A Worship Magazine
Easley Presbyterian Church
Easley, SC
September 2016 Vol. 2 Issue 4
A common thread that joins us together with Christ and with each other.
The Season of Kingdomtide Kingdomtide is the church season following Pentecost. The liturgical color for the season is green — representing growing. Kingdomtide emphasizes growing the Kingdom of God. The beginning of the season is intended to inspire personal, spiritual growth. The second half of the season draws us outward and encourages acts of service to grow the Kingdom around us. At the Music Conference at Lake Junaluska, Rev. Susan Leonard-Ray (District Superintendent Anderson, SC) preached a sermon on Building the Kingdom of God: According to Luke 13:18, the Kingdom of God is like a tree. We are reminded to plant our roots deep into the heart of God's sustaining Presence and Word. Simultaneously, we stretch out our arms in hospitality to the world. Jesus came announcing the good news of the Kingdom of God. In fact, the first words out of his mouth as he began to preach and teach were these: “the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent (literally —turn around, you’re going the wrong way) and believe in the good news.” And not only was this the very first thing he spoke about – it was the central thing he spoke about. He went about sharing the good news of the Kingdom of God. And as he made his way through Galilee and through scripture, you can find him again and again issuing the invitation to follow. “Come, follow me,” he would say. For Jesus, living in the Kingdom of God was not something that happened to you after you died, it was something that you could participate in here now, and continue here after. It was the grand invitation that he extended to all people to live into the way God had willed the world to be in the first place.
At baptism we are each marked as God’s beloved. That is our true, right name – “Beloved.” When you know that you are loved, you can do amazing things. You can be bold, take risks, be courageous, because someone believes in you. Someone loves you. It’s true for our children. Our love for them gives them incredible strength. (Read Mark 2 for the Calling of Levi). Levi is an onpurpose-sinner, and the other followers questions Jesus’ choice. They could not see in Levi what Jesus could see in him. I see Levi and wonder if there has ever been anyone in his life who has reminded him that he his loved, and that his true right name is Beloved? So rather than shame him, rather than criticize him, rather than overlook him, Jesus calls him and offers him a better alternative to the life he is living. Levi, come, follow me. It seems that Jesus is more interested in the choices that Levi will make rather than the mistakes he has made. Anyone who says ‘Come follow me’ is more interested in the future than in the past. And Levi pushes his chair away from the table and begins to follow Jesus. Kingdom ways are different, Jesus will try to explain, because found people find people. In the Kingdom of God, loved people are called to love people. Sharing the good news with people who think church is only for good people requires hands, feet and words to translate love from intangible idea to a tangible reality. And so it is in the Kingdom of God, because hurting people hurt people and those who know they are beloved…loved people love people.