What Jesus calls "the kingdom of God" (in NT Greek, basiliea: realm or dominion) is also referred to in Matthew's gospel as "the kingdom of the heavens." This is a realm that can be seen and entered into, according to Jesus.
What were some of our understandings of what the "kingdom of God" is?
--"us"
--"God-with-us"
--anywhere, everywhere where God is ("There is nowhere where God is not")
--everyplace where God's will is being done
--after death
--"My Father's House" (with lots of room!)
--the kin-dom
--Fulfillment
--all-encompassing
--community of God ; com (with) -unity (together)
At the outset of his ministry, Jesus announces: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent, and believe the good news." Jesus statement is not future-tense: the kingdom has already come. Those who believe that will live their lives differently.
We reflected on the substance of Jesus' interaction with the Pharisee Nicodemus in John Chapter 3. where he says that "no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Later, he says that "no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the spirit." He adds that " the wind (of the spirit) blows where it will." It is God's initiative.
What might the kingdom of God look like to us?
--"like the Shared Table"
--neighborliness
--inclusivity (when you can see the realm you are then able to do it!)
To see and enter the kingdom profoundly impacts how we see and experience life right now.
When we see and enter God's realm we are also freed to "receive" it and offer hospitality. We begin to see and perceive others in our lives as bearers of God's gifts.
We are constantly being taught.
We meet death in different way.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Friday, March 6, 2015
Some More Salvation!
Over the course of two discussions we put together something of a list of what we understand "salvation" to be. The list has included:
--being saved/delivered
--a better life after death
--"safety net" that is always there
--never ending love
--release from the fear of death (a profound comfort!)
--peace
--grace, gift
--tender mercy
--love to share with others
--seeing others with the eyes of mercy
--that which frees us to fully become ourselves
-- realizing God's network of life and our place in it!
We discussed being "saved from sin." We talked about "sin" as manifestations of distance--separation from God's will, from each other (ruptures of human relationship and oneness), from parts of ourselves.
Salvation, then, can be:
--deliverance from loneliness and isolation
--liberation from all that would imprison us
--becoming "touchable" (including touching the neglected and exiled parts of ourselves)
--being tended to
--the experience of being loved (we are never separated from God's love)
--the "breathing of fresh air"
having our invigorated lives and relationships be the breath of fresh air!
--communion with God who exists beyond every "ending," and whose realm is greater than all of our perceptions. Here we are speaking of God's eternal nature.
What else would you add?
In revisiting the meaning of the verb sozo, "to save," we explored further how salvation is a healing power, one manifested not only in the future but in the "here-and-now." All of Jesus' saving actions were in the present-tense, even as they offered promise for transformed living in the future.
Hearkening back to Old Testament, we were reminded that in the Hebrew Scriptures salvation is communal more than individual. God's people are delivered, not just individual persons. How is the salvation we realize through Jesus communal and "in-common?"
--being saved/delivered
--a better life after death
--"safety net" that is always there
--never ending love
--release from the fear of death (a profound comfort!)
--peace
--grace, gift
--tender mercy
--love to share with others
--seeing others with the eyes of mercy
--that which frees us to fully become ourselves
-- realizing God's network of life and our place in it!
We discussed being "saved from sin." We talked about "sin" as manifestations of distance--separation from God's will, from each other (ruptures of human relationship and oneness), from parts of ourselves.
Salvation, then, can be:
--deliverance from loneliness and isolation
--liberation from all that would imprison us
--becoming "touchable" (including touching the neglected and exiled parts of ourselves)
--being tended to
--the experience of being loved (we are never separated from God's love)
--the "breathing of fresh air"
having our invigorated lives and relationships be the breath of fresh air!
--communion with God who exists beyond every "ending," and whose realm is greater than all of our perceptions. Here we are speaking of God's eternal nature.
What else would you add?
In revisiting the meaning of the verb sozo, "to save," we explored further how salvation is a healing power, one manifested not only in the future but in the "here-and-now." All of Jesus' saving actions were in the present-tense, even as they offered promise for transformed living in the future.
Hearkening back to Old Testament, we were reminded that in the Hebrew Scriptures salvation is communal more than individual. God's people are delivered, not just individual persons. How is the salvation we realize through Jesus communal and "in-common?"
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)