We are on the long road to the Kingdom of Light. Who is the King? God consistently portrays Himself as a particular image with which we are only vaguely familiar: the nomadic desert sheik. This symbol, this parable of the Kingdom, can be explained to some degree.
We are familiar with Medieval feudalism, but not ANE feudalism. Most of what we know from movies is, at best, missing the point. Our God is absolute ruler of all Creation. All in Creation serve Him. It matters not whether every being agrees to it, nor even acknowledges it. He is Lord. You can embrace Him as such, or you can serve without any blessing.
Those who embrace Him are family, adopted as His children. They serve as heirs, fully vested with a share of the final bequest. Family is obviously treated quite different from hired help. All the rest of those who do not embrace Him in faith are the hired servants. They survive, get their rations and such in accordance with what serves His interest. At the end, servants are dismissed, and it's over, while the family members stay.
This sheik holds a domain. While all Creation is His, of course, what matters is not the land, but the business of the empire. He is growing His empire, expanding its assets so He will have something worthy for His Son to inherit. While the servants are used, they often have no idea what the Lord's policies are, but His children actively seek to increase the wealth of the empire. The wealth of the empire is souls taken in as new children.
We serve to make this growth happen. Of course, we do not bring the increase of ourselves, but receive it as a gift for faithful service. We cannot bring new souls, nor even make the invitation. That remains His prerogative alone. We can only obey Him in His calling for each of us. He calls His children to various services on His behalf, carrying out His business.
His business is truth, revelation, making obvious His nature to all Creation. The primary method is love. We are empowered to extend our commitment to Him into lives He places in our path by His love. The others we love are those servants who are not His children. How do they recognize love as truth? The process of loving changes us before their eyes.
Our witness is not knowing and saying truth, but improving our love. The servants will see our love grow, see our talent in acting out the revelation develop. The improvement will bear little relation to logic as they understand it, and often defy that logic. When they are surly, we remain gentle. When they are fearful, we are brave in facing the consequences of His love in action. When they are any or all of the thousands of things fallen men give themselves to, we remain loyal to our one Lord. Even in our loving, we will act in ways which make no sense, because love is not confined to what men can comprehend.
We are not better than these many servants, and often much weaker, less noble, certainly not as successful, as they see things. We are not interested in their way of measuring, because success in the spirit has little to do with success in this world. Our Lord expresses His approval over our loyalty, our desire to please Him. The power to actually perform comes as a gift from Him. So also comes the power to walk through failure. One is as rich as the other. We encourage people to take advantage of us in the things which matter most to them, because our Lord will supply more than any man can steal. That is, if things matter to our mission and calling, we shall have more than we need. We care not, because what matters to us cannot be stolen.
We have a foot in both worlds, that of the family and that of the servants. The servants know only what their senses and logic or emotions tell them. We family have this other faculty which reveals to our minds truth which cannot be put into words. We gladly suffer any loss on the servant level because, in the end, all we can lose is having that other foot anchored in a vale of sorrow. We should always be glad to leave it behind when He calls, but He alone can decide. Until then, we remain aware of what attaches to the world of servants, all that matters to them, and what they can perceive. All the while, we have an eternal anchor in a much higher plane, the place of family in the Kingdom.
Because of our tangled existence, having a foot in both worlds, we must fail and disappoint our Lord and Father. We are not the less children, but we will know the burning disappointment of His displeasure. Having once gained for eternity that oneness with Him, we cannot bear the thought of His displeasure, of knowing we have poked Him in the eye, causing Him pain. It tears at our very being.
His is Our Lord, and Our Father. There is no law outside His wish, however variable to us it may seem. There is no justice outside His pleasure. There is no love or goodness outside His revelation. There is no truth outside His Person. Behold, Your King.
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By Ed Hurst
23 February 2009
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