Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Now of the Kingdom

The third of three posts on the Kingdom being "Near" and "Now"...

Memory Verse

Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is in your midst."
Luke 17: 20-21 (NIV)

Reflection
Jesus could not have stated it more clearly.  The "when" of the kingdom of God was "now".  Yes, it is an eternal kingdom, but one that has its starting point when one truly makes Jesus king of their life and when one is willing to give up everything they have to experience such a kingdom.

Are we there yet?  I fear we're not.

This has been a summer of much travel for me.  In the past 2-3 months, I have been in South Africa, Zambia, Uganda, Sri Lanka, and Peru.  Perhaps as a result of spending so much of this time among the materially poor, I have returned particularly sensitive to how little time, thought, and effort we really give to extending more of the kingdom of heaven to the materially poor.  Let's face it - most of us live our lives without giving them much thought.  We spend our money and resources relatively foolishly and self-centeredly relative to the one we claim to honor as King and how concerned He is for the poor.

What if we were much more intentional to live our lives in a more disciplined way such that we had our basic needs met but were able to be much more generous in extending more of the kingdom of heaven to the materially poor NOW?!  What if we joyfully chose to live simply (e.g., eat out much less, not insist on the latest gadget, etc.) so that materially poor parents could generate their own income and send their children to school, or to the clinic, or to a well with clean water?  Saving $25 or $250 may seem small to us, but that could be huge to some living on $2 or less per day.  Are we willing to step away from the NOW of our consumption-based culture to the NOW of the kingdom of heaven on earth?

If we did, perhaps our Master would find us like the ones to whom He gave five bags of gold, and we returned ten; or the ones to whom He gave two bags of gold, and we returned four.  Or, will He find us like the ones to whom He gave one bag of gold, and that's all we could return, because we focused primarily on ourselves?

The best way to experience more of the kingdom NOW is to extend more of that kingdom NOW to others.  Then the kingdom of God will truly be in our midst.

Questions to Consider
1.  If Jesus were assessing how faithful you have been in extending the kingdom of heaven to others, would you be the one to whom He gave five, two, or one bag(s) of gold?
2.  What can you do to be more intentional in joyfully adopting a more simple lifestyle so that you can be the one through whom God extends more of His Kingdom NOW to the materially poor?

Action Steps for the Week
1.  Choose at least one step you will take to be more intentional and disciplined in your life in how you spend your time or money to allow you to extend more of the kingdom to the materially poor now.
2.  Find some means - a Bible verse, a picture, etc. - that you will post in a prominent place to remind you regularly about God's concern for extending the kingdom of heaven to the materially poor now so that it won't be so easy to become self-absorbed and forget them.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Do We Really Need to "Repent"?

The second of three posts on the Kingdom being "Near" and "Now"...

Memory Verse

From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."   Matthew 4:17 (NIV)

Reflection
I find it very interesting that when Jesus or John the Baptizer talked about how near the kingdom was, they often cited the need to "repent".  Yet, when I think of how far we have to go to experience and extend the kingdom of heaven here on earth, fulfilling Jesus' prayer of Matthew 6:10, I don't find the correlation with the need to repent to be surprising.

Matthew 6 is one of the great chapters in the Bible on the kingdom.  In the 10th verse, we hear Jesus pray "your kingdom come...on earth as it is in heaven."  Then in the 33rd verse, Jesus tells us to seek this kingdom first.  Throughout the rest of the chapter, Jesus is telling His disciples (and those of us who say we want to be His disciples) what we should or should not do to see that kingdom of heaven come to earth.  Consider the following...


  • Vs 1:  Be careful not to practice our righteousness in front of others.
  • Vs 2:  When we give to the needy, don't announce it.
  • Vs 6:  When we pray, go into the room and close the door.
  • Vs 14:  Forgive other people when they sin against us.
  • Vs 16:  When (not if!) we fast, do not look somber.
  • Vs 19:  Do not store up treasures on earth.
  • Vs 24:  Do not serve both God and money.
  • Vs. 25:  Do not worry.
How many of us can look at that list and not appreciate the need to repent from our current behavior?  Is it any surprise that we see so little of the kingdom of heaven among us?

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can bring more of the kingdom of heaven to earth, but it will start with repentance, and the list above is where Jesus is telling us to start.

Questions to Consider
1.  Of the eight verses listed above, which one is the most difficult for you to repent from?
2.  Are you relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to help you repent from the items listed above and help you experience and extend more of the kingdom of heaven to earth?

Action Steps for the Week
1.  Identify at least one item in the eight listed above and write down your "repentance plan".
2.  Given that "repentance plan", now identify how you can extend more of the kingdom of heaven to earth.  (As an example, if your "repentance plan" focused on vs 19 and you planned to stop buying so many things you don't need, identify how you could use those funds to proclaim the kingdom to the poor, especially the 2+ billion people living on $2 or less per day.)