Sunday, March 04, 2007

the kingdom "experiment" continues

Another week of the "experiment" has gone by with yet another super sermon by Matt Massey but not so good material from the Kingdom Experiment itself. Massey's sermon used the following from Matthew 10 as a springboard.

"... proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay."

Now that's powerful stuff - far above the social gospel often taught as being the Kingdom of God. I suspect the reason that the common teaching falls short of Jesus' command is (1) because of the popular but un-Biblical teaching that these things have ceased and (2) because of the mismatch between the Biblical record and our personal experience.

The second leads to the focus of what Massey spoke on, that is, we receive and we give. When we read this, our teaching is on giving. One would be hard pressed to find teaching focussed on receiving from God. We too often miss that the most important thing about us is that we are the Beloved of God. The emphasis is not on us or our action but on God and what He has done and is doing.

When we receive Him, He made us to become His children (Jn 1.12). This is not something we approach in a transactional manner, i.e., we do not barter with God. The difference here is the difference between earning and effort. We do not earn God's affection but because we are His, we give all our effort toward obedience. And finally, there is no end or cap to what we can receive. The glory of the Kingdom is beyond our comprehension and the King is able to meet all of our needs.

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