Kingdom Passion for the World

In last Sunday's message, I asked what your "Kingdom passion for the world" is. Put another way, what is something about the Kingdom of God that stirs you emotionally enough to bring it to this world? The Kingdom of God is marked by complete shalom, a complete wellness and peace in every aspect. The Kingdom of God is holy and just and good. Our destiny in the Kingdom is to be fully restored. What jazzes you about the Kingdom in a way that you want to bring that something to others here and now?

Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." In praying that, if we really mean that prayer, we are opening ourselves up to God for Him to perhaps answer the prayer through us. We will never bring the fullness of the Kingdom to this world, but at the core of how Jesus wants us to pray and to orient ourselves is this idea of continually bringing aspects of the Kingdom of God to those around us.

Since there are a myriad of perfect attributes of the Kingdom, there are plenty to go around for followers of Jesus to be passionate about. Your passion doesn't have to be my passion, and we can work in harmony in making the Kingdom tangible for others. I feel quite certain that every follower of Jesus can have His passion for at least one aspect of the Kingdom for this world.

What is yours? I'd love to hear what it is.

If you don't have an idea what it might be, would you be willing to seek the Lord's face about it in prayer, to ask Him and listen to see if perhaps He's waiting to unleash such a passion in you? Not just a five minute prayer, but a long-range pursuit until God answers!

Furthermore, how can we, the people who are called "church," help you pursue that passion? What encouragement, equipping, networking, and companionship might we offer to help you passionately do on earth as it is in heaven?

Please email me any thoughts, questions, or ideas you have. Let's talk.

How Low Can You Go?

I've been reading Mark in my quiet times lately, and appropriately enough for the week leading up to Easter, I've been in chapter 15. Mark tends to be short and to the point, and even in his account of this last week of Jesus' life, he's very economical with his words. What caught my attention this week was his decription of the two thieves on the crosses next to Jesus'. Just two verses (27, 31):

   And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.

   Even those who were crucified with him were reviling him.

That's it. No mention of what they said. Nothing about how one of them pleaded with Jesus and how He promised him entrance into His Kingdom that very day. Just: they flanked Him in crucifixion and mocked Him in the process. That promise Jesus gave the one is pretty important, but Mark skips right over it! (Mark is also the one who leaves the Gospel narrative hanging in suspense, so apparently he didn't have the same need of closure that I do.)

I'm intrigued by this minimalist treatment of the thieves. Mark could have written more, but didn't. So I assume he wants us to focus on what little he did write: two robbers, while being crucified, reviled Jesus. Two dying robbers mocking Jesus along with the rest.

In this paragraph, Mark is careful to note that the chief priests and the experts in the Law mocked Jesus. Those who passed by mocked Him. In the previous paragraph, the soldiers mocked Him. And these two robbers being crucified.

In other words, Jesus was mocked, not merely rejected, by the religious authorities, by the military authorities, and by the general population. And these two robbers being crucified. He was mocked by not only the establishment, but also by the lowest of the low!

You can't get much lower than a convicted felon presently suffering a languishing death penalty, publicly displayed for full humiliation. They were rejects, mere rubbish to be disposed of. Those who society rejected rejected Jesus. How low can you go?!?

Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus, who died for our sin in a way that required Him to be utterly rejected, even by the lowest of the low.

I'm stunned by how complete His rejection had to be, so that His resurrection would be that much more victorious. I suspect Mark left out part of the story to focus us on that very point.