I remember many years ago now, when I was talking to Do In Kim – a Korean pastor about the possibility of his Korean New Church Development nesting with the church where I was serving. And we were talking about all the difficulties and details of how to make that work – two very different cultures and communities sharing space at much of the same time. And I remember Do In asking, Joe, what do you think the Kingdom of Heaven is going to be like?

I could picture people who looked a lot like me, and people who I knew and loved. And I could picture people who looked a lot different than me – and who sounded different. (Like the Korean and Mexican churches I’ve attended, and even the Pentecostals down the street).  And then, I thought about the God who I know in Jesus… and I had to imagine there would be people who I’d never expect… people who believe very different from me and who think different… And somehow, we would sit at the table together.

It’s a beautiful vision. And Do In reminded me, every week we pray: Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…. Every week we pray this….

It is a beautiful vision. A vision that God set before us long ago. A vision that Jesus affirmed when he taught us to love our neighbors and prayed that we would live as one (John 17).

My prayer today is that you and I would find ways even now, to live into this vision.

Let us pray: We recognize, O God, that there are some powerful forces at work in this world seeking to divide us. Empower us to be the kind of people who build bridges and who show forth your love, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today’s message was written by Rev. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

It is an old story, but it is true, and it is good. The famous British author John Ruskin one night in his later years sat watching a lamplighter who, with a torch in his hand, was lighting the lamps on a distant hill. The man himself could not be seen, but the lights would gleam as each one was lighted. Ruskin said to a friend, “That is what I mean by a real Christian. You can trace their course by the lights they leave burning.”

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world… let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16). Friend of Dial Hope, make today a masterpiece with your contagious enthusiasm, the light of your joy, and hope.

Let us pray: O God of china blue skies and dazzling sunrises, with each new day your promise of hope is restored. Each day is like the Day of Resurrection filled with new life and hope. Grant us the boldness to move out of comfortable security to the risk of faith, the joy of service, the laughter of love.  Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Spiritual giant, Martin Luther, once wrote about the ugly disagreement Paul and Barnabas had in the book of Acts. He wrote:

“Such examples are written for our consolation: for it is a great comfort to us to hear that great saints, who have the Spirit of God, also struggle. Those who say that saints do not sin would deprive us of this comfort.

“Samson, David, and many other celebrated men full of the Holy Spirit fell into grievous sins. Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth; Elijah and Jonah were weary of life and desired death.

“No one has ever fallen so grievously that he may not rise again. Conversely, no one stands so firmly that he may not fall. If Peter (and Paul and Barnabas) fell, I too may fall. If they rose again, I too may rise again.”

And that is our hope. There is more grace in God than there is sin in us. Redemption is possible. Even now.

Let us pray: Loving God, you know how we struggle. You know how we have fallen, how we come up short. Yet you love us still. We thank you for your unending love and amazing grace. Be at work in us again this day. Heal our wounds, our addictions, our destructive ways, and raise us again to new life. For we pray in the name of the One who rose for us. Amen.

I was reading a story recently about Nelson Mandela about how one time he met with former President Bill Clinton. Clinton asked him a rather pointed question: “When you were released from prison, Mr. Mandela, I woke my daughter at three o’clock in the morning. I wanted her to see this historic event. As you marched from the cellblock across the yard to the gate of the prison, the camera focused on your face. I have never seen such anger, and even hatred, in any man as was expressed on your face at that time. That’s not the Nelson Mandela I know today. What was that about?”

Mandela answered, “…I regret that the cameras caught my anger. As I walked across the courtyard that day I thought to myself, ‘They’ve taken everything from you that matters. Your cause is dead. Your family is gone. Your friends have been killed. Now they’re releasing you, but there’s nothing left for you out there.’ And I hated them for what they had taken from me. Then, I sensed an inner voice saying to me, ‘Nelson! For twenty-seven years you were their prisoner, but you were always a free man! Don’t allow them to make you into a free man, only to turn you into their prisoner!’”

We can never be free as long as we carry around hate. We can never be free as long as we carry around bitterness. And we can never be free as long we hold on to old grudges, hurts, and wrongs.  God didn’t create us to carry that stuff around. God created us to be free.

In a very real sense, forgiveness isn’t just about other people – it’s about us. If there are people you need to forgive or past events that you need to let go of, may you turn them over to God today.

Let us pray: Loving God, may your Spirit fall gently upon us and empower us to forgive and let go,  so that our souls may set free. Amen.

When Mother Teresa died, she was loved and well known all over the world. But who would have ever thought she would have gained such influence when she first began? What did she have to begin with? She was a small woman, who started with almost nothing. Mother Teresa told her superiors, “I have three pennies and a dream from God to build an orphanage.”

“Mother Teresa,” her superiors said, “you can’t build an orphanage with three pennies . . . with three pennies you can’t do anything.”

“I know,” she said, smiling, “but with God and three pennies I can do anything.”

Mother Teresa knew that with God’s blessing, it takes very little for great things to happen. This belief is rooted in Jesus’ teachings, that with faith only the size of mustard seed… nothing will be impossible.

I wonder what resources you have in your hand. I wonder what dreams you have.  I wonder what God may be wanting to do through you.

Let us pray: Loving God, make us an instrument of your peace. And, even as we offer to you our lives and our resources again, continue to heal us and redeem us and use us for your glory. Amen.