What do we do while we’re waiting for the fullness of the kingdom?
It was constantly startling for people to realize that, no matter how badly they understood God’s plan (and acted on that misunderstanding), God was always there waiting for them on the other end of history, ready to see God’s plan through God’s way, no matter the timeline the people might have imagined. The prophet Isaiah gives voice to the comfort God offers to God’s people: speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end. Their return home will be triumphal, with valleys filled and mountains made low, so that the glory of the Lord might be revealed. The people of Israel are ready to be restored to their own land, and to recognize the power of the Lord God in their midst, a power that is given expression, as Psalm 85 assures us, in the form of God’s kindness and truth and justice enveloping the people completely. They must open, however, and listen: I will hear what God proclaims, the psalmist says. Openness to the Lord is essential to restoration, and to salvation.
John the Baptist would similarly assure the people of his time of the imminent coming of the Messiah: One mightier than I is coming after me; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, John proclaims in Mark’s Gospel. How can the people prepare the way of the Lord? They must open themselves to God, letting go of all that stands in the way of his coming, all that might obstruct their view. The people, who have hoped for a Messiah, can start with a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, for sin is precisely what keeps us from being open to the Lord. And long after Jesus’ death and rising, the early Christian community still struggled; this time, it was the Lord’s second coming that they longed for. No one knows when that day will come, the Second Letter of Peter reminds them, for the day of the Lord will come like a thief. To prepare, they must conduct themselves in holiness and devotion, living for the promise that is theirs.
Like the people of Peter’s time, we are not yet ready for the fullness of the kingdom, but how we behave in this life is an expression of our participation in that kingdom here and now. We too await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. But we need not worry, for the Lord is patient with us, and God will see God’s plan through when we are ready, when we are all, as one, fully open to his love. Then, kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss, for all will be joined in that eternal, perfect union – without obstacles or barriers – that is heaven.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
Thought provoking. Thank you.
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