The Presence of the Kingdom - Jacques Ellul

From the Europe of 1933 - 1945 the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is well known as faithful Christian in a world of tyranny and disaster. He is one from whom we derive great inspiration however to be fair and to balance the Christian testimony from that period the name of Jacques Ellul should be heard with Bonhoeffer. Ellul faced the enlightened world of Europe from and within France, the birthplace of the Enlightenment... the world view that among its benefits also brought us the catastrophe of the Great War 1914 - 1945 with flow on effects to this day.
"The Presence of the Kingdom" is the seminal book which allows us to engage with what is to be learnt from this Christian teacher. One who speaks prophetically to us.

THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD - a unique role and function for the very existence of the world. That function is defined by Scripture in three ways:
* You are the Salt of the Earth - salt is the sign of the covenant between God and Israel (Leviticus 2:13) Thus in the sight of humanity and in the reality of the world the Christian is the visible sign of the new covenant which God has made with the world in Jesus Christ. BUT IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE CHRISTIAN REALLY BE THIS SIGN, THAT IN THEIR LIFE AND WORDS THEY SHOULD ALLOW THIS COVENANT TO BE MANIFEST IN THE EYES OF HUMANITY. Apart from this Covenant the earth will feel bereft of any covenant .. The fact that Christians are in their lives the "Salt of the Earth" does more for the preservation of the world than any other external action.

* You are the Light of the World - "and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not apprehend it ( John 1:5) Light separates Life and Death cf Matthew 5: 14 - 16 where good works are noted. the Light reveals what good works really are.
The Light of the World gives meaning and direction to the history of the world. Revealing the world's true condition.

* I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves - here again the Christian is a 'sign' of the reality of God's actions. It is the Lamb of God - Jesus - who takes away the sin of the world. But every Christian is to be treated like their Master, and every Christian receives a share in His work. Christians are "Sheep" not because their actions or their sacrifice has a purifying effect on the world, but because they are a Living and Real sign constantly renewed in the midst of the world, of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
In the world everyone wants to be a wolf, and no one is called to play the part of the sheep. Yet the world cannot live without this living witness of sacrifice

Gifts of love

From the film "As It Is In Heaven" ... from the Lord's Prayer. Directed by Kay Pollak.
Daniel Deraus a famous conductor returns to his birthplace in Northern Sweden. During his return he gives gifts to a church choir, various members of the choir and one special gift to Gabriella ( Helen Sjoholm ).This gift was a song sung for a concert at the "Let the People Sing" competition in Innsbruk, Austria. It is a study of gifts given and received and how others respond to a gift given to another which allows joy and gladness to come. Gabriella receives a thrashing from her husband after a presentation in the local Hall. No prizes for guessing who he is from the sequence of the film shown.
Another character: Arne (Lennart Jähkel), who is so serious about the choir's success that he obsesses over tiny mistakes when what he doesn't realise is that he is making bigger mistakes himself; .... ouch.
Connie, Gabriella's husband places himself in Hell. He became a bully as a child, remains one through his life and then finds it impossible to recognise LOVE either in the gift offered to his wife, or in her love for him expressed even in her look towards him at the end of her song.

I have never lost who I was
I have only left it sleeping
Maybe I never had a choice
Just the will to stay alive

The film is a must see film.