I got a call a couple of weeks ago from the airline that my flight from Rome to Accra had been cancelled because of cutbacks. As a result, I got stuck in Rome for 3 days on my way to Accra.  Not a bad place to be stuck – Rome is on my favorite cities.  I have now been here for 2 days and will fly to Ghana tomorrow.  I am looking forward to getting to Ghana but have had a good, quiet visit to Rome.

     I am reminded here of one of the greatest evidences of Christianity as I walk around the ruins of ancient Rome.  The emperors of Rome attempted to rid of themselves of Christianity – some with great intensity and some not caring that much – but it was an illegal religion. The Romans thought it was such a strange religion.  The leader, the one that the Christians worshipped, was an inconsequential Jew and Rome had all the power in the world. The Romans had been the ones who had the power to put Jesus to death – and Pilate did. Yet, Jesus told him that he had no power that had not been given to him from above.

    Today, what is it that remains? The great temples and statues and palaces of the Roman emperors? The 100 foot golden statue of Nero that he had made for himself? No, they are all gone. In the Colosseum, where many Christians were executed, the one item that is not in ruins is a large cross left there as a memorial to those who died there. What remains behind after the power of the Roman Empire faded is a Kingdom begun on a Roman cross and brought to life by the Holy Spirit.  Men may scoff at it, governments may try to annihilate it, but it continues. There is no logical reason that it should. It doesn’t make any earthly sense that this kingdom should have made it against the Roman empire. And yet, the Roman Empire is gone and The Kingdom of God remains. I saw the tomb of Augustus Caesar yesterday – yet there is no tomb for Jesus, who was born as Augustus reigned.

     That to me, strengthens my faith.  It encourages me. I do think we have stopped paying a whole lot of attention to the Kingdom teachings of Jesus and have created some of our own way of thinking and doing things – but God’s grace and will continues to sustain us and will teach us if we will listen to him. God does his greatest work when he is working in weakness and outside a position of power. So, why do we feel the need to operate from a place of power so often?  “God’s grace is made perfect in weakness,” according to a guy who was killed by the Roman government, but who spread the good news of the Kingdom all over their Empire. Are we willing to follow Jesus and operate from a position of weakness so that God may receive all the glory as things happen that could not be from us and could only be from God?  It’s a difficult thing to do because we must be willing to put to death our pride, and our need to be significant. We must have a total focus on God’s will and glory.  If we are willing to do that – anything is possible. Even the crumbling of empires.