At the last meeting of a bible study that I attended, the question came up about the return of Jesus. If so many in the bible thought it imminent, and yet it is 2,000 years later and He still hasn’t returned, why would we think that what is happening in the world would indicate that His return might happen in our lifetime? While my mind raced through all the reasons that our times are different from the past, I read Matthew 10:23 and Jesus totally changed my course of thinking! Matthew 10:23 says, ”I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of man comes.” I immediately got a picture of a head with a big open mouth. Out of the mouth came another big head with a big mouth and then another and another and another! It was one generation speaking forth the next and the next and the next – born of the Word – Life by the spoken Word. A thread from the great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 11 all the way through the 12 disciples of the first century church all the way to us today. This is the unity of men, the oneness of Man, of humanity that so pleases our Lord. This thread connects believers throughout history. Didn’t God tell the Israelites to tell the stories of what He did for them to their children and their children’s children. Didn’t God give the Israelites celebrations to remember important milestones like the parting of the Red Sea, the defeat of Haman, the oil that never ran out? It is important to recount our history with God, to be a thread that weaves God into our history, our story in the world’s history. To choose to be one with all believers may be a sacrifice of our individual prominence, but is a reflection of our trust of His great love for us, of the Father’s love for Jesus, that we are the benefactors of the greatest Love ever known.
God longs for children to be one as He and Jesus and Holy Spririt are one. This oneness takes trusting God that He knows where I end and you start. I am not the keeper of my boundaries. God is. It is the answer to “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done…” Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:11b, “…so that they may be one as we are one.” And in John 17:23, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” In Romans 12, Paul explains what living in the Spirit looks like. In verses 18 and 19 he says, ” If it is possible as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends but leave room for God’s wrath…” What does verse 18 have to do with verse 19? Forgiveness.
Our choice to forgive is a sign of our faith – faith in God’s active vindication of who we are and the deeds that come out of who He has made us to be. It’s all about how much God loves us. The love that flows out of our hearts is only as great as the love that we are able to receive from God. Do you want true love? Look today, Resurrection Sunday at the cross where God loved you so much that he gave his only begotten Son that if you will believe on Him you will be saved. Not only did He shed his blood and die on the cross, but He rose from the dead. You have a living God, a God more powerful than any other source of power including death. Jesus did not rise from the dead for His own sake. He did it for you. He did it for me. Lord, the cross is not a pretty picture. It shows us what You think of our straying from your ways, our sins are deadly. We thank you for doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. You save us from eternal death and give us eternal life in Your presence. There is no repaying You for such a generous gift. We receive it as a little child, no questions asked, just a heart full of joy. Now, Lord, thread us through to our next appointment. Amen.
