The Kingdom: Part 2

From the Salvation Army, you're listening to Wonderful Words of Life. Well, welcome back, everybody. We're glad that you've joined us and say another welcome to our listeners, Captain Taylor.

Hey, it's so good to be back. You can call him Jimmy, everybody. He's a friend and he's an authentic person. As we're recording this very episode, he's sitting in front of me in his uniform, so proper. And those two stars on your shoulder means that you've got at least five years of experience. But in Salvation Army terms, that's like dog years.

Jimmy went in as a 20-something, but he's presently 75 years old. That's right. And I feel it.

I look it. That's untrue. So this week, with a focus on the church, Rob and Heather asked the question, what are we inviting people back to? And to me, I began thinking about how we empower volunteers and create opportunities for ministry ownership within our churches. And in a consumer-minded society, how do we offer those attending our churches more than just some nice music, a sermon, and send them on their way? I think it goes back to this idea of you will know they are Christians by their love, right? No one says you'll know they're Christians because they can deliver an excellent message.

No one says they're an excellent musician, so they must be Christian. No one comes to, oh, the light show or whatever was fantastic. So that's going to be – people return because they felt valued, because they felt loved, because they felt engaged. And it doesn't matter if you are the lowliest of people, finding yourself in whatever life's got, or you're a highfalutin person. You want to engage in a fellowship. You want to engage in a place where you feel loved and valued. And I think that's really what brings it back. And we try to do different things to attract people when the real attraction to our church is Jesus. And if we are being what Jesus has asked us to do, that is what should be attractive and what should be bringing people into our churches.

I've said this before. Somebody in popular media in the United States referred to the Salvation Army as Christianity with its sleeves rolled up. But at the end of the day, people that are coming through the doors for a church service might just think that they're coming to be encouraged or inspired.

But without purpose, when they leave that place, they might fall into some similar traps. And I think that's one thing the Salvation Army does well is give you purpose. There are so many opportunities to serve. In fact, we talked about it in an earlier episode of this series where Jimmy was a part of starting a ministry where we were opening up our gym and locker room for some of our homeless neighbors to come and get cleaned up and help them with their laundry and give them some good food. And now we've got a government grant coming in to support that program.

I'd share that with you. Some of your your successors have come on board at this young guy, Caleb Loudon, has done a bang up ministry there. And having more volunteers with purpose to either come alongside those folks and just offer a conversation and a real person interacting with them instead of maybe being those invisible people that just live under the bridge. So kudos to you, Jimmy, for your work and your faithfulness. We're excited that our listeners have an opportunity to join us every week, but we pray you'll be encouraged by the message this week and come back and join us next week so we can talk even more about it.

Last week, we spent time talking about the go of the gospel, specifically in Luke, Chapter 10 and Mark, Chapter six, when he's sending people out into all the worlds and into full time ministry, with the point being to invite people back to spread the news of Jesus Christ. So people are like, wait, what? I need to know more. What is this? Who is this?

And how can I get more of this? And so today we're going to be spending some time talking about when we go out, what are we inviting people back to? What is this authentic Christian community? Why is it that God takes the lonely and sets them in families? And what does that mean for the journey that we're on together? Psalm 68, five and six says, a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families.

He leads out the prisoners with singing. But the rebellious live in a sun scorched land. You know what I know about that, Ravi? I know about the sun scorched land.

I do. And I read this scripture a bunch of times because, you know, it's one of my favorites. But just till we're sitting here right now, I've never really thought through what it means to live in a sun scorched land, a land where there is no water, a land where there is no food, a land that it's lonely and desolate. And I'm not trying to talk for anybody else, but I know in my life, that's what it was for me before I knew Jesus. And it was a miserable existence.

Like I had lots of stuff. I mean, I mean, my story wasn't one of living in a cardboard box with a needle in my arm. But you don't have to be at that level of humanity to experience loneliness, sadness, depression, to be living in a sun scorched land, because it's not a physical landscape, but it's rather like an internal landscape. It's a spiritual condition.

And I know that sun scorched land. And that's why I think sometimes we make this thing of evangelism or sharing the gospel. We figure like we have to somehow magic it up to make it attractive to people because they're not interested. But really, the truth is, is that when you are so thirsty, you would do anything for a drop of water and somebody reaches out with that cup of cold water. You take that cup of cold water. You might not understand what it means that it's given in Jesus Name. You just know that, you know what?

I was thirsty and you gave me a cup of water. Right. Also, as we look back on the last couple of weeks, we see this theme of invitation. That's right. Whether it's God inviting us into the kingdom or others saying, hey, like I know where to find I know the source of this water that quenches your thirst, the source of this bread that when you break it together in the kingdom, you'll never be hungry again. So we see this idea of invitation, but we also see the idea that sometimes when you reach out with this invitation, folks aren't sure how to take it.

That's true. They're dying. They're thirsty. They're literally dying of hunger sometimes. But, you know, sometimes it's hard for them to receive that.

Sure. And I remember that it was that way for me. So even a long, long period of being in between where I sort of had one foot in church doing churchy activities, you know, on Sundays. But my other foot, you know, live in a whole different, wild way the rest of the week and just living in the in-between, not really sure how to fully commit to this spiritual life or even what would that mean for me?

Like, who would I become if I gave my life to Christ? And so I think about how this scripture of God sets the lonely in families. He leads out the prisoners with singing. Gosh, like it's just the story of divine celebration, because when you know what it's like to be lonely and somebody opens the door and welcomes you in, it's just this feeling that this warm feeling that washes over you.

When somebody looks you in your face and smiles, when they see you, when they choose to ask your name and then they remember it, next time they see you, like those things are so there's so much dignity in that. When God sets the lonely in a family, he takes away that sense of isolation, that sun-scorched land. And he even makes those places a place of springs. So we get this picture that we're with God in the kingdom, right, in fullness, like Jesus is come. He is here. He's with us to taste and to see. That we're going to taste and see the goodness of God in the land of the living. But we get that there's also this dominion of darkness and there's people there that are lost in darkness that don't know about the kingdom. They haven't met Jesus in fullness yet. And last week as we talked about the kingdom, we said it started with an invitation. Jesus calls Levi, but Jesus invites him for a meal. And we also talked last week about the distractions from the kingdom, that we can be in the kingdom at the source of this water that quenches all thirst, this bread that when people partake of it, they never have to go back to the things that are causing all that darkness again. But we can get so distracted sometimes in the kingdom by our own lives, by all the stuff around us.

You know, we're not bringing that invitation to those that are still in darkness. It's true. So Psalms 68 says that God is a father to the fatherless family. He's a defender of widows.

You know, a widow, if she had a son to stand up on her behalf, that was her defender. And so I, when I see a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows is God in His holy dwelling. I'm like, God is creating family. Right. Back at His place, at His house. I love that, that God's creating family.

Yes. We say a father to the fatherless. Well, in our culture, we talk of a fatherless generation.

We do. That exists, you know. But if I were to ask myself as one of God's children, how am I being a father to the fatherless this week, today in my life?

What's my plan for that? Sure. Because the truth is, I mean, you have a dad, I have a dad. I mean, they're both still around like we're going to see them at Christmas time. But there are times when we can have a physical father, but still feel fatherless. There are ways that the church, the family of God meets spiritual needs, sometimes deeper than our own family can. And when God sets the lonely in families, He does that because He desires His children to learn to live in community. Because community, as we've already mentioned, is who reminds us who God is. But they also can remind us of who we are in Him. The times when we've forgotten, the times when we're feeling timid, the times when maybe we've had a lot of setbacks and we're afraid to step out in faith. The family of God around us reminds us of who we were made to be in Christ. And they are the ones that can be that springboard that launches us into that next level. I love the theme of invitation. And even as we look back, even from the first week when we began having these conversations, we spoke about the story of the Good Samaritan.

Yes, we see each other. But then, you know, there's a different response depending on where we're at with Jesus, which posture we have. You know, what I love about that story is that it's it's a parable, right?

It's not an account. It didn't happen. It's a teaching story Jesus used. But I wonder why did that Samaritan stop? Did he stop because he had an experience in his own life where someone met him at that deep need?

That he was like, you know what? This could change this person's life forever. Or for me to be authentic to who I am and the work that's been done in my life, I must do this thing.

I must reach out in this way. And we also because it's just a parable, not an account. We don't know how it changed that beaten up guy's life forever.

Why? Who did he become after he went home, healed and whole? What did he do with his life? And so I think that's why family is so important, because not only do they come around us when we need it, but also the work of God in our midst just creates this ministry within us so that when we go out into all the world, we're not just taking stuff. We're not just taking sandwiches and a hot cup of coffee. We're taking the ability to know what it's like to belong and to want everybody in the whole entire world to know what it is to belong. And that invitation can come from me because I'm just a poor beggar that's found bread and I know where to point it back to. The Salvation Army's mission, Doing the Most Good, means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army. Visit salvationarmyusa.org to offer your support.

And we would love to hear from you. Email us at radio at uss.salvationarmy.org. Call 1-800-229-9965 or write us at P.O.

Box 29972, Atlanta, Georgia, 30359. When you contact us, we'll send you our gift for this series. It's totally free for listeners like you, one per household while supplies last. You can also subscribe to our show on iTunes or your favorite podcast store and be sure to give us a rating. Just search for Wonderful Words of Life. Follow us on social media for the latest episodes, extended interviews and more. And if you don't have a church home, we invite you to visit your local Salvation Army worship center. They'll be glad to see you. This is Bernie Dake inviting you to join us next time for the Salvation Army's Wonderful Words of Life. Music