I preached today about Jesus' call to think, ponder and understand the kingdom so that we can bring about kingdom results. Here are a few added thoughts:
1. The idea that I am part of a field is important because it alerts us to the reality that the harvest does not just come from me. In fact, the harvest depends on all kinds of faithful people working together to bring about the results that God desires for his kingdom. (notice that the words that the NIV renders, “produces a crop” literally mean to “bear fruit” which is an idiom in the Greek for “to cause results to exist — ‘to produce results, to cause results.’”). This idea is wonderful to remember because even if our lives don’t seem to produce a great harvest (think of James who is killed early in the book of Acts by Herod, what harvest did he have or of Abraham who dies with only one child of promise), when we look at our lives combined with others in the field we see great things happen because of a community that is willing to “understand”.
2. The whole idea of “understanding” i.e. pondering, thinking deeply about the kingdom as essential for us to remain faithful to the kingdom and to bring results may seem unlikely to many. Many people just want to do and not to think very deeply about what they are doing. But what they fail to realize is the power of ideas to shape and mold us, our lives, and even the world around us. A negative example of this is the Khmer Rouge—this group came out of students talking and thinking in Paris.
3. For some people the thought of thinking may seem daunting, perhaps even unfair. After all, some people are not skilled at thinking (e.g. the mentally impaired) and to say that they have to think in order to bring a harvest for the kingdom just seems wrong. What we need to realize is that God calls us first of all to think in community. For those who God has not gifted in this area, they defer to the wisdom of others—much like I defer to the wisdom of a plumber. At the same time God does call on each of us to think to the extent that he has gifted us.
1 comment:
Larry; Yesterday you invited us to share ways we might contribute to the kingdom. Several years ago I participated in a recovery group which used much of the AA material. There I first learned of many cliche's, one of which really stuck in my mind.
"YAGOTTAWANNA" I've been impressed with the idea that if you have no particular desire to get better, then it isn't likely to happen. The same seems to apply to being a part of the Kingdom. Its popularly acceptable to be religious but to be a desciple of Jesus YAGOTTAWANNA before anything is going to happen. "The Kingdom of God is not a matter of words, but of power.
Dale
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