“And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me…” – Yeshua to the Twelve

“Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” – Yeshua to Peter in regards to the Temple Tax

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yesterday, i was chillin at the local bux. and i overheard a lady ask the barista an interesting question:

“So if you rescue us, who rescues you?”

and i was like. wha!? that’s kingdom language right thur! and then the lady made some remark about how she wishes more young people were like this barista. and i continued thinking: what a kingdom…here, take a look at what i mean.

picture the temple and the religious leaders of the day. they come asking yeshua’s disciples if they paid temple tax. they say, yes of course. anyways, word gets back to yeshua and the taxes were paid. notice. only four drachma were paid.

under mosaic law, every male over twenty years of age was required to give unto the LORD, by way of the temple, his due share.

again. only four drachma were paid. yeshua and peter were over twenty. and apparently, that’s it.

[selah]

yes. yeshua conferred this kingdom on an ecclectic, risk-taking group of teenagers. (though, to be fair, a jewish boy or girl became a religious adult at thirteen. but you get the point.)

these were the original heroes of the early local churches. these were the ones who brought rescue.

why does this matter? a couple of really cool reasons, actually.

1) it continues to show how jesus fulfilled the torah: while still breaking the mold. there is no reason under heaven why any rabbi would select a talmidim (group of disciples/apprentices) that young. but, as we may recall from the writings found in ecclesiastes, we need to get over the sun – for there is nothing new under the sun: and it is clear that yeshua may have lived under the sun, but he was calling people to a new life…over the sun!

b) this should stand as a swift kick-in-the-pants to all of us who stand attached to our “stuff.” as ed stetzer recently commented,

you shouldn’t have to say missional disciples – disciples should be missional!

and

GOD is not getting his due glory in most [local] churches because his people are not joining together in his mission.

the stereotypical group of adolescents have long been known for their inability to remain stable, safe, and secure. they tend to be risk-taking, off-the-wall, spontaneous doers. now, granted, yeshua had some honing to do :] but maybe he chose just this age group for this purpose! he knew the cost he was calling them to: to carry their own crosses in front of those with nails and hammers: to join together in his mission and bring remedy and rescue to the one who is drowning and will more than likely try to drown you as well.

who rescues us? YHWH. but remember, his thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and ways; therefore, it is inherently implied that his rescue will probably not look like what we think it should look like or come on a timetable that we can trace. but make no mistake, he will rescue. he always redeems. and his dreams are for the reconciliation of all things, the restoration of everything under heaven.

the question is. are we committed to being the remedy? despite our own past and current afflictions, can we trust that by his blood we have been made righteous and whole, and this all the more reason to be who he has already made us to be: missional wounded healers living in and for eternity!

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despite my unbelief, i believe that who i am is a son of the only living god & king, YHWH [blessed be his name]. a son of the resurrection. a son of the wind which bends all things.

which is another way of saying: we should continue to be wounded healers.

wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to think differently in order to find ways to respond to the people and communities of haiti. shouldn’t it be just like christ-followers to be the first to serve, give, and be love?

would it even need to make the news when people who said they wanted to be like their messiah just kept on living that way? as if it were an extension of who they were – it’s like they’re just waiting for another opportunity to feed the hungry and BOOM! haiti shows up on the map; waiting for an opportunity to care for the widows and BOOM! haiti is all of the sudden filled with widows and orphans; longing to give their money and resources to a cause and a face instead of a vault and interest rate and BOOM! haiti, haiti, haiti.

(which isn’t to say these opportunities haven’t existed less than five miles from where they are, but remember, they’re already doing these things (these followers of yeshua) and so it’s just second nature to reach out when mass devastation overtakes a people)

we are given images (by way of stories and teachings) of what the kingdom of heaven looks like and is to look like: we should be a kingdom that gives to the needy, loves their enemies, and prays for those who persecute them. sadly, we often look like and respond as a kingdom that prays for the needy, hates our enemies and loves those who bless us.

haiti right now is a hell of a place in need of heaven: that is, she is being overwhelmed by fear and death; she needs hands to deliver peace and hearts that revive. she is void of financial and basic resources; she needs our money and water. look at the photos, she is scattered and broken; she needs a community who is sent together to heal.

now i do confess, i don’t always know exactly how to do what i want to do – and i, alone, certainly can’t do everything. but those things i can do, i should do. we’re not all going to hop a flight to haiti and clean wounds or look into a child’s face: but some of us should, and i would argue that all of us should at least have the desire to want to be there – and that desire should fuel us to look for opportunities and creative ways to serve and give to those in need.

give to those in need. it’s like i always get hung up on what i can’t do. well so what. i can’t hop a flight and move to haiti for a year. but i can seek out someone who is able to do that and maybe support them, get the word out, and send them. i can donate my money to providing some basic resources. i can dontate my time to praying – which i belive to be a vital part of bringing the kingdom of heaven to the hells on earth and in our lives. i can give to those in need. and i should.

so. here’s a list to get you, and all of us, started in truly moving forward: actually doing something of consequence: bringing the kingdom: hopefully doing nothing different, just being exactly who we claim to be: followers of yeshua, children of YHWH, and people who live and breathe heaven.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,582902,00.html?mep