The KIng and the KIngdom
The King and the Kingdom by Rev. L. John Gable
November 21, 2021
According to Mark’s Gospel, the very first words Jesus spoke as He began His public ministry were these, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near (some translations read, “is at hand”), repent and believe in the Good News!” This announcement of the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God became the central message of Jesus’ ministry, although it did not originate with Him. The concept of the Kingdom of God is woven throughout the Old Testament and was the hope and expectation of people of faith for generations, but what Jesus uniquely brought to that hope and expectation was that that Kingdom was made real and accessible through Him. As Malcolm Muggeridge writes, “Jesus’ good news, then was that the Kingdom of God had come, and that He, Jesus, was the herald and expounder of it. More than that, in some special way, He was the Kingdom.” So when Jesus says, “The Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven has come near or is at hand”, He is saying “Draw near to Me, believe in Me, put your trust in Me, and the Kingdom of God has come to you.”
Radical, and revolutionary really, as that thought is, this is what Jesus offers us, entrance into the Kingdom of God by acceptance of Him, and that became the focus of His teaching ministry. Nearly all of the parables begin, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a sower, a seed, a bit of leaven, a pearl, a buried treasure, a father.” Curiously, given that this was the central message of Jesus’ teaching, He never really describes or defines what the Kingdom really is. One would think that He would have nailed that one down clearly, but He didn’t. The simplest way I can understand and describe the Kingdom of God is “life under the reign and rule of God; life as it will one day be when God finally has His way with us.” When Jesus gave His disciples a model prayer it centered it around the concept of “God’s Kingdom come, God’s will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The passage we read this morning from the book of Revelation paints the picture of what that Kingdom will eventually look and feel like: a new heaven and a new earth, God in the midst of His people, no more darkness, no more suffering, no more sorrow, no more death. This concept of the Kingdom of Heaven is central to all of Christian thought and theology, and is our culminating hope. Despite the mystery and ambiguity of the teaching about it, the message is clear: the end of history, ours individually or of the whole creation, is not an event, but is a person. All of our statements about the end are really statements about God. At the end of the road, at the end of time, is not a void, not nothingness, but is God and He is our all in all. He is the new Kingdom. He does not merely bring the end, He is the end. This is what Jesus came to teach us, to show us, to invite us to prepare ourselves for and enter in to. So His message, first and last, is this, “The Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the Good News.”
If then there is a Kingdom then that means there must also be a King, and there is, His name is Jesus. If we listen carefully to His teaching we hear Him consistently making the unique, exclusive and authoritative claim that He is the King of that Kingdom come near. He not only proclaimed the Kingdom, He is the Kingdom demonstrated in human life (Barclay). When Pilate had Him on trial and was trying to figure out how much of threat He was to Rome, he asked, “Are a king?” and Jesus did not deny it, but He made it clear that His “Kingdom was not of this world.” “So, you are a king?” pressed Pilate and Jesus again answered, “For this I was born, and for this I came in to the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice” (John 18). Jesus was making it crystal clear that there is a Kingdom and that He is the King. Theologian Hans Kung states it well when he asserts, “The decision for or against the rule of God/the Kingdom of God hangs together with the decision for or against Jesus Himself.”
Today the Christian Church celebrates “Christ the King” Sunday which marks the end of the Christian year. Next week is the first Sunday of Advent, the season of preparation leading us to the celebration of Christmas and the “advent” or coming of our Lord, which restarts the cycle of the Christian year all over again. It is significant that we end the year on Christ the King Sunday because through the changing seasons of life He alone is unchanging and ever worthy of our worship and praise. So, in that sense, every Sunday is Christ the King Sunday for all of our worship is directed to Him and Him alone, as our Savior and Lord, our all in all, the One who awaits us all at the end, our King and His Kingdom.
Given then that there is a King, and there is a Kingdom and that by our confession of faith we are submitting ourselves to Jesus as King and identifying ourselves as citizens of that Kingdom, what does that really look like for us?
Just as any citizen is required to live by the laws and rules and regulations of their nation or state, so we are required to live in accordance with the guidelines and values of the Kingdom of God, not just then, at the end, in eternity, but even now, since in Jesus the Kingdom has come near. So now is the time for us to start preparing for the then; now is the time to begin living as we will one day live when God finally has His way with us. If I was planning to move to Canada or to Kenya I would do well to learn their customs and practices, the language they speak, the currency they use, which side of the road they drive on. Before I made that move I would be even wiser to learn who it is that leads them and how they chose to govern themselves, what it is they value and the way they conduct themselves, just to make certain that I actually do want to live in that way, in that place, among those people. If I were to strongly disagree with them or choose not to live life as they have chosen to live it, I would do best not to plan to live there.
The same can be said of our decision to become citizens of the Kingdom of God. We too are required to live by the values and standards of the King in His Kingdom, and this, quite candidly becomes the rub for us as followers of Jesus, particularly we American followers of Jesus, who value our democracy and love our sense of freedom. Hardwired in to our way of life is a rejection that any one has the right to be king over me, to tell me what to do or how to live my life. “I am the boss of me!” we boast, “I can make my own decisions!” which may, or may not depending on your perspective, work so well for us as citizens of this nation. As much as we love our democratic freedoms, we need to understand that the Kingdom of God is not a democracy, it is a Theocracy. As citizens of this theocracy, we don’t get to make our own decisions, set our own rules, choose our own values, vote in to or out of office those we want to govern us, rather we submit ourselves to the values of the King and His Kingdom. All of which means, we must choose carefully whether we really want to be citizens of this Kingdom or not.
This Kingdom is governed by love, so if we prefer to practice hatred and animosity we would not be very happy here. This Kingdom is governed by peace and joy and hope, so if we choose instead to be driven by rancor and futility and despair this likely will not be a good fit. This Kingdom promotes justice and righteousness, care and concern for the well-fare and well-being of the other, particularly the least, the lost, the lonely, the disabled, disadvantaged and disenfranchised, so if you believe that what is yours is yours and you’re quite content given your lot in life so tough luck about the other guy, then the Kingdom of God just may not be right for you. This Kingdom insists that its citizens practice forgiveness, offer grace, give of their substance and walk the second mile, so anyone who chooses instead to hold on to resentment, seek revenge, refuse to respond to the needs of others with gifts of substance and kindness, who demand that they have rights which no one can take away from them without concern for the rights or well-being of those around them, they are not really well suited for this Kingdom way of living. By definition, the Kingdom consists not just of me, or even me and the King alone, but of me in relationship with the King and all others in the Kingdom as well. As Richard Stearns writes in his book, The Hole In Our Gospel, “Embracing the Gospel, or good news, proclaimed by Jesus is so much more than a private transaction between God and us. The Gospel itself was born of God’s vision of a changed people, challenging and transforming the prevailing values and practices of our world. Jesus called the resulting new world order the Kingdom of God and said that it would become a reality through the lives and deeds of His followers.” Consider that for a moment. If we are not willing to submit to the reign and rule of the King and live by the values and practices of the Kingdom, then we really have no right to call ourselves citizens of His Kingdom. “Jesus seeks a new world order in which this whole Gospel, hallmarked by compassion, justice and proclamation of the Good News becomes a reality, first in our hearts and minds, and then in the wider world through our influence.” So, if we are not in agreement with those values and willing to put them in to practice in our everyday lives right now, then what makes us think we will enjoy living that way for eternity?
Dallas Willard puts it this way, “If I have been freed from anger, contempt and obsessive desire and am pervaded by love that is the family resemblance of those alive in the Kingdom of the Father, (then) I am freed from the need to secure myself by reputation or wealth. Conversely, if I am not immersed in the reality of this Kingdom of love, it will not seem good or right to me to forgo reputation, pride, vanity and wealth and I will be inescapably driven to pursue them.” Put another way, those who don’t desire to live by God’s Kingdom values now likely won’t be very content having to do so later on when the Kingdom comes in its fullness.
Citizens of this Kingdom no longer seek to find their identity in who they are or what they’ve done or how much they have because they have been given a new identity grounded in Whose they are, what has been done for them, how much they are loved and how much they have been given. Citizens of this Kingdom have gladly, willingly submitted themselves to the way and will of the King it follows, a way of life shaped and modeled by the values of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. To those who desire to live in this way, according to these values, in submission to this King, the invitation is extended and the door stands open, all we need do is accept and receive it. And to those who choose not to accept the invitation, of course the decision is theirs, it always has been and always will be, but they must be aware that this is the Kingdom that one day will be because this King has already come and announced its inevitable arrival.
Bear in mind this way of living is not just for some day in the sweet by and by, somewhere, once we get to heaven. Recall Jesus saying, “The Kingdom of God has come near, is at hand, is within you”. This is the way we are intended to live, right here, right now, as we learn to align ourselves and put in to practice the values of the Kingdom when it comes in its fullness, when we, and all of creation, begin to live life under the reign and rule of God, that day when God finally has His way with us. Now is the time, today is the day, when we make His way our way, value the things He values, put in to practice His principles, because He is the King and we are citizens of His Kingdom, “on earth as it is in heaven”, both now and for eternity. We so choose to live in this way because we are subjects of the King and citizens of His Kingdom. May it be so with us.
Rev. L. John Gable
Tabernacle Presbyterian Church
Indianapolis, IN