Kingdom Come Pt I
Matthew 6:10
In his book, A Genuine Faith, Rodney Reeves offers the following quote from Henri Nouwen:
"changing the human heart and changing human society are not separate tasks but are as interconnected as the two beams of the cross."
Another of our good professors at SBU, Mike Fuhrman, offers the flowing wisdom:
Jesus gave us both the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, you can't have one without the other.
Throughout history humanity has made countless shots at creating a perfect world. Perhaps going as far back as Bale, countless "ists" and "isims" have attempted to birth a utopian society and have consistently miscarried. Communities both secular and sacred have been founded in hopes of "getting it right this time." But the question must be asked what does Jesus intend when he teaches his disciples to pray for a Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven? Does he intend for them to have a Heaven on Earth? What would that look like, how would we know that it was here?
God lead Israel out of captivity in Egypt to establish a kingdom in a promised (yet unseen) land. In the same way, Jesus redeemed us to a Kingdom and for a Kingdom that we have only had a foretaste of. We live between Advents. Yet Jesus talked about the Kingdom as something that is and is not yet (more on this tonight).
Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered,
"The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!' For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you."
Luke 17:20-21 (NRSV)
As far as Jesus was concerned, wherever He was, the Kingdom was there. Lets chew on that for now.
About Me
- Rev. Spike
- Jesus Christ changed my life when I was 15 years old. I have given my life to proclaiming Him.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Our Father PtV: Hallowing the Name
IV. Hallowing God’s Name
Hallowing God’s name means more than never taking it in vain.: However, this is where I will sound like a prude. We have drastically lowered our standards here. We my not drop the dreaded curses to or in God’s name; but we often in casual conversation say “Oh my God” or “Lordy, Lordy” etc. This shows disregard for the name that the Hebrews would not even write or speak; they instead substitued their word for "Lord", "Adonai" (this is he "LORD" in caps in English Bibles). To this day, no one really knows how to pronounce the name of God. That name is only the name He gave to us (Exodus 3), “I Am That I Am”.
Consider for instance that Methodist commentator Adam Clarke (1700’s) is stunned by the use of the phrase “My Heavens” among Christians. This innocent phrase, as well as "By Jove" etc. was considered as inappropriate as what we’d “bleep” out today. However, I will never quite understand how the F-word is bleeped from prime time but God’s name is thoughtlessly dragged through the mud for profit every single day on our TV’s, radios, blogs, and around the water cooler…
We profane His name when we forget that we wear it wherever we go: We can’t add to or subtract from the actual holiness of God (immutability?). But we can sure effect his reputation. The Bible refers to us as His ambassadors, as living epistles, as witnesses. We are to be the salt of the earth, a city on a hill. Often times were are more like a failing night light.
Paul told the Corinthians, "If you want to know what it means to be Christian, follow me because I'm following Jesus" (1 Cor 11:1). In fact, once we have been identified as Christians, in everything we do God’s reputation is on the line.
Hallowing God’s name is about hallowing God: Hallowing, fearing, revering, honoring.
What’s in a name?: A name precedes us. It can protect us. “Tell them “X’ sent you and you’ll get a discount.” Oh, they are a “Williams”, we all know about them… Recently I heard (from the source) a story about a man who was saved by a name. While he and a friend were wasted and broke they hit up a few liquor stores. They were arrested and only afterward found out that one of the businesses happened to be owned by the mafia. While in jail, two men who the thieves recognized as being "connected" showed up in jail with them. Knowing what the men were there for, one of the robbers took one of the hatchet men aside and made this plea, "Call your boss, and tell him that "so and so's" son is the one you are here to take care of." The man made the call, and the next day they Mafiosos were gone and the men's lives were spared. Lucky for him, the pleading thief's mother was one of the Mobsters' biggest legitimate business clients. It would have been pretty bad business to kill her son.
Hallowing God’s name means we look to a time when all men will know Him: Wright says that to pray “hallowed be your name” means “…may you be worshiped by your whole creation.” May your name be hallowed, feared, made known to be sacred and powerful, and potent and supreme.” The Bible talks about a time when all Creation will praise God, even the trees will clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12) and every knee will bow (Phil 2:10), and as the last Psalm declares “everything that has breath [will] praise the Lord! Ps 150:6!
Let that day come soon Lord Jesus.
NEXT: Your Kingdom Come
Hallowing God’s name means more than never taking it in vain.: However, this is where I will sound like a prude. We have drastically lowered our standards here. We my not drop the dreaded curses to or in God’s name; but we often in casual conversation say “Oh my God” or “Lordy, Lordy” etc. This shows disregard for the name that the Hebrews would not even write or speak; they instead substitued their word for "Lord", "Adonai" (this is he "LORD" in caps in English Bibles). To this day, no one really knows how to pronounce the name of God. That name is only the name He gave to us (Exodus 3), “I Am That I Am”.
Consider for instance that Methodist commentator Adam Clarke (1700’s) is stunned by the use of the phrase “My Heavens” among Christians. This innocent phrase, as well as "By Jove" etc. was considered as inappropriate as what we’d “bleep” out today. However, I will never quite understand how the F-word is bleeped from prime time but God’s name is thoughtlessly dragged through the mud for profit every single day on our TV’s, radios, blogs, and around the water cooler…
We profane His name when we forget that we wear it wherever we go: We can’t add to or subtract from the actual holiness of God (immutability?). But we can sure effect his reputation. The Bible refers to us as His ambassadors, as living epistles, as witnesses. We are to be the salt of the earth, a city on a hill. Often times were are more like a failing night light.
Paul told the Corinthians, "If you want to know what it means to be Christian, follow me because I'm following Jesus" (1 Cor 11:1). In fact, once we have been identified as Christians, in everything we do God’s reputation is on the line.
Hallowing God’s name is about hallowing God: Hallowing, fearing, revering, honoring.
What’s in a name?: A name precedes us. It can protect us. “Tell them “X’ sent you and you’ll get a discount.” Oh, they are a “Williams”, we all know about them… Recently I heard (from the source) a story about a man who was saved by a name. While he and a friend were wasted and broke they hit up a few liquor stores. They were arrested and only afterward found out that one of the businesses happened to be owned by the mafia. While in jail, two men who the thieves recognized as being "connected" showed up in jail with them. Knowing what the men were there for, one of the robbers took one of the hatchet men aside and made this plea, "Call your boss, and tell him that "so and so's" son is the one you are here to take care of." The man made the call, and the next day they Mafiosos were gone and the men's lives were spared. Lucky for him, the pleading thief's mother was one of the Mobsters' biggest legitimate business clients. It would have been pretty bad business to kill her son.
Hallowing God’s name means we look to a time when all men will know Him: Wright says that to pray “hallowed be your name” means “…may you be worshiped by your whole creation.” May your name be hallowed, feared, made known to be sacred and powerful, and potent and supreme.” The Bible talks about a time when all Creation will praise God, even the trees will clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12) and every knee will bow (Phil 2:10), and as the last Psalm declares “everything that has breath [will] praise the Lord! Ps 150:6!
Let that day come soon Lord Jesus.
NEXT: Your Kingdom Come
Monday, November 5, 2007
Our Father Pt IV
Are We All God’s Children?
Even though all are God’s creation, we are not all God’s children. We are neighbors, but not brothers and sisters. Jesus made this perfectly clear to the Pharisees. Those who do the will of his Father in heaven are called children of God. Those who oppose the Kingdom’s advance are children of the Devil. As our favorite theologian Bob Dylan aptly stated, “It may be the Devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”
Before we can continue, we have to make a point however. Perhaps you might recall that at different times, “Christians” have used this to justify shameful treatment of others. Two standouts are the justification of the American slave trade and the Crusades. Perhaps these currents even run in the current war in the Middle East. The idea that “those rag-heads” are lesser human beings due to their social, political, or religious orientations or the view of radical Islam, or the phrase never quite caught on, “Islamo-Fascism” (a phrase certainly destined for the 2008 banished word list) holds the world view that anyone who does not think like them deserves to die. Dangerous ground all around friends; deadly ground.
Christ demands equal love, respect, and treatment for all humanity. Francis Fenelon wrrote, “All wars are civil wars because all men are brothers.” We are all equal parts in the human family, yet, in our spiritual kinship we may be very different. Confession, belief, and repentance lead us into the family of faith through the sacrifice of Christ. If there was any other way, Jesus would not have died and rose again. Paul taught that, “If Christ is not risen, then my faith is in vain.” I would have to argue that if the resurrection were not necessary, it would simply not have happened.
Therefore, when we declare God as “Father”, we are proclaiming our self as His child. So then, and we must embrace this: if we get the privilege of birthright (loving-kindness), then He gets the privilege of Fatherhood (that is authority). Please consider this a moment.
The ancient church father Cyrpian wrote, “The new man, born again and restored to his God through His grace, can say “Father” at the beginning, for he has now begun to be a son.”
(Cyprian (c.250, W) 5.449)
When we earnestly say “Our Father”, he no longer is in Heaven alone, but he now dwells within us. The God in the burning bush, in the pillar of cloud, in the pillar of fire, in the Holy of Holies, now dwells within us. We become part of the Temple of the Living God, of the building up of believers:
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field , God's building… Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1 Cor 3:9 & 16 (NASB)
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God , and that you are not your own?
1 Cor 6:19 (NASB)
The beauty of it is that God condescends, to dwell not only among us, but in us if we will only abide in Him by abiding in His grace. What a great God we serve.
Even though all are God’s creation, we are not all God’s children. We are neighbors, but not brothers and sisters. Jesus made this perfectly clear to the Pharisees. Those who do the will of his Father in heaven are called children of God. Those who oppose the Kingdom’s advance are children of the Devil. As our favorite theologian Bob Dylan aptly stated, “It may be the Devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”
Before we can continue, we have to make a point however. Perhaps you might recall that at different times, “Christians” have used this to justify shameful treatment of others. Two standouts are the justification of the American slave trade and the Crusades. Perhaps these currents even run in the current war in the Middle East. The idea that “those rag-heads” are lesser human beings due to their social, political, or religious orientations or the view of radical Islam, or the phrase never quite caught on, “Islamo-Fascism” (a phrase certainly destined for the 2008 banished word list) holds the world view that anyone who does not think like them deserves to die. Dangerous ground all around friends; deadly ground.
Christ demands equal love, respect, and treatment for all humanity. Francis Fenelon wrrote, “All wars are civil wars because all men are brothers.” We are all equal parts in the human family, yet, in our spiritual kinship we may be very different. Confession, belief, and repentance lead us into the family of faith through the sacrifice of Christ. If there was any other way, Jesus would not have died and rose again. Paul taught that, “If Christ is not risen, then my faith is in vain.” I would have to argue that if the resurrection were not necessary, it would simply not have happened.
Therefore, when we declare God as “Father”, we are proclaiming our self as His child. So then, and we must embrace this: if we get the privilege of birthright (loving-kindness), then He gets the privilege of Fatherhood (that is authority). Please consider this a moment.
The ancient church father Cyrpian wrote, “The new man, born again and restored to his God through His grace, can say “Father” at the beginning, for he has now begun to be a son.”
(Cyprian (c.250, W) 5.449)
When we earnestly say “Our Father”, he no longer is in Heaven alone, but he now dwells within us. The God in the burning bush, in the pillar of cloud, in the pillar of fire, in the Holy of Holies, now dwells within us. We become part of the Temple of the Living God, of the building up of believers:
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field , God's building… Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1 Cor 3:9 & 16 (NASB)
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God , and that you are not your own?
1 Cor 6:19 (NASB)
The beauty of it is that God condescends, to dwell not only among us, but in us if we will only abide in Him by abiding in His grace. What a great God we serve.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Our Father: Pt III
III. The Confession
“Calling God ‘Father’ [is] not simply comfortable or reassuring. It [contains] the ultimate personal challenge.” When we declare that God is our father, we are declaring our desire to live under his Lordship. Under the authority of God.
Three times in the last two weeks I had the same conversation concerning atheists/atheism. In essence, atheism is the denial of the reality that one has a Father/Creator. On this subject I have to persist in one thing, namely, that I don’t believe in atheists. Atheism is a myth.
First of all, what most people mean when they say “I’m an atheist” is that they hate Christianity as they have seen it represented or God as they have heard him told. Second, the Bible states that God has “set eternity in our hearts”. This means at least two things:
1. That the things of this world cannot satisfy because they were never meant to. “You cannot have peace and happiness apart from God because it is not there, there is no such thing.” (CS Lewis)
2. God has given us all a spiritual GPS that points us to Him in times of trouble. However, much like any map, it does us no good unless we follow it.
What I am talking about here must not be confused with the conscience (which can be silenced and seared). This is something more deeply rooted than our DNA. And every one of us knows that He is there, even if we don’t know what to call upon Him, even if we are afraid or too defiant to call out to Him, or even if we call Him by another name. We know that He is there. This is intrinsic and inseparable from our humanity. It is evident in our desire to worship (i.e. sporting events, concerts, cars, movie stars) and in that longing for something unnamable and more massive than ourselves. As it has been well stated, “We’re all born remembering but few of us will know.”
Furthermore, the average “atheist” means by this that they are either belligerent because of a wrong they have suffered at the hands of the God they do not believe in, or they know that confessing Him will be just what I have said it means, that to embrace his Fatherhood means to submit to His will.
I recall a good friend of mine who for many years struggled with the reality of God from two of these points. Firstly, she desperately wrestled with the concept of a good Father in Heaven because she had lackluster examples here on earth. Her relationship with her father had been one of abuse and neglect and eventually abandonment. It is easy so see how hard it would be to see any father, earthly or otherwise as being capable of good after such experiences. Furthermore, she downright told myself and another friend who bore most of the brunt of debates that she was unwilling to accept a God that demanded her to obey him, she did not want anyone or anything telling her what to do, especially not God. After many discussions and much prayer, she made her peace with God and to this day is learning more and more about what a Father can do in a willing heart… He can change everything. He can heal everything. He can be everything you’d ever wanted but were afraid to ask.
“Calling God ‘Father’ [is] not simply comfortable or reassuring. It [contains] the ultimate personal challenge.” When we declare that God is our father, we are declaring our desire to live under his Lordship. Under the authority of God.
Three times in the last two weeks I had the same conversation concerning atheists/atheism. In essence, atheism is the denial of the reality that one has a Father/Creator. On this subject I have to persist in one thing, namely, that I don’t believe in atheists. Atheism is a myth.
First of all, what most people mean when they say “I’m an atheist” is that they hate Christianity as they have seen it represented or God as they have heard him told. Second, the Bible states that God has “set eternity in our hearts”. This means at least two things:
1. That the things of this world cannot satisfy because they were never meant to. “You cannot have peace and happiness apart from God because it is not there, there is no such thing.” (CS Lewis)
2. God has given us all a spiritual GPS that points us to Him in times of trouble. However, much like any map, it does us no good unless we follow it.
What I am talking about here must not be confused with the conscience (which can be silenced and seared). This is something more deeply rooted than our DNA. And every one of us knows that He is there, even if we don’t know what to call upon Him, even if we are afraid or too defiant to call out to Him, or even if we call Him by another name. We know that He is there. This is intrinsic and inseparable from our humanity. It is evident in our desire to worship (i.e. sporting events, concerts, cars, movie stars) and in that longing for something unnamable and more massive than ourselves. As it has been well stated, “We’re all born remembering but few of us will know.”
Furthermore, the average “atheist” means by this that they are either belligerent because of a wrong they have suffered at the hands of the God they do not believe in, or they know that confessing Him will be just what I have said it means, that to embrace his Fatherhood means to submit to His will.
I recall a good friend of mine who for many years struggled with the reality of God from two of these points. Firstly, she desperately wrestled with the concept of a good Father in Heaven because she had lackluster examples here on earth. Her relationship with her father had been one of abuse and neglect and eventually abandonment. It is easy so see how hard it would be to see any father, earthly or otherwise as being capable of good after such experiences. Furthermore, she downright told myself and another friend who bore most of the brunt of debates that she was unwilling to accept a God that demanded her to obey him, she did not want anyone or anything telling her what to do, especially not God. After many discussions and much prayer, she made her peace with God and to this day is learning more and more about what a Father can do in a willing heart… He can change everything. He can heal everything. He can be everything you’d ever wanted but were afraid to ask.
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