As we continue to experience The Word of the Lord together, let us pray. Creator of all, you are the creative source of all being. Be with us, and give us assistance as we hear your Word, both read and proclaimed this morning, so that we might see your truth, and be moved into closer relationship with you, and move into a better understanding of what you would have us do. If these words are not Your Word, may they be forgotten and come to naught, but if they be Thy Word, may they adhere to our hearts, forever transforming us from glory into glory, into the creatures you would have us be, thou who art our rock and our redeemer, Amen.

Well, today is the last sermon on the Great Ends of the Church. Hopefully, part of the benefit of preaching on these is that you begin to know them. That is why I repeat them every week. The first Great End is the Proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind; the second Great End is the Shelter, Nurture, and Spiritual Fellowship of the children of God. The third Great End is the maintenance of Divine Worship. The Forth Great End is the Preservation of The Truth. The fifth Great End is the Promotion of Social Righteousness. And today’s Great End, #6, is The Exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the World. Today, I read from a familiar passage, Luke 12. We even have a wedding gift that someone cross-stitched for us that has part of this passage on it. “Consider the Lilies, they neither toil nor spin, but God cares for them.” And once again, I am reading today from The Message, a contemporary translation of the Bible. I have had to take 4 years of Greek, and 2 years of Hebrew. I got this copy for $25 from Christian Book Distributors, found at Christianbook.com, and you would think I make commission on this Bible, but I just think the translation makes the Bible so exciting and easy to read, that it is worth telling people about. Anyway, I love it, and my bet is that you would too, so feel free to look at mine if you would like, and consider buying one. You will see from this passage why I like this translation so much.

So, hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us in Luke. Listen for God’s Word for you today. Luke 12.22-34.

The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God.

One last plug for The Message. The headings in the Bible, you know, the section headings, are one of my least favorite things. But if you’ve got to have them, in most other translations, the heading reads simply the imperative statement, “Do not worry.” But in The Message, the heading is “Steep yourself in God-reality.” Which is much more to the point of the original writer than simply, hey don’t worry. I always enjoy it when the Bible is alive, and hops right off the page. \ Anyway, you are going to really start thinking I am making commission on these things. \\

The Exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the World. We pray for this every week. Thy Kingdom Come, we pray. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory \ forever, we pray. Not just at the end of time, but forever, before time, is the kingdom and the power and the glory \ now, is the kingdom and the power and the glory \ and in the future, is the kingdom and the power and the glory \ forever. \\ Throughout the gospels, especially when Jesus speaks, we get a sense of what he means when he mentions the Kingdom of Heaven. He speaks in terms of two worlds, two kingdoms, two realities. And these realities run side by side, coexisting at the same time. The Kingdom of God is at hand; those are not my words, they are words that Christ often uttered, they are peppered throughout the gospels. The Kingdom of God is at hand. \ Cause the world needs the healing power and presence of the kingdom of God. The world needs to know that all of this world’s trials and tribulations don’t have a chance of sustaining when put up against the kingdom of God.

Being able to exhibit the kingdom of heaven to the world is our task and our privilege. Listen to how Jesus describes it.

“Don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more.”

Carefree in the care of God, and you count far more, Jesus says. Being a Christian, loving God, is not about filling a job description, as in, you do this and don’t do that. It is being carefree in the care of God. The people whom I have known to offer the best witness to what it means to be a Christian, to why it is beneficial to have a relationship with God, are the people who live carefree in the care of God. They have responsibilities, they have mortgages and car payments, they don’t just leave everything to chance, but don’t let the world take them over. And these witnesses are noticed by people who aren’t Christian, who don’t recognize a relationship with God. People say, “What is it about Ray, he has something that I don’t have, what is it?” \ And the witness is starting to take effect, because what Ray has is a life carefree in the care of God, knowing that humans count in the eyes of God. And the Kingdom of Heaven punctures through, and is exhibited to the world. And that kind of life is attractive to those who don’t know or understand it, and is the best witness.

And Jesus goes on.

“Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can’t even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don’t fuss with their appearance – but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don’t you think God will attend to you, take pride in you, do the best for you?”

As a parent, I am constantly overwhelmed with the amazing creatures that humans are. 206 bones, countless muscles, limbs, emotions, brains, communication. God surely does take pride in us. For me, the human being is the best argument against what people now call “The Big Mistake Theory.” God has taken care of us, and will continue to do so. Why do we need to fuss, God is in control, and God is the only one who could handle such responsibility. Thank God that we are not in control, we would certainly let ourselves down. But God is capable of managing with the control, and God loves us and takes care of us. Letting go of our false sense of control is a huge part of exhibiting the Kingdom of Heaven. The release of burden by letting go of our control \ it makes me feel good just to say it, much less do it. And the kingdom of heaven punctures through, and is exhibited in our world.

And Jesus goes on.

“What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving.”

There’s a statement, right there, that I could preach not just a sermon on, but a series of sermons. \ The world and the people of it are so concerned with more, that they rarely enjoy what they have. When I realized that I was stressed about the one thing I wanted, I realized I needed to enjoy what I had, what I was doing, and that would be a good response to the opportunity I had been given. \ The kingdom of heaven is concerned with response to God and God’s abounding giving to us. The world is concerned with money, and how to make ends meet, and how to make people like me, and wearing the right clothes so the right people will like me. Some of those, like making ends meet, and money, are things that we ought to be aware of. But they are never to consume us, and we know they can. The kingdom of heaven realizes that things are just things, that this too shall pass, and that all of it pales in comparison with the presence of God. And we triumph over our situations, even finding joy in them, when stress would kill us, because we are living and exhibiting the kingdom of heaven, which punctures through into our world.

And Jesus goes on.

“People who don’t know God and the way God works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how God works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.”

And Jesus would say, here it is, it is ready for you, it is available to you. I want to see the kingdom of heaven puncture your world, today. \\ And Jesus goes on.

“Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”

And Jesus could have added, that is where you will end up being, by crossing over into the kingdom of heaven, by piercing that sheath, by being steeped in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. \ We must show the world that this impossible miracle happens daily through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through the power of the Holy Spirit the kingdom of heaven is at hand. \ Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory…forever. Amen.