I think I happen to really appreciate everything in this article, especially the way in which the Pope does not skirt around issues, takes responsibility for the inactions of the Roman Church's hierarchy when it came to the sex-abuse scandals, and the way in which he encourages his flock.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1731631,00.html
What thinkest thou?
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
What is the Kingdom of Heaven...
...and how does that relate to Ecclesiastes? Aaron asked our ABF group to write a paragraph essay considering Ecclesiates as a Christian. Here's a braindump in the few minutes I have before church on Sunday ;).
In the past few years the phrase "Kindom of Heaven" (or "Kingdom of God") has been floating around in my thoughts. At first I started by dismissing the idea of "kingdom" entirely as something relevant only to the first century hearers of the Gospel; their destinies it seemed were bound to the "Kingdom of Caesar" and they longed for a messiah. When Jesus spoke of kingdom they had powerful images in their mind (sometimes misled). But what does kingdom mean to "modern" people? It felt weird to think of America as a kingdom or the president as our king. N.T. Wright's book Simply Chistian opened the language of kingdom to me. God is in Jesus is re-establishing his kingdom and putting the world to rights. Wright's way of thinking about God was epic and inspiring and ever since reading some of his stuff I've been thinking about the kingdom.
Recently, I've been considering exactly what the kingdom is. Is it a place? Is a period of time? Are we part of it now? God is clearly not done yet (at least that's our hope), but how will it be different when He is? Part of me needs the kingdom to be real now; not finished but real. Our lives need to have meaning now. Creation needs to be seen as good. I don't want to live like my life is about getting into heaven and liberating my soul from this evil place. There are many things about this world that are good and it seems like we can, with God's help, create more good in the world. So thinking about the kingdom as real now, considering ourselves to be servant of the King, and doing His work now is motivating to me... now.
I remembered an ABF group that Aaron led last fall. We spent some time talking about kingdom and he said something like "a kingdom is where the will of the king is done." So the kingdom can be now; when we do the will of the king. And the kingdom was in Eden before the fall when Adam did the will of God. So what did Adam do? He walked with God (perhaps actually) and had a perfect relationship with Him and Adam tended creation naming creatures and taking care of the garden. That was the kingdom for Adam. Now, with the work of Jesus to free us from death and restore us to God perhaps that is the kingdom for us too; walk with God and take care of the garden (though now there's weeds).
So how does this relate to Ecclesiastes? How about 5:19:
Perhaps more generally, you can read Ecclesiastes as a guide for how to work the garden and relate with God. Like I said above there's lots of weeds in the garden; it's not a "safe" place and Ecclesiastes reminds us of that. But it also a place where God grants enjoyment and happiness and in that there is "safety". I like the real-ness of Ecclesiastes.
In the past few years the phrase "Kindom of Heaven" (or "Kingdom of God") has been floating around in my thoughts. At first I started by dismissing the idea of "kingdom" entirely as something relevant only to the first century hearers of the Gospel; their destinies it seemed were bound to the "Kingdom of Caesar" and they longed for a messiah. When Jesus spoke of kingdom they had powerful images in their mind (sometimes misled). But what does kingdom mean to "modern" people? It felt weird to think of America as a kingdom or the president as our king. N.T. Wright's book Simply Chistian opened the language of kingdom to me. God is in Jesus is re-establishing his kingdom and putting the world to rights. Wright's way of thinking about God was epic and inspiring and ever since reading some of his stuff I've been thinking about the kingdom.
Recently, I've been considering exactly what the kingdom is. Is it a place? Is a period of time? Are we part of it now? God is clearly not done yet (at least that's our hope), but how will it be different when He is? Part of me needs the kingdom to be real now; not finished but real. Our lives need to have meaning now. Creation needs to be seen as good. I don't want to live like my life is about getting into heaven and liberating my soul from this evil place. There are many things about this world that are good and it seems like we can, with God's help, create more good in the world. So thinking about the kingdom as real now, considering ourselves to be servant of the King, and doing His work now is motivating to me... now.
I remembered an ABF group that Aaron led last fall. We spent some time talking about kingdom and he said something like "a kingdom is where the will of the king is done." So the kingdom can be now; when we do the will of the king. And the kingdom was in Eden before the fall when Adam did the will of God. So what did Adam do? He walked with God (perhaps actually) and had a perfect relationship with Him and Adam tended creation naming creatures and taking care of the garden. That was the kingdom for Adam. Now, with the work of Jesus to free us from death and restore us to God perhaps that is the kingdom for us too; walk with God and take care of the garden (though now there's weeds).
So how does this relate to Ecclesiastes? How about 5:19:
Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God.Life and our ability to enjoy it (possessions, wealth, or work) are a gift from God. We're encouraged implicitly to be in a relationship with God and we have work to do.
Perhaps more generally, you can read Ecclesiastes as a guide for how to work the garden and relate with God. Like I said above there's lots of weeds in the garden; it's not a "safe" place and Ecclesiastes reminds us of that. But it also a place where God grants enjoyment and happiness and in that there is "safety". I like the real-ness of Ecclesiastes.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)