Lenten Devotion – Day 16

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Today’s Scripture: Luke 13:22-30

"Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able…. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:24, 29)

“Listen carefully: Recognizing God is not the same as coming to Him. Hearing God in your heart is not the same as answering. Working for the kingdom of God does not mean living in the kingdom of God. Christianity is not believing the truths of the Bible; it's acting upon them and allowing God control of your life. You must respond to God and make the choice to interact personally with Him.” ― Henry T. Blackaby, Experiencing the Spirit: The Power of Pentecost Every Day

  Despite the way many Christians portray it, Christianity is a very difficult faith to live on a daily basis. Many believe if they simply belong to the right denomination or follow the correct faith traditions, doctrines or spiritual practices they will certainly become citizens of the kingdom.

  The effect of all this leaves Christians wondering what is the true way to God. Many people wonder do these Christians have it all worked out, at least, they claim they do. Some Christians are absolutely certain that they know the path that leads to God, they are absolutely certain they are on that path, and they are absolutely certain everyone else is wrong.

  The problem lies in the fact that we human beings are always seeking and believing that there must be a clear and certain way. We desire clarity about life. We want to know, what is the right way and what is the wrong way, because we are extremely uncomfortable living the ambiguous, uncertain, and hazy lives we all live. We want to find the perspective that clears up all the murky spaces and tells us what to do without our needing to struggle or think for ourselves.

  When it come to our faith and following Jesus there is a severe problem because Jesus’ way does not necessarily lead to clarity and certainty. Jesus tells us to “strive to enter through the narrow door.” Jesus declared that entry to the kingdom can never be automatic, but is the result of a struggle and striving first for the kingdom. Jesus tells us, “Keep on striving to enter.” The word for striving is the word from which the English word agony is derived. The struggle to enter in must be so intense that it can be described as an agony of soul and spirit.

  We run the danger, that, once we have made a commitment to Jesus Christ, we have reached the end of the road and can as it were, set back and relax, as if we had achieved the kingdom. There is no such finality in the Christian life. We must always either be going forward or necessarily we start to slip backward. For the life of a disciple of Jesus is ever an upward and onward way.

The narrow path we are invited to enter and walk is both an individual and a communal one. The decision to enter the door and walk the path is ultimately ours to make, but at the same time it must be shared with others. We need others to help us stay on our path. While, at the same time ours is a path that requires us to struggle with our own particular torments and desires. We need the wisdom and support of others who are also walking their narrow paths, but at the same time our particular and unique path winds in different directions.

Lenten Devotion – Day 11

Monday, March 2, 2015

Today’ Scripture: Mark 10:13-16 and Mark 9:33-37

"Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10:14-15)

“Real success in the kingdom of God is not about being strong and looking good and knowing all the right answers. It's about continually yielding oneself to Jesus and determining to take purposeful little steps of obedience, and the ragged reality that it's all about God and His grace at work in us.” ― Mary Beth Chapman, Choosing to SEE

  When we read scripture passages about the Kingdom of God, we often see the words, “belong,” “receive,” and “enter.” In the scripture reading for today, we see the use of all three of these words as Jesus compares, belong, receive and enter the kingdom with the attributes of a child, least in the society, obedient, playfulness, and trusting behavior.

  Rabbis of Jesus time used the expression, “to take upon oneself the Kingdom of God” which they meant the scrupulous observance of the Torah. Jesus was comparing this expression, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it," (10:15) that to enter the kingdom of God is something other than scrupulous observance of the Torah.

  Jesus announced God’s kingdom coming as a gift and as an experience into which, if they have the receptiveness of a child, individuals may enter here and now. The comparison is not so much the innocence, humility or obedience of children; it is rather the fact that children are at ease, receptive, and content to be dependent upon others’ care and bounty. Though this is not the only comparison which can be understood in this passage about children and the kingdom. In Mark, this is the first time Jesus directly associates the kingdom of God with little children.

  Mark 10:13-16 must be seen in light of Mark 9:33-37 and that both of these references to a child build not primarily on assumed characteristics of children but rather on their social status in the first-century world. Using children as a comparison to the kingdom because the disciples attempt to chase the children away, Jesus is speaking of those marginalized and dominated in society, like women, the poor, the unclean and children. The child was the “least” in familial and societal structures. Jesus was inviting his disciples into a new reality of community and family, where the “least” becomes the model for discipleship where the disciple takes up the powerlessness and vulnerability of the child.

  The kingdom of God is something that has been given. While God’s kingdom can “belong” to the children as something already possessed, it is also described as a gift that awaits our possessing. It will be inherited. The meek, Jesus said, “will inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). Paul in turn speaks of those who “will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 6:9-10; 15:50; Gal. 5:20; Eph. 5:5)

  In addition to being a gift, the kingdom of God is equally a realm one enters. Here the imagery is quite different, for the kingdom of God is cast as a domain into which one moves. It meets everyone with God’s welcome in Jesus’ invitation.