Building Bricks for the Kingdom

Recently I heard N.T. Wright talk about our roles on earth as it relates to God's larger purpose in restoring things to order. Wright uses the metaphor that we are all building blocks everyday with our actions that will later serve the purpose of building God's Kindgom. Even though we may not know or realize how those blocks will ultimately be laid, we can find hope in knowing that our work is for a larger purpose.

When I heard that metaphor, it brought back memories of making cinder blocks for an orphanage in Mexico more than a decade ago. Me and another friend, Scott, started challenging ourselves to see how many blocks we could crank out in a day. One of us would mix the concrete, the other would shovel the concrete into the mold and slam it on the crown to release the block from the mold an let it harden.

We didn't know what the blocks were being used for, but we knew what we were doing was important. The more we made, the better it was - provided they were of good enough quality.

Yesterday, Wright's metaphor and my memory came together. Scott passed away after years of dealing with cancer. His time was shorter than most people, but he made a lot of blocks for God's Kingdom. He was optimistic. He treated everyone with respect. He found humor in everything. He did a lot of good work in making the people and things that surrounded him, better.

That's building blocks for the Kingdom. To know how he built others up, gives me hope in knowing that if others had the same impact in this world, God's Kingdom will be nothing short of incredible.