Sunday, January 27, 2008
Orinda Community Church (UCC)
A sermon by the Rev. Frank Baldwin

HOW CLOSE THE KINGDOM?    Matthew 4:12-23
I.          It may be said that the New Testament – especially the gospels – is fairly loaded with imagery that evokes the idea of the kingdom of God (or the kingdom of Heaven, as the Evangel of Matthew alone prefers to call it).  A good-sized biblical concordance will have no trouble listing as many as 150 references to “the kingdom.”   Obviously, kingdom teaching, kingdom preaching, kingdom parables, kingdom prayers, kingdom theology, kingdom expectations, indeed, the actual realization on earth of the kingdom of Heaven were all thoroughly associated with Jesus of Nazareth from the beginning.  Indeed, the imminent coming of the kingdom had been prophesized by John the Baptizer in words identical to those that Jesus now chooses to launch his own ministry in Galilee:  Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
What does the Bible mean when it uses this distinctive language to talk about Jesus and his teaching?   “The kingdom” in Matthew and the other New Testament gospels classically refers to that covenanted community and holy nation described in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament).  It means God’s imperial sovereignty over a restored Israel and over all other nations (indeed over all creation).  It means that realm in which God’s inclusive justice, truth, compassion and peace prevail over all forms of exclusion, injustice, self-righteousess, hypocrisy, cruelty, hatred and fear; on earth as it is in heaven.  It means that spiritual commonwealth in which people recognize the face of Christ in each other and feel called to share gladly the incredible God-given gifts and resources of each for the good of all.  
For the hard-pressed and struggling Galileans who became his first disciples – like these fishermen Peter and Andrew, James and John – Jesus is both an answer to prayer and the actualization of their deepest hopes and dreams.  To them his kingdom represents liberation, freedom, redemption; the end of the hopelessly corrupted old world and the beginning of the final countdown to God’s last judgment and the heavenly banquet beyond the end of time.  Somehow, in Jesus they experience the presence of God:  so they figure that he must be the long-awaited Messiah, the Christ, Lord and Savior of Israel.  He will know the way to the kingdom of Heaven, and nothing short of the end of the world would be able to stop them from setting aside their fishing nets to follow him.
II.        But kingdom language and kingdom hopes bring along with them some notable problems
and difficulties.  Many in Jesus’ own time were looking less for the inauguration of the kingdom of God than for the resurrection of the empire of King David.  Like those in our own country today who want to “re-claim America for Christ,” these first century restorationists were looking for an idealized theocratic nation presided over by autocratic leader ready to go to war with the enemies of God.  While many in his generation were waiting for someone – perhaps the Galilean – to pick up the sword and lead the revolution, this militantly religious nation was obviously not Jesus’ vision of the kingdom of Heaven.  Certainly Pilate, the Roman governor, was keenly aware of the dangers inherent in a kingdom insurgency blowing up on his watch.  Are you the king of the Jews? he asked his prisoner who had so riled up the religious establishment in Jerusalem.  Replied Jesus:  My kingdom is not of this world.
Others needed to know exactly where and when and how the kingdom of heaven would take shape:  its founding date; its frontiers and boundaries; its latitude, longitude and GPS co-ordinates; its capitol, constitution, government and business plan.  When first John the Baptizer – and then Jesus and his disciples – preach that the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand; these critics and skeptics and nit-pickers want to know “exactly how close?”  Why go to all the trouble and inconvenience of preparing for the kingdom – turning toward God, repenting of one’s own sins and forgiving others, making necessary amends and restitutions, changing lifestyles, transforming society, saving the planet  – if the kingdom might not be fully up and running for years to come?  These who were curious about the kingdom of heaven but not yet ready to commit themselves to it, Jesus warned that the realm of God might sneak up on them like a thief in the night and they would not know the hour or the form of its coming.
We have no choice but to resort to our own language and experience – however limiting and inadequate – when we desire to speak of God.  How else can we speak of the unspeakable?  We rely upon meaningful images, metaphors and symbols – as the Bible does – but even our most revered figures of speech are not God; they can only point to God, or suggest God.  To make any lesser “thing” into God – even sacred speech, even scripture itself – is nothing less than idolatry. 
Kingdom language came readily to Jesus and his contemporaries, because they knew kings and had so few other appealing models to draw upon.  Imagining God as “pharaoh” made no sense, because of the dire Old Testament association with that terrible era of Israelite slavery in Egypt.  God as “emperor” was similarly unattractive, because of the heavy-handed oppression of New Testament Palestine at the hands of imperial Rome.  But a great and gracious monarch, presiding over a righteous and peaceful kingdom:  that, people of the first century could dream about and long for.  Israelites actually had a few decent kings in their own history to remember and reflect upon:  David and Solomon, of course, but don’t forget Jehoshaphat and the second Jereboam, Uzziah and Josiah. 
People naturally assumed that when Jesus talked about the kingdom of Heaven he had in mind an aristocratic regime defending a piece of geography much like the kingdoms of the past and also those that surrounded them in the Hellenistic world.  Like Palestine, in a way, except righteous and just and free; and with God on the throne instead of that murderous Roman puppet, King Herod.
But for many people of our own day, at least in this country, the kingdom metaphor itself is an obstacle.  The monarchical concept strikes thoughtful people today as a cultural and political anachronism, a relic of medieval or tribal feudalism; a theme worth exploring in history or literature or drama perhaps, but scarcely an integral part of our contemporary spiritual experience or our deepest hopes for the redemption of the world.  Here in America we definitively rejected the temporal authority and rule of kings 231 years ago and most of us now cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to actually live in a monarchy.  Biblical kingdom language does not translate effectively into contemporary political terms: God is so not like a president, a prime minister or a premier.  But then what happens to Jesus’ message about the kingdom of Heaven in such an egalitarian, post-monarchical, politically complicated environment as ours? 

III.       But Jesus’ own idea of the kingdom of Heaven was quite different from anything most people of his own time were expecting; it may also be quite different from anything we in the modern world have been rejecting.  In the first place, Jesus did not just talk about the kingdom of Heaven; he lived the kingdom of Heaven.  For him, the kingdom was no political, cultural or a geographic entity; it was a state of being:  an attitude, a perspective, a relationship, a community, a way of life, a mystery of God.  When he preached or taught or told provocative and compelling stories about the kingdom of heaven, the realm of God actually occurred in the midst of those who were his audience.  People were healed of dreaded disease or profound grief at his touch (or merely at his word) because that’s what happens in the kingdom of Heaven.  People got up from their labors and followed him, forgave their enemies, shared their limited resources, walked the extra mile, turned the other cheek, offered restitution for their wrongs and put away the sword because that’s what you do in the kingdom of Heaven.  Indeed, Jesus said the kingdom… is among you!
Well then, if the kingdom of Heaven is among us, how do we know where it is?  When a dignified and stuffy adult gets down on his knees to play games with a child, the kingdom of Heaven has come near.  When long-feuding family members or neighbors finally patch up their differences and make peace, the kingdom of Heaven has come near.   When a mother dissolves in tears of relief because her prodigal daughter is beginning to find her way home, the kingdom of Heaven has come near.  When a group of citizens or the members of a faith community band together to pass a school bond or create a homeless shelter or get toxic chemicals banned from parks and school yards, the kingdom of Heaven has come near.  When one who’s been on the sidelines steps forward and says “I want to be on that struggling committee,” “I want to write that sacrificial check,” “I want to do that thankless job,” “I want to join that Orinda Community Church,” the kingdom of Heaven has come near.  When one who’s lost control of his or her life looks at the other people in the meeting and says, “I’m an alcoholic,” “I’m an addict,” “I’m an abuser,” “…and I’m powerless to turn myself around without your help,” the kingdom of Heaven has come near.  When the person you’ve been waiting for arrives at your hospital bed and holds your hand until you fall asleep, the kingdom of Heaven has come near.  When you’re unexpectedly inspired to be grateful, to be generous, to be brave, to be humble, to be faithful, to be prayerful, the kingdom of Heaven has come near.  When being in relationship suddenly seems more important than being in control; when happiness becomes more desirable than having things; when the welfare of others begins to intrude on our sense of self-importance; when hospitality and inclusion start to mean as much to us as competition and security, the kingdom of Heaven has come near. 
So, how close is the kingdom?   The kingdom of Heaven is as close as God can come to your life and mine.   The kingdom is wherever God is working in your faith, in your imagination, in your love, in your conscience, in your relationships, in your commitments, in your prayers, in your needfulness, in your healing, in your dreams, in your work, in your Sabbath rest, and in your soul.  That’s pretty close.  But didn’t Jesus promise us, the kingdom of Heaven has come near!