Remember now the sending of the messengers ahead of Jesus to prepare a place for him in the village of Samaria - as he would send before him people to prepare the place for the last supper. Every time we eat bread and drink wine together we remember that meal and his death - as we are to remember them until he comes again, in glory - when he calls us again to his table - the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) - when he calls us to the banquet table for the great feast of the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus is sending out preparers - people to make ready the place for him - and that is what we are called to do. We are called to announce his coming - and the coming of a time of celebration.
That time is far off - that time is near. It is the time of the coming to fruition of the message he is proclaiming - the reign of God in our midst. What is that kingdom he wants to stir things up about? It is the place where we are free. It is the place where we have put behind us the things that bind us - where he has got us unbound from our chains.
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, Amazing grace
(John Newton, Chris Tomlin)
The chains that bind us are the ones that show themselves in the first list Paul gives in the letter to the Galatians. It is the list he calls the works of the flesh (5:19-20):
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
These are things that manifest our lack of freedom. But we are not mean to be enslaved by the flesh, to do the works of the flesh. We are called to freedom, in Christ.
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters...
That freedom is the freedom found in obedience to the call of the gospel, the work of the Spirit. We are called out of the oppression of the empire of sin, what Paul calls the flesh.
We are called to be like workers that make something enduring, wholesome, lasting.
Like branches of a vine that bears fruit, we are to show in ourselves the work of God.
By contrast to the products of selfishness and sin, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
We are called to live by the Spirit and be guided by the Spirit. We are called to serve the God whom Jesus serves, to be at work for his kingdom.
And in that service, where we find our perfect freedom, we are called to love.
The love that God has first shown us, in the work of Christ.
That is the news that it is so urgent for us to proclaim, the news that we are free.
Go spread the news. Go share it. Begin by celebrating it, together, at the holy table.
When we eat the bread and drink from the cup together, we proclaim his death - and his glory - until he comes again. We have a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, and we remember - we do not forget - what he has done for us, in the work he accomplishes, the work he began in us and is bringing to completion.
Once things are put in the right order - God first, the kingdom above all - then peace will come into our lives, completion, wholeness, and fulfillment. Peace will come, as we invite Christ to come.
Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.
May we live by faith, walk in hope and be renewed in love,
until the world reflects your glory
and you are all in all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen.
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Closing prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, Church of Ireland, 2004.
http://ireland.anglican.org/index.php?do=worship&id=12
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Showing posts with label Psalm 77:1-20. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 77:1-20. Show all posts
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God
Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Luke 9:51-62
When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
*
Strange - here he is, on his way to Jerusalem, and these people are coming with him, and yet he gives them an assortment of challenging instructions.
To one, who says "I will follow you" he gives a warning - I am homeless, a wanderer. Are you sure you want to do this?
To another, he says "Follow me" but that person, having secured an invitation, finds a prior commitment.
What is prior - a priority - over following Jesus?
Leave it.
LEAVE IT.
Leave it behind - and get going, and tell people the good news - the important news - that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
If that is true, then there is nothing more urgent than to proclaim it.
Nothing should stand in your way of calling people into the kingdom.
Nothing should come before - drop what you are doing (as he said to the fishermen) and come RIGHT NOW and follow me.
Do what I am doing: sounding the alarm, shouting the warning, singing the joyous song:
God's reign is appearing among us - right now, right here.
Don't let anything get in the way of telling people that.
Nothing could be more important.
Not even burying the dead.
There is no time to say good-bye to the folks at home. Come. NOW
*
No hesitation.
Why would he say such a thing to a person recently bereaved? to a dutiful son?
Because you should not put anything before God.
God is God, God alone.
After that, to be honest, all the rest will fall into its proper place. I believe that.
It is reassuring, it is good news.
Once things are put in the right order - God first, the kingdom above all - then health will come to your life, completion, wholeness, and peace.
Not peace as the world wants it - no illusions there - but the peace of just and right.
*
Told you he was scary.
+
Luke 9:51-62
When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
*
Strange - here he is, on his way to Jerusalem, and these people are coming with him, and yet he gives them an assortment of challenging instructions.
To one, who says "I will follow you" he gives a warning - I am homeless, a wanderer. Are you sure you want to do this?
To another, he says "Follow me" but that person, having secured an invitation, finds a prior commitment.
What is prior - a priority - over following Jesus?
Leave it.
LEAVE IT.
Leave it behind - and get going, and tell people the good news - the important news - that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
If that is true, then there is nothing more urgent than to proclaim it.
Nothing should stand in your way of calling people into the kingdom.
Nothing should come before - drop what you are doing (as he said to the fishermen) and come RIGHT NOW and follow me.
Do what I am doing: sounding the alarm, shouting the warning, singing the joyous song:
God's reign is appearing among us - right now, right here.
Don't let anything get in the way of telling people that.
Nothing could be more important.
Not even burying the dead.
There is no time to say good-bye to the folks at home. Come. NOW
*
No hesitation.
Why would he say such a thing to a person recently bereaved? to a dutiful son?
Because you should not put anything before God.
God is God, God alone.
After that, to be honest, all the rest will fall into its proper place. I believe that.
It is reassuring, it is good news.
Once things are put in the right order - God first, the kingdom above all - then health will come to your life, completion, wholeness, and peace.
Not peace as the world wants it - no illusions there - but the peace of just and right.
*
Told you he was scary.
+
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