The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only fractions of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom lies beyond us. No statement says all that should be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are all about. We plan that seed that one day will grow. We water the seeds already plants, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, and opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end result, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of future that is not our own.
I heard this prayer this weekend and I really just love it. It's true we are here to plant the seeds and water them. Sometimes I think this is why I am here and why I have done so many service trips because I feel that often I'm just the seed planter and even water them. Only God knows the results.
PS I just have to say this because the debate just ended, I'm so sick of politics! I'm tired of all this attacking of character and everything from both sides. Neither of them do anything it seems and will someone please just say what they are going to do. That's all, and this has been building up for a while now.
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