As you go, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is near.” Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:7-8.

Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20.

Let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. Colossians 3:15.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 91: “It is finished.” Psalm 22:31: They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has performed it. And, John 19:30; Hebrews 10:10-12, 14, 18: Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

This morning in our Friday Zoom retreat, we watched the video by John Ortberg about Why Nothing Ever Feels Enough. And he asked, “What really makes life worth living?” He gave the example of a female general who was able to complete tasks by crossing off every task after number 2. In this busy world with so many tasks needing done, not all can be completed this day. Jesus told us the most important two of all: Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself. Those are the dimensions of being fully human that we will one day, by God Himself, be transformed into. Freedom. True freedom. The unforced way is the way that God brings. In our discussion we talked about our frustrations with the way this world is now. There are fires raging in Canada, our neighbor, and yet our own President is accusing them of not doing enough to stop the smoke from affecting our cities in this country, while whole towns are burned there. I couldn’t help thinking about firemen. They understand completely the danger and deadly destruction of fires because they are in the raging heat of that awful battle, putting their own lives on the line. They don’t point fingers or complain. They are too busy helping other firefighters. Canadian firefighters help firefighters in the U.S. and firefighters here travel to Canada and to other states as needed. No condemnation. Help that is needed and appreciated always is help given in the midst of the trenches by those standing together doing the hard work.

How much condemnation and hate will it take before we realize what we are doing to our own souls? What really makes life worth living because it isn’t condemnation, hate, greed, violence. Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Why was Jesus so condemning of the scribes and Pharisees? Their righteousness was in rigidly following rules they burdened others with, without any love for God or compassion for others. But that was the whole point to life! To love Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. It is His love that lights the way that the darkness flees; and that darkness is in us as we condemn and hate one another and complain rather than count the many blessings we have been given. Looking at all the problems we live today, think about what Jesus told His disciples before He sent them out…The kingdom of heaven is near…Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons, freely give because you have freely received. Jesus did all of those things. He is the kingdom of heaven and that is why He could say that the kingdom of heaven was near. It is still near in Him helping us. Don’t let Pharisees blind you to the truth of God’s love. Pharisees then and now are concerned with political power. What an awful trade! Creator God is concerned with our hearts and minds and bringing healing so needed, that once we turn to Him and repent of not trusting Him only, the very light of His truth and His love grows stronger and brighter and leads us to true Life with God. It takes time and every day we can learn with Him who stands ready now to lead us out of the awful darkness of condemnation and hate suffocating us every bit as much as that awful smoke from wildfires. With His help we begin to see how deeply wounded our souls have been by hate and condemnation. He heals our hearts and minds. And loving Him brings joy and hope that spills over into our being able to truly love ourselves and one another to the joy of Creator God!

***O INCREASE MY LOVE I pray, O LORD Jesus, my love you’d increase that I, like You, Jesus, might offer men peace. My soul wells with longing for lips with Your grace and eyes of compassion for each searching face. Traian Dorz and Nicolae Moldovenau, “O Increase My Love,” Romanian hymn, trans. Charles Brown, 1979.***