Create a peaceful space to pause, and allow yourself to feel God’s presence alongside you, as near to you as your own breath. In following the reflection below, as a church we will draw closer to God and to one another as we grow in faith and deepen our sense of belonging to God.
Luke 17:20-21 ‘The Coming of the Kingdom’
20 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming,
and he answered,
21 ‘…in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’
As a child, I was given an autograph book and one of the entries reads, “A little thing is a little thing but faithfulness in little things is a very great thing”. And Thomas Jefferson, a famous early President of the United States, wrote, “He does most in God’s world, who does his best in his own little world.”
Early last century a peasant shepherd lived alone in France, in a barren part of Provence where there were very few trees. In the autumn while he was tending his flock, the shepherd would pick up each acorn that he saw and, in the spring, as he watched his sheep, using his staff to help him, he would drop each nut into a hole. For a period of forty years he did this and now that countryside is covered with trees and teeming with wildlife – just as a result of this one small act, faithfully repeated.
In the gospel verses above, Jesus tells us that God’s kingdom is already here. The kingdom of heaven is the term he uses to describe the way God is at work in the world, the way our world can be if we care to see it God’s way, the way our lives can be when we let God liberate them. If we do things God’s way, then heaven is already here.
We’re not all called to do great things but we can all do small things in a great way. And for most of us, that is what God is asking.
He doesn’t want us to do extraordinary things. He wants us to do the ordinary things extraordinarily well. And when we do that with God’s love in our hearts, we are helping to bring in his kingdom here on earth.
Prayer:
Loving Lord,
Show each of us, we pray,
how we can help your kingdom come here on earth.Help us to listen to you when we pray,
and not to rush into plans of our own
before allowing time
to hear what you say.Help us to recognize
that the smallest things
are just as important as the great ones.May all we undertake be done well,
faithfully, and to the best of our ability.Give us grace, we pray,
to live our lives in your service,
in serving others in your name,
and to your honour and glory.In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Reflection and Prayer © 2020 Ann Caffyn.
Image freely available online.
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All material within this order of worship is reproduced by permission under CCL 1226356