I like Luke. No, not Luke from Star Wars, although I do like his character. I’m talking about the writer of the two books that we know as Luke and Acts.
He’s a compelling storyteller, but not a contented storyteller. By that, I mean that he isn’t just weaving together a work of fiction in an attempt to wow us into following Jesus. Instead, he’s bringing in important details that highlight the things that matter most in the life of Jesus so that we are forced to decide about the lordship of Jesus.
As a doctor, he understood the importance of getting it right, and so we need to stop now and then as we read through Luke and Acts and ask ourselves why he included the details that he did? What was the doctor attempting to prescribe to us?
Luke 10 is one such chapter, and as I was hanging out the other morning enjoying a cup of coffee with my main man, Luke, a detail caught my eye. As usually happens when we stop to take in those kinds of moments in the Word, the Holy Spirit began to use what had captivated me to convict me.
Let’s listen in together as Jesus is giving His disciples some last-minute instructions as they prepare to be sent out on an evangelistic mission:
When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, “Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.” (Luke 10:8-11 NIV, emphasis mine)
Did you catch it? The message the disciples carried was the same everywhere, except for two simple words.
Something caused the kingdom of God to do more than just come near.
Something caused it to come to people. There is a huge difference between the kingdom of God coming near and the kingdom of God coming near to you. The first is a statement of fact. The second is a statement of faith.
I think that, by and large, the church universal does a good job stating facts about God and His kingdom. We have services once or twice a week as evidence that the kingdom of God is near. Heck, if we forget that from time to time, there’s always someone holding up a sign about God at a sporting event or on a street corner to remind us. Need a more regular reminder? Look at the money in your pocket, wallet, purse, or couch. “In God we trust” is written right there to remind us that He has come near.
But our response to His coming has everything to do with whether His kingdom has come near to us. Our response in faith to the fact of His presence changes church attendance into Christ awareness. It makes us hearers of the Word and doers of the Word because we are responding to the Word made flesh.
When we receive the message of the kingdom, we get the mercy of the kingdom. When we don’t, we get a bunch of dust from the feet that were sent to bring us good news.
Don’t settle for the reality of heaven being near. Respond to it in faith with arms wide open, and find out what happens when the kingdom of God comes near to you.
Photo by Chris Grafton on Unsplash
