The Kingdom of God Has Come Near You

"The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. When you enter a house, first say, "Peace to this house." If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, "The kingdom of God is near you." -Luke 10:1–9 NIV

Towards the middle of his ministry, Jesus sent out His disciples -- His apprentices -- to go out and personally bring a glimpse of the Kingdom of God to people who are suffering -- to heal the sick. He tells them that when they heal the sick to make sure the people know what is going on, to tell them "the Kingdom of God has come near [them]." This past Sunday was Worship Through Service at Creekside Covenant Church, a time where instead of gathering to worship God together at Redmond Junior High School, we disperse and worship Him -- like our predecessor disciples from 2,000 years ago -- through our service of others. While we were not called to heal the sick, we were called to be the bringers of the Kingdom of God, to go to places that were experiencing brokenness and say with our actions, "The Kingdom of God has come near you." What an amazing opportunity.

From the many projects, came many stories. Share and ask others to share their stories from that day. My story started even before Sunday. Three days before we headed out to serve, I met at City Hall with the head of Code Enforcement for the City of Redmond. I was there to pick up vouchers for the dump for one of our Worship Through Service projects. When we sat down to sign the paperwork, she shared how thankful she was that we were doing this, how so often she finds herself frustrated, charged with enforcing the City's Municipal Code, and unable to help people who are sometimes stuck and cannot help themselves. "I felt like there was nobody I could call. Now, I know that I can call Creekside and you might be able to help." On Sunday, we used these vouchers to haul three truckloads and three trailers of junk from the yard of a man who was at his wit's end, overwhelmed, feeling that there was no one who could help him and then seeing hope appear through a dozen people -- strangers from Creekside -- who showed up to help.

This was just one of more than half a dozen projects that Creeksiders undertook this past Worship Through Service Sunday. In each and every project, those served felt blessed, humbled and honored that people would come and help them. Those who did the serving also felt blessed, humbled and honored to serve them. It was an example of God's upside-down economy in action where the giver and the receiver each walked away with more than they brought. And throughout, God received the glory, God received the worship through our service, and we all sensed that the Kingdom of God was near indeed.