Pages

Monday, January 24, 2011

Change for a Dollar

The Kingdom of God is a crazy thing. It's mind-blowing, really.

In the Old Testament, there are promises proclaimed over and over that the Kingdom of God is COMING. Then Jesus shows up and announces that the Kingdom of God is HERE. But even after that, Jesus talks a lot about what will happen when the Kingdom of God comes LATER, which means it's not fully here yet. So...

It's coming, it's here, and it's not yet = say whaaa?

Jesus lived in the reality of all three of those things...the expectation of the coming, the joy of the here now, and the hope of the not yet. When he encountered people who desperately needed the Kingdom to come in their lives, He reached in and touched them and gave them a huge dose of it. Sometimes He healed people, sometimes He got rid of their demons, and sometimes He just showed them they were worth sharing a meal and a conversation with. But no matter how He shared the Kingdom, it always brought joy to the people experiencing it.

My brain could wrestle with this stuff for the rest of my life and I still won't really get it, but the cool thing is that we don't have to totally understand it to live it.

Two weeks ago, our church started a thing called "Change for a Dollar."  Basically, they put some buckets out every week and ask everyone to throw in a dollar. Then, they gather the money and wait to see what needs from the community come up. The beautiful thing, though, is it's not a church program that's run by the ministry staff. It's an "everybody gets to play" kind of thing. It's about all of us being in relationships with people who need the Kingdom to come in their lives. Any member of the Skyline family can call and say, "I know someone who needs...," then they get to deliver the money and spread a little Kingdom. I love that!

The first week, we helped a single mom get her car fixed so she could get herself and her kids where they needed to go without walking in -2 degree misery. This week, we helped a single mom with 7 kids and her disabled mother pay rent for another month.

The Kingdom came. And it brought joy.

And now my heart is stirred and my eyes are open, looking for opportunities to share the Kingdom that's already here and waiting anxiously for the day it comes FULLY. I can't even begin to imagine how super fantabulous it's going to be.

Bring it!


6 comments:

  1. I love you, Su! You're awesome and I miss you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Joy! I love you and miss you, too! We need a reunion dinner.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds awesome, in our communities, 40% of each community's giving goes back to the community to meet needs as the community decides-it's been an amazing experience so far-we go to give a bed & bedding to a couple sleeping on their floor and some much needed household items for a refugee family-looking forward to giving & sharing with those around us intentionally & creatively cas we bring God's Kingdom in Portland!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Joshon & Taylor! So exciting to hear about what's going on in Portland. That is one lucky city to have you guys there. Hope you're doing well and loving it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love it, too! I can't wait to hear the stories over the next few weeks.

    Thanks so much for stopping by, Julie!

    ReplyDelete