Kingdom Rising

I recently read an article about the mother of a newborn who'd called 911 because she was unable to feed her child. She was a breast-feeding mom caught off guard when her milk suddenly dried up at 2 AM. She drove around looking for formula but could not find a store that was open. She dialed 911, and a local police officer responded by going to a nearby grocery store, banging on the door until someone inside answered, purchasing some formula with his own money, and delivering it to her front door. He refused recompense, and says, "It wasn't a long conversation, as the woman had a hungry baby to feed." What a feel-good story, right? Well, if I'm being completely honest, my first response was, "911? Really?" But common sense and the Holy Spirit prevailed. What if...? What if that had happened to me so many years ago? I've certainly been alone. I've frantically searched for a private place to nurse a screaming infant. I've needed the help of a total stranger. I've taken desperate measures to protect and provide for my children.

This world needs Jesus...

...and His people. Matthew 6:10, part of what we call The Lord's Prayer, says, "Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." You wanna tell me how that's supposed to happen if God's people aren't praying for it, working for it, serving for it, loving for it, fighting for it? Sure, God could speak it so, but we, the Church, are given the opportunity to obey His commands, be salt and light, and partner with Him in this mission to the masses. This is a privilege!

In one of Jesus' Kingdom Parables, He tells us the Kingdom of God or, in Matthew, the Kingdom of Heaven (Jesus appears to use them interchangeably; but some commentaries intimate a difference, suggesting the Kingdom of God is the overarching plan for individuals, the righteousness and holiness of Christ, and the Kingdom of Heaven is the final reign, the kingdom Christ will establish on earth. Either way, if you're not part of the Kingdom of God, you won't see the Kingdom of Heaven, so let's leave that debate alone.) --Where was I? Oh, yes, the Kingdom of God is like yeast: a tiny bit will cause the entire lump of dough to rise. Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God as it works and expands in and through His people. It begins in a single moment, a humble cry to God, and a life begins to change. The individual goes from doing whatever they want to questioning their goals and actions; they move from this to seeking godly counsel and following that counsel; they move from this to radically serving the Lord; on and on it goes. Others witness this unique and profound transformation; or the individual, so overcome by what God is doing, gives credit to God publicly; or the individual finds themselves compelled to "share the wealth," so to speak, and the lives of others are touched by their service and kindness. The individual has changed, the world around the individual has changed, and people become witnesses to and beneficiaries of the glory of the Kingdom of God. In God's economy, the smallest things He gives us to do are multiplied and, as with microscopic cells of yeast, the whole lump is affected.

Imagine that poor mother, her lack never greater, the night never darker, her situation never more hopeless. Without the officer, the mother had nothing to give her child. And the child, so small and new to this world, its body aching with hunger and its only source of comfort frantic with concern; without the mother, the child had nothing to nourish its body or spirit. This world requires agents of change, those with serving and sustaining those without. The yeast of the Kingdom of God is what we have to give; even a small amount, worked into the dough of others' lives --a smile, a tract, a small donation, a helping hand, a word of encouragement, a generous tip, an open umbrella, an invitation to church --will cause the whole to rise. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. How are your words, your actions affecting the world today? As an ambassador of the Kingdom of God, how are the people with whom you interact gaining an accurate representation of our King? What are you doing to cause others to rise?