the Steadwich

Reading through Matthew 1-6 during this week has made me well aware of two big challenges that face my study plan. First, the idea of reading the first six chapters of Matthew and creating a reasonable sized blog post is going to be incredibly challenging. There’s much to say about any single verse, let alone the entire first six chapters. I think there may be some weeks where I need to blog more than once, or be satisfied in limiting the scope of my post to a certain verse.

The second challenge is in my mentor meetings throughout the week and the month. Where do you start a conversation on the first six books of Matthew? These chapters cover the birth of Christ through a chunk of the Sermon on the Mount. Wow. That’s a pretty impressive scope.

A small verse that caught me in particular right in the middle of this chunk was Matthew 4:17: From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” I was struck by the simplicity of the message (and yet really complicated), and that I have heard this said and used before.

The normal context I’ve heard “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” in is on street corners in cities, on signs, or at the county fair. Usually, it’s meant to mean something about turning from your ways now, because you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Almost as if we look at Jesus saying this as a get it right, because the end is near.

Recently, I talked at the last summer INN about heaven. It was the most difficult time preparing and speaking I’ve ever had. Assembling the vast amount of details into some coherent message was challenging, confusing, and stretching. Within the topic of heaven, I crossed paths a few times with mentions of this “kingdom of heaven” and it being near.

In my preparation for speaking, I discovered that the kingdom of heaven has very little to do with an afterlife, but instead so much to do with right now on this earth. While I don’t want to say that the folks at the county fair that are asking people where they’ll go when they die are wrong, I think Jesus might be saying something bigger.

Instead of reading “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” as “Hurry and get it together because you don’t have much time!”, I get the impression that this might more of a “Something amazing that is going to change the world is coming, turn from those things you’re doing to catch a glimpse of it”.

I wonder if Jesus is simply telling us that something is coming that we don’t want to miss. This kingdom thing. A new way. Something to pick us up out of the mundane, everyday world that wears us down. A kingdom where people look out for one another instead of just watching their own backs. An upside down kingdom, belonging to those who are down and out. Where those who thirst for righteousness will be quenched. This is a kingdom that challenges our default selfishness and sets us as examples and mentors for others. Turn from what you’re doing now, because you don’t want to miss this.

As Jesus told this to people, they listened. Peter and Andrew dropped their nets and left the life that they had likely known for generations.   Don’t miss this. Leave those nets. Your income, family, history, what you know. Leave it. You don’t want to miss this.

I wonder if it’s like two friends standing on a hilltop near sunset. One friend is distracted by a squirrel, or something that seems pretty neat in the moment. The other friend notices the sun setting and brilliant colors splashing across the sky and the land below. With a sense of urgency, this friend can’t help but exclaim to the animal viewing friend to turn away from it and check out the sunset. It’s what they’re there for in the first place.

As strange as that hilltop scene is, I imagine to a great extent, Christ beckons us to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” because the reason we’re here is something other than what we’re focused on. Something far more amazing than the things we get wrapped up in every day. Something even more beautiful and dramatic than the sunset above. Something worth dropping everything for so as to not miss it.

It’s finally here! This blog is up, and the week is here for the start of the Stead Halstead School of Biblical Literacy. Wow, that’s a lot of words.

First, a little bit of background: This year, I’m serving part-time as the administrator of the INN. Not that God isn’t working through others in other places, but you know.

I decided to shift my perspective on part time. What if instead of looking at being part time as a not-quite-there/need to find a few other jobs to make it situation, I viewed it instead as the most incredible opportunity to step back from a busy (hopefully) rest of my life with full time work and study some things that I haven’t studied in depth before. Working with a college ministry that is connected with a church and feeling a calling that many more of my years will be spent with this and other non-profits, I decided that I should study the Bible. There are lots of reasons for this, but I believe the Bible is God’s word and it changes lives.

I knew that if I told myself that I was going to just “read the bible” this year, I would get about a month in (if I was lucky), until I faded back into regular devotions and less of an indepth, comprehensive, look at what lies within. That would be alright, but less than I was shooting for.

This year is an experiment. I’ve asked several people that I look up to be my mentors. Each week, I’ll be studying a specific chunk of scripture, reflecting on it on this blog, and meeting with one of the mentors to discuss and dig a bit deeper.

During this year, I invite you to try this out with me. I’m excited to learn a lot through this process, but I’ll need your help. As I put up blog posts each week about my interactions with the text, I encourage you to comment. Tell me what you loved, how it relates to you, stories, what you strongly disagree with, or that I’ve got it all wrong. Those are all ok things. I’m fine with it, and I’m sure we’ll all grow from the experience.

I’m excited for what this year holds. There’s a lot of stuff on the schedule, but I’m excited to see where it all goes. No turning back!