Thought for Today
Song of Solomon 8:6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame.
Job 36:17 "But you are obsessed with the case of the wicked; judgment and justice seize you.
Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. . . . 21 All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
One of my favorite tee shirts has emblazoned upon it, “Engineers aren’t boring. They just get excited about boring things.” As I looked at that this morning, I began to think about the question of what excites me, what captures my interests. As part of that issue, I also wondered whether I am excited by the things that interest me and whether I am interested in the things that excite me.
What drives your life? What motivates you? Whatever it might be, does that interest and excite you? Much of my life is driven by and motivated by my perceived responsibilities. I am certainly interested in those things and in those responsibilities. Do they all excite me?
Greta and I watch the television network news each evening. Currently, much of the coverage is on the Olympics or the Presidential campaign. Evidently, much of the population of our country and around the world are interested in and excited by both. I am aggressively ambivalent about the Olympics. None of the events are sports in which I ever competed. I don’t view the Olympic competitions as some sort of validation of our nation or our political system. I do appreciate the pomp and ceremony of the Olympics. I do appreciate the athleticism of the competitors.
My personal situation with politics in general and with the Presidential campaign is a bit different. There are basic issues at stake which greatly influence and impact my personal life and potentially everything in which I am interested and everything by which I am excited. My personal self-interest and my concern for the welfare of those around me demand I pay attention to politics and the issues at stake. That is true for all Christians. Remember, Jesus told us, “Mark 12:17 Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." Christians are called to participate in the world around us. Some portion of our interest must be in the politics of the nation in which we live. For what it’s worth, like many, I can even get excited by politics.
I must confess, however, that my main interest, the thing which most excites me is the advancement of the Kingdom of God. I truly love to read the Bible. I truly love to study the Bible, to ponder the Incarnation, Jesus’ words and ministry, to marvel at the Crucifixion and Resurrection. I get excited when I read the promises of scripture. I stand in awe of ideas like, “Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—”
What will the Kingdom of God be like? My best understanding is that for which I pray often, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The Kingdom of God will be realized when God’s will is done on earth . . . by everybody . . . all the time, just as it is in heaven. Interestingly, that is also the best answer I can offer whenever I am asked what heaven will be like, God’s will done all the time by everybody.
As a Christian, as a citizen of the U.S.A., I know that to advance the arrival of that Kingdom of God, I must work within our political system. I must participate; I must evaluate all of the issues and all of the candidates against the goal of advancing God’s will being done. That is not easy; that is not simple.
As a Christian, I must also always remember that others may well make the same evaluations I do, look at the same evidence and arrive at different conclusions. One of my favorite theologians, Wm. Barclay wrote, “It is good to have the assurance of being right, but that is no reason to hold the conviction that everyone else is wrong.”
So, I will watch some of the Olympic competitions. I will watch the Presidential campaigns. But, as I do, I will watch for opportunities to advance the Kingdom of God. I will be excited by and interested in every opportunity to advance that Kingdom.
Stay safe, be Kingdom oriented, trust God,
Pastor Ray