Enactment

Do we really live in a lull? Are we living in an age between the powerful events of the 1st Century (described in the Gospels and Acts) and the time of the 2nd Coming (depicted in Revelation). Do you want to live in a lull? Or, does it excite you more to think that you are living in an important age, an age during which God's plans are yet being accomplished?

To what extent could the life of our congregation be described as an enactment of the kingdom of God?

Brian McLaren, The Secret Message of Jesus--

If you get a glimpse of soldiers in camouflage uniforms sneaking through the forest, if you notice planes from an enemy country flying high above you, if key political leaders in your country disappear or are mysteriously assassinated, you might suspect that an invasion is coming. If bullets start flying and bomb sirens start going off, your suspicions will be fulfilled. Another nation-let's call it a kingdom-is preparing to invade and conquer your kingdom.

But what if this kingdom that is invading is a kingdom of a very different sort? What if the invasion is one of kindness and compassion rather than force and aggression? What if sick people start getting well suddenly and inexplicably? What if rumors spread of storms being calmed, insane people becoming sane again, hungry people being fed, and dead people rising? Couldn't this be the sign of a different kind of invasion-the coming of a different kind of kingdom?

That's how I have come to understand the signs and wonders of Jesus. They are dramatic enactments of his message; they are the message of the kingdom spread in media beyond words. They combine to signify that the impossible is about to become possible: the kingdom of God-with its peace, healing, sanity, empowerment, and freedom- is available to all, here and now.

How do you want to think about it? How do we want the kids to think about it? One mindset lends itself to activity and sense of belonging, the other lends itself to passivity and boredom.