{"id":2572,"date":"2008-10-20T19:25:51","date_gmt":"2008-10-20T19:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=2572"},"modified":"2010-12-22T12:21:02","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:21:02","slug":"6650","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (October 20, 2008) \u2013 Following is the complete text of the sermon delivered to members of the Executive Board of the Evangelical Covenant Church by pastor Rebekah Eklund, who serves as a member of the board. The sermon text is Hebrews 12:18-29.<\/em>
\n
\nBy Rev. Rebekah Eklund<\/p>\n

I read a sermon recently in which the great theologian Karl Barth preached on one sentence from the book of Leviticus. He preached one long and elegant paragraph for each word in that sentence. Barth took seriously that every word, every word in Scripture \u2013 no matter how foreign or puzzling or small \u2013 is a word of life for the church and for the people of God.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been thinking about the phrase \u201cIn It Together,\u201d and I decided to preach on the word \u201cIt.\u201d\u00a0 I hope you have read the story on the Covenant website<\/a> about the recent retreat of Covenant leadership where they gathered around the theme \u201cIn It Together\u201d – and if you haven\u2019t, I will encourage you to go to the website and read it as soon as you get home.<\/p>\n

In It Together. I\u2019ve been praying about this phrase these last few weeks. In what<\/em> together? I began to ask myself. I began to think about exactly what it<\/em> is we are in, and why. We might say we are in the ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church; we are together in the work of God\u2019s kingdom.<\/p>\n

But, still, I wonder, what is the \u201cit\u201d to which we are all called? One of my favorite preachers, Barbara Brown Taylor, says that she entered ministry because she fell in love with God. You might say I became a doctorate student because I fell in love with the word of God, with the Bible and the way God continues to address and challenge his church through it, and I couldn\u2019t think of anything more wonderful than studying it in as much depth as possible \u2013 than listening to it as carefully as I can.<\/p>\n

So when I think about what \u201cit\u201d is, I think about the ways that Scripture speaks about the \u201cit\u201d to which we are called.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s too rich and beautiful of a thing for just one image, so Scripture has an abundance: It is the ministry of reconciliation; it is the glorious mystery of God revealed in Christ; it is good news to the poor; it is a new birth into a living hope; it is the making of disciples; it is the building up of a temple made out of living stones; it is the planting and watering of seeds; it is a kingdom that cannot be shaken.<\/p>\n

Some of these images tell us who we are: branches on a vine; one body with many diverse parts. Some of them tell us what we are to do: bear fruit; do justly and love mercy and walk humbly. But the image that has come to my mind time and time again in these past few weeks is that of the kingdom that cannot be shaken.<\/p>\n

You see it seems to me that there\u2019s another kingdom, the kingdom we live and work in, that is being shaken. It\u2019s a great trembling and shaking and quaking that\u2019s being felt all around the world. The kingdom of the financial markets is shaking. The kingdom of economics is shaking. Our hopes for our futures and our bank accounts and our retirements and for some of us even our jobs \u2013 are being shaken.<\/p>\n

The gospel lesson for today in the lectionary was from the gospel of Matthew, where some clever pastors ask Jesus if they\u2019re supposed to pay taxes or not, and Jesus complicates their lives by telling them, Give to Caesar what is Caesar\u2019s, and to God what is God\u2019s. The question of what is Caesar\u2019s and what is God\u2019s takes on a sharper edge in the midst of questions about bail-out packages and taxpayers\u2019 pockets and presidential elections \u2013 which is why I decided not to preach on this lesson \u2013 but it does help remind us that as Christians we have our feet planted in more than one kingdom.<\/p>\n

And into the midst of all this uncertainty, all this shifting sand, the book of Hebrews comes to us with a word of life for the people of God, to tell us what it is that we are in, together. It tells us whose kingdom we really belong to. It tells us exactly where we stand.<\/p>\n

You have come, Hebrews says, not to a place of fear \u2013 not to darkness, or fire, or death, or terror. This, of course, is Mt. Sinai: the ultimate holy place, where Israel received the law that was to shape their life as God\u2019s holy people. Sinai was a fearful place, but it was a place of appropriate fear and awe, where the people of Israel are so overwhelmed by the holiness of God that they beg Moses not to let God speak to them again, lest they die.<\/p>\n

Hebrews reminds us of this place, of the power of our awesome and holy God, but then tells us we are now standing in a different place, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.<\/p>\n

Hebrews says, You have come, through Christ, to an even holier place: to the city of the living God, the living God – and the city is dancing with angels and saints and the souls of the righteous brought to perfection, or maturity. I read this passage to a friend, and she said, how majestic. How majestic, and powerful, and beautiful. You have come not to a physical place, an actual mountain like Sinai, but you have come into the overwhelming beauty of God\u2019s presence \u2013 the new reality in which we live. \u201cYou have come\u201d is Hebrews\u2019 way of talking about approaching the very throne room of God, entering into his presence, where we find mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.<\/p>\n

If we read the rest of Hebrews, we might notice that these majestic words were written to a community that was being persecuted \u2013 their property was being confiscated, they were being thrown in jail and even tortured for their faith. Their homes, their jobs, their very lives were threatened. Some of them were turning away from Christ, or losing heart and falling away from the church. They may have felt, just perhaps, that the kingdoms of their lives were being shaken. And Scripture says, where you are is a place that cannot be shaken. The life you have in Christ cannot be threatened or taken away. The preacher Sam Wells says, \u201cThe gates of Hades may look pretty dangerous, and they may hurt like hell, but they don\u2019t win. That\u2019s the gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The kingdom we are receiving cannot be shaken. It is not a kingdom made with human hands or by our striving but it is God\u2019s kingdom \u2013 God\u2019s rule or reign, which the gospels tell us broke forth in the world in the ministry of Jesus, and it is this kingdom to which the church belongs. One pastor I know describes God\u2019s kingdom simply as \u201cthe place where God\u2019s will gets done.\u201d We see God\u2019s will get done in small and sometimes amazing ways here on earth, but it will fully be lived out in the heavenly city. We taste it now when we worship together; we get a glimpse of it when the hungry are fed and the naked are clothed and the weeping are comforted. God promises to reign completely, one day \u2013 and that\u2019s the day we long for, with hope, with great joy. Like the hearers of the book of Hebrews, our lives are shaped by the reality of the heavenly city \u2013 that\u2019s where we stand; it\u2019s the throne room into which we enter with confidence. Yet Hebrews also reminds us that we still need to run with perseverance \u2013 the race is not over yet! The possibility of falling away is a real one. The danger of losing hope is always in front of us. The other kingdom we live in trembles and quakes, and sometimes knocks us down.<\/p>\n

But when we think about being \u201cin it together,\u201d we know that whatever \u201cit\u201d is, it cannot be shaken. It is the good news that nothing \u2013 nothing \u2013 separates us from the love of God made flesh in Jesus \u2013 neither stock crashes nor financial meltdowns nor heartbreak nor fear in all its forms. Not even death. Nothing. It is an amazing privilege that we have been entrusted as the bearers of this good news to a shaken and shaking world. It is the possibility of being forgiven people who forgive, beloved people who love, healed people who bind up wounds. What a gift, what a grace.<\/p>\n

I will end where this passage of Hebrews ends: Therefore since we are receiving an unshakeable kingdom let us have gratitude, through which let us serve acceptably to God with reverence and awe.
\nBecause we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken: we have gratitude. That\u2019s our response \u2013 gratitude. And through our gratitude we serve God acceptably, with reverence, and with awe. What it means to serve God through gratitude, acceptably, with reverence, and with awe I entrust to each of our imaginations and to each of our prayers.<\/p>\n

But however we do it, we surely do it together. Scripture simply takes for granted that when we are called to the gospel, we are called into a community \u2013 a body of many parts, a living temple made out of many stones, a branch among other branches connected to the same root. To Scripture, we do not make sense as an ankle away from its body, or a single stone away from its wall, or a twig away from its tree. Even the image of the priesthood of believers is a communal image of a whole people engaged together in the ministry of building relationship between God and the world.<\/p>\n

This is what it is. We\u2019re in it together. And I, for one, cannot think of a more humbling and joyful and beautiful place to be. Thanks be to God. Amen.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (October 20, 2008) \u2013 Following is the complete text of the sermon delivered to members of the Executive Board of the Evangelical Covenant Church by pastor Rebekah Eklund, who serves as a member of the board. The sermon text is Hebrews 12:18-29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CHICAGO, IL (October 20, 2008) \u2013 Following is the complete text of the sermon delivered to members of the Executive Board of the Evangelical Covenant Church by pastor Rebekah Eklund, who serves as a member of the board. The sermon text is Hebrews 12:18-29.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-10-20T19:25:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-12-22T17:21:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/20\\\/6650\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/20\\\/6650\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"headline\":\"The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-10-20T19:25:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-22T17:21:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/20\\\/6650\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1722,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/20\\\/6650\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/20\\\/6650\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/20\\\/6650\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken - Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-10-20T19:25:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-22T17:21:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/20\\\/6650\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/20\\\/6650\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/20\\\/6650\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\",\"name\":\"Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"description\":\"Evangelical Covenant Church\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/author\\\/covwebster\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken - Covenant Newswire Archives","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken - Covenant Newswire Archives","og_description":"CHICAGO, IL (October 20, 2008) \u2013 Following is the complete text of the sermon delivered to members of the Executive Board of the Evangelical Covenant Church by pastor Rebekah Eklund, who serves as a member of the board. The sermon text is Hebrews 12:18-29.","og_url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/","og_site_name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","article_published_time":"2008-10-20T19:25:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-12-22T17:21:02+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"headline":"The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken","datePublished":"2008-10-20T19:25:51+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-22T17:21:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/"},"wordCount":1722,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/","name":"The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken - Covenant Newswire Archives","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-10-20T19:25:51+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-22T17:21:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/20\/6650\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/","name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","description":"Evangelical Covenant Church","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/author\/covwebster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2572"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5177,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572\/revisions\/5177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}