(Audio)
“As you go, make this proclamation:
‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
The Kingdom of heaven is at hand. But we've stopped waiting for it and have become indifferent to it. In the time of Jesus there were many who, based on the promises of God, in response to the desperation of their circumstances, eagerly awaited his coming.
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.
Where the Kingdom was proclaimed things changed. The strongholds of the enemy were broken down. The sickness and death that result from sin began to be reversed. The people began to get a sense of just what it would mean for this Kingdom to reign in fullness. It would be a place of perpetual light, with no more sorrow and no more tears (see Revelation 21:4).
We too are called to proclaim the Kingdom. And we are effective at this because to the degree that we are a people "who have longed for his appearance" (see Second Timothy 4:8). The problem is that we have lost a sense of hope for what the Kingdom is meant to be. Our own experience of it has more to do with ritual and routine than transformation, healing, and power.
True, the Kingdom didn't come all at once. We still await a new heaven and a new earth (see Second Peter 3:13). But that it wouldn't happen all at once shouldn't be so surprising. Jesus revealed his desire to use his followers to spread his Kingdom. Just as he did not directly create all the men and women and the world but used the agency of parents over the course of generations so too does he work through the agency of Christians to raise up children for the Kingdom. And then is not a weakness on his part. It is rather that in both cases he is raising us up and giving the dignity of participating, of being coworkers with him (see First Corinthians 3:9).
The Kingdom continued to spread like wildfire even after Biblical times because it spoke to the desires every human heart. People recognized in it something different from anything they had experienced before, religion, philosophy, government, or anything else. But people now, including we ourselves, believe that we know what the Kingdom is. And we've become used to that low level of expectation. So is it any wonder that people don't pay much attention when we do timidly suggest that the Kingdom is at hand?
Just as the disciples were called not to bring extra gear for their journey we are called to go forth leaving behind our plans and expectations. We are called to begin again, taking Jesus at his word and relying on that word above all. We are reminded that we do have something valuable, something worth giving, something which can answer the question at the core of every human life. And maybe we even have healing and mighty deeds to give, as did the disciples. With no expectations going in we can only anticipate God doing more amazing things than we would guess.
As you enter a house, wish it peace.
If the house is worthy,
let your peace come upon it;
We don't need to be afraid. We aren't the ones who have to make it work. We just have to be faithful and God will do the rest. With this attitude we won't fear for our emotions when we're rejected.
Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words--
go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.
The LORD is the one who will ultimately take care of the vine. We are just hired hands, doing only what we were obliged to do (see Luke 17:10). We can take great comfort even when people seem to reject him, because we know that his compassion is deeper than their rejection. He does not give up on anyone.
For I am God and not man,
the Holy One present among you;
I will not let the flames consume you.
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