17 June 2005

This was accidentally sent out on Tuesday afternoon.
We will end this week with an interesting piece from 1 Corinthians 6.

Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolators, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers - none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6:9-11)

If you are looking for the Reign of God (how I like to say "kingdom of God) as something down the road...merely as an after life arriving place, I think we miss the majesty of this passage. It can sound like people will be kept out - someone will be looking through a peep-hole and decide if we are good enough to "get in" - or...there is a great check list that we must abide by in order to be let in to this gracious Reign. But now...what if the Reign of God is a life - an available life that is quite contrary to the brokenness that is listed in this passage? The Reigning of God is a life that some will unfortunately refuse to enter NOW. Instead, for example, rather than treat spouses with love and honor and fidelity and experience the fascination and grace of that kind of a relationship, you can go off and be an adulterer...but oh what you will miss. You will miss the beauty and majesty of life within the Reign of God. We could go through this whole list and help one another see what we would miss in life when the Good News of the Reign of God is not seen as a real entity of the living of these days. Thieves have to run their whole life and can never be a peace. Those who share and give their wealth away for the welfare of the whole community already live within a peace that is beyond the world's understanding.

Connection: We have been washed and called a holy people who have the freedom to enter the life within the Reign of God and invite others to join us. Yes, that will involve a life that will clash, in many ways, with the life of the world around us. But it is always to be a blessed adventure.

Take us Merciful God and shape the day at hand into the living presence of our Lord, Jesus, so that we may see how your Reign really does come down upon us each and every day. Amen.