Kingdom Vision

Today at CRLC we invited each member present to make a statement or two about the Kingdom of God as it might emerge in our church during the next 5 years.

In order to "see" the kingdom of God, we need to set aside the rational, limited vision of the world -- based solely upon measurable success or tangible results. To see the kingdom of God, we must seek to gaze at ourselves, our priorities, and the things that claim our attention and involvement through what might be called a "God Lens." Jesus taught us that God looks for ways that the wounded, hurting or lonely children of God are welcomed, cared for and healed. We know, too, that in the kingdom of God, setting aside one's life and one's possessions for the sake of another is standard operating procedure. In the kingdom of God there are no insignificant or discounted people -- status in worldly terms is irrelevant. As we have been told many, many times... Jesus and his message to us...the "good news"... was given to comfort the afflicted... and afflict the comfortable.

So as we allow ourselves to envision how God "sees" us... we might wonder about the areas where we are most comfortable. When we wonder about our comfort zones, we can prayerfully ask, how is God calling us to surrender or relinquish some of our comfort for the sake of the mission of the church? Where are we called to reach beyond our limited walls, to places and people we don't know and can't see -- how are we to reach out to them, love them, serve them, and be ready to say that we do so in the name of Christ.

There's a hymn in which we sing repeatedly "They will know we are Christian by our love". The love to which we point, of course, is not the kind of limited, conditional, or sentimental love that may describe love that is generated by attraction, affiliation, or a moral sense of doing the right thing. No... the love that marks us as Christian is the love of God, bestowed to us so freely in Christ. It is a love without condition or limit that often draws us to people and places that may NOT be objects of attraction or affiliation.

I wonder... as we envision the future... what would it look like if we went to places and circumstances that seem to be the MOST feared, or the LEAST desired. What if we served the stranger we had at one time been taught to avoid or mistrust? What if we all stepped out of our comfort zones ...financially, physically, emotionally, and mentally?

I wonder...with God's help and guidance...might we not find ourselves participating more fully in the revelation of the kingdom of God? Jesus taught us to pray that the Father's kingdom would be revealed upon earth... and that God's will would be done...that is, discovered, acted upon and accomplished "as it is in Heaven."

The thought of risk and change from what I know to be good or safe frightens me sometimes. It isn't my first choice of ways to invest my time, commitment, money or energy. But, I wonder...was I called to be safe or secure? No, certainly not... I have been called to love God with my heart, soul and mind. I have been called to love others as I love myself... I have been called to walk with humility and obedience.

Will I (will we at CRLC) say yes to that call? Look again at the images on the "Star Gazer" post from earlier this month. When I look at the images and realize again that the same One who established those nebulas in place is by my side as I step into the next phase of CRLC Ministry, what else can I say but "Yes... and I ask God to help and guide me!"