Uncomfortable Kingdom

In Israel, we are finally coming out of the COVID-19 crisis. Less than 0.0006% of the population is currently infected as of this writing. Of those roughly 5,000 infected, only 319 people are in serious or critical condition. That’s ten times LESS than the average number of people killed in car accidents worldwide … in one day! Praise the LORD, COVID-19 is really disappearing here!

So, if we are “post-corona,” why are people struggling to get to congregational meetings and events? Has the year of live-streaming and zoom meetings made us even more addicted to ease and convenience? And, if we are comfortable, what does God have to say about that?

Then Yeshua was saying to everyone, ‘If anyone wants to follow Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross every day, and follow Me.’ (Luke 9:23)

Here Yeshua tells us that we must daily put our shoulder into the work of lifting a reality that is NOT comfortable – a potential destiny of martyrdom. We are living sacrifices. We are on a path that might lead to a gruesome, painful end and will certainly lead to death to self. Welcome to the Kingdom of God!

The kingdom of this world is absolutely a kingdom of being comfortable. It seeks the pleasurable and the easy. It seeks stability in all the wrong places. It trusts in horses and chariots and governments and Facebook likes. We are not of that kingdom.

We are of a Kingdom that is only partially found in this world. We have a deposit of the Kingdom in this age and a much, much greater fullness to come. We know that the most amazing sounds, colors, tastes and relationships are waiting for us after we pass from this world. We know that, as Mother Teresa said, “In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth, a life full of the most atrocious tortures on earth, will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.”

At the end of the path after carrying our “cross,” we may have martyrdom, or we may have health issues, or we may pass in the night at a ripe age surrounded by family; but no matter what, the next thing we will see is Yeshua. As Yeshua said to the man crucified next to Him, “Amen, I tell you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

We are not taking up our cross daily if we find it too inconvenient to leave our home and come fellowship with our congregations. We are not taking up our cross daily if we cannot dedicate time to read our Bible, even on days when we are tired. We are not taking up our cross daily if we are not willing to suffer the heat of summer to walk the streets and tell of Yeshua’s love to those who don’t know Him.

We must take up our cross daily, leave our homes, shake off tiredness and, yes, even suffer what must be suffered to make disciples. We have a bright future and an amazing hope if we leave the idolization of comfort and remember we are in an “Uncomfortable Kingdom,” pursuing the restoration of all things.