Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to the cross…

But before all these things happen, people will arrest you and treat you cruelly. They will judge you in their synagogues and put you in jail and force you to stand before kings and governors, because you follow me. 13 But this will give you an opportunity to tell about me. 14 Make up your minds not to worry ahead of time about what you will say. 15 I will give you the wisdom to say things that none of your enemies will be able to stand against or prove wrong. 16 Even your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends will turn against you, and they will kill some of you. 17 All people will hate you because you follow me. 18 But none of these things can really harm you. 19 By continuing to have faith you will save your lives.   Luke 21:12-19 NCV

When we at rest shall be
Where sorrows cannot come,
In our blest fatherland above—
Our own eternal home.

If this be not Thy will, and it befall that we be swallowed up in the waters, by Thy good pleasure, to become food for the fishes of the sea, then, Lord, surely Thou wilt stretch forth Thy hand to grant us a blessed death.

The Eucharist, at each new celebration, must be recognized anew as the core of our Christian life. But we cannot celebrate the Eucharist adequately if we are content to reduce it to a ritual of—more or less—a half-hour’s duration. To receive Christ means to worship him.

There is a great drive in Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant, to achieve some kind of contemporary utopia. Some do this by trying to liberate people–but fail to see that they are trying to liberate them from God. Others take the opposite tack, and pin their hopes to a Utopia found in a Christian state, or Christian country, as if that would solve the problem of sin, and the damage it does to any community. This even includes the church, as we seek to argue people into conversion and into being holy–as if we can manipulate in a moment what the scriptures tell us will take until the return of Jesus. (Phil. 1:6)

I am not saying these people aren’t sincere, but this desire to see a perfect world, a perfect church, a place without broken people and those who struggle with God is insane, simply because it contradicts the testimony of scripture. We aren’t the governors and kings that people are brought before, we are the people who are brought before them, and testify to where our hope lies, in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

That testimony, that includes we are sinners in need of Jesus work at the cross and His resurrection, admits that there is no utopia. The church has no ability to create the perfect world, so it shouldn’t try to through earthly means. It does have the ability to guide people into the presence of God, where they will live in His presence eternally. It can also help them get to the point where their needs are met, so that they can focus on God. But that is by feeding the poor, visiting the lonely, helping the homeless. One on one ministry, not lobbying and trying to create a Christian kingdom.

Utopia won’t exist in this world, but we have god’s presence, to comfort, guide and heal us… I think that is the far better option.

Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853, p. 127.

Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 208.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, p. 81.