Shoots of the Kingdom

Jane Denniston March 19, 2019 0 1

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Luke 13: 31-35

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ 32 He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33 Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” 34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”’

We might well want to despair as we look at the world today. Where is the Kingdom of God in a world where the rich are obscenely rich, the poor are obscenely poor, and those with the power to change that fact, care more about the good opinion of the rich than the plight of the poor? Where is the Kingdom of God when the good efforts of one government to bring greater equality, and help to the helpless, are undone by the next? Where is the Kingdom of God when selfishness has replaced responsibility and self-gratification has replaced care for others? Where is the Kingdom of God? 

This passage suggests that the Kingdom of God is right there, in the midst of the struggle to establish justice. Jesus is determined to go on with his ministry in spite of the efforts to crush it out. He calls us to follow him in that mission.

Dear Lord,
help us not to lose heart
or despair
as we consider the world today.

Help us to remember
how you wept over Jerusalem,
how you longed to gather
the abandoned and helpless
the desperate and hopeless
the wretched and hapless
under your wings.

Help us to remember
that you love us
with a mother’s love;
that you will fight to the end
that your Kingdom might come.
Help us to remember,
and to join in
in your care for the world
that your Kingdom might indeed come.
Amen.