I want to just take a quick second and thank all of you for your dedicated reading and to those who take time to respond. I trust and hope that they are spiritually edifying to all of you in some way. As long as they orient you/your thoughts towards the Lord, then I know they will help all of us grow closer to Him.
Alas, we come to the meat of the “Moment” for today. We have looked at the power that the Lord’s grace has, and, without said grace, we would not be where we are today. Grace brings us to God and enables us to enter into the Kingdom of God. We Wesleyans believe in a “realized eschatology.” Eschatology, simply defined, is the study/belief about the life after this one. Christians believe that will spend eternity at the throne of the Lord in His Kingdom in heaven. When we say “realized” then, it is meant to describe the in breaking of the life after this one, into this life. We believe that in Pentecost, the deposit of the Holy Spirit was given to believers guaranteeing them the inheritance. It is through the piercing of the Holy Spirit into our lives that we are ushered into the Kingdom of Heaven in this life.
What a truly wonderful and powerful transformation in which the grace of God is performed in our lives via this act of the Spirit. This act enables us to live a triumphant life in spite of all the tension that we experience in our fallen nature and fallen world. Let me say again, triumphant living is living in the Kingdom in this life. The Lord wishes to usher us into the Promised Land of Rest (Hebrews 4). This “realized eschatology,” this triumphant life in the Spirit, this Promised Land of Rest is meant to be an extension of the life that we will live throughout all eternity. However, that life is not meant to be reserved for after we die. It has shattered whatever boundaries lay between it and us, so we may be able to enjoy it now. Wesley writes, “This eternal life, then commences when it pleases the Father to reveal the Son in our heart” through the Holy Spirit.
This Kingdom living, then, can take us so many wonderful places, individually. But, more than anything else, I see this as a commission to the Church, the Body of Christ. We are to be a body in which these wonderful possibilities of this higher and triumphant life are made manifest. We are to be the body in which grace is imparted to all those who surround us: believers or not. If we are not embodying and extending the grace in which we believe, then who would be convinced of its power? Of its possibilities? We believe in a place called heaven. We are given its joys starting now, through the grace of God. Let us then be the body that makes manifest this grace and the possibilities that our faith professes in a way that is above reproach. By doing so, we will usher the Kingdom of Heaven onto earth so that our fallen world/society may begin to see its beauty and see its author/creator. I could say more and more, but I hope the point is made. God has painted a picture of this vision. Let’s try to be His brush. Extend grace again this week to all: believers and unbelievers alike. For Paul said, “I am chief among sinners.” Show them the grace that has been extended to you.
Lastly, I pray a selection of the morning prayer of John Baillie for all of you and our Brothers and Sisters in Christ around the world today. Be mindful of the prayer. These are the things that can be made manifest in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
These are what we can do, even an on a small and individual level:
I would call down Thy blessing today upon all who are striving towards the making of a better world. I pray, O God, especially—
For all who are valiant for truth:
For all who are working for purer and juster laws:
For all who are working for peace between the nations:
For all who are engaged in healing disease:
For all who are engaged in the relief of poverty:
For all who are engaged in the rescue of the fallen:
For all who are working towards the restoration of the broken unity of Thy Holy Church:
For all who preach the gospel:
For all who bear witness to Christ in foreign lands:
For all who suffer for righteousness sake.
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