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Three Months!

             Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.  (Acts 19:8)

 

            I’ve heard that Charles Spurgeon wrote hundreds of sermons focused in some way on candles. I’ve also heard that people used to attend lectures and debates lasting several hours, then go home and discuss and debate the subject for several more. Now, if I don’t agree with someone in less than thirty seconds, I’m declared a Fascist. I have participated in discussions lasting multiple days via e-mail. A face-to-face discussion of the kingdom of God that lasted three months definitely has my admiration.

            Now, I’ll grant you that there were probably repetitions in the discussion. He might have only gone there for an hour once a week for three months. But the main point I get from today’s passage is that there is probably far more to be said or considered about the kingdom of God than we may first imagine. Even within this series of blog posts, we’ve leaped from harps, clouds, and streets of gold to the range of God’s influence.

            I suspect that if a person wished to, she could spend decades researching the kingdom of God as a particular subject. It would be like the story George Washington Carver told. “When I was young, I said to God, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the universe.’ But God answered, ‘That knowledge is reserved for me alone.’ So I said, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.” He went on to find more than 300 uses for the humble legume. (Note, peanut butter was actually first made by a Canadian – but GWC still deserves tons of respect – and other things he did were even more impressive.)

            The point is that anything we learn about the kingdom of God is probably a crystal on the snowflake at the tip of the iceberg. That doesn’t mean that we should ignore the topic, but our attention isn’t going to solve all of the questions or mysteries.

 

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