the kingdom of heaven…
What is prophecy, and what does it mean to be ‘prohetic’?
wrapping human words and actions around the thoughts and intentions of heaven
“Prognostication is a prophetic function, but a relatively minor one, and even that role is easily misunderstood. The major prophetic function is broader: to bring the word of the Lord to bear on a specific situation, and to bring people to a point of decision on how they will respond. Prophets cannot compel obedience… but they do precipitate a decision one way or another.” Brian McLaren, The Cross as Prophetic Action (from Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross )
comfort (cheer up) edify (build up) exhortation (stir up) ____________________________________________ correction knowledge direction
“Priestly work established & supported the regular ongoing religious life of the people; prophetic work interrupted that religious life when apathy, complacency, and self obsessed personal piety set in. … Beyond their more daring & extreme poetic language, they often used the high drama of what we might call performance art - intrusive, scandalous, shocking at times - to make their messages both unavoidable and unforgettable.” Brian McLaren, The Cross as Prophetic Action (from Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross )
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew, Chapter 13 verses (NRSV)
What is Jesus saying about the nature of the Kingdom now? What does Jesus do elsewhere to communicate this message by prophetic enactment?
“Sagéne is a particular kind of net, namely one that is dragged through the water, indiscriminately taking in everything in its path. Accordingly, the Kingdom of heaven (and, by extension, the church as the sacrament of that kingdom) manifests the same indiscriminateness. … Just as the net fetches out everything it meets in the sea, so the kingdom fetches home to God everything in the world.” Robert Farrar Capon, The Parables of Grace, pages
“(I)f the kingdom works like a dragnet, gathering every kind, the church, as the sacrament of the kingdom, should avoid the temptation to act like a sport fisherman who is interested only in speckled trout and hand tied flies. In particular, it should not get itself into the habit of rejecting as junk the flotsam and jetsam of the world - the human counterparts of the old boots, bottles and beer cans that a truly catholic fishing operation will inevitably dredge up.” Robert Farrar Capon, The Parables of Grace, page 127
attentive, present, endlessly self-giving, loving to all he’s made beautiful, creative, rejoicing powerful, unconstrained by the limits of human reason & capacity complete, full, whole & right in all he is & all he does inextinguishably self revealing & invitational, calling up his image in all respond Jesus Christ
compassion for people and care for creation creative expressions of love, joy, beauty, wonder & the majestic things that are impossible to explain by looking at the observable inputs ongoing transformation of my personal character + behaviours welcoming, explaining & encouraging Christ in us
... where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us... are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians, Chapter 3 verse 17 (NRSV)
compassion for people and care for creation creative expressions of love, joy, beauty, wonder & the majestic things that are impossible to explain by looking at the observable inputs ongoing transformation of my personal character + behaviours welcoming, explaining & encouraging Christ in us?
compassion for people and care for creation creative expressions of love, joy, beauty, wonder & the majestic things that are impossible to explain by looking at the observable inputs ongoing transformation of my personal character + behaviours welcoming, explaining & encouraging Christ in us
compassion for people and care for creation creative expressions of love, joy, beauty, wonder & the majestic things that are impossible to explain by looking at the observable inputs ongoing transformation of my personal character + behaviours welcoming, explaining & encouraging Christ in us
compassion for people and care for creation creative expressions of love, joy, beauty, wonder & the majestic things that are impossible to explain by looking at the observable inputs ongoing transformation of my personal character + behaviours welcoming, explaining & encouraging Christ in us
there are no important things
only things that are led & empowered by God’s Spirit & things that are not