The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God is like...

Attention

My favorite Star Wars Movie is The Empire Strikes Back. I think it is because the young hero, after his initial success, has to face his own fears and grow into the hero they need, not just going around blowing things up. The Empire who lost the Death Star in the first film still is in control of the galaxy and still has power to hurt people, worlds, and whole civilizations. It is the Empire.

Need

In Jesus' time, it wasn't a long time ago and far, far away in talking about Empires that control and dominate. Israel and all other nations were under the thumb of the Roman Empire which took over the Greek Empire. Everyone knew about the Roman Empire, even though Rome was a few moths journey, fraught with challenges for traveling. There was no freedom, there was no self-governance, there was only the rule of the Roman Empire. Into this, Jesus proclaims that there is another power, another king, another kingdom, another Empire, the Empire of God. This is maybe why Jesus spoke in parables, because he didn't want to rebuke or openly defy the Roman Empire, but hinted at, winked towards, and referenced there is another way to live in this world.

Satisfaction

Coming from rural America, where my parents didn't commercial farm, but we did have live on a 12 acre farmstead with over an acre of garden. I would have loved this type of farm, just plant the seeds and come back later and harvest. No weeding, no watching out for insects, deer, or birds. Just plant and reap. Of course, any farmer worth his salt would have laughed at Jesus hearing his speak so simply about farming. But it would be nice, sweating all day under the sun and then given most of your harvest to the Roman Empire in taxes and whatever else they came up with. And the second harvest, mustard seed, MUSTARD SEED is an invasive noxious weed that destroy any crop that it takes over. Jesus is praising mustard seed, MUSTARD SEED???? That is totally ridiculous!

But Jesus, not just opposing the Roman rule, wasn't about setting up another ruler or form of government. He didn't come proclaiming that the kingdom of God is like a democracy, a republic, a socialist or communist governance. He didn't come proclaiming in God's kingdom there would be no taxes or armies or religious police. He just used metaphors. God's kingdom, the Empire of God is like a mustard seed, scattering seed, a lost sheep, coin, or child. It was hard to come up with hard and fast rules or ideas with the different ways he talked about the kingdom. No wonder the disciples needed a lot of explaining on just what Jesus was talking about.

Vision

In our world today, we have a lot of meanings and associations with the word kingdom. It is the place were fairy tales take place a long time ago in a land far, far away. It is the country dominated by monarchy with little freedom of speech, thought, movement, or rights. It is a place dominated by men and armies and honor and war.

But Jesus takes this word, kingdom/empire/nation/economy/reign and tells stories about what God's kingdom is like. Some of them don't make sense, some are the exact opposite of what we would think, and some of them contradict each other. But he invites us to live in this kingdom, even while we live in our own nation whether it be good or bad. He points us to something better, something more compassionate, justice-filled, and one that centers in God's love, not in power, not in control, and not in rules.

Action

So how do we follow when we don't have hard and fast laws? We tell stories and we follow the commandments of loving each other and loving God. We seek community, help the least of these, and forgive extravagantly. The kingdom of God is like...

What have you got?

Sabbath

In the Five Books of Moses where also known as the? (Pentateuch) What was the last thing written of the Pentateuch, the last story? Hint: it was a poem. (The First Creation Story) The Seven Day Creation Story was put in its final form, the first time it was written down was while the people of Israel were in the diaspora spread throughout the Babylonian Empire in the sixth century BCE. It became widely shared because the prophet Jeremiah told the people to marry amongst the people wherever they were at and to settle in. Yes one day, they would return to the towns and Jerusalem, but for now, continue to live. The people of the nation of Judah were there for about seventy years, so there were a couple of generations happening and their children and grandchildren were forgetting their language, their heritage, and their God. Then, the poem about God creating the world in seven days was used as a reminder, a balm, and a way to remember who and whose they were. It centered on the sabba...

For They Were Afraid

The Gospel of Mark starts with Jesus' baptism, there is no birthday story, no background, just jumps right in with his baptism, driven into the wilderness to be tempted, proclaims, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand." Plucks Simon and Andrew up which they mend their fishing nets, heals Simon Peter's mother-in-law and she immediately gets up and serves them. (How many times does Mark use immediately?) And the next morning gets up early and while everyone is searching for him, he is heading to the next town. It is like a big movie opening that grabs everyone's attention and it doesn't slow down. Did you ever watch Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail? There was to be this final battle of King Arthur with his forces and the God's blessing and just as the battle commences, modern police show up and arrest everyone and the movie is over and we are left scratching out head, "What just happened?" The end of Mark is just as confusing,...

Covenant of the United Church of Christ

That they may all be one! This was the dream of the these different denominations and churches coming together in 1957. That they may all be one! While many denominations were splitting and continually finding reasons that they couldn't be siblings with those Christians over there, a group of mainline Protestant leaders came together that united and uniting was the future of the Church. Yes, it was mainly four major denominations which are: 1. Congregational 2. Christian 3. Reformed (German) and 4. Evangelical Synod (Lutheran). There were many other smaller groups that joined as well, that included Back, Native, and Hungarian. But if you look at the first General Synod picture, it was pretty much white, middle class men. With global communication becoming easier, travel, television, and the United Nations, they had a dream and vision that all Christians could live together, worship together, and be one as we are one in God with Christ. That they may all be one! is the United Churc...

Vanasõna

Search This Blog