"The Message of Jesus"
Rev. Lonnie Richardson
Rev. Dr. Steven Peay
Sunday July 13, 1997
Matthew 13:24-35
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"...Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is athand; repent, and believe in the gospel.'" [Mk. 6:14-15]
"Another parable he put before them saying, 'The kingdomof heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took andsowed in his field...'"[Mt. 6:31]
What do you think about when you hear 'the kingdom of God' orthe 'kingdom of heaven'? Does your thought relate to the world,the time, the situation and the circumstance in which you live?If it doesn't, if all it does is conjure up cartoon-like images,ala 'The Family Circus,' of fluffy clouds and harp-playingangels, it's time to re-think.
The core of Jesus' message in the Gospels is that the kingdomof God is a reality; the kingdom of heaven is present. We'regoing to approach this a little differently today. Instead ofstarting with the Scripture and working-out, we're going to startwith how Christians have heard, tried to interpret, and thoughtabout Jesus' message on the kingdom.
First, we must understand that the word 'kingdom' relates moreto a person than a place. Kingdom indicates the 'reign' or 'rule'of God. The apostles and the teachers of the early churchunderstood this as it related to the unique situation of Israelwith God. As the Psalms say, "God is the true king ofIsrael." When the people asked for a king the prophetsreminded them they were seeking second best. So the Messiah, theChrist, would come of David's line and, thus, the truerelationship would once again be restored. The church understoodthis and saw all the great leaders of Israel, prophets, priests,and kings, as types of Jesus the Christ.
So, when the church has talked about what Jesus has done ithas been in terms of the work he accomplished in the threefoldoffice of prophet, priest, and king. As prophet Jesus is the newMoses and Elijah. He teaches the way of the kingdom and announcesthe concern, the mercy, and love of the Father. The teaching roleof the prophet takes on a new dimension, as McLuhan said"the medium is the message." Here, the prophet is theprophecy -- what is announced is made present in the announcer.As priest Jesus takes up the role of Aaron and Melchizedek, butwith a twist. Now the priest -- the bridgebuilder between heavenand earth, God and humanity -- is not just the one who offers,but is also the offering making atonement (at-one-ment) forhumanity. As king Jesus serves as guardian and guide -- which isthe traditional role of the ruler. Again, there is a newperspective, because the kingship doesn't come as a result ofheredity or a coup d'etat. Christ is king because of hissuffering, death, burial and resurrection -- his kingship comesthrough sacrifice.
This three-fold office must exist in balance. I like whatThomas Oden has written:
The history of Christian teaching of the work of Christ has repeatedly
had to resist such imbalances. Post-Kantian Protestant liberalism so
stressed the prophetic, teaching office as to neglect the priestly office.
Some forms of Protestant scholasticism and pietism so stressed the
sacrificial substitutionary atonement and eschatological triumphalism
as to neglect the prophetic office. The social gospel movement stressed
the earthly relevance of the kingship of Christ and Jesus as a teacher of
social justice to the neglect of the priestly office. Schweitzer stressed the
eschatological kingdom, but concluded that Jesus was a misinformed
teacher. Some post-Tridentine teaching neglected the prophetic office by its intense focus upon Jesus' priestly, sacramental ministry. A balanced teaching of salvation depends upon holding these three ministries in proper tension and equilibrium.
When cohesion is lost we end up with over-emphasis on oneaspect to the exclusion of the other. The kingdom, the church hasunderstood, is made present through the work of the Christ.
Recently my wife and I went to see the film "Batman andRobin" and, believe it or not, the reality of the kingdom'spresence in balance was brought home to me in the 'batcave.' Thesecurity system in the 'batcave' is this interlocking grid oflaser light -- present, real, but visible only to those who havethe means to see it. So it is with the kingdom; itinterpenetrates our reality, but only the eyes of the awakenedsoul are able to see it.
Now, is that kingdom a present kingdom or a future one? Here,again, tension is not a bad thing . One author, C.H. Dodd, hasreferred to this as the "eschatological tension" -- thetension between the kingdom already present, but not yet.Remember, eschatology has to do with the concept of the 'endtimes.' Dodd also conceived of what was going on in Jesus'announcing of the kingdom as "realized eschatology." Inother words, in the life and teaching of Jesus we get a focus ofthe not yet in the already.
Sometimes the tension gets stressed to one side or the other.Augustine grappled with the presence of the kingdom in hismassive treatise The City of God. He theorized that there weretwo cities, one heavenly and one earthly. His identification ofthe 'heavenly city' with an earthly arm, the church, was taken upalmost uncritically by medieval scholars and created a greatnumber of problems in terms of how the church has related to thestate. (We can't possibly cover that here -- but will gladlyexplore it with anyone who wants to talk about the evolution ofchurch-state relations!) Unfortunately, this gave rise to theseparation of sacred and profane, and so forth -- which lost thesense of God's presence here and now, save in a mediated way.Later, Luther would more sharply divide the two in his 'twokingdoms' doctrine. Calvin thought of the kingdom of God aspartly embodied in a society in which rulers acknowledged God'ssovereignty, and in which the church should play an active part.
The Puritans undertook the 'errand into the wilderness' to tryto articulate Calvin's understanding in the context of a 'holycommonwealth.' Having come out of the state church in Englandthey understood the problems engendered for the church by tooclose a relation with the state. (Their understanding would leadto the American doctrine of separation of church and state --though the current interpretation seems to seek more protectionfor state than church. Again, if interested we can talk or Isuggest you read W. J. Everett's marvelous study God's FederalRepublic.) Ultimately, what the Puritans were seeking was whatthey saw in the Gospel and the experience of the early church:the interpenetration of the present with the future, God'skingdom present in a this-worldly reality.
They saw that the Incarnation had shifted things -- that Godwas not far off, rather his presence was interwoven into everyaspect of human life. The home was as much a place of holinessand devotion as was the meetinghouse and so, too, was theworkplace. Listen to Boston's teacher, John Cotton:
Faith...encourageth a man in his calling to the homeliest and difficultest...Such homely employments a carnal heart knows not how to submit unto; but now faith having put us into a calling, if it require some homely employment, it encourageth us in it...So faith is ready to embrace any homely service his calling leads him to, which a carnal heart would blush to be seen in.
All work has dignity, as do all persons, because God is foundthere. "Nathaniel Mather said that God's grace willspiritualize every action:"; even the simplest actions, suchas a "man's loving his wife or child." become"gracious acts," and "eating and drinking [are]acts of obedience and hence are of great account in the eyes ofGod."
The presence of the kingdom is, then, a transformative one. Aswe come to know and love God and are, in turn, known and loved byhim, we are changed. Concretely, we become citizens of adifferent place which exists in tandem with all created realityand subjects of a higher ruler -- which means how we behave, howwe view the world, everything about us is different. In briefsketch, this is how the church has viewed the effect of thepresence of the kingdom.
Lonnie will now take us through the Scriptures themselves.
Luke 17:20-21
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdomof God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God doesnot come with your careful observation, nor will people say,`Here it is,' or `There it is,' because the kingdom of God iswithin you."
More than nineteen hundred years ago there was a man borncontrary to the laws of life. This man lived in poverty and wasreared in obscurity. He did not travel extensively. Only once didhe cross the boundary of the country in which he lived; that wasduring his exile in childhood. In infancy he startled a king; inchildhood he puzzled doctors; in manhood he ruled the course ofnature, hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes withoutmedicine and made no charge for his service.
He never wrote a book, and yet all the libraries of thecountry could not hold the books that have been written abouthim. He never wrote a song, and yet he has furnished the themefor more songs than all the songwriters combined. He neverfounded a college, but all the schools put together cannot boastof having so many students. He never marshalled an army, nordrafted a soldier, nor fired a gun; and yet no leader ever hadmore volunteers who have, under his orders, made more rebelsstack arms and surrender without a shot fired.
He never practiced psychiatry, and yet he has healed morebroken hearts than all the doctors far and near. Once each weekthe wheels of commerce cease their turning and multitudes findtheir way to worshipping assemblies to pay homage and respect tohim.
The names of the past proud statesmen of Greece and Rome havecome and gone. The names of the past scientists, philosophers,and theologians have come and gone; but the name of this manabounds more and more. Though time has spread nineteen hundredyears between the people of this generation and his, yet he stilllives! Herod could not destroy him, and the grave could not holdhim. He stands forth upon the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory,proclaimed of God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, asthe living, Christ. He had one common theme in his message. Whatwas it? Jesus declared that the kingdom of God is at hand!
The idea of God's kingdom is central to Jesus' teaching. Jesustalked about it continuously, mentioning it over 100 times. Itbegins and ends the Lord's prayer, "thy kingdom come, "and "for thine is the kingdom." The first words ofJesus' ministry were, "repent, for the kingdom of heaven isat hand," and the last thing he emphasized when he was withthe disciples for forty days after the resurrection was the samething - "speaking to them concerning the kingdom ofGod." Throughout his ministry, Jesus laid hold on simile,metaphor, parable, and direct statement to interpret thisastonishing proposal.
What difference does it mean that the kingdom of God is athand? It means I can look beyond the present situation and itmeans I can look beyond my present limitations.
I recently heard this phrase which states how faith empowersus to look beyond the present with confidence. "We can seeonly as far as the headlights but we can make the trip that wayif we know where we are going." When you leave for a roadtrip of a thousand miles, you are only able to see as far asdaylight allows or the distance of the headlights at night. Youcannot see the destination, only a small portion of it. Weexperience a small portion of connecting with God as we encounterJesus each day. Experiences and learnings get us closer to thekingdom but we are not fully there yet. As long as we follow thecompass in the direction of the kingdom we will eventuallyencounter it's fullness. Don't let discouragement of despairglare the view. Trust the readings of the compass.
The presence of the kingdom also means I can look beyond mypresent limitations. We should remember that God not only callsthe qualified but often qualifies the called. I am reminded ofD. L. Moody, who only attended school to the thirdgrade, began his message to the students of Cambridge Universitywith the sentence, "Young gentlemen, don't ever think Goddon't love you, for he do." Moody slaughtered the King'sEnglish and yet celebrated enormous effectiveness as a Christiancommunicator. Moses is another who argued with God's call toleadership and eventually realized his greatest ability was hisavailability. Be available to the kingdom of God which is withinyou.
Summary:
Jesus came preaching, "the kingdom of God is athand."
Lonnie and Steve, Phil and Norm, Henry and Howell and everyother minister of this congregation -- each in his own way -- hascome preaching the same thing: "the kingdom of God is athand." So where is it? How do we see it?
The kingdom of God is in our midst, in this gathered people.I've seen it in the way people have dealt with the loss of aloved one and kept on going. I've seen it in one being treatedfor cancer and dealing with it patiently. I've seen it in theconcern of young parents for the faith and moral development oftheir children. I've seen it in members who confront the agingprocess with grace and faitfulness. I've seen it in young peoplewho disover here that God cares for them. The kingdom is real.
Perhaps we ought not to have lost the custom of the ChristianEast to affirm the reality of the kingdom in the way they greeteach other. We did that this morning in the first part of thecall to worship: "Christ is among us! He is and ever shallbe!" It says so much more than a dutiful, "How areyou?" "Christ is among us!" says that the kingdomis real, that hope bears fruit, it is the affirmation of openedeyes.
I quote Elizabeth Barrett Browning's lines from "AuroraLeigh" ad nauseum, but she's right:
"Earth's crammed with heaven
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who see takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."
Open your eyes! See God in the common as well as the uncommon.Know that the kingdom of God is here and you are a child of theking! CHRIST IS AMONG US!
