Being Part of God’s Movement

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Matthew 5:8

Dear Friends,

On Sunday, we heard the story from Luke 10 about how Jesus sent out 72 followers to go in pairs to villages where he intended to go. The instructions were easy:

1. Say, “Peace to this house.”

2. Stay there and eat what they serve you.

3. Heal and help those in need.

4. Tell them, “The kingdom of God has come near.”

5. (Shake the dust off your shoes if you are not welcomed and still proclaim, “The kingdom of God has come near.”

   
   

As people who are seeking to live the way Jesus teaches us to live, then the obvious connection for us is that we are called to be emissaries (messengers) for God to spread peace and invite people to experience and live life as part of the kingdom of God.

As I continue to ponder this (even while I was preaching about this on Sunday), it occurs to me as a very arrogant thing to do… to go out and proclaim, “The kingdom of God has come near.” Who am I to believe and assume that where I go, the kingdom of God is present?

If it is Jesus going around doing and saying it, I get it. Jesus was the son of God. We believe Jesus was sinless. Jesus operated purely out of agape (unconditional) love. I KNOW that that does not describe me. I can be selfish. I like to “look good” in front of others. I often have “hidden agendas” where I hope to get things for myself out of interactions with other people. I often do things (or don’t do things) out of fear. My ego loves to run my life and I KNOW that my heart is not pure. Who am I to proclaim, “The kingdom of God has come near”?

But then… maybe the 72 weren’t all that different from me… We all tend to have egos that get in the way of allowing our true selves to be present. Those 72 probably had their own egos that they had to contend with. They probably had their own hidden agendas that wanted to be at work in interactions with others. BUT JESUS SENT THEM ANYWAY!

Maybe the requirement to be a messenger of God’s kingdom is NOT purity of heart. Maybe it is a willingness to trust God and to have the intention to serve God. I know that if I waited until “my heart was pure” to go to seminary or to become a pastor or even preach, I would never have done any of those things. I just trusted that God was calling and equipping me to be a servant in this capacity. As I kept stepping into being a servant of God, sure enough, my ego would get in the way. But as I kept trying on being a pastor (praying, leading worship, visiting, preaching, teaching) and reflecting on what I did, I got better and better at disempowering my ego. Now, I’ve gotten better at noticing when my ego is trying to run the show and to just tell it, Thanks for sharing! and then to refocus on what the loving, serving, necessary thing to do in the moment is. (Sorry about that grammar!).

The bottom line is that the Bible is full of all kinds of imperfect people that God used to bring love and hope into the world.

I invite you to make a commitment to God to “be of service” and then to start putting it into practice. Don’t wait until your heart is pure. Get in action, work on getting yourself out of the way, and watch how God purifies your heart… and you will see God!

P.S. Remember that Jesus sent them out in pairs… Don’t forget to find a partner!

Peace,

Pastor Phil