Kingdom Theology in a Nutshell

Mark 4:30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
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It is interesting that birds and squirrels play a part in the distribution of seeds across the earth. Some seeds even have to be eaten and digested before they can germinate. There's quite a bit of symbolism there, but the image I'd like to zoom in on is of the mustard seed - let's call it an acorn instead. Set aside for a moment the obvious truth that the Kingdom of God is something we like to call heaven. What does Jesus mean when he says that His Kingdom is like an acorn, starting so small and growing so big? Why is it important for him to preach this message? Why doesn't he just focus on the same message that John the Baptist preached - 'repent'? Why does he insist on describing it to them? Is this functional knowledge or just a nice-to-know-fact? This last question is key because for many of us, its easier to think of God's Kingdom as though it were a country club - you're either in or you are out. But here God is talking about His Kingdom as though it were a living thing in an of itself - something which starts small, has roots in the earth, grows large into the heavens and provides shelter for all kinds of creatures. This image of the Kingdom is a bit strange, as though Heaven itself might have roots planted in our current reality. And this is exactly what Jesus is preaching. He comes from the root of Jesse, and lineage of David, but Jesus is the Root from which the Kingdom grows, or perhaps the acorn, to follow our analogy. He is the vine and we are the branches . He is the tree who provides our shelter and our way to transcend the world, but his roots in the world allow him to remain connected with us.The Kingdom of God here and now is like an acorn which has taken root and grown into a strong young tree, but there is much more growing to do. This is functional knowledge because in knowing the Kingdom of God is rooted in our midst and growing into full fruition, we can't sit idly by and wait. We must participate in the growing. We cannot force it to grow the way we would like or at the speed that we would like, but we can certainly be productive by doing the types of things Jesus did - loving the outcast, healing the sick, speaking the truth in love... His Kingdom advances when we invite people into the promise of a heavenly afterlife, but also into the promise of heaven taking root in the earth here and now. The already and the not yet - the Kingdom is coming and the Kingdom is at hand.

Kingdom Community

Mark 3: 31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers [11] are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
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Of course Jesus loved his mother and his brothers, but he also had a radical commitment to live in brotherhood with all mankind. I'm sure this was hard at times. When he hung on the cross and asked Peter to take his place as son to his mother, Mary, I'm sure there was intense emotional anguish. Was it worth it? For those of us who have been fortunate to experience the safety and love of a healthy family, it is hard to imagine giving it up for anything. But God calls us to lay this down, at the proper time, in order to open our families to the rest of the world. In order to do this I have to be willing to live a fairly transparent life, not always having to have it all together. But the the front doors of our homes are the side doors to the church. And conversely, the disconnected church goer has the opportunity to become reconnected to the body through home groups and intentional hospitality.

The Blood of the Lamb

Matthew 27:24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; [10] see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged [11] Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
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Long before this day, during the time of the Israelites' enslavement in Egypt, God delivered them through a sacrifice of firstborn children. Anyone who had the blood of the lamb on their doorpost was saved from the plague and their children were spared. Here we see that God is again delivering his people by putting his own firstborn to death. The people, not knowing what they are doing, ask for Jesus' blood to be on them and their children. What an amazing fulfilment of the passover! Later, on the cross, Jesus prays for them, saying that they don't know what they are doing. Contrast this with Pilate, who seems to know what he is doing and wash himself of the guilt. In both cases, Jesus is the only one entitled to grant forgiveness. He is innocent and yet held accountable for sin. This answers the ancient word given by God in Genesis 9:
5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man,by man shall his blood be shed,for God made man in his own image. There is an ancient rule of justice knit into the fabric of the world and Jesus had to die in order to "reckon" for our sin because the wages of sin is death. So now we are like the Israelites who have just been told by Pharaoh that we may leave Egypt. There is still a desert ahead before we get to Canaan, but the Promised Land is still promised, and our Deliverer is leading the way.

Humility

II Chronicles 7:12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.
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God doesn't ask us to come to him with everything perfect already. He just asks us to humble ourselves and come as we are. I have often thought that humility is much closer to courage than to weakness. In humility, we recognize our weaknesses and ask for help. This requires courage. How much easier would it be to hide our sin and shame? It can be so difficult and dangerous to confess sin! The Kingdom of God is a safe place for us...but not for our sin. When we confess our sin in the Kingdom of God, it is put to death, but we are made new. God says that if we, who are called by his name, humble ourselves and seek his face, he will heal our land. What does this mean right now and here? Does this promise apply to our local community and our generation? I am praying to God right now and believing that he will bless this community and this generation with His Love. I want to see everyone come to know what a great and loving God he is. I want to worship him with abandon this year. I want to be a better man this year because of the Holy Spirit's fruit in my life. If you were like Solomon and God said you could ask for anything, what would you ask for?

Kyrie Eleison, Lord Have Mercy

Matthew 20:29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, [11] have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.
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Kyrie Eleison, which means, "Lord, have mercy" is a cry that God will not deny. His heart of love for those who hurt is ready and willing to respond. Why did he heal these two but not others? How did he have the power to heal and yet allow people to get sick in the first place? The question is very difficult, perhaps impossible, to answer. The problem of pain is not simple, especially within the context of an innocent person's life. But I imagine that things must get much harder before they get better [notice I didn't say before they get easier]. I imagine that God allows suffering to work on us in two ways. If it is not part of our punishment, and not specifically a test, then it could be the simple fall-out from sin in out communities. But if we bear up under the suffering, trusting in the God who bore crucifixion for us, we can grow through it. And if the suffering is unjust, he will set things right eventually. Why not now? Why not right away? I believe he has a good reason even though it often feels as though he could not possibly. We will see, won't we?

Childlikeness and Childishness

Matthew 19:13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.
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Luke 7:31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’
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1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
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I had a college English Professor once who make a point I will never forget. He taught us that there is a big difference between child-likeness and childishness. The different senses are captured in the above mentioned verses. Jesus says that we must become like children, having faith like them and drawing close to Jesus in the same way, intuitively, humbly, trusting in His love. But we all know that children can be rascals. Jesus described his generation as a bunch of big babies, trying to manipulate him to do things that they wanted. He said, in effect, that they were being childish. Paul addresses the child-adult paradigm by explaining that he has given up "childish ways" but he still admits that life is pretty mysterious, as if looking into a dim mirror. In effect, he is humbling himself so that he rests on child-like faith.

Faith Like Jesus

Matthew 17:14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, [15] and it [16] came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. [17] 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” [18]
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I wonder if Jesus' faith was related to his righteousness. Faith seems to me to be related to what one knows. Righteousness is related to what one does. The two are of course inseperable, faith and works, orthodoxy and orthopraxy, right thinking and right action. The temptation with this passage is of course to convince ourselves that a mere mustering of the thought of the mountain in motion might be enough. Jesus lived a sinless life. I think there is power in that. I am not saying that his grace isn't great enough to make our faith powerful, but it seems reasonable to me that God would be more willing to work with people who were doing the stuff of Christ on a regular basis. So goal #1 is to walk in his footsteps and not become legalistic. Then, believing and obeying, we should ask for the great big things that would bless God.

I am a Dog

Matthew 15:21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. [11]
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I have really had a hard time with this account of Jesus. It seems as though his love for the chosen people, Israel, is greater than his love for us "dogs". In this account it would seem that they are his children and we, the gentiles, are an afterthought. Surely this can't be the same Jesus that died for the whole world? Why would the man who welcomed little children, touched social pariahs and ate with sinners treat this woman this way? Was it because the Canaanites had been treating the Jews like dogs? Was it because this woman had treated someone in her life like a dog? In other words, was Jesus disciplining her for something, or testing her, kind of like with the rich young ruler or others who had baggage? I hope so because I cannot conceive of Jesus actually viewing this woman as less than human. And yet, when I read the passage it opens up all kinds of insecurity in me, fears that God might not love me or want me. Where does this come from? Is this fear justified? The Psalms tell us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. But that is only the beginning. As we get to know God, we learn his love, because perfect love casts out fear. So is my insecurity about this passage related to an insufficient knowledge of God's love? I think yes. And I bear witness to this, that as I have wrestled with this passage and with God, like Jacob, seeking his blessing, He has taught me these two things. He loves me too much to let me go through this life without growing, and in order for anything to grow, it must be intentionally and skillfully broken down. I am a dog and God's love will make me a man.

Ears to Hear

Matthew 13:3 And he told them many things in parables, saying . . . 9 He who has ears, [7] let him hear.” 10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given." . . . 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. . . .15 For this people's heart has grown dull,and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
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I think Jesus' explanation of his use of parables is extremely troublesome. If the people are not supposed to understand him, why does he persist in telling the parables? The question treads heavily in the territory of sovereignty, but without getting too wordy, this is what I think is happening - I see Jesus telling stories. Stories are like Trojan horses. Common people, without much education or experience, still love a good story. It's why we flock to the movies. It's only human, to want to hear a story about other humans, dealing with human problems and beauties. Jesus knew this about us because he helped to create us. He told stories rather than straight up teaching because he knew that the stories would penetrate to the heart, like seeds. What was he planting? The Kingdom of God! Stories bypass the mind and go straight to the heart, unless of course you are engaged in the act of "criticism". The Pharisees were into that. But for us normal people, who enjoy a good story just for the humanity of it, Jesus was right on target. He would tell these little stories and then at the end he would say this funny sentence, "for those that have ears, hear". I think this is more than just a verily, verily, or 'pay attention guys' kind of moment. I think he is doing something in the spirit. It has the ring of a prayer actually. Consider his handling of a demonized man in the book of Luke. Jesus instruction to the demon was, “Be silent and come out of him!” I detect the same tone when he says, "For those who have ears, hear!" It's as if he has planted the parable seed in their hearts, and then, like creation, he commands them to grow. I still find it incredibly mysterious.

Heman Worship

1 Chronicles 15:16 David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. 17 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel;. . .[who was] to sound bronze cymbals; 20 [Some] were to play harps according to Alamoth; 21 [some] were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith. . . . 24 [and others] should blow the trumpets before the ark of God. . . . 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres. 29 And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and rejoicing. . .
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Nehemiah 12:27 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites . . . to celebrate the . . . with cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 And the sons of the singers gathered together . . . 31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south . . . 38 The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north . . . and they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard. 40 So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God . . . 41 And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. 43 And they . . . rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
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I think its funny and wonderful that one of the worship leaders in David's kingdom was named Heman. The over the top masculinity of the 80's action figure is a comical, but not entirely innapropriate representative of the Old Testament singers who were warriors in their own right. For, worship is sometimes warfare. He-Man, apparently "the most powerful man in the universe" is of course a kind of archetypal hero. In the book of Nehemiah, one of my favorite stories is how they sent choirs up onto the wall to worship after they had completed contruction. The "joy of Jerusalem was heard far away". This is amazing, especially when you consider our own paradigm for worship, which is often timid and introverted. God forbid [ironically] if we should sing too loud and wake somebody up on a Sunday morning! My kids like to sing a song as prayer before meals: "Lord we thank thee, Lord we thank thee, Lord in heaven we thank thee." And then sometimes they will feel inspired to shout at the top of their lungs, "Praise Jesus!" as the grand finale. They did that in a restaurant once. It was awesome. Ransom, my son, was like He-Man on Nehemiah's wall. How's that for a strange quote!

God in a Box

I Chronicles 13:9 And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. 10 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God. 11 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza [7] to this day. 12 And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?” 13 So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 14 And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months. And the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had.
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So this God that I believe in seems completely weird to me sometimes, and I think David feels the same way here. Uzzah is walking along beside the ark. The oxen stumble. Uzzah reaches out to keep it from falling [we assume that's why he touched it]. God strikes him dead. David is angry [with God or with Ussah, I'm not sure]. And then, this dangerous God-box is brought to Obed-edom's house and he is totally blessed. - I don't get it. The irony is that you cannot put God in a box!

Heroes Unlimited

1 Chronicles 11:10 Now these are the chiefs of David's mighty men... 11 Jashobeam, a Hachmonite, ... wielded his spear against 300 whom he killed at one time....22 Benaiah ... struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. 23 And he struck down an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits [7] tall. The Egyptian had in his hand a spear like a weaver's beam, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear.
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Matthew 10:1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; [12] 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
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It is interesting that David is a Christ-like messiah. His chiefs, valiant in battle are prophetic figures of Jesus' spiritual army. We read in Matthew about Jesus empowering the disciples to heal every disease and affliction and yet in the next chapter we are told that, "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, [1] and the violent take it by force." (Matthew 11:12) Why? What is it about his kingdom that would invite violence? What is the nature of this violence? Is it physical violence or a metaphor? Or both? Well David and his men certainly encountered violence in a very physical way, and so did Jesus, but the verse seems to point to a much more epic battle field. Jesus' sweat, like drops of blood, in the Garden of Gethsemane, indicate an engagement with violent forces much more powerful than our natural eyes can see. The decisive victory of that war has already been won, but we continue to ride out the final battles and rescue the prisoners of war. The healing that Jesus has commissioned us to do is not just physical either, although physical healing is an integral part of the blessing that He often imparted. There are many deep layers of the human life that are damaged and needing help. It almost seems trite to say that one can have everything healthy on the outside but still have a wounded heart, but its true. He is sending us to be heart healers. The greatest good that we can do is then to engage in the epic war as holy paramedics. The greatest violence that can be done against Satan and his crew is an act of healing.

Laborers

Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
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God, make me a laborer for Your kingdom!

A Good God & Sea Glass

Psalm 5:3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you [5] and watch. 4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.
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Most of us, if asked, would say that we would prefer a good God over an evil God. Plenty of people have openly worshipped evil gods, but that is not really very practical. Logic would follow then that most of us would also prefer a God that delights in goodness rather than evil. However, most of us also do a lot of things that aren't good and hope that God will let us get away with it . So can we have it both ways? We know, deep inside, that a good God is better than a bad god, and yet we often live our lives as though ruled by a bad god. Assuming that God exists and that our desires have no control over that fact, we have to contend with the difficult reality that we are not always calibrated to worship God in his goodness. In fact, as we draw close to His goodness, we often shy away, like those attempting to look directly into the sun. His glory and righteousness are too bright... and yet... we were created in his image, from the beginning intended to shine like stars, or like lamps on a stand. How is that possible when the goodness of God terrifies me? His goodness is so good that it almost seems bad to me by comparison. And this is what one might call the fear of God which leads to wisdom. But we know that perfect love casts out fear and that God, in his goodness, is the essence of Love. His Love is able to overcome the danger of death. He has so much Love for me that His goodness can shine through my dim sea glass of a life and make it bright.
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My life is in fact like sea glass. Esther loves sea glass.

The 9 People You Meet in Heaven

Matthew 5:1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons [4] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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I get the sense that these people are the kind of people who would be able to appreciate God's blessing, even in the midst of suffering. It almost seems as if God's Kingdom, which is really what is being described here, is open to all who would enjoy this kind of life - a life of purity, mercy, humility and of course Love. Last week I had a thought about the end times. I'm not really someone who studies apocalyptic theology much, but I was just thinking about God and what it might be like in the end. I imagined that Jesus returned and offered everyone the option of going to heaven or staying here on earth. He made it clear that He was Love and that after he left, there would be no Love left in the world. Many were incredulous about this. They assured him that they were quite capable of love without his help. He explained to them that their love was selfish and destructive and that up til this point they had survived off of the residual love of an invisible community of saints. They were still incredulous, assuring him that there was work to be done to save the earth and heal mankind of its trouble. Jesus reiterated that all creation was welcome to come with him and be made new in His kingdom of love. Finally, he gathered up the volunteers and left. The world changed immediately. There were no more acts of charity on the face of the earth. The impulse to act generously and heroically no longer existed in mankind. A few tried vainly to save the earth from its march towards global warming, but there seemed to be little in it for the individual, so no one wanted to invest time, money or effort. The downward spiral towards chaos and misery happened quickly culminating with the eventual uninhabitability of the earth. All died and then the earth was wiped out by the implosion of the sun.... Meanwhile, in heaven, all were offered luxurious accommodations in a beach side hotel, but no one wanted to take a room. They all just wanted to be together in the lobby or on the beach, and they all continued to share anything they were given with the others. The more luxury they were offered, the more they would try to give it away. Jesus played host, walking around from person to person, announcing this gift or that, and he didn't need to say what they already knew, which was that the greatest gift was living in the Kingdom of Love together with those who knew the value of Love.