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"For I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
John 18:33-37
WELCOME TO JESUS' PLACE…
Every evening you and your family gather around the table in your kitchen for supper. The entrée might be some epicurean delight from the pages of Bon Appetit , but more often than not it's Chinese takeout or pizza from Domino's. As everyone digs in, the table buzzes with talk of tomorrow's soccer game, a crabby teacher, the latest fix-up project, the latest office crisis, a new knock-knock joke. Here at the kitchen table, parent and child give and receive encouragement, consolation, forgiveness, and love. Especially love. If there is one safe harbor on this earth, one secure, sheltered place, where you are always welcome no matter how badly you mess up, the family kitchen table is it. Your kitchen, the place where Christ rules.
A storm devastates a town; a fire reduces a neighborhood to burnt timber and ashes; an act of terrorism cuts a wide and bloody swath through a community. That's when they go to work: skilled medical professionals, tireless construction workers, patient and gifted counselors, compassionate volunteers. These dedicated souls work around the clock to care for the hurt and injured, rescue those in danger, help the traumatized cope, and begin the overwhelming work of rebuilding. By their very presence, these good people transform such devastation into the kingdom of Jesus.
The tired old downtown building has seen better days but no better use. The city's churches have worked together to turn the brick structure into a community center, a safe place where children can come to play basketball, receive tutoring, or just hang out after school. The well-stocked pantry provides for dozens of hungry families every week; a free clinic offers basic on-site medical care and referral services to the poor and uninsured. Its meeting rooms are always busy. The elderly have a place to go for companionship, and immigrants are taught how to master the language of their new homeland. In this austere brick building, Jesus reigns.
CONNECTION: The kingdom of Jesus is not found in the world's centers of power but within human hearts; it is built not by deals among the power elite but by compassionate hands; Christ reigns neither by influence nor wealth, but by generosity and justice. A politician and influential figure like Pilate cannot grasp this "kingship" of Jesus; but we, who have been baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, are called to build and maintain that kingdom in our own time and place. Christ's reign is realized only in our embracing a vision of humankind as a family made in Christ, a vision of the world centered in the spirit of hope and compassion taught by Jesus Christ.
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