Mtr Taylor Devine

Dear Friend,

I have been looking forward to reading a book called Following the Call: Living the Sermon on the Mount Together. It is a follow on to Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for His People and is a collection of essays new and old.

I am looking forward to having more time to read (one of the great joys in life!) during my sabbatical. This book strikes the balance of devotional and informational, and starts here: “In Jesus’ teachings, God’s kingdom is not a place but the revolutionary effect of God reigning among his people here on earth. This kingdom is not an ethnic or an ideal. Rather, it is a reality in which God’s future breaks into our midst.” (p. xvii)

Full of possibility and reassurance, reminders of commitments and costliness, today’s reading from Mark finds us toward the end of Chapters 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus said to the disciples scared of him walking on water, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Not yet used to these miracles of feeding and healing and calming of waves, even Jesus’ closest disciples could not fully understand or comprehend his presence among them—the kingdom of God breaking into their midst.

One day they will understand how he could be the light of the world; the bread of life; the door; the good shepherd; the resurrection and the life; the way, the truth, and the life; and, the true vine, and strive to follow him, and to invite the next generation to do the same. To step into that same light—but in the Gospel of Mark they are still experiencing the inbreaking.

Thanks be to God for the inbreaking then—and now.

In Christ,

—Mtr Taylor