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and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come. Jesus ends his sermon by saying that these things are happening now, that God’s kingdom has come, on earth as it is in heaven with God’s incarnate ministry on earth in flesh and blood. This was God’s mission through Jesus and as Christ’s followers who comprise the body of Christ, I believe we are compelled by God’s Spirit to join in this kingdom work, shoulder to shoulder with God.
Now some of you are saying, yes Brian, but they tried to kill Jesus after this sermon! True, but whoever said joining God’s kingdom work was easy? In these days in which we live, where civility is evaporating, fellow human beings are all too often objectified and devalued, racial tensions are high, economic inequity abounds, the list could go on, it seems that the local church is needed more than ever. But this church will need to be agile, able to follow the God we serve who is hard to pin down. You see, it seems that God is always moving ahead of us. Just ask the women at the tomb in Luke’s gospel. I believe God is always moving forward in our world and standing in solidarity with the most marginalized people, going to the darkest places and bringing light, and ultimately working to reconcile all of creation, as the Apostle Paul states. Our challenge as the church and individual followers of Jesus is to “fear not” and boldly seek God wherever we find God at work and join in the hard, yet meaningful work of realizing God’s kingdom today. There will be push back from many sources along this journey, but that’s a good thing; it means we are following Jesus.
Churchnet stands ready to help churches and individuals engage the world and help locate God at work in their neighborhoods, both local and global. I’m excited for the future God has for us. I’d be glad to talk with you about our collaborative ministry and how we might partner.
And if in the future we find ourselves sitting next to one another on a flight, I’ll introduce myself as the Executive Director of Churchnet and we will have a delightful conversation.