The Kingdom of God
has Come Near You
Psalm 102:15-22
Isaiah 52:7-10
Philippians 2:1-5
Luke 10:1-9
In our text today (Philippians 2:1-5) Paul tells us to “Let
the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus”… “having the same love, being
in full accord … do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility
regard others as better than yourselves… look not to your own interests, but to
the interests of others.”
Luke (10:8-9) tells us:
“Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, …
cure the sick who are there and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near
you.”
What do you suppose the kingdom of God is?
We hear elsewhere in Scripture that it is “like”
A mustard seed
A treasure
A pearl
A farmer
And so on…
But what is it really?
Do you remember the What Would Jesus Do craze? People wore wrist-bands and tee shirts that
said WWWJD – and encouraged us all to think about what Jesus would do. It was a good idea that ended up being kind of
patronizing and a little silly.
There is a cartoon going around the internet lately that
parodies the What Would Jesus Do campaign.
The cartoon depicts Jesus on a hillside and lists things Jesus would NOT
do. The list includes:
Harass a
single mother
Shoot a
doctor – shoot anyone- own a weapon
Hate his enemies
Attack the poor
And my personal favorite…Run for
President
It’s not too hard to define the kingdom of God in the
negative. We know what it isn’t.
But how can we know what it is?
At our Women’s Retreat this past weekend, a member joking
declared that the manna- that mysterious and miraculous sustenance which was
offered to the Israelites as they crossed the desert in Exodus- that the manna
was actually Diet Coke. We discussed
this idea at some length and decided that manna would taste different to each
individual, for some it would be crème Brule and for others guacamole and
chips. This being a women’s retreat the consensus was that manna would likely
taste like chocolate.
Accepting this unorthodox but not entirely theologically
unsound premise, the kingdom of God might look like different things to
different people.
It might look like clothing to an
impoverished mother
It might look like food to a
starving Somali
It might look like enfranchisement to
a Chinese dissident
It might look like reunion to the
spouse of a deployed soldier
It might look like health to a
person in pain
It would without a doubt look like
arms outstretched and hands open
Today we celebrate the life and work of Thomas Bray, an 18th
Century priest and missionary to the American Colonies. Here are some of the
things he did:
He radically reorganized and
renewed the Church in Maryland.
He arranged for the instruction of
children there
He re-organized the process of
discernment and training of priests and pastors
He opened 31 libraries and a number
of schools
He defended – from the pulpit both
in England and the U.S. – the rights of enslaved Africans and displaced Native
Americans
He persuaded Governor Oglethorpe to
found the colony of Georgia as a as an alternative to debtors prison
He founded the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel and The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,
both of which survive two hundred and fifty years later.
(He was in America exactly 10 weeks)
Here are things he didn’t do:
He didn’t force the Gospel on
anyone – he offered them a chance to hear and learn it themselves.
He increased the presence of the
Church – not by building buildings, but by propagating servants
He didn’t seek to punish those who
had fallen on hard times, he sought to alleviate their suffering
He didn’t turn the other way when
he saw the oppression of marginalized, enslaved, exiled people – he spoke from
the pulpit at considerable personal risk – in their defense
Thomas Bray had a list of things he wanted to accomplish in
this life.
We all have a list of things we want to accomplish in this
life.
What makes Thomas Bray exceptional is not what he accomplished, but how:
He did nothing from selfish
ambition or conceit but in humility
He looked not to his own interests
but to the interests of others
He clearly tried to let the same
mind be in him that was in Christ Jesus.
Oh, on the list of things Thomas Bray DID do, I forgot to
mention:
He brought the Kingdom of God closer
to us.
Now, only Christ, when he returns, can bring the Kingdom of
God finally and completely to us all.
But in the mean time, while we are waiting, we are asked in our
texts today to bring the Kingdom of God “closer.” It almost doesn’t matter what you do. If you
are in the same mind as Christ, if you let yourself be motivated by a desire to
be of like mind to Christ… you are bringing the Kingdom closer to us.
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who
announces peace,
Who brings good news,
Who announces salvation
Who says to Zion, “Your God
reigns.”
Amen.
