Tag Archives: kingdom

Embracing Goodness

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Last Sunday at VLC we were honored to have Josh Pinkston share with us a message of a spirituality of presence. The key phrase in his talk was “The kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21) Though I wholeheartedly embrace this concept, I admit it is difficult for me to envision it in my life. The main reason is that I have a hard time seeing the good in me, others, and the world around me.

I read a devotional from Richard Rohr a few days ago that addresses this difficulty.

We are not so at home with the resurrected form of things, despite a yearly springtime, healings in our bodies, the ten thousand forms of newness in every event and every life. The death side of things grabs our imagination and fascinates us as fear and negativity always do, I am sad to say. We have to be taught how to look for anything infinite, positive, or good, which for some reason is much more difficult.

We have spent centuries of philosophy trying to solve “the problem of evil,” yet I believe the much more confounding and astounding issue is “the problem of good.” How do we account for so much gratuitous and sheer goodness in this world? Tackling this problem would achieve much better results.

This is something I have been meditating on quite a bit lately, particularly on reducing blame, alienation, and separation.

Embracing goodness enables us to turn toward others instead of against or away from them, something Jesus seemed to be really good at. This will always be a work in progress, but I trust that if we take Jesus at his word and follow his example we can begin to see and connect with the kingdom of God in those around us.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Preparing a Place

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We are just about finished preparing for our service trip to Guatemala. I will be taking my two eldest children with me. I am excited for the opportunity and humbled by their willingness to go serve people who live in extreme poverty in a developing country. The phrase, “a child will lead them,” is truer than you know.

As the three of us we going out to run errands last night, the thought came to me that we are not the only ones preparing for this trip. Jesus is too.

Antigua, Guatemala

Antigua, Guatemala

“Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too. You know the way to the place I’m going.” (John 14:1-4, CEB)

Jesus was not only preparing an eternal home for his followers, but a place among the communities of the world. The Father’s house, the family of God, spans the globe as much as it spans eternity. Just as Jesus is preparing our hearts for this service trip, I trust that he is preparing hearts in the communities that we will be serving in. As a friend said to me this morning, “Jesus is already there and is waiting with a warm welcome.”

This is as true across the street as it is across the globe. Jesus is preparing a place for you.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Participating in the People of God

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Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:12-17

 

In my last few posts I wrote about participation in the mission of God and the word of God. There is one thing that ties these three posts together, the mission, word, and people all belong to God. With that in mind, God is not looking for us to bring our resources, but to be the resource. He desires that we lay aside our agendas and align ourselves to what he is doing, saying, and building. In love he has made us to be gifts to his people. 

 

In the above passage the Apostle Paul works out what it means to love one another, which is the hallmark of the people of God. The priority of this passage is otherness, seeking what’s best for one another to the glory God. 

 

I know this is hard to hear as an American, and even harder to embrace, but we know that in the counterintuitive way of the kingdom of God, receiving is in giving, honor is in serving, and living is in dying. 

 

So as we participate in the people of God, again we realize it’s not about us. And what we do need, God will provide as we give ourselves to one another and to him. The least and the greatest thing of all is that we belong to the people of God. We are his.

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

 

Call and Response: How Bridges Become Accessible

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I don’t want all this talk about building bridges to end up as a graveyard full of “bridges to nowhere.” I was surprised this week during our Daily Scripture Reading in Psalm 119. In the section labeled ק Qoph (vv. 145-152), the Psalmist writes about how he had called on the Lord on different occasions. This reminded me of Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:21 where he quotes Joel 2 saying, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Though the Lord knows our prayers before we utter them, he also waits for us to call on him so that he can respond with his faithfulness. This principle is the same on the human level. 

 

Bridge is a metaphor for relationship. If we need help, we need to call someone, or else who will know? Similarly, we need to have ears to hear and eyes to see when someone is calling out for help. 

 

The main thrust of this topic of building bridges is to about the kingdom of God. The church is the bridge to the kingdom. It is quite common for the kingdom to use temporal needs to expose eternal needs. Providing children’s clothes to a financially disadvantaged family speaks to them God’s love and care through his people. This is the call and response in reverse. Sometimes people don’t know they have an eternal need until it is revealed to them via a bridge, someone providing an opportunity for them to respond. 

 

The ultimate purpose of bringing people into the kingdom of God is so that they can experience God as person. Bridges should never be built to nowhere. Jesus is not only the end to our means, he is also the means. It is Christ in us that makes these bridges possible and worthy of crossing. For the kingdom and the glory of God, let’s make Jesus accessible by becoming accessible ourselves. 

 

Grace and peace,

Brook