Jesus gives us five strange parables which he doesn’t explain to show us what the place where God rules is like. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, like yeast growing, like buried treasure, like a merchant searching for the pearl of greatest price and like a fishing net.These illustrations remind us that growth is not always obvious. Jesus continues to work in lives through the power of his Holy Spirit even when we don’t know about it.While we have been hidden away during the last four months and churches have only been able to meet on social media, it is good to know that God hasn’t taken a holiday. He is still with us, transforming lives and enabling us to grow.The Holy Spirit is working in God’s world in ways that are hidden to us at the moment, bringing healing and salvation.One day God’s Kingdom will fully come, here on earth as it is in heaven. Our hearts, particularly at the moment cry out for that day. Until that day the Kingdom of heaven keeps on growing. It is subversive and invasive bringing justice and peace. It’s not destructive or oppressive to those who don’t want God’s rule in their lives. What is good and what is not grow together.Our heavenly Father waits to the very last minute of time to separate the tares from the wheat and the fish in the net.The Kingdom of heaven, is precious. It cost King Jesus everything he owned on earth, including his life.Jesus is buried treasure. He led a life on earth unseen by most of the inhabitants on earth in a tiny nation during the time of the Roman Empire.He was and is the pearl of greatest price for all who find him and get to know him.In this time of economic downturn, we are rich if we have Jesus in our lives. We, too as citizens of the Kingdom now and in the age to come are precious and loved. You are precious, buried treasure Treasure and pearls are costly. Just as Jesus gave all to seek and find us, he calls us to give all of ourselves to share with him in the bringing in of his kingdom. In the first illustration, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”It is comforting that big things can come from small beginnings. We link it to Jesus’ saying that we are to have faith like a mustard seed and it is tempting therefore to think that it is OK to only have a little bit of faith because that will be enough. We don’t need to work particularly hard at being a Christian. We don’t need to devote ourselves too much to the spiritual disciplines. But is that what Jesus was saying?A farmer would have to be desperate and poverty stricken to sow a mustard seed in his field. It doesn’t turn into a tree but into a bushIt was an invasive plant, going deep into the soil. There is the danger that the mustard plant will grow and grow and invade the rest of the soil and take over making the soil unusable for any other form of vegetation.That invasive property is what Jesus wants to highlight because his mustard seed becomes a place where the birds come to nest.The Kingdom of God might look small and it may even be sown out of poverty - but it will grow and grow and will invade the land and eventually become a sanctuary for others to find rest in.The Kingdom of God, therefore, comes as a threat to those who cling to the old world order. The Kingdom of God was threatening, uncontainable and invasive to the Jewish scribes and Pharisees trying to hold onto traditional ways of keeping the law. It eventually led to them murdering Jesus, the King of the Kingdom.It was the mustard seed bush, the tiny new, Christian community, the weed that grew to support the birds of the air, not orthodox Judaism.We must be careful in this time of change that we recognize what God is doing and don’t pull out new roots which God has planted. The Church is changing and adapting rapidly. The mustard seed bush reminds us that it not status, power or beauty which is important in God’s Kingdom. He wants us to be places of welcome where people from different backgrounds find a place of safety where they can grow and nurture their young. The function of the mustard tree was to be there for others. Do we, as part of God’s church and members of his Kingdom see ourselves as supporters and nurturers of others? Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”Three measures of flour would produce a massive amount of bread, enough to feed a 100 peopleWe think of the woman in her kitchen, kneeding the dough whilst her children play around her, whilst the lovely smell of freshly baking bread hangs in the air.Yeast was to be avoided however by the first hearers of this parable at the most holy times of the year: Unleavened Bread ordered as yeast was a symbol of sin., Jesus used the symbol of yeast to describe the insidious, subversive behaviour of the Pharisees. For those people who lived in an agricultural, nomadic culture, yeast was hard to handle. It was unpredictable, it bubbled up, it oozed, it collapsed, it grew again. Jesus uses an image in this illustration of a woman growing the Kingdom in an age when only men were allowed to be religious leaders. Women have always brought in God’s Kingdom through their baking and hospitality skills. They need recognition for all they give. How wonderful that women are now recognised as leaders and instigators, agents of change and transformation!Again, Jesus is not giving a neat and comfortable image: the Kingdom of Heaven is unpredictable. It bubbles up from within and completely transforms the environment in which it grows.Mustard seeds and Yeast are subversive. They cannot be contained or controlled. They grow in secret and then, all of a sudden, the host environment becomes transformed.The Kingdom of heaven is subversive and we cannot control it.It is important that, as we move forward in mission together, we don’t just focus on those areas and activities that we find comfortable but that we are prepared to play our part in the socially challenging agenda of God’s Kingdom.The Kingdom of heaven is messy. There is a tendency for Christians to want church to be a beautiful place, where we sing beautiful hymns and use beautiful liturgy in the comfort of a beautiful building.The Kingdom of heaven can be a messy, ugly place; The next two parables are about what is precious “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”How strange! Who would find treasure and then bury it again? Who would sell all that they had for a single pearl, however exquisite?Is Jesus saying that there is a cost to bringing in the Kingdom? Jesus is not just for us to enjoy. There is a mission field out there. The treasure is hidden from those who do not have eyes to see at the moment.The treasure hunter sells all that he has to purchase the field so that others might enjoy and find the treasure too. verse 47: “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, and sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.”When the fishermen cast out their nets in the Sea of Galilee, they were wanted to catch three types of fish: sardines, barbels, and musht. These were the staple fish diet of the population. Of course, when the nets were drawn back to shore, they wouldn’t just have been full of sardines, barbels and musht. There were 23 species of fish in the Sea of Galilee at that time. So alongside the wanted fish, their nets would have been full of Cat-fish and Anchor, both considered unclean to the Jewish people, eels and shellfish and all sorts of other fish too. The trawl would bring together the clean and the unclean, the good and the bad, and the task of the fisherman was to separate them out ready for the market place. Fishing was a messy business.Churches that are reaching out become messy places where mistakes are made, children will be noisy because they are having fun, and alcoholics and drug addicts will find a welcome. It is God alone who decides who and what is in or out of his Kingdom. There will come a day when Jesus will reign and every eye will see him. The Kingdom of heaven will be seen not hidden.Until that day we continue remembering that in Christ we have the pearl of great price and no one will separate us from him.In what ways are we enabling the Kingdom of heaven to grow? Are we like a mustard seed providing safety and nurture for others, like yeast growing, like buried treasure, like a merchant searching for the pearl of greatest price so that others might see its beauty and like a fishing net bringing others in.It’s seems more difficult because of the current restrictions over COVID 19 and social separation to be agents of growth. Most of the growth in the parables, however was hidden.In times of suffering and weakness, such as the time we are in, Paul in Romans assures us that we can still be agents of growth for the “Holy Spirit helps us to pray with sighs too deep for words.” He prays through our emotion in words we do not understand for us and all the saints. He knows how to pray when we don’t, knowing the mind of God. He assures us that God loves us and nothing can separate us from him. We are part of God’s large family, members of his Kingdom, called according to his purpose. Lord, “May your Kingdom come.”Generous God,you give us gifts and make them grow:though our faith is small as mustard seed,make it grow to your gloryand the flourishing of your kingdom;through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
Jesus gives us five strange parables which he doesn’t explain to show us what the place where God rules is like. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, like yeast growing, like buried treasure, like a merchant searching for the pearl of greatest price and like a fishing net.These illustrations remind us that growth is not always obvious. Jesus continues to work in lives through the power of his Holy Spirit even when we don’t know about it.While we have been hidden away during the last four months and churches have only been able to meet on social media, it is good to know that God hasn’t taken a holiday. He is still with us, transforming lives and enabling us to grow.The Holy Spirit is working in God’s world in ways that are hidden to us at the moment, bringing healing and salvation.One day God’s Kingdom will fully come, here on earth as it is in heaven. Our hearts, particularly at the moment cry out for that day. Until that day the Kingdom of heaven keeps on growing. It is subversive and invasive bringing justice and peace. It’s not destructive or oppressive to those who don’t want God’s rule in their lives. What is good and what is not grow together.Our heavenly Father waits to the very last minute of time to separate the tares from the wheat and the fish in the net.The Kingdom of heaven, is precious. It cost King Jesus everything he owned on earth, including his life.Jesus is buried treasure. He led a life on earth unseen by most of the inhabitants on earth in a tiny nation during the time of the Roman Empire.He was and is the pearl of greatest price for all who find him and get to know him.In this time of economic downturn, we are rich if we have Jesus in our lives. We, too as citizens of the Kingdom now and in the age to come are precious and loved. You are precious, buried treasure Treasure and pearls are costly. Just as Jesus gave all to seek and find us, he calls us to give all of ourselves to share with him in the bringing in of his kingdom. In the first illustration, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”It is comforting that big things can come from small beginnings. We link it to Jesus’ saying that we are to have faith like a mustard seed and it is tempting therefore to think that it is OK to only have a little bit of faith because that will be enough. We don’t need to work particularly hard at being a Christian. We don’t need to devote ourselves too much to the spiritual disciplines. But is that what Jesus was saying?A farmer would have to be desperate and poverty stricken to sow a mustard seed in his field. It doesn’t turn into a tree but into a bushIt was an invasive plant, going deep into the soil. There is the danger that the mustard plant will grow and grow and invade the rest of the soil and take over making the soil unusable for any other form of vegetation.That invasive property is what Jesus wants to highlight because his mustard seed becomes a place where the birds come to nest.The Kingdom of God might look small and it may even be sown out of poverty - but it will grow and grow and will invade the land and eventually become a sanctuary for others to find rest in.The Kingdom of God, therefore, comes as a threat to those who cling to the old world order. The Kingdom of God was threatening, uncontainable and invasive to the Jewish scribes and Pharisees trying to hold onto traditional ways of keeping the law. It eventually led to them murdering Jesus, the King of the Kingdom.It was the mustard seed bush, the tiny new, Christian community, the weed that grew to support the birds of the air, not orthodox Judaism.We must be careful in this time of change that we recognize what God is doing and don’t pull out new roots which God has planted. The Church is changing and adapting rapidly. The mustard seed bush reminds us that it not status, power or beauty which is important in God’s Kingdom. He wants us to be places of welcome where people from different backgrounds find a place of safety where they can grow and nurture their young. The function of the mustard tree was to be there for others. Do we, as part of God’s church and members of his Kingdom see ourselves as supporters and nurturers of others? Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”Three measures of flour would produce a massive amount of bread, enough to feed a 100 peopleWe think of the woman in her kitchen, kneeding the dough whilst her children play around her, whilst the lovely smell of freshly baking bread hangs in the air.Yeast was to be avoided however by the first hearers of this parable at the most holy times of the year: Unleavened Bread ordered as yeast was a symbol of sin., Jesus used the symbol of yeast to describe the insidious, subversive behaviour of the Pharisees. For those people who lived in an agricultural, nomadic culture, yeast was hard to handle. It was unpredictable, it bubbled up, it oozed, it collapsed, it grew again. Jesus uses an image in this illustration of a woman growing the Kingdom in an age when only men were allowed to be religious leaders. Women have always brought in God’s Kingdom through their baking and hospitality skills. They need recognition for all they give. How wonderful that women are now recognised as leaders and instigators, agents of change and transformation!Again, Jesus is not giving a neat and comfortable image: the Kingdom of Heaven is unpredictable. It bubbles up from within and completely transforms the environment in which it grows.Mustard seeds and Yeast are subversive. They cannot be contained or controlled. They grow in secret and then, all of a sudden, the host environment becomes transformed.The Kingdom of heaven is subversive and we cannot control it.It is important that, as we move forward in mission together, we don’t just focus on those areas and activities that we find comfortable but that we are prepared to play our part in the socially challenging agenda of God’s Kingdom.The Kingdom of heaven is messy. There is a tendency for Christians to want church to be a beautiful place, where we sing beautiful hymns and use beautiful liturgy in the comfort of a beautiful building.The Kingdom of heaven can be a messy, ugly place; The next two parables are about what is precious “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”How strange! Who would find treasure and then bury it again? Who would sell all that they had for a single pearl, however exquisite?Is Jesus saying that there is a cost to bringing in the Kingdom? Jesus is not just for us to enjoy. There is a mission field out there. The treasure is hidden from those who do not have eyes to see at the moment.The treasure hunter sells all that he has to purchase the field so that others might enjoy and find the treasure too. verse 47: “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, and sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.”When the fishermen cast out their nets in the Sea of Galilee, they were wanted to catch three types of fish: sardines, barbels, and musht. These were the staple fish diet of the population. Of course, when the nets were drawn back to shore, they wouldn’t just have been full of sardines, barbels and musht. There were 23 species of fish in the Sea of Galilee at that time. So alongside the wanted fish, their nets would have been full of Cat-fish and Anchor, both considered unclean to the Jewish people, eels and shellfish and all sorts of other fish too. The trawl would bring together the clean and the unclean, the good and the bad, and the task of the fisherman was to separate them out ready for the market place. Fishing was a messy business.Churches that are reaching out become messy places where mistakes are made, children will be noisy because they are having fun, and alcoholics and drug addicts will find a welcome. It is God alone who decides who and what is in or out of his Kingdom. There will come a day when Jesus will reign and every eye will see him. The Kingdom of heaven will be seen not hidden.Until that day we continue remembering that in Christ we have the pearl of great price and no one will separate us from him.In what ways are we enabling the Kingdom of heaven to grow? Are we like a mustard seed providing safety and nurture for others, like yeast growing, like buried treasure, like a merchant searching for the pearl of greatest price so that others might see its beauty and like a fishing net bringing others in.It’s seems more difficult because of the current restrictions over COVID 19 and social separation to be agents of growth. Most of the growth in the parables, however was hidden.In times of suffering and weakness, such as the time we are in, Paul in Romans assures us that we can still be agents of growth for the “Holy Spirit helps us to pray with sighs too deep for words.” He prays through our emotion in words we do not understand for us and all the saints. He knows how to pray when we don’t, knowing the mind of God. He assures us that God loves us and nothing can separate us from him. We are part of God’s large family, members of his Kingdom, called according to his purpose. Lord, “May your Kingdom come.”Generous God,you give us gifts and make them grow:though our faith is small as mustard seed,make it grow to your gloryand the flourishing of your kingdom;through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
One of the nurses from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, whose wedding I was going to conduct next month, said at the beginning of lockdown, “Don’t worry, this will only last a month.” She has been extremely busy for the last five months and her wedding postponed. Although there has been an end to some restrictions, COVID 19 is still killing people in this country and there is no sign of things going back to the old normal soon.Some people are living nearly normal lives and are forgetting about social distancing. They are back at work, mixing with friends and relaxing in the pub.Some of us, more at risk are taking sensible precautions. Others are terrified to go out at all. They are in danger of becoming mentally ill.It is important that all of us care for the whole community. In church this means keeping to the advice given by our Bishops and by the government and restricting our numbers so that we can socially distance. There was a moment during the week when I almost forgot about social distancing and visited someone who could probably have done with a hug.Those who have refused to socially distance and have behaved recklessly have put us all at risk.They have lived selfishly, according to their flesh. Paul says in Romans 8:13 that if we behave this way we will die. He contrasts this with those who are led by the Spirit of God who put to death their own physical needs so they can serve others. They are not fearful. They do what God wants because they have a personal relationship with him, not because they are compelled to do so like slaves. They know God as their heavenly Daddy who loves them. Even though they are suffering, they know he wants the very best for them.Christians have hope because we are adopted, chosen children of God. If we are children of God then we are heirs, “Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”As children of God, led by his Holy Spirit, we know there are better things to come. We will share in Christ’s heavenly glory when we see him face to face.Waiting requires patience. Paul writes in Romans 8 about looking forward in hope for what we don’t see. We hope that there will soon be a day when there are no new cases of COVID 19.Those who are unemployed hope that the economy will bounce back and that there will be better days ahead.Those suffering the effects of global warming hope that people won’t continue to selfishly exploit our planet so that the world will remain beautiful and preserved for future generations.We all have different hopes and fears. Some of our hopes from the past have been crushed. We know we are not going to see them fulfilled in our lifetime.When all is darkness, we need to set our hopes on the God of hope who according to Romans 15 v 13 will fill us with joy and peace as we trust in himA hopeful person is optimistic, anticipating positive outcomes joyfully. We can live without most of the physical comforts that we take for granted but we cannot live without hope or we will fall into despair.This week, our congregation has been shocked by the sudden loss from cancer of one of our younger members. Why? She was growing in her faith, enjoying life and had so much more to offerWhat sort of God is it who causes cancer in young people? Stephen Fry the angry atheist and I guess most of us have asked this fair question.We can look at the bright side. She had placed her hope in Christ. She has gone home to be with the Lord, she is out of pain, she has been promoted to glory; she is somewhere far better, forever with the Lord. All those things are trueYet I can’t and don’t believe God wants us to suffer. When Jesus saves us, he both forgives us from our sins and heals us and makes us whole.In the story of the wheat and the weeds, good and evil is sown and grows together.The good seed, according to the explanation is sown by Jesus, the Son of Man, and the weeds by the evil one.This is one explanation as to why suffering exists. It is caused by the devil and his agents, both demonic and human.We all know that there are both good seeds and weeds in all of our lives. We root out and tackle the suffering and evil we are able to deal with and we have to trust Christ to cleanse and heal us from the rest.Both our Gospel and the Romans passage look forward to that day when evil and suffering is brought to an end by Christ. There will be a time when God separates the wheat from the tares, a time when the angels gather the wheat into God’ barn at the end of the age. What a lovely image of angels gathering our friends!Until that time we look forward in hope. God is good.We continue to look for an end to the suffering caused by COVID 19, and cancer which are both like weeds and parasites growing with the good cells within the body, replicating and taking overViruses are important in this fight. Viruses are not all bad. They are an important natural means of transferring genes between different species, which increases genetic diversityGeneticists often use them to introduce genes into cells that they are studying. They are also used to treat various diseases, as they can specifically target cells and DNA. It shows promising use in the treatment of cancer and in gene therapy.Despite the suffering of our present time, Paul says it does not compare with the glory to come. He looks forward in hope.He gives another explanation for suffering. He says the creation was subjected to futility. The whole of creation, like us, he says is in eager longing to be set free from bondage to decay. If creation hadn’t been set up this way, there would be no need for redemption, no human choice and no means of developing moral character. Paul describes creation is suffering labour pains waiting for the redemption of the children of God. In labour we wait, suffer, push and pant, pressing hard for the life God wants and gives to be born. We wait for his glory and life to be seen in all its fullnessUntil that time we hope in patience for what we cannot now see or understand, trusting that the Lord who saved us from our sins when we trusted him will bring it about. We are saved if we have asked Jesus to come into our lives, but that salvation will become complete when creation is redeemed and there is no more suffering or decay. Creator God,you made us all in your image:may we discern you in all that we see,and serve you in all that we do;through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
One of the nurses from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, whose wedding I was going to conduct next month, said at the beginning of lockdown, “Don’t worry, this will only last a month.” She has been extremely busy for the last five months and her wedding postponed. Although there has been an end to some restrictions, COVID 19 is still killing people in this country and there is no sign of things going back to the old normal soon.Some people are living nearly normal lives and are forgetting about social distancing. They are back at work, mixing with friends and relaxing in the pub.Some of us, more at risk are taking sensible precautions. Others are terrified to go out at all. They are in danger of becoming mentally ill.It is important that all of us care for the whole community. In church this means keeping to the advice given by our Bishops and by the government and restricting our numbers so that we can socially distance. There was a moment during the week when I almost forgot about social distancing and visited someone who could probably have done with a hug.Those who have refused to socially distance and have behaved recklessly have put us all at risk.They have lived selfishly, according to their flesh. Paul says in Romans 8:13 that if we behave this way we will die. He contrasts this with those who are led by the Spirit of God who put to death their own physical needs so they can serve others. They are not fearful. They do what God wants because they have a personal relationship with him, not because they are compelled to do so like slaves. They know God as their heavenly Daddy who loves them. Even though they are suffering, they know he wants the very best for them.Christians have hope because we are adopted, chosen children of God. If we are children of God then we are heirs, “Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”As children of God, led by his Holy Spirit, we know there are better things to come. We will share in Christ’s heavenly glory when we see him face to face.Waiting requires patience. Paul writes in Romans 8 about looking forward in hope for what we don’t see. We hope that there will soon be a day when there are no new cases of COVID 19.Those who are unemployed hope that the economy will bounce back and that there will be better days ahead.Those suffering the effects of global warming hope that people won’t continue to selfishly exploit our planet so that the world will remain beautiful and preserved for future generations.We all have different hopes and fears. Some of our hopes from the past have been crushed. We know we are not going to see them fulfilled in our lifetime.When all is darkness, we need to set our hopes on the God of hope who according to Romans 15 v 13 will fill us with joy and peace as we trust in himA hopeful person is optimistic, anticipating positive outcomes joyfully. We can live without most of the physical comforts that we take for granted but we cannot live without hope or we will fall into despair.This week, our congregation has been shocked by the sudden loss from cancer of one of our younger members. Why? She was growing in her faith, enjoying life and had so much more to offerWhat sort of God is it who causes cancer in young people? Stephen Fry the angry atheist and I guess most of us have asked this fair question.We can look at the bright side. She had placed her hope in Christ. She has gone home to be with the Lord, she is out of pain, she has been promoted to glory; she is somewhere far better, forever with the Lord. All those things are trueYet I can’t and don’t believe God wants us to suffer. When Jesus saves us, he both forgives us from our sins and heals us and makes us whole.In the story of the wheat and the weeds, good and evil is sown and grows together.The good seed, according to the explanation is sown by Jesus, the Son of Man, and the weeds by the evil one.This is one explanation as to why suffering exists. It is caused by the devil and his agents, both demonic and human.We all know that there are both good seeds and weeds in all of our lives. We root out and tackle the suffering and evil we are able to deal with and we have to trust Christ to cleanse and heal us from the rest.Both our Gospel and the Romans passage look forward to that day when evil and suffering is brought to an end by Christ. There will be a time when God separates the wheat from the tares, a time when the angels gather the wheat into God’ barn at the end of the age. What a lovely image of angels gathering our friends!Until that time we look forward in hope. God is good.We continue to look for an end to the suffering caused by COVID 19, and cancer which are both like weeds and parasites growing with the good cells within the body, replicating and taking overViruses are important in this fight. Viruses are not all bad. They are an important natural means of transferring genes between different species, which increases genetic diversityGeneticists often use them to introduce genes into cells that they are studying. They are also used to treat various diseases, as they can specifically target cells and DNA. It shows promising use in the treatment of cancer and in gene therapy.Despite the suffering of our present time, Paul says it does not compare with the glory to come. He looks forward in hope.He gives another explanation for suffering. He says the creation was subjected to futility. The whole of creation, like us, he says is in eager longing to be set free from bondage to decay. If creation hadn’t been set up this way, there would be no need for redemption, no human choice and no means of developing moral character. Paul describes creation is suffering labour pains waiting for the redemption of the children of God. In labour we wait, suffer, push and pant, pressing hard for the life God wants and gives to be born. We wait for his glory and life to be seen in all its fullnessUntil that time we hope in patience for what we cannot now see or understand, trusting that the Lord who saved us from our sins when we trusted him will bring it about. We are saved if we have asked Jesus to come into our lives, but that salvation will become complete when creation is redeemed and there is no more suffering or decay. Creator God,you made us all in your image:may we discern you in all that we see,and serve you in all that we do;through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
