40 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
40 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
> And, an invitation to a little kingdom
|
|
|
|
I've been quiet here for a while. God has held my tongue - he has needed to nourish me for a while before it would behoove me to speak. He's made me really rethink what I'm doing here and the 'why' behind this endeavor. His voice has been louder recently, and rather plain in tone. Here's what he's been telling me.
|
|
|
|
What did Christ do for us?
|
|
|
|
with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.
|
|
- Revelation 5:9-10
|
|
|
|
Christ came to establish a kingdom - a kingdom we are called to be a part of - and this is the interesting rub - in order to serve. It's actually a lot like the whole "servant-leadership" concept that gets bandied around the corporate world. Servant rulers. And in case it wasn't clear - the greek word for reign (βασιλεύσουσιν) is the same root as kingdom (βασιλείαν).
|
|
|
|
This isn't some mixed-up translation; it's all about kingdom.
|
|
|
|
And yes, KING-dom. Not presidency. Divine monarchy. A rulership which is hereditary; a rulership that is familial. All of us who have put on Christ have been grafted into his glorious kingdom - and _why_?
|
|
|
|
If you've been reading the daily readings for the past month, it seems like we just can't get past the upper room discourse (John 14-17). There is this word that keeps coming up and this pattern that keeps being reinforced.
|
|
|
|
Glory.
|
|
|
|
But it's more than just the glory - it's about the interplay of that glory, the most basic game of all time which even kids understand: gift and reflection of gift - which is seen also in Matthew 7:2, Matthew 6:12, and Luke 6:37-38. Here is the key thing though:
|
|
|
|
We are to glorify God through ourselves, not glorify ourselves through "God".
|
|
|
|
One more time for those in the back:
|
|
|
|
We are to glorify God through ourselves, not glorify ourselves through "God".
|
|
|
|
Not to glorify ourselves by means of fasting or almsgiving or bigger ministries or what have you - but to glorify God and to make His name known amongst all nations, not to make our name known by means of his magic formulas and philosophical principles and cheat codes that he laid out. No. This is what delineates the machinae ex Deo from the deus ex machina: the machinery of God points back to Him; the machinery trying to build or become God, points back to itself in hopes of glorification.
|
|
|
|
This is the role of the kingdom; to glorify God in all things!
|
|
|
|
And you - who was purchased for God with blood - were made to be a kingdom, and to reign over the earth.
|
|
|
|
If you are to turn wrenches, write code, design rocket ships, or any other technological endeavor - this is why you are to do so: to serve God by building up a kingdom and reigning over the earth. Maybe it's indirect, but this is why you were to do so. Maybe your how isn't living up to that why - maybe it's even sabotaging that why.
|
|
|
|
We need to use our technology to build the Kingdom - a kingdom which of course is not of this world (John 18:36), but one which will not be destroyed (Daniel 2:44) - and we are that kingdom (Revelation 5:10)!
|
|
|
|
This is why, folks, I'm building up a community of Catholic makers. I'd like to invite you to our Machinae Ex Deo (that name might change) server:
|
|
|
|
We will be conducting |