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The Paradoxical Kingdom (Perhaps My Most Important Blog Post Ever; Please Read)
By Jeremy | June 18, 2009
[Ed. Note: The letter below from my father is perhaps the most important blog post I've ever published. Please take five minutes to read it and prayerfully consider how you can respond. It reminds me of the apostles' instructions to Paul when they commissioned him for ministry: "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do" (Galatians 2:10). Thank you.]
Dear friends:
My wife and I have lived a paradox.
In 1982, we were called as evangelists to reach people and communities many believed to be unreachable.
“Where sin abounds,” our Bible taught us, “grace abounds more.” Find sin, we reasoned, and paradoxically we’d find grace.
So we asked the NYPD where the worst drug spots were in New York City, figuring lots of drugs would mean lots of sin and by extension, according to Romans 5:20, even more grace. The NYPD directed us to Manhattan’s Lower East Side, at the time the epicenter of the city’s drug trade, so that’s where we took our three sons, ages 3, 6, and 8.
People questioned our judgment. How could we expose our kids to “those” neighborhoods with “their” violence, they asked. Their worst fears were realized when, at our very first street meeting, a drug deal went bad and our sons witnessed a stabbing. We went back the next week.
While our family was evangelizing others, intending to introduce “sinners” to grace, my wife and I learned later that our sons were among those who met Jesus. In June 2009’s Journal of Student Ministries, my oldest son Jeremy describes it this way:
“My affection for the LES, and the children who live there – those whom society describes as the most ‘at-risk,’ the poorest of the poor, the least likely to succeed – originated because I had come to know Jesus by loving them. They had given Jesus a face, a voice, flesh and blood. They made Him real for me. He made the invitation to love Him with my whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and my neighbor as myself tangible through them. Learning how to love them sincerely, without expecting anything in return, taught me how to love Him.
“I went with the truck to evangelize, and instead, Jesus found me. He saved me through them.”
Another paradox.
In 1992, after a decade of reaching people who still felt like outsiders at neighborhood churches, these evangelists started a church. For years I believed we would never pastor a church, yet God paradoxically changed our heart.
Today experts tell us that church planting is the best way to evangelize communities. In 1992, we didn’t know what “church panting” was. But we knew that Avenue D needed a church that would create community among the marginalized and dispossessed, the former drug dealers, prostitutes, and sinners for whom grace abounded so greatly. So that’s what we did.
Again, people questioned our judgment. If we wanted to start a church, they told us, we needed to think about financial sustainability. The poor would never be able to sustain a church, they cautioned.
As before, the naysayers were partially right. The poor cannot cover the expenses of a church in a gentrifying neighborhood.
But the Kingdom of God can. And the Kingdom of God is the Gospel Jesus preached, a mission he defined as “good news for the poor.”
The King of that Kingdom forsook His heavenly throne to be born as a child of poverty. The Kingdom he proclaimed he described as a mustard seed; as a widow pursuing a lost coin; as a Father accepting back a wayward son; as a reviled Samaritan mending Jewish wounds.
His Kingdom is supported neither by military might, political grandeur, nor economic riches. Yet it manifests the will of God in an otherwise broken world. Nor could it be stifled in death.
The ultimate Paradox.
I invite you today to join Abounding Grace in manifesting God’s will in a neighborhood that cannot afford it and among a people that have not earned it. I invite you to experience grace that abounds by joining us as partners in this amazingly paradoxical faith adventure.
Enclosed is a copy of “Rebuilding the Ruins,” which provides an overview of the ministry, along with an invitation to partner with us in tangible ways. I look forward to connecting in the next few days to explore possibilities further.
Thank you for your friendship and ongoing support.
In His service and yours,
Rev. Richard Del Rio
Senior Pastor
______________
Tax deductible donation can be mailed to:
Abounding Grace Ministries
P.O. Box 20340 | NY, NY 10009 | Tele: 212.614.0370
Or donate online via Community Solutions, Inc., and indicate Abounding Grace in the memo here:
Topics: abounding grace, compassion, donate, kingdom of god, paradox, poverty, richard del rio | 8 Comments »
June 19th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
That was awesome. Thanks for taking the ultimate risk to discover love in the most unlikely places.
June 20th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Whenever I start storming the heavens for NY it seems almost just 2 seconds later…”knock, knock… check THIS out!” I love you all very much! Thanks for keeping me up to date, Jeremy. I am, will, and always have been praying for the laborers out there in your special field: NYC.Gods ways are beyond ours; tell your dad to just look, rather GAZE into Daddy’s eyes. This is the awaited time. Intimacy is THE only answer: the key!Go Mary at Bethany!!!!Go David!!!! Thanks for teaching us to desire this one thing!I pray spiritual ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church of NYC in this crucial moment of history. love you forever.
June 21st, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I enjoyed this immensely, because it under scores what the body of Christ must be about…getting into the lives of people, rather than simply run a program. You are forerunners and have my utmost respect.
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Wow, that was beautiful!! I am blessed to witness the love you have for the community first-hand and to hear it put into words so beautifully is just wonderful. I am so proud to call you all family and love that I am able to walk through life with amazing men and women of God that inspire me to be better as we reach God’s children together. I look forward to all that is to come. Love you guys!
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Very impressive! The Del Rios have had a positive impact on the community. They’ve brought hope to many people, and that’s very commendable. Best of luck continuing your efforts!
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:14 am
A soul-moving, inspirational, and Biblically on point story. What we’ve all come to consistently expect from the Del Rio tribe. May God the Holy Spirit use it to draw many people into partnership for the sake of the marginalized… for the sake of the Kingdom.
June 26th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
That was extremely moving. I needed to read this at this moment in the midst of my own financially difficult organization. It’s a reassurance that I continue to press on in countercultural love because that is the only thing the Lord has asked me to do.
August 24th, 2009 at 6:03 am
Thanks for these inspiring words! As I sit here in South Africa it is again a reminder why I am here! It is needed in our own country as much as anywhere else. It is just that the Father has called us here for now. I love your heart!