A PRAYER TO START
A life of faith is a perpetual state of “always arriving”. Or, as the apostle Paul so poignantly describes those of us who behold Jesus walking step by step with us in life, as “being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). While the journey in Matthew’s gospel story might be coming to a close, our journey of faith continues together. Pray then this prayer (over and over!)…
Our Father who made the earth and sea, who gives breathe to every being, who has orchestrated history to flow from your Son, through your Son and to return to your Son; Father, holy is your name. Let your kingdom break forth into my home this morning, my office this midday, my carpool this afternoon, my dinner table this evening, and my prayers tonight. Let your will be known, sought after by myself and my faith family so that we might obey with joy your desires in east Dallas as it is in heaven. Give us all we need today: spiritually in your mercies that are as sure as the morning sun, emotionally in the relationships which you have arranged, mentally in eyes and ears of your Spirit that fills, and physically in the provisions of necessities and goodness of work. And, let us not fear that what we have today will be taken, instead, let us give it generously as it has been generously given to us. Forgive us Father for our sins, for the indebtedness we have towards you and others as we have taken rather than served. For pride and lust and apathy that cause us to use others. For timidity and unbelief that cause us to try and use you. And, as we rest in your sure forgiveness, may we be quick to forgive the wrongs done to us, and extend the mercy we so freely receive. Lead us not into temptation, into the desires of our flesh that we know only destroy. Also, grant us discernment and keep us from those things that culturally (even “churchy” culture) are acceptable but rather than bearing fruit that abides, bears fruit that is shriveled and unfit to consume. Keep us from the evil one. Guard our hearts and our minds, our families and our faith family from the attacks that are sure to come. Immerse us in you! Let us be clothed fully in your armor! We pray this because yours and yours alone is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever more. Amen.
GETTING THOUGHTFUL
We have reached the terminus of our journey in Matthew’s surprising gospel story. Our travels have taken us through the terrain of an upside down kingdom, and now we find ourselves at the precipice of a wide open promise land. And, as our faith family before us, we hear our leader who —unlike theirs—who will be walking with us step by step into the vast and beautiful land of the living, give us our charge,
All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20)
One translation phrases Jesus’ commission this way, “Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life…” (The Message, emphasis added). “this way of life”, assumes that our faith is not meant to be simply ideas, philosophies, or doctrines we adopt, but rather an understanding that informs the day to day actions of our (sort-of) ordinary lives.
The author of the letter to the Hebrews writes to those who acknowledged conceptually the truths of what we have seen and heard of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel, yet struggled in their growing up into resurrection living. He says,
“Although [Jesus] was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he or she is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God, and of instructions about baptism, the laying on of hand, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.”
(Hebrews 5:8-6:2, emphasis added)
The “basic principles” and “elementary doctrine of Christ” have been laid for us in Matthew’s gospel story. As surprising as it has been, Jesus has shown us what the kingdom of God is really like, and invited us to enter the kingdom (and invite others to do the same) through him. The question is not about information but about practice, “constant practice” in kingdom living. Will we remain children, or will we “go on to maturity”?
REFLECTION
Jesus tells those who love and follow him to teach those around to observe all that he commanded. To observe means both to discover and to practice the way of life that Jesus modeled and Matthew described for us. Such obedience requires understanding, for those who understand are scribes “who have been trained for the kingdom of heaven” and are like masters “of a house, who bring out of his/her treasure what is new and what is old” (Matthew 13:51-52). Because, as Wendell Berry notes (29), “our understanding can never be completely”, we must be ones who diligently take responsibility to “ask, seek and knock” (Matthew 7:7-11) after our Father with one another as we discover and practice a resurrected life.
Use the exercise and questions below to help you prayerfully reflect individually and/or discuss as a DNA group.
Exercise: List the top three “kingdom surprises” you encountered in the teachings and stories of Jesus.
Think back over the parables (13, 18, 20-21), the Sermon on the Mount (5-7), his interactions with the various people of faith (8-9), the sending out of the disciples (10) and his final teachings (23-25) and encounters (26-27). What stood out to you most about the kingdom Jesus preached, taught about and lived?
Questions:
In what ways will this kingdom you have come to understand become you way of life?
Who can help you be obedient to this kingdom? How so?
Who will you teach to observe all that Jesus has commanded you?
When will you invite them to follow Jesus with you?
How will you take responsibility to help them discover and practice the way of life Jesus continues to reveal to us?
ECHO
Our journey began with a poem by Wendell Berry that dares us to “do something that won’t compute”. The kingdom Jesus has revealed to us, and the way of life in this kingdom, often appears as a malfunction in our culture (even in our own hearts) rather than a solution to the puzzle of abundant life now and forever. Yet, that is exactly the point! Jesus calls us into something new, something different than what we know, something resurrected through death! One last time, may his invitation echo in your mind, in your heart, and into your actions as our expedition of faith continues long beyond this ever brief trek.
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute.
Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.