We Keep Tripping

Matthew 21:43-44 (NIV): “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

 

Lately, I have not been able to process all the frequent tragedies that still continue to happen. My stomach turns while my world is shattered. I see that our planet screams for help, when God has charged us to take care of it, and we have done the complete opposite. We are all responsible. There is no “us and them”, only one people, the human race. That makes us all accountable!

The resources that God has given us, instead of being the best stewards of what God has provided, we have abused it all. For in the parable that Jesus teaches through, he also identifies the greed that often has its way over us. I have always said that the root of all evil is selfishness. We have ignored that God calls us apart from being stewards, to be kind siblings. Some of us can’t get along with our neighbor yet simultaneously we want to profess the love of God?

People come across each other and we must serve one another. On the other hand, others oppress to have their way, with no care for anyone. We also forsake the word of God. Instead of valuing it, it has been underestimated as we have the importance of service, love and stewardship.

God’s kingdom is not just heaven. What you overlook here on earth is the opportunity to see the Kingdom of God manifested in the now. Every time you bless the poor, every time you show mercy, that you contribute in the preservation of our land, that you open your heart to God and to others you are honoring your place in the universe. Jesus taught us to pray for the Kingdom of God to come to earth. It comes when you bear fruit and take care of the things entrusted to you. If it has caused you to stumble, to make you see your errant ways, let this word now be your cornerstone. My hope is that it builds you up, because the Kingdom of God is for the present. Stop “trippin’” and begin to bear fruit.

 

Prayer: My God, I cannot stand the injustice in my community, in our political leadership, amongst the American people, the lack of aid and consistent complacency with the need in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and Mexico. I will not conform, even within the LGBTQ population, because there is still no justice. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

The Rev. Edwin Perez, Jr. is a member and deacon of United Church on the Green UCC in New Haven, CT. He was ordained through the Apostolic Fellowship International Ministries (AFIM) as a social justice minister within the Latinx & LGBTQ communities of New Haven, CT.