Seek first the Kingdom of God and
His righteousness and
you will have everything
you need.
+ Matthew 6:33
Beginning this summer and entering into the fall season, I got to read through the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke again with family and friends. And now, as fall weather finally arrives during the beginning of October, I sense a fun and fresh invitation to soak in these Gospel stories some more.
If you read through the Gospels, you'll notice that Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven or God more than anything else. One of my favorite descriptions of what living in His Kingdom feels like is described poetically and potently by G.K. Chesterton:
The more I considered Christianity,
the more I found that
while it had established a rule and order,
the chief aim of that order
was to give room for good things
to run wild.
This post is meant to provide an introduction to what the wild Kingdom of Jesus is about and how we're welcomed to live in light of it. And since I got to focus on the Kingdom with teens at Pine Brook Teen Camp, re-reading these reflections together from Stanley Hauerwas'
Jesus Changes Everything and Jessie Cruikshank's
Ordinary Discipleship has been a joy and a reminder to continue to have ears to hear and eyes to see how Jesus' Kingdom "
makes room for good things to run wild."
Jesus Changes Everything:
God's Possible Impossibility
In the Sermon on the Mount (
Matthew 5-7), Jesus describes what life is like when God's Kingdom breaks into our midst.
Jesus' sermon is concerned with the final direction toward which God is moving the world and the reality of God's future in our midst now. Jesus' teaching, miracles, and healings indicate not only the nature but also the presence of God's coming Kingdom. This is why followers of Jesus don't have to be concerned with anxious, self-serving questions about what we are able to do or what we ought to do to make history come out right. In Christ, God has already made history come out right.
The Sermon on the Mount presumes the inauguration of a world in which God in Christ has taken matters in hand. And essential to the way that God has taken matters in hand is an invitation to become citizens of a new Kingdom, a messianic community where the world God is creating takes visible, practical form.
This is good news!
The Sermon on the Mount is
God's possible impossibility,
because we are now empowered
to live in a world fashioned
in accordance with God's peace.
"Good news!" Jesus exclaims.
"Life is more than acquiring wealth,
more than good fortune, good food,
more than getting even and
getting your own way."
"Good news!" Jesus proclaims.
"There is more to life than
satisfying your lust, your greed,
your anger, your right to lash back,
more than maintaining your image
and impressing others.
There is much, much more to life."
The most interesting question
about the Sermon on the Mount
is not, "Is this really a practical way
to live in the world?" but rather,
"Is this really the way the world is?"
What is "practical" or "realistic"
is related to what is real.
If the world is a society in which only the strong, the independent, the detached, the liberated, and the successful are blessed, then we act accordingly. However, if the world is really a place where God blesses the poor, the hungry, and the persecuted for righteousness' sake, then we must act in accordance with that reality or else appear bafflingly out of step with the way things are.
Is the world a place where we
must constantly guard against
our death, anxiously building hedges
against that sad but inevitable reality?
Or is it a place where our death
is viewed and reviewed under the
reality of the cross of Christ?
Our hope is to live the Sermon on the Mount because this is the nature of our God and it is our destiny that we should be such people, Jesus' messianic community, His Church, which knows something the world does not and structures its life accordingly.
Jesus Changes Everything:
Kingdom Promises
In God's Kingdom here on earth, the poor are royalty, the sick are blessed. The Sermon on the Mount rests on the assumption that if the preacher can first enable us to see whom God blesses, we shall be well on the road to blessedness ourselves. The Beatitudes (
Matthew 5:3-12) are not a strategy for achieving a better society; they are a picture, a vision of the inbreaking of a new society. They are indicatives, promises, instances, imaginative examples of life in the Kingdom of God.
We are forever getting confused
into thinking that scripture is mainly
about what we are supposed to do
rather than a picture of who God is
in the world.
The basic message of the Sermon
is not about what works but rather
the way God is.
Cheek-turning is not advocated
as what works, but taught because
this is the way God is —
God is kind to the ungrateful
and the selfish.
Jesus is the Sermon on the Mount.
His teaching is not a stratagem
for getting what we want;
it is a picture of life
that is available now that
we have seen what God wants and
what He does in Christ.
We seek reconciliation with
our neighbor not because
we will feel so much better afterward,
but because reconciliation is
what God is doing in the world
in Christ.
Too often the Beatitudes are turned into ideals we must strive to attain. But Jesus does not tell us that we should try to be poor in spirit, or meek, or peacemakers. He simply says that many who are called into His Kingdom will find themselves so constituted.
We cannot
try to be meek or gentle in order to become a disciple of this gentle Jesus. It is by learning to be His disciple that some of us will discover that we have been gentled. Jesus' gentleness is nowhere more apparent than in His submission to the cross and, even there, in His wish that no harm would come to His persecutors. But it is no less apparent in His willingness to be touched by the sick and troubled, to be with the social outcasts and the powerless, and, in His time of agony,
to share a meal with His disciples that has now become the feast of the new age.
Do not be surprised that you who are called to serve in his cross-shaped Kingdom will find among yourselves those who have learned to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). You will need these gifts, as "unimpressive" as they are, if you are able to be for the world an alternative to the world's wisdom. Only a community shaped by such a people — a people who have learned to rely on God and one another for everything — stands a chance of being Jesus' cross-shaped wisdom for the world. It is these He calls blessed.
Jesus Changes Everything:
Subversive Righteousness
Jesus does not seek to morally improve nor violently overthrow Rome, not because He was outnumbered but because His Kingdom is a radical alternative, both to the violence of Rome and to those who would overthrow Rome with violence, but also to those who uphold the status quo. The righteousness of Christ's Kingdom cannot avoid being subversive, so much so that it will result in His crucifixion. Jesus calls forth a people capable of living in accordance with God's new order in the midst of the existing one.
What kind of order was Jesus talking about? What kind of social alternative? What kind of subversive community? This was a voluntary society: you could not be a citizen of it simply by being born into it. You could come into it only by repenting and freely pledging allegiance to Jesus as its king. It was also a society mixed in its composition. It was mixed racially and religiously, with both Jews and Gentiles, fanatical keepers of the law and advocates of liberation from all forms, radical monotheists and others just in the process of disentangling their minds from idolatry. It was mixed economically, with members from among the rich and the poor.
When He called His society together,
Jesus gave its new members
a new way of life to live.
He gave them a new way
to deal with offenders —
by forgiving them.
He gave them a new way
to deal with violence —
by suffering.
He gave them a new way
to deal with money —
by sharing it.
He gave them a new way to deal
with problems of leadership —
by drawing on the gift
of every member,
even the most humble.
He gave them a new way
to deal with a corrupt society —
by building a new order,
not smashing the old.
He gave them a new pattern
of relationship between
man and woman,
between parent and child,
between master and slave,
in which a radical new vision of
what it means to be a human person
was made concrete.
He gave them a new attitude
toward the state and
toward the "enemy nation."
Christ Himself is the
greater righteousness, and
His righteousness can be realized
because through the Spirit
the Kingdom of God breaks into
our midst and transforms our lives.
Jesus offers us participation in a Kingdom that is so demanding that we discover we have better things to do than concentrate on our lust, our "righteous" anger, our ways of compromising the truth. We discover better ways of being than to break promises or hide behind lies "just to get along" with one another. We need not retaliate against those who would seek to do us harm, thus perpetuating the cycle of violence. We can even show them deeds of love. We can even realize God's Kingdom and His righteousness.
Ordinary Discipleship:
Life in the Kingdom
Discipleship is a vehicle, a method, a journey. But where are we going? We may know what Jesus saves us from, but what does He save us for? When He asks us to pick up our cross and follow Him, where is He leading us?
Jesus taught on the Kingdom of God
more than any other single topic.
It was His almost singular focus
with His disciples.
He painted the picture of the Kingdom
with visceral illustrations and vivid colors.
"If you want to build a ship,
don't drum up the men to gather wood,
divide the work, and give orders.
Instead, teach them to yearn
for the vast and endless sea."
(attributed to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
This is what Jesus did with
the Kingdom of God.
Kingdom, like wilderness, can refer to more than a specific location; it can be more experiential, something we experience in our daily living within the context of relationships. But even that description can't quite capture it either. Maybe that is why Jesus used so many different parables to help His disciples understand the Kingdom.
Jesus taught us to seek first the Kingdom (Matthew 6:33), and so our lives are the journey of exploring the territory or map of the Kingdom. God Himself is pursuing the world to bring His Kingdom into it. The Kingdom mindset is meant to invade our world, and we can rest in the great grace of joining Jesus in that. In the Kingdom we are liberated to bring our life, story, and unique treasures or gifts to the table in any environment as tools for disciplemaking.
Ordinary Discipleship:
Jesus is King of Everything
A Kingdom is positional — formed under a King. In the Kingdom of God, we live together under the lordship of Jesus. Sometimes I think about Pontius Pilate, the lord and governor over Israel in Jesus' day. Because he fought so hard against crucifying Jesus, I wonder if he saw something in Jesus or knew there was something different about Him (Luke 23:4). As a Roman, he had a religion and worldview that allowed for gods to walk the earth in human form. But Pilate's allegiance, his vow, was to Caesar. Caesar was his lord, king, and god incarnate. For Pilate, Jesus could be a god, but not his personal Lord and King. We can approach Jesus the same way. Jesus may be someone we respect and admire, and surely a god of some kind, but not necessarily the Lord and King of our daily lives. Yet to be a true follower of Jesus is to see Him as both our Savior and King.
Jesus wants more for us than
our salvation from death and hell.
He wants us to live in the fullness
of life in Him and others.
Our life with Jesus doesn't start
when we get to heaven;
it starts when we choose to say yes
to Him on this earth.
Giving Jesus full kingship of our life
is not something we are able to do
in one moment or in one prayer.
It is more than a single choice;
it requires the reorientation
of our whole life.
Walking out this transformation
in every facet of our lives is what
Scripture considers discipleship.
Relationships
God cares a lot about how we behave in our relationships and how we treat one another. You can live your life being transactional with the people around you, using them to meet your needs, or you can live with the posture of a servant who knows their worth and loves others well under the direction of Jesus. Are you lord and king over your relationships or is Jesus? How are you living inside or outside the Kingdom here?
Finances
The Bible is full of wisdom on how to manage your money. You can either master it or let it master you. Is Jesus king of your money, able to direct you as He pleases? Are you lord and king over your finances or is Jesus? How are you living inside or outside the Kingdom here?
Identity
What about your identity, sexuality, and how you see or feel about yourself? The world will tell us many things about our bodies and our sexuality. There are thousands of advertisements (ex. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram) dedicated to telling us why we are not good enough and what more we can do. But the world is not interested in your heart or your freedom. Only Jesus knew exactly what He had in mind when He dreamt of you. He is the only one who tells you who are. Are you lord and king over your identity and sexuality or is Jesus? How are you living inside or outside the Kingdom here?
Treatment of Others
The Kingdom rule covers how you treat the opposite sex, how you treat your enemies, and how you act toward authority. God does not abide bullying, taking advantage of other people, power hoarding, or degrading people in any way (1 John 4:20-21). Jesus says we are to treat the most vulnerable to same way we would treat Him, with honor (Matthew 25:31-46). We are to be kings over no one; Jesus is to be the King of all of us. Are you lord and king over others or is Jesus? How are you living inside or outside the Kingdom here?
Thoughts and Emotions
There is no part of our internal thought or emotional life that is outside the boundaries of Jesus' kingship. He cares how you think and feel, even in the deepest parts of your soul. Are you lord and king over your thoughts and emotions or is Jesus? How are you living inside or outside the Kingdom here?
Private + Public Spirituality
Jesus wants to be King of each and every area of your life, and He is not content to let anything, especially an empty religion, be your king. One of the greatest ways we can find ourselves lost in life is to accept Jesus' wisdom but reject his kingship. Are you lord and king over your spirituality or is Jesus? How are you living inside or outside the Kingdom here?
There is Jesus' Kingdom, and
there is a kingdom that is
not of Jesus.
We can either build
our own kingdoms and
call them businesses, ministries,
careers, families, or networks,
or we can submit all those things
to the rule of the Kingdom of God.
Where in your worldview have you
limited being part of the Kingdom
of God that you might need to rethink?
What parts of your daily life
do you need to be thinking about
through the lens of the Kingdom?
We submit to the lordship of Jesus in every part of our lives the exact same way we entered the Kingdom in the first place: repentance. We can't get into the Kingdom initially without it, and any part of our life that is not under the lordship of Jesus only comes under His rule as we repent and submit to Him.
When the New Testament
speaks of repentance,
the Greek word used is metanoia,
meaning "change of mind."
This kind of repentance is
not about regret or guilt or shame.
It is about allowing the revelations
Jesus gives us through His Word,
prayer, and relationships with others
to change the way we think.
Jesus is asking us to turn around,
face a new direction, and
walk in a different way.
Repentance demonstrates our
recognition of the current reality
of our situation.
Belief demonstrates our
faith in the future promise
of that reality made whole.
The rhythm of repenting and
believing can become
life-giving and restorative.
Sometimes we need others to help us learn how to take baby steps toward something good when we don't trust it. We may need to let go of defensiveness or self-protection and choose to be vulnerable and share our heart. Whether being guided away from things that are destructive or moving toward things that are good, we can be discipled to seek the Kingdom in all parts of our lives.
Ordinary Discipleship:
Kingdom Community
We first have a relationship with the King, learning to live and abide in peace, rest, trust, and faith, and having a character like that of Christ. This is a constant and ongoing journey. There is no "arriving" at the place where God has all of you and you have all of God. Not on this side of eternity at least. So we submit ourselves to a life of learning, unlearning, and learning again — the life of discipleship.
We can create Christ-shaped community in our neighborhood, our workplace, our friendships, and our family. Kingdom community is where people have authentic experiences with God and with others, where they find the Kingdom in the rawness of life and struggle. We were created to live in and be shaped by community. Being with one another is how we become more like Jesus. This means our experience of the Kingdom can feel a little messy at times. We experience both the blessing of Christ through one another and the pain of sin. But that is just another example of how the Kingdom is upside down, because the way to healing is through brokenness. In the Kingdom, we serve, we forgive, we bless, and we are generous. There is no getting around these things. It is the difference between the Kingdom of Jesus and our own rule and reign.
Bonus Quote
The Kingdom of God
in the sense of
holiness, goodness, beauty
is as close as breathing and
is crying out to be born
within ourselves and within the world.
The Kingdom of God
is what we all of us hunger for
above all other things
even when we don’t know its name
or realize that
it’s what we’re starving to death for.
The Kingdom of God is
where our best dreams come from
and our truest prayers.
We glimpse it at those moments
when we find ourselves
being better than we are and
wiser than we know.
We catch sight of it when
at some moment of crisis
a strength seems to come to us
that is greater than our own strength.
The Kingdom of God
is where we belong.
It is home,
and whether we realize it or not,
I think we are all of us homesick for it.
+ Frederick Buechner,
Bonus Songs
Common Hymnal, 2017 A.D.
Blessed are the ones who do not bury
All the broken pieces of their heart.
Blessed are the tears of all the weary
Pouring like a sky of falling stars.
Blessed are the wounded ones in mourning,
Brave enough to show the Lord their scars.
Blessed are the hurts that are not hidden,
Open to the healing touch of God.
The Kingdom is Yours,
The Kingdom is yours!
Hold on a little more,
This is not the end!
Hope is in the Lord,
Keep your eyes on Him!
Blessed are the ones who walk in kindness
Even in the face of great abuse.
Blessed are the deeds that go unnoticed,
Serving with unguarded gratitude.
Blessed are the ones who fight for justice,
Longing for the coming day of peace.
Blessed is the soul that thirsts for righteousness,
Welcoming the last, the lost, the least.
(Chorus)
Blessed are the ones who suffer violence
And still have strength to love their enemies.
Blessed is the faith of those who persevere.
Though they fall, they'll never know defeat.
(Chorus)
Jon Guerra + Sandra McCracken
The Porter's Gate, 2024 A.D.
To what shall we compare
the Kingdom of Jesus
If not a seed?
It’s small, it’s sown,
It’s tended and grown
And it’s sturdy within you and me.
It’s branches never break,
And it’s fruit never withers.
His Kingdom is not of this world
Or of any kingdom
Whose ruler’s face is on a penny.
He’s come to make all things bright
And put new wine in us.
He’s chosen the small things
To outlast the great,
The meek and the merciful
To shine through the hate.
Though it seems, some days,
That hell and its gates are prevailing.
O say can you see the Kingdom within us
Is the Kingdom of Jesus?
To what shall we compare
The spirit of the hour
If not a sword?
It frees and unites us,
Enslaves and divides us i
In violence.
Come help us, Lord.
His Kingdom is not of this world
Or of any kingdom
Whose ruler’s face is on a penny.
He’s come to make all things bright
And put new wine in us.
He’s chosen the small things
To outlast the great,
The meek and the merciful
To shine through the hate.
Though it seems, some days,
That hell and its gates are prevailing.
O say can you see we have one allegiance
To the Kingdom of Jesus?
He who is in us is greater
Than he who is in the world.
He who is in us is greater
And He’s ovecome the world.
His Kingdom is not one
of slander or rage,
But one that is ruled by
The Lamb who was slain
Who is worthy of honor and power
and glory and strength.
No pain, no division,
No public disgrace
Will compare with seeing
The smile on His face
As He welcomes us home
As children with places at the table.
Neither death, nor threat,
Nor power can ever separate us
From the love of God forever,
which is in Christ Jesus.
Everything shall pass away,
But not the Word that’s within us.
It’s the Kingdom of Jesus.
Bonus Posts:
May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.
Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne,
que sa volonté soit faite.
愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。
Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.
Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino!
🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇
With anticipation and joy,
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
