Matthew 25:35-46 " For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Today, I want to talk about bringing God's kingdom to earth. What do you think that looks like? Who do you think it's for? To me, God's kingdom is beautiful--everyone has what they need. There are none who long for food to eat. The homeless have a bed to rest in at night. The poor have clothes to keep them warm. The fatherless have fathers. The abused have restoration and unconditional love. The sick and afflicted have complete healing. The outcast have acceptance. The insecure are confident. The orphaned have new families. Sorrow is replaced with joy. Tears are replaced with smiles. That's what a little bit of heaven looks like to me.
So, who is it for? The rich? The educated? The handsome and drop dead gorgeous? Nope. It's for everyone. It's for the poorest of poor, for the one who never attended school or college, the one who was made fun of for not being beautiful. It's for all. God sent His son to die for everyone, not just a few. God doesn't play favorites. He loves us all. He created us and did so in His image. So how do we bring God's kingdom to earth? We develop a passion for what's important to God and we do it with no strings attached. We feed the hungry and clothe the naked without making them fill out a questionnaire. We don't play "judge" and try to determine who gets a free meal or a jacket to keep warm. From the opening scripture above, God tells us that whatever we do for the least of these, we do to Him. He didn't say for us to stop and decide if someone is worthy of benevolence, He said to do it. When Jesus took the fish and loaves of bread from a boy to feed thousands of people, He didn't tell the disciples to go and find out who really needed food. He told them to feed the people. They were hungry. Part of growing in Christ and becoming spiritually mature is automatically doing things that Christ instructed us to do without thinking about it. It becomes part of our nature. It becomes natural to us. We see a need and we respond to it. We become "missional" in our everyday lives. We want to bring God's kingdom to others around us.
One of greatest concerns in the church today is that its members are missing the mark. They don't understand and they don't grasp what God's kingdom is or how to bring it about. They are more concerned with what can the church do for them, rather than what they can do for those coming in the doors. They want certain events, services, music, etc. They lack the vision to do the will of God. They lack to initiative to step up and serve. They aren't bad people, they are good people with good hearts, but they have been taught incorrectly in the past and they have been misguided. No doubt that ministry for years has been less than perfect in its teachings. I'm not the best person to speak on this matter, but I do know that just in the past 40 years or so, hate was taught from the pulpit. You couldn't be a good Christian unless you belonged to the KKK. I wonder if these haters knew Jesus wasn't a white man. He was a Jewish carpenter. He was dark-skinned, not pearly white. Today, hate still thrives in the pulpit with attacks on certain groups of people, on those who have made bad decisions and so on. Demonstrations are held in public to protest against something and abortion clinics are bombed in the name of God. Odd how the God I serve didn't do any of those things. As with the woman caught in adultery, Jesus simply said, "You who are without sin, cast the first stone." That's the Jesus I fell in love with. A radical. He showed the woman love and forgiveness and told her to go and sin no more. That's the example we are to follow. Jesus was people-centered, not self-centered. He came to serve, not be served. He came to share love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness.
Bringing God's kingdom means getting involved, not sitting on the sidelines telling everyone else what needs to be done. You have a shepherd, the pastor, to lead. God has given you a shepherd to lead you and point you in the right direction, so step up and serve. One or two people can't do it all. God's kingdom is big and it requires lots of workers. I grow weary of hearing people say that they have served their time years ago, or that they served when their children were little or they aren't gifted as teachers and so on. God didn't say you could take a break. Jesus never took a break in His ministry--not until He died.on the cross. Jesus's disciples were fisherman, tax collectors and so on. They probably didn't think they were gifted teachers, but they followed and they gave willingly. Read God's word, really read it. See what God is saying and notice what Jesus was doing. That's how we are to live. I have a passion for God's creation--humanity. I want everyone to know of His love. I will not sit on the sidelines and watch. I will not judge others or try to determine who really needs what, I will give to the "least of these". I will not cast stones at others because I am not without sin. I will serve and I will always be in action until His kingdom comes for all mankind. I long for the beauty of His kingdom.
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