John, Jesus and Micah

John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”  And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

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He proposed another parable to them.
"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest, then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning, but gather the wheat unto my barn.'"

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He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly with your God.

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I have acquired a love for the prophets in recent years.Recently, they've seemed like the only things I want to hear. I want to hear someone proclaim that everything's going to be made right in the day of the Lord and that one day, all people will walk together in peace. I want to hear that the wrongs in the world will be fixed. Basically, I want a voice calling out, saying that it's going to be OK, because God is working for good in the world. I want that promise. I want it so bad. I'm afraid to put my trust back in God without it.

I think that's why I get so frustrated. I don't have to look very far for something that I see as wrong. I don't have to go global to see pain. It's always around me, something I can't fix, some unresolved problem that eats away at me as it works against a friend or a loved one. Every one of these pains, these problems, puts another brick in the wall between me and God. Why don't You step in here? Why aren't You working here? Where's the miracle, God? Where's the answer? Where are You? Why aren't You here with me, with them, making this better now? Or have You gotten out of the caring business? They stack up higher and higher.

And I hate this wall because I love God. Now, I don't think I really realized this until just recently, but I honestly do. I've loved the church too well to leave it, but I don't think I've ever stopped and thought about God. I like loving God. I like being a person that loves God. I like getting up and going to church on a Sunday morning and I like praying before meals and I like staring up at my ceiling talking until I fall asleep. I like singing hymns and meaning what I say. I like looking boldly up at the sky and I hate the attention I give the bricks beneath my feet. I love God, I love loving God through music and I love the world God has given me to see Him through.

It's just... how do you love someone you don't agree with at all? I think that God should be in the business of making things right and making them right now. I just don't understand how He can even appear to sit back and watch the world go by. I want Him to be just and righteous and I want Him to make the world just and righteous. I want Him to build up a kingdom. I want Him to make it better, to stop the pain and bring everything back to what it should be. I want the time to come when peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling. And I want God to make that happen in some big, powerful way.

But no, that's not what He says. In Luke, John stands there calling, saying that Jesus has His winnowing fork in His hand, to burn those who aren't righteous. John's been waiting for the same things- redemption for the poor, a making right of things- and he thinks that Jesus is the one to bring it. But Jesus doesn't do what John expects. In a parable in Matthew, He says to leave the weeds in with the wheat so that the wheat isn't cut down with the weeds. The harvest is yet to come. Yes, everything will be separated out later, but for now, let them grow. Let them live.

I don't want that. I want action now. I want the Son of Man come back to Earth to fix all the problems with heavenly armies. I want the wicked cut down. I want change and I want it now. But no, God says. My kingdom will not be built like that. My kingdom will be built with love and kindness, with humble grace and mercy. It will be built slowly, but this is the way it must be if it's going to be built right. Take your peace for a season and know that I am working, though you may not see it. I am working and just as I placed each star in the depths of space, so I will place a seed in each heart and those seeds will grow a better world. Help Me tend them. Tend My garden, love My people and understand why I work in this way. And then work with Me.

Work with Me.