Friday, May 4, 2018
Kingdom footprint
Luke 10:9
And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
The primary task that we have is to take the Kingdom of God near to those who are outside of it. Over the centuries a variety of means and methods have been developed and deployed to achieve this objective of taking the Kingdom near to people.
Reasonably, some centuries ago, when the global footprint of the Gospel was much smaller than it is today, Christians naturally saw travel to far places as a basic component of taking the Kingdom near. It was a very simple matter of Geography, you travelled far to take the Kingdom near.
There are two things we should digress to acknowledge. The first is that, over the centuries, not every effort to take the Kingdom near were efforts that we could be proud of today. Many atrocities were perpetrated in the name of taking the Kingdom of God to people. The second is that there are still places on the earth today where the Gospel of the Kingdom has not reached. The latter might seem strange to some in an age of so much travel, and so much communications technology.
Today, the global footprint of the Kingdom message continues to expand in response to what is known as the Great Commission. “Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”” Matthew 28:18-20.
Geography is necessary for any kingdom worth its salt. Just look at your history and be reminded of the expansion of all of the kingdoms and empires of the past. Today, kingdoms are struggling to hold on to the last vestiges of royal rule and the idea of geographic expansion is out of the question. Even the British Empire, which still manages to captivate the world’s attention, is constantly losing territory instead of gaining. And where there are countries still under the rule of Queen Elizabeth II, that rule is exclusively ceremonial as the countries run themselves.
There is, however, a sense in which the idea of the Kingdom of God is not a matter merely about geography. Jesus tried to settle this question in the mind of Pontus Pilate when He said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” John 18:36. So, we must go beyond geography.
In the passage, Luke 10:1-9, Jesus establishes that we must first go, geography, then we must provide healing to those in the places we have reached. Healing establishes the presence of the kingdom among the people. “And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” Luke 10:9
Of course, we have traditionally taken healing to be applicable to physical illness only. Today we are recognising that all around us people are sick. We are learning to acknowledge sickness as more than just physical ailments and apply it to the larger human and social condition. People are sick, society is sick, and some of us sharing this devotional today are sick. We’re sick in body, sick in mind, sick in spirit, and all of us live in sick social conditions.
For obvious reasons, we have been obsessed with the physical sicknesses. These are very important; every sick person wants to get well and every person who has a sick loved one want them to get well too. We travel many miles and spend as much as we can to secure our physical wellbeing. But times have changed and mental health, for example, now gets as much attention, or more, than physical ailments.
There is a song, or part of the song, that we often sing at our church during the prayer time especially when we are praying for the sick, ‘There is healing in this house.’ There are a few variations in the lyrics but I haven’t been able to track down the lyricist yet. It goes like this –
“There is healing in this house / healing in this house / manifested peace to calm / your troubled heart with healing balm / there’s healing in this house. There’s restoration in this place / there is mercy, there is grace / and though you’re heavy laden come / bring your burdens one by one / and leave them here where they belong / for there is healing in this house”
It struck me that there is no mention of physical sickness or disabilities in the lyrics. The song speaks directly to the healing that is available for wounds and disabilities of the mind and spirit. We have a responsibility, as the people of God, to recognise that there is a desperate need for healing in our homes and families, in our neighbourhoods and communities, and among our church members and followers.
Sicknesses of every kind have hamstrung people all around us. They may be in a geographic space where the news of the Kingdom of God is available, but the Kingdom of God has not yet truly come near them because they continue to struggle in sickness.
We have to get up and minister, within and without the church, to afflicted people and to a sickened society and world. We have to share the dynamic life-changing Gospel of Jesus in order for them to be healed and to bring the Kingdom near them.
Think on these things:
- When last did you make time to visit and pray for someone who is sick?
- Does your church have a ministry of visitation to hospitals or other places when people are unwell or infirm?
- Have you detected any behaviours in people around which might suggest that they are unwell in mind or spirit?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would have the ability to see sickness of every kind and to provide the ministry of healing.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex