Tuesday January 21, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 4:17

From then onwards Jesus began his proclamation with the message, 'Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.'

Reflection

How close is your kingdom, O Lord?

Every day I wake to a where the innocent and even infants fall to outrageous fates of disease and hardship, where the curse of war and the obscenity of hunger destroy whole societies.

We see it and pray in our sanctuaries, “they kingdom come,” often not knowing that it for these--the hungry, the broken, the forgotten that we are praying, not just for the grace of your nearness to rule in our hearts.

We pray for the world,  also little knowing that the kingdom is not far off culmination but a present reality in the midst of that broken world, a presence that is always near, always here, always waiting to be acknowledged and entered.

For the kingdom from heaven has come to earth and is present here.

It is not definable in geographic terms. It is not here or there. It is wherever you are, and you are near to all, but always as possibility, waiting to be acknowledged and received and entered.

The kingdom appears each time your justice and mercy is received so that it begins to transform human lives and relationships, cultures and societies.

Like a mustard seed, it seems small, but rooted in the soul of created life it grows into a great and beautiful tree giving shade and rest, coolness in the heart of the day, its leaves cleansing the foul air of human bitterness and discord.

The kingdom is wherever you are, Holy One, and you are here telling me once more to open my eyes and ears to see and hear the kingdom of your mercy and justice in the sounds of the day, beckoning me receive to enter once more.

Pr. David L. Miller