I believe Jesus was teaching a larger version of what many of us say today when we say that we must “think globally and act locally.” Because I am a part of the Big Picture, I do matter. Because I am only a part, however, I am rightly situated off to stage right—and happily so. What freedom there is in such truth! We are inherently important and included, yet not burdened with manufacturing or sustaining that private importance. Our dignity is given by God, and we are freed from ourselves! Yet it gets bigger and better because the proclamation of the kingdom of God frees us from social idolatries too.
We can’t keep saying “Thy kingdom come” when we are actually trusting in our own nations, political parties, militaries, banks and institutions to save us. On some level, they have to be relativized too if the Big Kingdom is ever going to come, which is why Pope John Paul II so often spoke of “structural sin” and “institutional evil.” We might “use” the systems of this world, I hope wisely, but we never “believe” in them. We only believe in God! Any universal church, any truly “catholic” people should be first in line to understand this: “Come, Lord Jesus” means we do not spend too much time trusting that other “Lordships” will ever finally save us.
—from the book Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent
by Richard Rohr
