October 8th, 29

A DIFFERENT KIND OF KINGDOM

Today’s readings are Nehemiah 1-2, Psalm 133, and Luke 22.  We are reading from the New Living Translation.

The religious leaders that had gathered around Jesus were right.  They had heard what he said, and they didn’t need any more witnesses.  

“Why do we need other witnesses?” they said. “We ourselves heard him say it.” (Lk 22:71 NLT)

He was who he said he was.  But what and who he said he was, wasn’t what the religious leaders, Judas, Peter, or any of us really wanted.  Jesus couldn’t have made it any more clear.  Jesus said, I’m a king who has come to serve at the table, not to be served.  

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mk 10:45 NLT)

He said, if you want to be great in my kingdom, than you have to serve, and not just lord it over other people, like the kings of this world do.

But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, (Mk 10:43 NLT)

He couldn’t have been more clear.  But what he said, we don’t really desire, because our kingdoms run on a whole different eco-system.  We want to find our significance through our power, possessions, and position in life.  We want to succeed by becoming the greatest, not by becoming the least.  

God’s kingdom is not like ours. And as followers in his kingdom, we are to be servants, like Him.  But Jesus has prayed for us, just as he prayed for Peter.  Like Peter, we have the best intentions – but we lack the power to live as real servants of the King.  Like Peter, we say, we’ll go to the ends of the earth, we will do what we say, we’ll be the most loyal and devoted, but in the end we lack the power to live as servants of the king. But Jesus says this:  

But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:31 NLT)

I’ve prayed for you, that once you have been sifted, you will repent.  You’ll come to the end of yourself, and then you will strengthen your brothers by serving them, and showing them what it is to be a servant king in my kingdom.  You’ll strengthen them by offering them my strength, in and through you – you becoming less, me becoming more, in you.  

After we repent, may God grant us a new desire, to be those who come to serve, recognizing that He is great and that his greatness is best known through our weakness.

“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. (II Cor 12:9 NLT)

May God’s prayer be fully realized in our lives. Even though we are like Peter in so many ways, may we be how Peter was in the end, a servant of King Jesus – a citizen of the kingdom of Heaven.

You are loved!