7 July 2016
Jesus puts a tremendous offer out there! “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand,” he says: The
sick will be cured; the dead will be raised; lepers will be cleansed; and
demons will be driven out. That’s a
pretty good deal. Who could possibly reject
it? I mean, who would say: “No, but thanks;
I’d rather not have the Kingdom of heaven.”
Well, Jesus knew that somebody would. A lot of people in our world today reject the
gospel and all that the Kingdom has to offer.
But why would they do that? My
guess is that there are a lot of different reasons why.
From the Prophet Hosea we’re reminded that sometimes—oftentimes,
God works in little, everyday ways; like a parent who does all the little
things that come with raising a child.
But does that child (even a grown child) recognize all those little things? No, not always. Maybe people reject the gospel because they
expect the Kingdom to be perpetually flashy and vibrant—something you can’t
miss. In reality, though, the Kingdom is
often in those little moments of mercy and kindness which are all too easily
overlooked.
Maybe some other people reject the Kingdom because the Church
herself sometimes fails to be an ambassador of that Kingdom. As hard as it is to admit, sometimes the
people of God can be hypocritical—clergy and laity alike. And who would want to be part of the Kingdom
of God if hypocrisy is part of it?
And I suspect some people in the world reject the Kingdom and
all it stands for because . . . well, maybe they just don’t want it. I’m sure we all know people who’re simply
content to be grumpy, or angry, or upset.
They don’t want the Kingdom; they don’t want to be at peace.
Jesus puts a tremendous offer out there . . . the Kingdom of
heaven: where there is genuine love, healing, the chasing away of demons, and
new life in abundance. It’s an offer
that’s too good to pass up. The Kingdom
of heaven is at hand! But it’s up to
each of us to either accept it, or reject it.
But who would reject it? Who
would reject it?
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