Faith in the Kingdom

Not that anyone reads my blog, but, those who have stumbled upon it, my apologies for taking so long to add a post.

I thought I might share this, it’s something I wrote in a forum post on Beliefnet.com, I might as well also offer it here:

On a personal note, the now-and-yet-to-be kingdom means that right now there is a God active and working in the world. It means that there is a God whose faithfulness to people means that He is continually working, making and creating in me the kind of person that doesn’t just proclaim the kingdom, but lives there.

Because as I move and live and breathe in this world I am a faltering person who continually makes mistakes. As we all do. That He is relentless in His mercy, and unwavering in His devotion and infinite in His goodness toward me, that I can have the sort of confidence to live boldly. Not the sort of boldness with a chest puffed out, but the confident boldness to know that even as I may take two steps back, He won’t let me be out and about on my own. He won’t let or leave me be.

As someone who has often been let down by people, and who struggles to figure out my place in life and this world, to know that there is always ground beneath my feet, hands to catch me, and a God to hold onto me means there is always a tomorrow which I can wake up to.

And despite some people’s protestations, that’s exactly the sort of God I always read about in the writings of St. Paul. That there is this unrelenting love that refuses to abandon anyone, profound in every way, that can embrace and accept the worst of us, the least of us, and the smallest of us.

To discover the strength in weakness, light in darkness, hope in despair, wisdom in  foolishness, and grace in the most unforgiving corners of this world. That’s what it means to me to look upon the cross, and to understand the Man who died upon that cross–who I now call Lord and King. Not only of my own little Jon world, but even the entire world.

That the Crucified Man of Golgotha is truly Lord in whom all things subsist, that the powerful could not best Him, that death could not hold Him, neither could the grave contain Him, that where hate and murder and violence and wonton evil seems to prevail in fact does not. This is the kingdom of God. That a wreath of thorns would be the King’s true crown, and a crucifix His throne. That a coronation took place in open secret, a peculiar majesty shown through frail body and bloody brow.

That it is not the rich man who is lord, but the poor man. It is not the might of sword, nor thunder of chariots; it is not the cannon or the gun, the armies and their generals, it is not kings and potentates, or presidents and despots who are victorious. Neither nation nor empire, neither pomp or splendor, but rather the Man of Nazareth and those He represents who are the victors.

This is the kingdom of God.

That it is not wealth or fame or power that is true greatness. It is not the CEO in his lofty office who has success.

That all these temporal, empty, hollow things are void of substance.

Truly, He says, the prostitutes are reaching the kingdom ahead of us.

This requires a certain kind of faith, the kind of faith that already believes though it has not seen, like the centurion who had every confidence that the Lord merely said the word and His servant was healed.

But so few of us have it. Our confidence is found in the vain things of life, and we imagine success and greatness in things that will be consumed by moths and wind up as dust.

It is not our empires–whether political or otherwise–that shall endure. But love, mercy, forgiveness, kindness, joy, charity, and good will toward others. These things are real. Money, power, and empires are not real.

This is faith in the kingdom of God.

It is not in the things we see, but in the things we hope for.

I believe that Christ died, Christ is risen and Christ is coming again, and so I have hope in a world made in the image of Christ, where dead bones will walk again, where every sword will be made a plowshare and ever spear a pruning hook. A conviction for a kingdom where death has been put away and hell forgotten. Where neither mourning or sadness can be found, for in their stead a overflowing bounty of joy and laughter among all. For I believe this is the will of God. And so in that conviction of God’s tomorrow, I believe so strongly that I can step into this world of today in that unwavering truth.

I can lose my faith in guns and guillotines, and open myself up to world that is absent of both. A world filled with God.

This is the kingdom of God

Obama is President. Jesus Christ is Lord.

Like many of you who may end up reading this, I’m glad that Barak Obama won this election. I didn’t vote, I chose not to vote, I voted to not vote; nonetheless I liked Obama more than McCain.

With that said, we need to be very careful to remember that the Christian call to radical discipleship and to be members of Christ’s own body puts us into that place where we choose Christ over Caesar. Always. Jesus is always Lord, always King of the Kingdom. We need to remember that America is still America, America is still a State–that temporal entity of imperial power. The Church must always remain not only non-partisan, but trans-national. We cannot recognize the validity of the stately powers, to do so is not only to divide the Body of Christ along international borders, but to cut ourselves off from our neighbors.

We cannot, we must not, we must forbid ourselves the temptation to pledge allegiance to America’s flag–or any flag.

Yahweh Nissi, the Lord is our banner. Christos Kurios, Christ is Lord.

We are but poor beggars. We are only pilgrims. Amen.

Ministering to…

So… what is the responsibility of the Church to minister to people like “Crazy Tracy”? How do we reach out to them with the Gospel?

Eucharistic Challenge?

So, apparently since that student took a Eucharistic host from church and certain American Catholic big boys got really upset about it’s become really popular to now post videos of desecrating the host. Here’s an example:

Listen, I can understand some little adolescent kids doing this, because that’s the kind of thing they do. But when adults start acting this way, that’s just sad.

What I suppose bothers me even more is that the whole point here is to piss people off, and when they do, mission accomplished. You’ve succeeded in pissing people off and proving to yourself that these people “must” all be morons and fanatics. Congratulations, you’ve succeeded in acting like a bigot splendidly. For your next challenge, perhaps you could walk up to a group of African Americans wearing “black face” makeup and talk about how much you just love grape soda and watermelon, and when you’ve offended some people, you can convince yourself of just how “fanatical” those “negroes” are.

Good job, no really, pat yourselves on the back. You’ve fucking earned it man.

With that said, for any Christians (Catholic or otherwise) who may come across this, here’s some advice. Yes, what they are doing is bigoted and juvenile, it’s offensive and stupid. But don’t degrade yourself by allowing it to bother you into a spitting match. Don’t. Don’t try to argue, don’t debate. Kick the dust off your sandals and just let it go. You can’t win this by responding to it. Love your neighbor, and forgive those who spit in your face. You win a greater victory by imitating Christ here than by responding to juvenile vitriol with indignation and anger.

Paula White

You know, for a crazy heretical preacher, Paula White sure is hot. Yeah, I know, this is probably the most spiritual thing I’ve ever posted.

EDIT: Apparently the video above ain’t working. Click here.