collective us

Tuesday April 9^th, Revelation 1:    To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.  Part of this vision of the Heavenly Kingdom and the Heavenly throne is that power is given to you and me, the children of God.  What that means is the power is not given to princes and principalities and the supposed rulers of the earth but to the children of God.  That power however comes with a purpose.  That purpose is to bring hope and forgiveness to all, even those who are in league with the princes and principalities.  The goal is a heavenly earth, not a new power structure.  In the meantime, what are we to be about?  A common understanding in the U.S. is that Christianity is about God and Me, and even with gestures of grace, we should go through local Christian organizations or private charity, but never the government.  That is wrong.  The image of the Kingdom of Heaven coming down to earth calls us to work now through the collective us to put in place procedures and policies that bring about a greater equality in the world.  That is the difference between private piety and seeking justice.