Author: James Bryan Smith"Jesus' narrative: getting heaven into us now." (36). this is the title of the first section of the chapter, and I love it. I always think of heaven as a place to get to; a place. but what if heaven is more than a place?what if it's something that is inside of us....what if heaven is our heart, our soul, our love...I know am not making sense at all, but this is something that stuck out to me, so I want to write it on here. you know, I can always express myself and my feelings so much better in writing that I ever could with words, but sometimes, even in writing it's hard. some things are just...beyond words.
one thing that I loved in this chapter was when smith talked about how Jesus's message, what He preached about, was the Kingdom of God. smith wrote how in Matthew 4:17 we are told that after His temptation in the desert "...Jesus began to proclaim,'repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.'(37). smith explains that the greek word for "repent" is metanoia, which means "change your mind." this changes the meaning of the verse. as smith says, most of us hear "repent" and think of behavior change, of doing something wrong and changing it. i know that's what ran through my mind when i read this verse. change your behavior, you're doing it wrong. but if you take the word Jesus actually used,"metanoia", then you start getting idea that he wasnt talking about behavior per say, but about changing your mind, the way you think because the kingdom of God is near. think about that part: the kingdom of God is near. what if Jesus wasnt talking about near in a a sense of time but location....what if He was saying that God's kingdom was coming to us? something that i found interesting was smith's explanation of "proclaim." he said: "the word proclaim was commonly used in Jesus' day for a herald who offered a very special word from the king."(37). so in His time, the word proclaim meant a very special amazing annoucement from the king. so matthew is telling us that Jesus went out to tell people this increable message the king had sent. pretty cool, at least i think so. it do find it kinda...ironic that i found the use of the original greek word and how they used the word proclaim because this is something Brent would get super excited over, and it's one of the reasons why he loves greek so much, so it kinda...scares me when i find myself having a reaction to something or thinking about something in the same way that he would. not saying he isnt a great person, but the idea of thinking like him does scare me a bit. lol :)
one thing that am not sure whether or not I agree on, or that confused me a bit, or got me thinking a bit...is this: "by labeling the kingdom as an eschatological(end times) reality that will come at the return of Christ,its role and value for our present lives is negated."(42). am not sure whether i agree with this or not. it seems to me like i hear all the time about "doing work for God's kingdom" or "part of the kingdom" so am not sure whether this is true or not. maybe i just dont understand what he meant. if your reading this, i would like to hear your thoughts,advice,etc.
one thing that smith wrote: "the kingdom of God is a present reality that will be fully consummated in the future."(42). I found this contradictory when i read it but at the same i liked it. i tend to think of the kingdom of God as a future thing, far off, but maybe it's a present thing and a future thing all at once. what if I have been...preparing,working,etc to enter something that is right here in front of me? ever wondered that? what if that thing that your working towards, that you are looking for, is right there in front of you? i have. maybe the right guy for me is right in front of me, and i just dont see him. or maybe the guy am meant to be with doesnt see me right here, right here in front of him.
i tend to get sidetracked a bit, so bear with me :)
i wont talk about it a whole lot, mostly because i didnt have a lot of deep thoughts about this, i just really liked it and it inspries me: "...He not only taught about it, he ministered by its power.and by its power Jesus' disciples changed the world,not only in the first century, but in every century since."(42). this inspires me, and i want do work,love,with the power of God's kingdom.
for the rest of this entry, I'm gonna simply write down parts of the chapter that stuck out to me and that I really loved.
- "the rightesousness we need to enter the kingdom is humility,purity of heart, and a desire to work on those aspects of our soul that are most important,such as intergrity,gentleness,respect and mercy."(44).
- i loved this because he is saying that its not the outer things, such as going to church, reading the bible,or even doing service to others, that counts, but its the inner parts that do. for example, its not the act of doing service that matters but the heart, the spirit, in which you do it. it inspires me to stop concentrating on my actions, and start concentrating on my heart, my soul.
- "to enter the kingdom,we must work on our inner life."(44)
- same as what i put above.
- "...children are innocent,trusting and have little self-consciouness. they do not naturally judge others or hate people those are learned activities.love comes naturally to children. of course,children convey more than innocence and love and trustl the can be petty and selfish and fearful.but children do not naturally need to be in control.they have very little authorityor power,and live each day in dependence and trust,receiving everything as a gift.and this,i believe,is what Jesus is advocating."(44).
- this is only part of a paragraph, but i love it! i love especially the part where he writes that love comes naturally to children. i want that so much!
- "the Holy Spirit has been leading me tos Jesus for some time, and when I relinquished control of my life,the Spirit then infused my entire being with new life and new capabilities."(45).
- i love this because its such a beautiful image for me, and also because I want that! i want the Spirit to just...take over me and make Jesus shine through me.
- "some may feel as if their experience is inferior,but in reality it is far better to have walked a whole life with Jesus."(45).
- this is the same idea that Alex Ketterman talked about at the Southern Hills Retreat saturday night devo, that those that havent had a tough, difficult journey to faith feel inferior in a way. however, this kinda...hurt my feelings, because I did not grow up going to church,hearing or talking about God,etc so it kinda makes me sad to hear that it's better to have grown up in it.
- "the wind blows where it chooses,and you hear the sound of it,but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."(john 3:8)(45).
- smith explains that the word for Spirit and wind is the same in greek. so knowing that, it changes the passage a bit for me. what if its not a comparision but a description of the Spirit? plus, i love the image, the idea of the Spirit moving, and you hear it, but you dont know where its going, where its been, or where it'll take you. it makes me excited!
- "we enter the kingdom through surrender,humility,trust, and a willingnessto begin working on our hearts in order to become the kind of person God desires us to be."(46).
- this is what smith says at the end of the chapter, and i love it!
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