James Duff November 23rd 2014 ~ "The time has come..."
We have had a wonderful time away on our family holiday. It was the first time in the two years we have been here that our three sons had been back east to see family and friends. There were many highlights on our month away but, selfishly, I have to admit that playing golf in Tasmania at Barnbougle, the 11th best golf course in the world, with seven old friends was a truly awesome experience.We started our family holiday by staying with my parents in Canberra where we visited old Parliament House on the day that Gough Whitlam died. Fortuitously, there were many media present and the Canberra Times ended up interviewing Will and taking his photo. It was great to see his photo and read his quote on page 2 of the Canberra Times the next day. The middle part of our holiday was spent seeing other family and friends in Geelong and Melbourne, finishing with four days in Adelaide seeing Jane’s parents and siblings. By the time we boarded our flight headed for Perth on Monday evening, we were all looking forward to being home, sleeping in our own beds, catching up with neighbours and our church family.It has been so encouraging to have the feeling of just wanting to be home and get back into our lives here in Perth. Although we did not set out to give ourselves a test, on reflection going back to old friends, places and family was a test of sorts. I believe we all crave to be home, we all crave to live in a dream society, a place where we feel loved, safe and can also contribute. We crave a dream society where justice is upheld, where everyone has plenty, where peace reigns and the future is secure.Jesus came to earth and proclaimed, “The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near.” By the word ‘kingdom’, Jesus means: God’s dream society on earth has arrived.The dream society and home that we all are looking for is found in Jesus.Whilst away I re-read a book calledOne.Life by Scot McKnight. There are some copies at our bookstore; I cannot recommend it highly enough. McKnight looks at what the first listeners of Jesus would have thought when they heard Jesus’ vision call of a new kingdom, of God’s dream society now present on earth. We will be preaching on the coming of God’s kingdom in December as we head into Christmas but get your hands on McKnight’s book before then and explore more deeply what God’s dream society, his home on earth looks like for us today.It is good to be back home.James