Well, I am finally getting started. After all the abuse that I took for not posting as I intended - I hesitated to overpromise anymore.
So what animated Jesus' ministry? Clearly, the first post has to call attention to Jesus' preaching of the kingdom. It is amazing that the church lost this fact through its history - but just this century there has been an awakening that the centerpiece of Jesus' ministry was his announcement of the kingdom. And the church through the centuries has typically responded in two ways.
First, one response was that the kingdom was already present - of course it was - Rome had conquered far and wide - the kingdom of God was in the midst of political Rome. Everyone was a Christian, and if they weren't it was only because Rome hadn't conquered their land yet. Especially after the conversion of Constantine, the kingdom of God became synonymous with life lived in the peace of Roman power.
The second response was that the Kingdom of God is relegated to a future time that will only be ushered in by the return of Christ. Life now is an attempt to live as best as one can - but real living happens after we die, or after Christ comes again to establish His future reign.
Both of these views seems to miss what Jesus was doing. Jesus appears to have believed that the kingdom was already upon his hearers. They could enter the kingdom and live in its power. But at the same time Jesus taught that the fullness of the kingdom was still coming - and we must live in that tension - living within the dawning of the kingdom, yet still learning forward into all the promises yet to be fulfilled.
When is the last time you heard a message about the kingdom? A message about living in the kingdom, believing that Jesus has enacted a different way of living in this world. We must become a church that leans into the future - reaching forward in the Spirit - and acting as if Jesus really did do more than die for my sins - he enacted a way of life that becomes a visible sign of the kingdom on earth.
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2 comments:
Thanks for posting. I think the last time I heard a sermon on the kingdom, Dwayne Brothers was preaching that weekend. Hmmm...coincidence? I think not.
we do the same with the idea of eternity as if it is something that is going to happen rather than something that is happening now - we plan on experiencing it someday in the future rather than realizing we are living in it now.
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