Living in the Kindom of God
Last Sunday during Worship on the Wild Side we thought about the ‘Kingdom of God’. Kings and Queens don’t have the same meaning for us as they did for the audience in Jesus’ time – we can perhaps best relate to the concept as we do in fairytales and children’s stories. Of course God is not like the King who loved so much to get presents that he celebrated his birthday twice a year! But perhaps the Reign of God is like a magical kingdom – a place where gospel values are lived out, where it is clear that God is in charge and everyone lives in reconciliation with each other. One Hebrew prophet described it as a place where every man (and woman?) has his/her own vineyard and fig tree to sit under. Another imagined a peaceable ‘kin-dom’ where the lion lies down with the lamb.
Our baptism has moved us from one ‘kingdom’ – that of the ‘world’ into another - that of God. We are called to live all the time as if the ‘Kindom of God’ is real, which we believe it is… it just doesn’t look that way all the time. The more we choose to live in the reality of the ‘Kindom’ the more we will be transformed into the people God made us to be, AND the more the ‘Kindom’ will become real. We bring it into reality by living ‘as if’ it is real.
In the world we are hearing many messages of lack. People are scared. Incomes are down. Business is slow. But in the ‘Kindom’ we know that there is no lack – God has the resources to meet all our needs. Often it takes faith to step out and trust that the ‘Kindom’ is real. When we become less generous because we are listening to the world’s thinking, we actually act in a way that reduces the flow of God’s grace in the world. In times of apparent scarcity, God calls us to be frugal so that we can continue to be generous. In times of apparent scarcity, God calls us to be grateful and give thanks for all we have. Whatever you focus on gets bigger. Giving generously and giving thanks reminds us that God’s love is abundant at all times.
Last Sunday during Worship on the Wild Side we thought about the ‘Kingdom of God’. Kings and Queens don’t have the same meaning for us as they did for the audience in Jesus’ time – we can perhaps best relate to the concept as we do in fairytales and children’s stories. Of course God is not like the King who loved so much to get presents that he celebrated his birthday twice a year! But perhaps the Reign of God is like a magical kingdom – a place where gospel values are lived out, where it is clear that God is in charge and everyone lives in reconciliation with each other. One Hebrew prophet described it as a place where every man (and woman?) has his/her own vineyard and fig tree to sit under. Another imagined a peaceable ‘kin-dom’ where the lion lies down with the lamb.
Our baptism has moved us from one ‘kingdom’ – that of the ‘world’ into another - that of God. We are called to live all the time as if the ‘Kindom of God’ is real, which we believe it is… it just doesn’t look that way all the time. The more we choose to live in the reality of the ‘Kindom’ the more we will be transformed into the people God made us to be, AND the more the ‘Kindom’ will become real. We bring it into reality by living ‘as if’ it is real.
In the world we are hearing many messages of lack. People are scared. Incomes are down. Business is slow. But in the ‘Kindom’ we know that there is no lack – God has the resources to meet all our needs. Often it takes faith to step out and trust that the ‘Kindom’ is real. When we become less generous because we are listening to the world’s thinking, we actually act in a way that reduces the flow of God’s grace in the world. In times of apparent scarcity, God calls us to be frugal so that we can continue to be generous. In times of apparent scarcity, God calls us to be grateful and give thanks for all we have. Whatever you focus on gets bigger. Giving generously and giving thanks reminds us that God’s love is abundant at all times.
posted by Caroline Hall at
10:43 AM
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