How should we live? We live toward perfection, toward holiness. “Be perfect, as I am perfect,” says G-d. “Be holy, as I am holy.” If we locate perfection not as a state of being, but as a place, a realm, then we would call it something like “the kingdom of heaven,” or better, “the realm of heaven” The realm of heaven is that place where all will be perfect. There will be no more sadness, or sickness, or violence, or suffering, or anything bad at all. The lion will lie down with the lamb. Children will play with once poisonous snakes.
The images are many and varied, but universally they all look toward a place of perfection. It is the longing of the human spirit. We cross the Jordon to get there. It is the good land, the land of promise. Most poignantly, Africans enslaved by white imperialists sang of it. Their songs became the basis for all forms of modern music—blues, jazz, rock and roll. The music was born of longing for that perfect place.
When Jesus spoke of this perfect place, he most often spoke in parables; little stories that give us hints and glimpses. “It’s a bit like this.” “It’s not at all like this.”
He told of the wise person who built a house on the rock. When the wind and rains came the house stood firm. He spoke of a foolish person who built a house on sand. When the winds and rain came, the house fell flat, with great loss to that foolish person.
The moral of the story was how to be a wise person. The wise person is the one who does the will of the Father-Mother in heaven. The foolish person is the one who does not do the will of the Father-Mother. To do the will of G-d is to prepare to enter the realm of heaven.
Jesus made it very vivid by emphasizing what is not the will of G-d.
It is not prophesying. It is not casting out demons. It is not doing deeds of power.
This is quite surprising.
It is often these kinds of activities that draw great attention, great adulation. It is often these kinds of activities that are said to prove there is a G-d. “There must be a G-d. Look at the miracles.” In the early 1980s I was very much drawn to the “Signs and Wonders” movement that was started by the late John Wimber in California. It was very exciting, very heady stuff.
But Jesus said that such activity was not the will of G-d. That was not the way to enter the realm of G-d. That was not the way to the land of promise.
What then is the will of G-d. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like the wise person . . .”
The will of G-d is to hear and to act. It is to practice. It is a way of living.
Jesus was in a long line of Jewish prophets who had all begun to realize the same idea. His teaching was in the same spirit as that of eighth century prophet Micah.
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God.”
The will of God is about justice, kindness and humility.
If we reach into the future to that realm of perfection, the realm of heaven (when all will be well), and we pull from that realm the kind of life today that is in accordance with it—what would life look like?
It would be a life of fairness, of loving kindness and humility. To practice those things is to do the will of G-d. It is that which prepares us for the realm of G-d.
+Ab. Andy
The images are many and varied, but universally they all look toward a place of perfection. It is the longing of the human spirit. We cross the Jordon to get there. It is the good land, the land of promise. Most poignantly, Africans enslaved by white imperialists sang of it. Their songs became the basis for all forms of modern music—blues, jazz, rock and roll. The music was born of longing for that perfect place.
When Jesus spoke of this perfect place, he most often spoke in parables; little stories that give us hints and glimpses. “It’s a bit like this.” “It’s not at all like this.”
He told of the wise person who built a house on the rock. When the wind and rains came the house stood firm. He spoke of a foolish person who built a house on sand. When the winds and rain came, the house fell flat, with great loss to that foolish person.
The moral of the story was how to be a wise person. The wise person is the one who does the will of the Father-Mother in heaven. The foolish person is the one who does not do the will of the Father-Mother. To do the will of G-d is to prepare to enter the realm of heaven.
Jesus made it very vivid by emphasizing what is not the will of G-d.
It is not prophesying. It is not casting out demons. It is not doing deeds of power.
This is quite surprising.
It is often these kinds of activities that draw great attention, great adulation. It is often these kinds of activities that are said to prove there is a G-d. “There must be a G-d. Look at the miracles.” In the early 1980s I was very much drawn to the “Signs and Wonders” movement that was started by the late John Wimber in California. It was very exciting, very heady stuff.
But Jesus said that such activity was not the will of G-d. That was not the way to enter the realm of G-d. That was not the way to the land of promise.
What then is the will of G-d. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like the wise person . . .”
The will of G-d is to hear and to act. It is to practice. It is a way of living.
Jesus was in a long line of Jewish prophets who had all begun to realize the same idea. His teaching was in the same spirit as that of eighth century prophet Micah.
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God.”
The will of God is about justice, kindness and humility.
If we reach into the future to that realm of perfection, the realm of heaven (when all will be well), and we pull from that realm the kind of life today that is in accordance with it—what would life look like?
It would be a life of fairness, of loving kindness and humility. To practice those things is to do the will of G-d. It is that which prepares us for the realm of G-d.
+Ab. Andy