“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever; just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation trustworthy.” Daniel 2:44-45

Catholic theologian Alfred Fermin Loisy lamented:  “Jesus promised us the Kingdom of God, and all we got was the Church.” I sometimes agree with this excommunicated Priest.   But, if we understand the Kingdom of G-d as having been present on the Earth, inaugurated through the death and resurrection of Jesus, even a kingdom that has partially come and been evident in both hidden and revealed ways, then Loisy’s lament becomes less potent yet remains relevant.  Christian history contains much that brings no glory to G-d–the Crusades, bigotry, discrimination, slavery, misogyny, legalism, anti-intellectualism, a suspicion of science, etc.  Much of that litany of shame exists in the category of current events. Just look around the world and you can see how much evil exists on this planet. Nevertheless, much of Christian history (as well as the Christian present day) is also positive, also redeeming, and also worthy of praise – programs feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the incarcerated and the hospitalized, welcoming the stranger, to name a few–in short, recognizing the image of G-d in others then acting accordingly–bring glory to G-d. In those and other deeds the partially unveiled Kingdom of G-d becomes visible and G-d’s glory fills the Earth.

 Pastor Dave