves to a life-style of believing, personal relationship, and fidelity.
That sounds pretty grim, doesn’t it? However, did you notice the word “gospel” at in both of the verses that led off this post? The word “gospel” is an old-fashioned translation of the Greek word that is used in both these verses. Many modern translations use the term “good news.” The truth is that this kingdom is governed by a King who knows us fully, and who truly desires the best for us. And if we live as citizens of this kingdom, it is good news for us, and for all with whom we come into contact.
And that is good news, no matter who are you are, what you’ve done, or who we have elected to lead our very provisional earthly kingdoms.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
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- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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