Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe… Hebrews 12:28 NIV Throughout history kingdoms have risen and fallen. I’m sure at the height of the Persian, Roman or Egyptian empires few considered their eventual fall. In my lifetime the Soviet empire seemed unshakable, yet we know that if fell and great was its fall.
But praise be to God that Christians enjoy a kingdom that cannot be shaken! The Kingdom of Christ will never grow weak… it will never experience moral decay… it will never expel its citizens, and it will never, ever fall. We enjoy a Kingdom that is eternal and incapable of failing because it is built upon the eternal and unfailing King of Kings! And so… let us be thankful… and worship God with reverence and awe. Have you ever considered the wonder… the mystery… the blessing… the privilege that God would gift to us the opportunity to serve Him in His Kingdom? For what does He NEED from us… absolutely nothing. Sure, I’ve known the wonderful joy of serving the King in His Kingdom… but… I must be totally transparent here… I had forgotten it.
You see, sometimes serving in the Kingdom is hard. It can be discouraging from time to time. Sometimes what ought to be a labor of love becomes just… well.. labor. It is so easy to erroneously attach worldly kingdom values to the unshakable kingdom of Christ and when we do that it is all too easy to become disappointed — because of our FALSE IMPRESSION of the Kingdom of Christ. I appreciate the reminder from Hebrews… since Christ’s Kingdom cannot be shaken… let us be thankful and worship… And I also appreciated the reminder I received on Tuesday.
It was 5:30 PM and I was coming to the end of a very long day where I was part of the process of interviewing people for accreditation to be licensed workers in the Christian and Missionary Alliance. I was part of the interview team for Onesime (Own-Ah-Seem) Bokweya. He is Congolese and was in training to be a pastor in the Republic of Congo before he was forced to flee due to religious persecution. Onesime’s call to be a pastor had never been realized due to his forced political exit.
Christian life in Congo had been difficult, and he bore the visible scars of beatings to prove it. His eyesight is so poor that he used a large magnifying glass to read scripture verses to us in response to the over 75 theological and Christian-life questions we asked him. Before he could escape the Congo his wife had passed away, and never realized the freedom of the USA; yet Onesime had a smile that could light up a room. Since his English is still beyond poor, we conducted the interview through a French interpreter.
Onesmie nailed the interview. He knew the answer to every theological question we asked him… he knew the biblical references to back up every question… and his life-story of coming to know Jesus, being called to ministry and pursuing Christ was well beyond compelling. What a joy it was to inform him that he was approved for accredited ministry in the C&MA with the Alliance Church of Congolese in Cleveland. Beaming from ear to ear with that huge smile he held his hands in the posture of prayer in front of his face and bowed his head to each of us in turn. “Merci… Merci… Merci…”
And then, at the end of the interview, like we always do… we prayed for him. And as we prayed… Onesime began to weep. Deep… deep… weeping… the kind of weeping that comes from your soul… He kept muttering a phrase in French which the interpreter translated for us, “Such a long journey… such a long journey…” and I was reminded… since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe… Onesime’s worshipful gratitude at finally realizing his calling to serve in the Kingdom of Christ as a pastor was humbling.
And I began to weep. I know… most of you know… I am a softy, but in that moment it wasn’t Onesime’s story that moved me… it was shame. Shame over the times I have complained about serving Christ in His Kingdom, instead of being worshipfully thankful that God would even want to use me. At the table with me sat one who had suffered in ways that I never have… and the gratitude… the gratitude at being used by God. “O Lord Jesus… forgive me for the times I have fallen so short in gratitude. Thank you for allowing me to serve in an unshakeable Kingdom — may my life be a worshipful expression to you, every day. Amen.”
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