The Kingdom of God is at Hand

Spirit Soundings: “The Kingdom of God is at Hand”, Matthew 10:7 
Ruth Faith Santana-Grace, February 14, 2014
 

In a brief conversation with one of our younger pastors this week, I was reminded of a simple Gospel truth – “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” He is right! It is true – the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is all around us – but sometimes we just don’t see it. Should you ask my friends, they would tell you I am no Pollyanna. On the contrary, I am a realist. At the same time they would tell you that I deeply believe that should we open our eyes; that should we take the time to look up; that should we attend in new ways to the sounds around us – that indeed we would see and perhaps, even recognize the kingdom of God in our midst.

I say this as I have been guilty of living into the temptation of looking at the white ground around me, feeling confined and a bit isolated. The reality of husband and dog being 3,000 miles away coupled with the weather and lack of sun has finally impacted me. This is no fun – my little California car and I are really trying to get around but the weather has made it more like a “Survivor – Philadelphia Edition” than a romantic adventure to a new land. I know – I am whining a bit, but it’s only because I caught myself! I caught myself being tempted to not look up; to not attend to the gifts and abundance around me. I have been tempted to allow myself to focus on the “not-any-longer-so-lovely” white snow instead of the abundance of reasons that have brought me here to live, laugh, cry, play and serve among and with you.

You are that reason – faces and names I know and those I have yet to even meet. Over the past few months and now in my brief start-up time with you, I have experienced you – the saints of the Presbytery of Philadelphia – as open to newness (even while being proud of a 300-year heritage). I have experienced you as hopeful for our life and future together (even while understanding we must address some significant challenges). I have experienced you as embracing and welcoming (in spite of rumors to the contrary). In essence, I have already begun to experience the kingdom of God and its abundance of grace through you.

We have stood on one side of the Jordan and we have both taken not-insignificant steps to embark upon a new land – a place that is rich with divine promise, while simultaneously being humanly imperfect. But even as I embrace this moment, I am aware that the journeys of our pasts have been checkered with a history and memory of some distrust and pain. And the thing about distrust and pain is that at first it can be a signal to make things better; to make us struggle to make right that which is broken between us as children of God and between us and God. It presses us to be accountable to the challenge of stepping up and speaking out like Esther, at a “time such as this.” They can shape us into fierce advocates for kingdom values. But distrust and pain that is left to fester will also become toxic and live for the sake of itself, creating a cancer–like-growth that impedes the health of all that is possible and even good in that same body. My experience has taught me that this occurs when the pain we carry is so deep, so unhealed – that we can not see where the abundance of God’s grace is at work, even when that grace is right before us. For me, it has been reflected in those moments when I have been unable to look up, see or identify positive movement or hope because the pain or disappointment becomes so familiar, there is almost a paralyzing comfort in it. At those moments, it has defined a part of me in ways that do not reflect the resurrection and Gospel hope I so claim to believe. It’s frankly not very kingdom-like.

As I stood with you at our last presbytery meeting as your still EP-Elect, I noticed something remarkable – something “kingdom-like.” The leadership of this presbytery reflects a healthy mosaic of the church of Jesus Christ in our midst. I saw a tapestry of leadership made up of different cultures, races and genders. This was however not coming from some orchestrated effort – as sometimes we do when filling committee slots. No, I believe this has come into being organically because of the work you have all done over the past few years. This has come into being because you have been open to God leading you in new ways. This may seem insignificant to some, but as one who has been engaged at national levels – it is not. You have made bold and courageous statements about your commitment to build “a culture of trust” and to continue the work of healing and building.

But what has however struck me most as I have begun conversations with various leaders of our presbytery, is that to a person – I have experienced an unbridled energy for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the relevance of that good news for the world in which we live. Friends, the Kingdom of God is at hand – there are some wonderful things happening in our ministries and churches. Moving forward, it is my hope we can make those stories known to the rest of the body – in our regions and in the larger presbytery. These stories are an important part of our narrative – to be shared and celebrated. For when one part of our body celebrates health and joy, that health and joy becomes contagious – spreading to the rest of us.

So as I think about moving forward, as I think about the temptations that cause our spirits to be held captive, I trust that we will not be defined by the pain of the past. Because the truth is we are much more than our pain. Our identity as individuals and as a larger community of faith is ultimately defined by “who we are- because of whose we are.”

So may we together look up; may we attend in new ways to the sounds around us – so that we might both recognize and reflect the presence of the kingdom and the hope of the Gospel in everything we do – in our homes, in our congregations, in our ministries, and in our presbytery. Consider the alternative – we might miss the abundance of God’s grace right there before us – for the truth is – “the Kingdom of God is at hand.”