escapingbabylon.com

• I’ve figured out my relationship to Christmas, but I still haven’t figured out my relationship to Lent.
• That being said, I think I’ve found a personal, legitimate reason to fast (and no, I’m not officially sharing it here yet).
• It messes me up when an 8 year old casually says to me that their father is in jail, and has been there “forever”. I hope that’s something I never get used to.
• During the Children’s Story today, I spoke about the Parable of the Mustard Seed . One of the women in church gave me a small packet of mustard seeds after service. Another member gave her a pack when she was in the hospital with cancer. Though (and because) she’s been cancer free for years, she’s always carried a packet with her as a reminder.
• I’ve been considering that small package all day. I think that God wants us to consider that the Kingdom of God is such that the things that seem small right now can transform a community so that 8 year olds no longer refer to incarcerated fathers as another fact of life.
• I realize that this post may make more sense if I had already done the Kingdom of God post. It’s coming. It’s a bigger, more personal post than I had originally thought.

The question of heaven is a tricky one, particularly for those who see the injustice of all sorts happening in this world, and feel the calling to fight against it. The image of heaven as this place somewhere beyond where the cares of the world fade away, that is our ultimate home. And of earth as a place that we’re “just passing through” appears to be in opposition to the way that God has shown his concern for earthly justice, and the welfare of people on earth.

On the other hand, other Christians see the injustice of the world and realize the chronic spiritual brokenness of this planet that’s behind it. Spiritual problems need spiritual cures, and the cure for this one will happen when Christ returns and makes a new place for us to be. The place often referred to (accurately or not) as heaven, and while we are supposed to do good in the world, trying to make heaven on earth is going to ultimately be a futile gesture.

There is a tension between these two positions, but I think that these views are not opposed. So if you’ll bear with me, I think I’ll break this post up into three, this introduction, a section that talks about my understanding of the Kingdom of God, and finally my understanding of redemption and how it fits into this.

And for all those who are impatient, I’m hoping to intersperse these with some project365 stuff as well.

Sometimes I look at my personal theology, and I think it’s a very strange thing. For example, I easily find myself rejecting the idea of using God and Christianity as a means for gain. There’s always a part of me that cringes when someone implies that one should tithe and give offerings as a means to be blessed. That same part cringes when someone puts forward the idea that getting out of hell should be one’s motivation to follow Jesus.

It’s strange, because I do believe that God’s promises to provide for His followers also extends financially. I also believe that following Jesus will keep you out of hell. But for some reason, in my mind these are side effects, not the thing to be chased after.

So if neither temporal blessing nor eternal security is the thing, then what is? For me (and I’m under no illusions that this may be universal) the thing is rightness, the thing is the ever-elusive shalom. I think the greatest thing, and honestly the thing that motivates me to continue is the desire to be joined/connected/in right relationship with God, and with God’s work.