Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’
Luke 10:8-11 NKJV
At some point, winter seems to hang. It seems like the world is frozen, locked in torpor and longing. Then suddenly, a few warm days herald the hope of Spring. The rivers and streams push forward against the blocks of ice and snow that have held them at bay. Snow recedes from the lawn. Dirty snowbanks wither sullenly in the warm air. Winter begins to lose its grip.
Sometimes when the warm air meets the snow there is ground fog. Thick walls of mist hover over the meadows, clings to the trees, and encircles the mountains. It swirls languidly, belying the urgency of the incoming and exuberant spring.
We cannot hasten spring, but we can be the heralds of hope. We reassure our frustrated neighbors “Just a few more weeks and spring will be here! Wasn’t the weather great yesterday?”. We share a promise. We tell of new beginnings.
Imagine you lived in a village when Jesus walked the earth. He sent His disciples to heal the sick, to speak of hope, to tell the people “the kingdom of God is near!” It’s so close! But imagine if the apostles were too tired, too preoccupied when they came to your village. They were distracted and they said nothing. And the kingdom of God slid right by. Now you are wiped away like the dust. It was right there; hope, joy, love. But it slid past you in fog and silence.
But this is not a tale of loss, but rather one of urgency. We are heralds of hope to the weary, the tired, the frustrated. We are the heralds of hope to the lonely and the lost. Because we possess hope. It has been given to us when we became followers of Christ. It has been given to us when we became citizens of the kingdom of Heaven. But it is urgent that we share our hope with those who do not know it. That the kingdom of God does not slide past the hearts of the desperate, the souls who hurt.
We are heralds of hope, but it is not with our voice that we speak or with our strength that we are called to act. We are called to ask for opportunities to tell others who flounder in darkness about the great light. We are called to tell wandering sheep that the shepherd waits for them. Most importantly, we are called not by our reasoning, our wit or our control, but by God. If we are called, we can rely on God to put us in situations where we can do His work. We need merely to ask.
Written by Janet Keefe
