West Salem Trinity UMC

I am currently reading a book by N.T. Wright. Bishop Wright is one of the world’s top biblical scholars, a prolific author, and the Bishop of Durham for the Church of England. The book is titled, "Surprised by Hope."

On page 18 he makes this statement, "’God’s Kingdom’ in the preaching of Jesus refers not to postmortem destiny, not to our escape from this world into another one, but to God’s sovereign rule coming ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’"

Bishop Wright is referring to the oft way of thinking that as we accept Jesus as our Lord, that secures us a home in heaven and our vision focuses on the "out there somewhere" in time and space. But the reality of coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in our lives is the beginning of a journey right now in the "here and now." We need to come to the knowledge of what it means to have God reign as sovereign in our lives.

For me that focus comes to us when we realize that worship on Sunday morning is not just another inoculation to get us to the next Sunday, but rather becomes a time of being drawn closer to the Lord and discovering, not just on Sunday but in our every day journey, what the Lord expects of us. The faith journey is not just a casual stroll to heaven in whatever time we deem that God is giving us, but it is a sacrificial journey of love, hard work, and suffering as well as the celebration of life that we have because we know Jesus Christ.

We are the agents of Christ to bring to earth His kingdom. I believe when we pray the Lord’s Prayer that is what we are saying. "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," is talking about this very thing and as Christians we are to be signs of the Kingdom of God to those around us.

So for us today, we need to begin to think where our focus is? Is it on dragging along in the world, waiting on being "taken" to our home in heaven, or are we living the journey of faith that God has called us to in the scripture? Give this some thought this week in your devotional time and see where God is calling you.

God Bless

Pastor Brad