"Starting Over in the Kingdom of God" - written by Toby Jones 9/6/15

I am so excited to be here at 1^st Congregational UCC Church of Gaylord on this first Sunday of September, our first Sabbath together. It really IS a new beginning for me and for all of us. Having a fresh start and a clean slate has always been one of my favorite dimensions of Christianity. Start all over!

            So I want to start this new and exciting chapter in my pastoral life talking about a topic that I don’t think I gave enough attention to in the past. It’s the centerpiece of Jesus ministry, the very core of his gospel. I am speaking of the kingdom of God. R.C. Sproul puts it this way: “If we were to look for a single theme that is the most central and most important theme of the entire gospel, it would be the coming of the kingdom.”

             Neil Hornor puts it this way: The heart and core of Jesus Christ's message was that the Kingdom of God would be established on earth. Yet many of the adherents to Christianity are not even aware that the kingdom of God is Jesus' most central teaching.

            Now before I share some thoughts and stories about what the kingdom of God is, I want to be as clear as possible about what it ISN’T. The kingdom of God that Jesus both spoke of and lived has absolutely nothing to do with heaven or some place that we go when we die. Jesus had very little interest in and gave very little airtime to notions of heaven. It was earth that Jesus was most interested in and committed to.

            So what is it – this kingdom of God? It is wherever and whenever God’s ways and principles are being lived out. That is the kingdom of God. Whenever that happens – when an individual or group lives according to Jesus’ principles - the kingdom of God is here. This is why Jesus opened his pubic ministry the way he did in Luke 4. He went into his hometown synagogue, opened up the scroll of Isaiah and read Isaiah’s vision and prophecy of what God’s kingdom would be like:

In God’s kingdom,

            Good news will be offered to the poor;
            Freedom would be proclaimed to and provided for the prisoners;
            Sight would be restored to the blind;
            Relief would come to those who were oppressed, and
                  The Lord’s love and favor would be showered upon all people.

Now, keep in mind that 800 years had already passed between Isaiah’s writing of this text and Jesus reading of it that day. So the Jews had gotten used to the fact that this kingdom of God stuff wasn’t going to happen for a long, long time. But when Jesus read this prophecy of the coming of God’s kingdom, he followed it by saying, “Today – TODAY – this prophecy is fulfilled in your hearing!

            How could Jesus say this? He could proclaim that the kingdom of God is among us, here and now, because he knew that in his own life, in his own daily decision-making, that these would be the things he would be doing – bringing good news to the poor, bringing freedom for prisoners, restoring sight to the blind... Why? Because God already reigned in Jesus’ life in the here and now! God already was Jesus’ king, so Jesus would use his own life – each and every day; each and every moment - to offer good news to the poor, to set prisoners free, to help the blind see, set the oppressed free, and he would make sure that everyone knew God’s favor and love were upon them.

             So with Jesus’ example and definition in mind, we can begin to surmise that the kingdom of God is both here and not here. It’s both present and not present. What we used to say in seminary was that there was both an “already” AND a “not yet” nature to the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is already here in any person or group who lives according to Jesus’ radical life principles. The kingdom of God is NOT yet here where individuals and groups DON’T yet live according to Jesus’ principles.

            Let’s look at a few biblical examples to further clarify this. Remember when that poor widow put those two tiny copper coins in the temple treasury? Well, the kingdom or reign of God was present –right then and there - in that woman and her actions. In that moment and in that gesture, God was reigning in that woman’s life. But God’s kingdom hadn’t come in all of the other people at the temple treasury line. So in that sense, God’s kingdom was a not yet thing. But in and for that that one widow, God’s kingdom had come and his will was being done. That is why Jesus summoned the disciples so quickly; he wanted them to see this kingdom of God moment, as it was unfolding in that poor widow’s mite. Jesus wanted his followers to remember this kingdom of God moment, and, most importantly, to emulate it.

            Here’s another kingdom of God moment, one in which we can see both the already and the not yet dimensions of the kingdom of God: the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man has been beaten and robbed and is lying – bloodied on the road. Two priests – PRIESTS – see the suffering man and walk right passed him. The kingdom or reign of God is NOT present nor active in that moment, for those two priests are NOT acting as they would if God were reigning in their hearts and minds. But God’s kingdom and reign was present – palpably present – when that simple Samaritan saw that suffering man, stopped, dressed his wounds, put him upon his donkey, and shepherded him safely to the nearest inn, where the Samaritan paid for the stranger’s lodging and care. Jesus tells that story – perhaps his most famous parable of all - to show us how people act when God is reigning in their lives, when God’s kingdom has come.

            In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches his followers how to pray; he teaches them Lord’s Prayer. How many times would you guess you’ve said that prayer? 5000 times? 10,000 times? And every time we say it we say these words… say them with me - “thy kingdom come, thy will be done ON EARTH as it is in heaven.” Did you hear that pause? I absolutely despise that pause we put between the words “will be done and…on earth.” That pause is NOT supposed to be there! It’s a damaging pause, a deadly pause, but that’s a sermon for another Sunday. But could we at least practice saying it together –out loud, one time – without that pause? (Say it aloud)

            Praying daily for God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done ON EARTH is absolutely crucial in understanding what the Kingdom of God is and the difference it should make in our lives. This simple but profound prayer is to be a constant reminder that to be a follower or disciple of Jesus, our chief role and responsibility is to live out God’s will right here and right now. In our tiny little lives - lives that are made up of millions of tiny little moment-by-moment decisions - we are called to act as if God is already reigning as King of this earth. That’s what that widow in line at the temple treasury was doing; and that’s what the good Samaritan was doing – living and acting as if God’s kingdom had come, for in their lives and hearts it had!

            One of my heroes of the faith is the late French philosopher and mystic from the 1930’s and 40’s Simone Weil. Simone called this “living as if.” It’s a kind of pre-emptive strike, where we go ahead, right here and right now, living as if God is our king, regardless of how the rest of the world, the rest of America, or the rest of Gaylord is living. We KNOW what Jesus would do in virtually every circumstance we encounter. We have SO MANY examples in the Bible. So the way we build God’s kingdom in the here and now is by going ahead and living that way, and in so doing, we do our part in seeing to it that “God’s kingdom comes and God’s will is done ON EARTH. ON EARTH.

            Now this isn’t so easy to do all the time, is it? In fact, it can be pretty darn hard. And you know what…? That’s why God gave us the church. That’s why God gave us each other in this imperfect community of followers, of disciples. I can’t live as if God’s reign on earth has already come all by myself. I’ve tried. And so have many of you. But this community, this living, breathing thing we call church is here precisely to help us help God’s kingdom come and God’s will be done on earth – ON EARTH – as it is in heaven. We can’t do it alone; but together we’ve at least got a shot at it.

            So each and every time we gather here in this place, whether it is for Sunday worship, for a bible study, for a committee meeting, or even in each other’s homes, our goal is the same – to do whatever we can in each and every moment, in each and every decision - to bring about God’s kingdom and God’s will right here. That’s pretty much what you guys have been doing for years with your Friday Community Meals, Amen? That’s pretty much what you’ve been doing with the mentoring and assistance you’ve been giving to some single mom’s and some disadvantaged young adults who are down on their luck, right? Next Sunday, right here in Gaylord, there is a CROP walk right? We don’t know everything about the kingdom of God, but we do that when God is king, people who have more than enough food and money and means will take action - here and now – to get food to people who are hungry. So kingdom builders participate in CROP; we get sponsors, we walk, we donate, and we volunteer. We live in the here and now as if God’s Kingdom has come. We do God’s will on earth, Amen?

            So to get my ministry with you off to the best possible start, to get us all on the same page as we begin this new year together, our remaining three Sundays in September, we’ll be looking at Jesus’ parables of the kingdom of God. We’re going to explore this central, crucial, heart-and-soul piece of Jesus’s gospel to see how we can do an even better job of living as if – as if God’s kingdom has come and God’s will is being done ON EARTH (no pause! No pause!)

            I hope you’ll all come back – each and every Sunday of this month. I know I will! I am so excited about building God’s kingdom with all of you.