JESUS PREACHES ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD
“The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.” Mark 4:30-32
BACKGROUND
Jesus came into this world to do more than save us from our sins by His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. He came as the full revelation of the Father so that we would know the Father and believe there is more to life in this world than ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’…. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…The kingdom of God is present wherever the will of God is found.
Through Baptism, each of us become “missionary disciples,” called to bring the Gospel to the world. Each of the baptized, whatever their role in the Church or level of education, is an active agent of evangelization. Evangelizing is the heart and soul of the Church.
What is Evangelization? It may be a fancy word or even a scary word to some who have been asked and tried to do it in an organized way. Let me break it down for you. It is as simple as bringing God into any situation, simple as offering prayers to someone who is facing some trial.
By offering prayers, you bring God into the picture, a reminder we don’t just live in one dimension, the natural world, but are also part of a supernatural dimension. While we deal with the mundane and trite of this world our destiny is an eternal home with God, our Savior.
God, Creator of the world and all that is, is still at the helm of His creation, still providing providential care. God always wills the good but because He respects our “free will,” made into the image and likeness of him, He does not force us to choose the good. One is mistaken to say the carnage mass shooting in El Paso was God’s will. No, God never wills evil but allows it because He knows grace in the end will triumph.
“For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one, the many will be made righteous…where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:19-21
We must tap into that overseeing providential care of God in our world. Bishop Robert Barron suggests we begin where people are, to call attention to God already present in our everyday life, in our books, movies, TV even shopping malls. God is involved so let’s call attention to Him!
Let me cite a few examples: Let’s say your neighbor invites you to inspect his new car and you notice a baby seat. You may bring up how caring your neighbor is by providing safety for his precious baby and may even lead into life issues.
You are on a fishing trip with friends and miss some of the conveniences of home but at the end of the day share with your fishing partners your thanks to God for good weather and good fishing day.
You are playing cards and a friend uses God’s name in vain and you ask in nice way not to say that because it offends you and you want to enjoy yourself with your friends. The person swearing, , may even say what is the big deal, giving you opportunity to share your respect and honor for God who has blessed them all.
You are at cookout and someone brings up controversial topic. Your best friend brings up the same sex marriage of his friend recently and makes some kind of comment about it not being any big deal. You might remain quiet or you may ask your friend how he feels about that type of marriage. You may then share that you don’t think that’s what God intended in the natural law or in Scripture for that matter.
You are in a shopping mall with a friend buying gifts and you share you are buying school supplies for your Church collection for the poor in another parish. We must share God’s gifts with others.
I think you get the idea; we don’t have to be a big time preacher or theologian to bear witness to our faith. God does the heavy lifting. But we do have to be a willing instruments of God. We are after all the Mystical Body of Christ, our actions on this earth make a difference.
Below, I include an example from Scripture of St. Paul evangelizing the Gentiles in Athens Greece based on his observation of Greek culture.
PAUL AREOPAGUS SPEECH IN GREECE, ACTS 17:22-31
Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’* What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.…
The Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands…Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything… For In him we live and move and have our being… He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth…he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us….
COMMENTARY
Paul captures the good will of his audience by complimenting the Athenians on their spirituality: “I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’” Paul elected to build upon a religious foundation already in place in the society he was addressing
As St. Paul did in Athens, we should bear witness to our faith to people where they are. It doesn’t have to be a big complicated deal. Evangelization is not just about techniques and programs. It is first about our personal holiness. We ourselves must undergo a life of continual conversion through prayer, Scripture, and life in the Church, so that our light will shine bright to others and be attracted to the source of that light.
CONCLUSION
The proclamation of the Gospel is not optional for Christians. We, on earth, are God’s instruments, God’s Mystical Body, His voice, his deeds. It is unthinkable that a person accept the Word for himself and keeps that light to himself, without bearing witness to others. To be Christian means to be missionaries. This missionary task must remain foremost. For it concerns the eternal destiny of humanity and corresponds to God’s mysterious and merciful plan that all will be saved
.THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST
The Church founded by Christ is the Mystical Body of Christ. Christ is the Head, the Spirit is the Soul, and we are the Body, the hands, the feet, the eyes, and the mouth of Jesus now in this world. The Mystical Body gives and receives just like Jesus, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to Me!” When one suffers, we all suffer. When one rejoices, we all rejoice. Jesus and His Church are one!