Tag: Kingdom

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It’s About the Kingdom

Back in Spearfish, SD, I had so many friends who were pastors. There was a real sense that we working together. The evangelical pastors in the area had been meeting for years. We did activities together. It was a real blessing.

I’ve never been able to reproduce that feeling here. I’ve tried to get groups together. I’ve tried to get together with pastors and get churches together. I fee like a lot of my work has been frustrated. I’ve often felt like giving up.

Psalm 2 made me realize that I should not do that. You know why? Because it’s about the kingdom. It’s not really about me. It’s about what God is doing in the world to glorify His chosen king, Jesus. It’s in the interest of the kingdom to get churches working together and having a sense of being a part of the kingdom. The world knows who God is through the love that Christians have for one another.

All kinds of people are opposing Him, but God is working out His plan and building up His kingdom. “I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:7–8). So, the kings of the earth and everybody else needs to get on board. “Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling” (Ps. 2:10–11). God is doing something big in this world, and everybody needs to get in line with it. The kingdom is coming whether we like it or not.

The first psalm looks at the individual and how he flourishes. The second psalm points us to the bigger picture. It points us to the work of God through Christ establishing His kingdom throughout the world. This is the second theme we will consider as we look at the psalms. In one sense, all of the psalms are about Christ, but there are some in which the theme comes out more clearly than others. Consider, for example, Psalms 2, 22, 45, 72, and 110. These all point us back to the fact that our first prayer should be hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done.

This passage also tells us that the kingdom is good news for us, too. We are made to be part of something bigger, and what we see here is that God wants us to be a part of it. More than that, he wants to bless us in the work of His kingdom. The psalm concludes, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (2:12). That’s the blessing of meditating on God’s kingdom and His King. That’s how this psalm can both challenge us and be a refreshing stream for our soul, pointing us back to the true meaning of life and who is really in charge and in whom we will find our blessing.

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The King Who Welcomes All (Luke 5:12-32)

[To listen to an audio version, click here]

Do I belong here? It’s a question we all face at one time or another. Our constitution says that all are created equal. So, if someone is human, they can be a full citizen here. They don’t need to be a particular race or ethnic group.

However, in spite of the principle, for most of our country’s history, we deliberately set up legal barriers that kept people from really belonging here and being full citizens. Thanks be to God for the work of men like Martin Luther King, Junior, who called us to live consistently with our ideals even when most did not want to hear it. Because of him, our country made significant progress in removing those legal barriers that kept people from belonging.

While we have made progress, people still get left behind. Even where people are welcomed legally, this does not always equate to a change in people’s hearts to welcome all. It’s easy for us to forget the struggle that has occurred in the past to make this nation a place where anyone can belong. That’s why it’s good to have Martin Luther King, Junior Day. It calls us to remember triumph over past injustice and to continue to strive for a more perfect one.

This struggle of belonging is something we can see on a limited scale all around us. It’s easy for us to build our own world where we feel accepted and never try to enter new places. Why? Because breaking into new places is hard. It takes time and effort. When you feel like you are on the inside, it’s easy to forget what it’s like for new people seeking to enter. That’s why it’s good to put yourself into situations where you will be on the outside. It reminds us of what it is like to enter into a new place.

When it comes to the kingdom of God, what should it be like? What does it say to people who feel that they don’t belong? Today, we want to look at what the King did to show people that they belong in the kingdom. In the three passages we have before us, we have three people who felt like they didn’t belong. In the King’s response to them, we see something remarkable. The King welcomes all. So, let’s look at how Jesus treats a leper, a paralytic, and a tax collector to see how Jesus shows that all people are welcome and can belong in His kingdom.

The Leper
In the first account, there is a man who is “covered with leprosy.” Leprosy may refer to a variety of skin diseases. When there is something wrong with our skin, it’s easy to feel awkward about it. Imagine this man who was covered with it. But it’s worse than that. In those days, a person who was a leper had to go into isolation. He had to warn people as they came near of his condition. He could not join with the community. He could not go up to worship the Lord in the temple.

If there is one thing that 2020 taught me, it was the joy of a crowd of people. For a couple of months, most of us stayed isolated. We did not even meet for worship. I have a large family, but many people were alone. What a joy it was to come back. This was only for a couple of months. For the leper, he had no idea if or when it would end. Continue reading “The King Who Welcomes All (Luke 5:12-32)”

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The Marvelous Works of Jesus, Part 3: The King Builds His Kingdom (Luke 4:31-5:11)

[Listen to an audio version here]

What is the message of Christianity all about? How would you summarize it in a few words? It’s a good thing to think about.

Here’s what Jesus says, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” Jesus’ summary? The good news of the kingdom of God.

I don’t think that’s generally the first thing that comes to the mind of evangelical Christians when they think of Christianity. So, why doesn’t it come to our mind when it came so readily to Jesus’ lips? What does it mean? Why would Jesus summarize His message as the good news of the kingdom of God?

That’s what our passages teaches us. We will see this in three points. The teaching of the kingdom of God. The demonstration of the kingdom of God. The extension of the kingdom of God.

The Teaching of the Kingdom of God
Jesus said that He had a message to proclaim. It was good news. It was good news about the kingdom of God. While this message might not be clear to us, it was understandable to Jesus’ hearers. They weren’t necessarily looking for someone to die on a cross and rise again, and that was part of their problem. However, they were looking for a king who would bring in a new kingdom.

They understood that things were not as they should be. Instead of enjoying prosperity in their own kingdom, they were under the dominion and often oppression of the Roman government. In addition, many of the people had compromised the ancient faith with the newcomers. Many would have agreed that a call to repentance was needed. They wanted a leader who would come and liberate them and lead them back to God and His ways. So, when Jesus talked about a kingdom, this would have made sense. They would not be surprised that the Messiah would come talking about the coming of the kingdom. They would have understood the idea that people should repent because the kingdom of God was at hand. They needed to get ready. They were looking with expectation, as Luke notes in Luke 3.

And so, Jesus’ message was an answer to their expectation. The kingdom is here.

Jesus spent much of His time teaching about this kingdom and correcting their misconceptions about it. You can see in our passage how much time Jesus spent teaching and proclaiming. First, Jesus taught in the synagogues. Now, people often avoid church because it has hurt them. Jesus had just been rejected in His hometown and nearly killed. And what does He do? “Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people” (Luke 4:31). Jesus went into the synagogues, the places where people gathered for worship. He went where the people were, even though He had faced rejection. Continue reading “The Marvelous Works of Jesus, Part 3: The King Builds His Kingdom (Luke 4:31-5:11)”