6 February 2014 - throne off the mission

6 February 2014 - throne off the mission

Yours, O LORD, is the sovereignty;
you are exalted as head over all.

The LORD is the King of kings.  Yet he allows others to participate in the authority of his kingdom.

Solomon was seated on the throne of his father David,
with his sovereignty firmly established.

Solomon shares in the blessings and authority of the Old Testament kingdom.  The Twelve show us what it is like to share in the authority of the Kingdom of Jesus.

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two
and gave them authority over unclean spirits.

The Son of Man brings a "new teaching, with authority" (cf. Mar 1:27).  He has the authority to tell the paralytic to "Get up, take your mat and go home."  He even has authority to forgive sins (cf. Mat. 9:6).  His commission to us stems from this authority.  He says "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (cf. Mat. 28:18) before sending us out on mission.  He starts with these words because we too share in his authority.  We too share in the authority which even the wind and the waves obey (cf. Mat 8:27).  We even share in the authority of Jesus to lay his own life down freely for others (cf. Joh. 10:18) and in turn to receive it again.

This seems over the top.  It doesn't match our experience.  When we look beyond our learned contentedness we see only our impotence and inadequacy before the task of building the kingdom.  Our learned contentedness is false contentedness and because of it the Church languishes in our day.  But haven't we set our expectations low because we have been let down in the past.  What else can we do? 

We need to "shake the dust" from all of our disappointments.  We need to learn that it is all about God and not our efforts.  That is why we don't need our own resources, food, sack, or money bags.  We need to learn to be like King David who is able to see beyond his own reign to the prosperity of his kingdom.  He knows that the kingdom isn't about him.  The kingdom is about God's promise and his love for his people:

“I am going the way of all flesh.
Take courage and be a man.
Keep the mandate of the LORD, your God, following his ways
and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees
as they are written in the law of Moses,
that you may succeed in whatever you do,
wherever you turn, and the LORD may fulfill
the promise he made on my behalf when he said,
‘If your sons so conduct themselves
that they remain faithful to me with their whole heart
and with their whole soul,
you shall always have someone of your line
on the throne of Israel.’”

So, then, are the disappointments of our past really because we are too focused on ourselves and building our own thrones?  Yes.  That is not to say that miracles always happen.  But the absence of miracles is only a disappointment to us when we are expecting them contrary to God's plan.  If we trust in him we are open to miracles.  We expect to see his power at work.  We are indefatigable even in the absence of miracles because we trust in God's plan.  We never cease to hope.  When we place our hope wrongly we shake the dust off and keep moving.  He tells us, "Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."  Even in the presence of miracles our priorities are laser-focused.  They never shift from the kingdom to our own thrones.  We seek first the kingdom, and the rest is added on.

“In your hand are power and might;
it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all.”