Finding Hope in God's Grace

Jim:

Deuteronomy 13:1-11
2 Corinthians 13:1-11
The instructions in Deuteronomy to kill by stoning anyone who proselytes on behalf of foreign gods sounds brutal to our ears. That is essentially what happened to the young girl in Iraq who was stoned to death by members of her own religion for falling in love with a Muslim man. (It was called an honor killing.) The horrible and inexcusable event was caught on video and gained international infamy. Or perhaps we think of the many people martyred for their faith before, during, and after the Reformation in Europe; Christians killing Christians. Such acts of murder, too, were inexcusable. But the writer of Deuteronomy considered idolatry to be a tremendous threat to the people of God and made certain they understood just how serious it was. So how do we relate to this passage? Paul sheds light on the matter in 2 Corinthians 7:10: “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.” No matter what we do, if we rely on God’s grace we will find forgiveness that leads to reconciliation. God loves us that much. But if we turn our backs on God and seek our redemption or our salvation elsewhere—in drugs perhaps, or in adultery, anything we might call idolatry or worldliness—then we are as good as dead anyway because we have separated ourselves from the true source of hope. The admonition in Deuteronomy is harsh to our ears, but the call to a life centered in God is real and crucial if we are to find our fullest joy.

Luke 17:20-37
I love the words of Jesus found in parts of verses 20 and 21: “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” In this case the world “among” could also be translated “within”. Either way, though, the message is clear. If you are waiting for a discernable event, or quantifiable conditions to indicate that God’s reign is near, you are going to miss it. We already live in the presence of God’s reign. We already stand in the light of God’s sovereign providence. The kingdom of God has been described by some as “already but not yet” meaning that God is at work now, but that the fullness of God’s will has not been accomplished. Still, how wonderful to know that God is at work in our midst and that the kingdom of God is already growing and taking shape around and within us! Thanks be to God!