HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-06-01, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2017. PAGE 17.
From the Minister's Study
It's time for more than one Earth Day
By Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
Blyth Christian Reformed
Church
A few weeks ago I had the
opportunity to travel to Egypt,
Jordan and Israel as part of a
learning tour. We began our journey
in Egypt, first at the pyramids just
outside of Cairo (ancient Memphis)
and then we moved south to Luxor
where we saw the reconstructed
ruins of the magnificent ruins of the
ancient temples of Thebes.
Memphis and Thebes were,
respectively, the capital cities during
two periods when the country of
Egypt was considered one of the
most powerful and wealthiest
nations in the world.
I was struck by how majestic these
ancient structures are and I could not
help but wonder at the engineering
skills that it must have taken to build
them. I also became aware of the
immense amount of wealth that
Egypt must have possessed in order
to be able to afford such magnificent
buildings. But not only was I
impressed by the sheer scale of the
building projects, but I was also a
little disturbed by how they had been
built. It is nearly impossible for a
nation to become so wealthy and so
powerful without exploiting others.
We are well aware that most ancient
world powers felt it entirely within
their rights to enslave others in order
to accomplish their grand plans. It
would have been wonderful to be an
Egyptian in Memphis or Thebes
during the height of Egyptian power,
but I suspect that many who were
not of the powerful community
found life to be very oppressive.
Wherever we toured, we saw the
ruins of ancient civilizations; the
ruins spoke of periods of immense
wealth and power. With each set of
ruins we saw, we also heard stories
of exploitation and greed. And there
is one further thing that all these
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June 4: Is. 61:1-7
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ruins had in common: they were
ruins, piles of rubble showing that
the civilization that once had been so
significant had faded into obscurity.
Although life seems so permanent
here in Canada and although we are
richly blessed, we should not think
that our world as we know it will
remain like it is forever. Our rich
civilization, with all of its glory, will
one day be a heap of rubble as well.
And this change can occur
overnight. It did in Egypt.
Immediately following the building
of the pyramids, within the course of
a couple of decades, Egypt went into
a period of rapid decline. The same
could happen to us. We hope it
won't, but we can never be
absolutely sure it will not.
When Jesus came to this world, he
announced that he was inaugurating
a kingdom that would last forever. It
was a kingdom that would never
become a heap of rubble to be
partially reconstructed by a group of
archaeologists in the distant future.
Jesus proclaimed that he is an
eternal king of an everlasting
kingdom. Just a week ago, the
Christian church celebrated
Ascension Day, which is the day
when Jesus not only ascended into
heaven, but he also was crowned
king of all that is. It is his coronation
day.
Jesus' kingdom is vastly different
from the kingdoms of this world. Its
power is not in its military nor in its
economic policies. The power of
Jesus' kingdom is found in grace,
love, compassion and mercy. Jesus
calls us to care for each other, to
look after the needs of our
neighbour, and to care for the
creation. Exploitation of others is
not permitted, nor is the
accumulation of vast wealth for
personal purposes. Rather, Jesus
calls the citizens of his kingdom to
lives of self-sacrifice and giving. (I
acknowledge that many have used
the name of Jesus for their own
benefits, exploiting others in the
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process, but we must also recognize
that just because one uses the name
of Jesus does not mean that they are
following Jesus.)
As king over all, Jesus invites us to
join with him in the work of
restoring the brokenness and despair
that are caused by kingdoms that
look remarkably similar to the
ancient kingdoms I visited.
Jesus' kingdom will not end. It
will never become a heap of rubble.
It will not fade into obscurity. We are
all invited to join Jesus in his
kingdom and we do so by putting
our trust in him. We acknowledge
that he gave his life for us, and we
willingly do the same for others.
Jesus reigns and to belong to his
kingdom means that we first accept
that he is king and we dedicate our
lives to his purposes.
His kingdom will never end.
Everything else will become
rubble. We can throw our efforts
into what will become rubble, or
we can join with Jesus and work for
what lasts.
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