Ordinary Time

Pause

What would our world look like if it were everything God intends? Peace, understanding, comfort, satisfaction, true abundance for everyone—everywhere?

Maybe something like that.

We might never see it in our lifetimes. But in the meantime, there is this place and this moment. The kingdom is keen to break in.

Listen

“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Matthew 13:51–52

Think

Jesus: “Got all that?” Disciples: “Yes!”

Skip ahead a bit in Matthew; you’ll find the disciples don’t understand everything. They want to send the crowds away hungry (14:15), they don’t want to help a Canaanite woman (15:23), and they don’t want to hear about Jesus’ crucifixion (17:23). Their lives prove that they need more practice at living out what they have heard.

Instead of scolding them, wise teacher that he is, Jesus describes their goal as students: this is what you’ll be able to do some day. You’ll be a “scribe trained for God’s kingdom,” able to reach into the treasure that God has given you and bring out what others need.

The kingdom is a place where God’s love is supreme. It may not look like much, but it grows like crazy, and gives us all a home and nourishment. It’s worth your whole life. God gave it to you so that you can give it to others.

Got all that? Go practice!

Richard Vinson

Pray

Lord, help me become someone who can help others find the kingdom. I'll begin practicing today. Amen.

Go

Maybe it’s not just a romantic notion. The kingdom comes in things that are very small, but that can become something great; something worth giving everything you have to be part of it.

The kingdom is something fine, worth more than we can imagine. And it is worth all the more when we share what we know about it, though we will never understand it completely.

Go now to give it all away.