The Kingdom Foundation
Elaine Poproski Download: Audio
Scripture: Romans 13:8-10
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Read more…
Scripture: Matthew 5:17-20
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Read more…
Looking to Sunday
by Elaine Poproski
Rules. From a very early age we fight them. Toddlers struggle against the dreaded no. Teenagers question and experiment and shape their own values and rules. Adults (ideally) hold law-makers accountable, voting for political representatives, protesting unjust laws, and working to change systems built on rules that contribute to oppression and inequality. Part of maturing as a citizen (at least in our country) is taking responsibility for the society we live in. We respect our leaders and lawmakers, while at the same time recognizing their fallibility and stepping in when necessary and as we are able. I am confident that this is right. I am still learning how to effectively do it.
I was thinking a lot about rules early in May when people gathered at Queen’s Park to protest the restrictions put in place because of the pandemic. I was struck by the shift that seemed to have taken place from mid-March when the message was of solidarity with health care workers and of everyone doing their part, to pictures of a few hundred people gathered to decry the loss of freedom. What changed? Maybe nothing changed. Maybe those protesting voices were there all along but were being ignored. Maybe the shift from crisis mode to the growing realization that this thing is going to go on for awhile longer became too much. Somehow, the rules went from being good and appropriate to being unjust and oppressive, at least for some.
Since then we’ve seen protests of a different sort rise up in cities all across North America. These are protests against centuries of the devaluation of black lives, centuries of law-making and system-building that make it more difficult for black and Indigenous citizens to thrive than it is for white citizens. Speaking for myself, I hope these protests don’t fade away. I hope these voices aren’t silenced. I hope we’re experiencing a fundamental shift in our society in terms of what is and is not acceptable.
Laws and whether or not as well as how they are enforced, shape kingdoms. They uncover the truth about what a people genuinely believes and values. It’s not surprising that God’s kingdom is also marked by laws and rules. Sadly, it’s also not surprising that fallible human beings have consistently twisted God’s kingdom laws.
On Sunday, we’re going to be reminded of the place of God’s Law in His kingdom. We’re also going to be reminded that as complicated and encompassing as the Law established initially for the people of Israel might be, it is easily summed up in one word: love. As you prepare for Sunday, I invite you to consider your relationship to rules. Do you tend to be a rule-follower or a rule-breaker? How do you feel about those who establish the rules? How about those who enforce the rules? How might those feelings and your tendency toward rules affect your thoughts and attitudes when it comes to rules you read in the Bible? How have the ways those rules have been understood and interpreted in your experience shaped your understanding of God? And finally, where does love fit into it?