THE CO-OPTED KINGDOM
Rev. 5:6-10
Sermon Objective: God’s people are a Kingdom and are to pursue Kingdom objectives that transcend earth-bound pursuits.
Intro
I want to let you know how much I am enjoying our journey through The Revelation. I have been studying it for quite a while now and backing up to review for each week’s sermon has helped me to see the bigger themes that the book encompasses as well as the deeper structure and purpose for it.
That affords us the opportunity to look at the issues we have thus far; issues like The Sovereignty of God, The Fear of the Lord, Prayer, The Holiness of God, Worship, Repentance, and other major themes that underpin and direct the book’s action.
Today we will begin looking at chapter 5.
Rev. 5:6-10
6Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
Intro (continued)
Interesting. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests.” We read that phrase earlier in the book too didn’t we? Rev. 1:5b-6 says: “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”
You understand that when phrases, words, or images are repeated in a book that it is a clue don’t you? It says something about what is happening … in this case, maybe about our identity as the people of God.
This becomes clearer as the book moves into the visions to come. We will see a sharp contrast between the Church and “the inhabitants of the earth;” … between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world.
Understanding who we are (which is what chapters 1-5 do so eloquently) will help us be secure and courageous once we see the great conflict between those with allegiance to the lamb and those who follow the kingdoms of this world embodied in “the beast.”
So maybe it is worth our while to unpack the identifying marks John gives us. They are, of course, intimately linked to the purchase and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. First and foremost we are followers of the lamb. If we take these images of Kingdom and Priest out from under that rubric we have all sorts of problems.
In Christ we are:
A KINGDOM
Being a Kingdom implies:
Citizenship
Identity
Privilege
Honor
Values
The core of the implication, however, is that we are citizens of THE KINGDOM OF GOD. However, we live in the midst of worldly kingdoms … we are “resident aliens” so to speak. In the Gospel that John penned he records Jesus’ prayer for His disciples as he prayed for them regarding their “other-worldly citizenship.”
Jesus said, “6I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. … They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. … 11I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. ... 12While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. … 14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” (John 17:6-16 portions)
Again we notice, as in The Revelation, that there is no place for compromise or assimilation.
May I ask some questions this morning about our citizenship and our identity as God’s Kingdom? I am, to some degree, thinking out loud here … I am still processing this and it is an indication of the renewal of the mind that this book, “The Revelation,” is doing within me.
1. Is it possible that the American Church (including us and us in particular) has been co-opted by the kingdoms of this world?
i. I wonder … are we more influenced by the national news that we are the Good News?
ii. I wonder … do we see the striking differences between the values (and posture) of the Kingdom of God and this world’s kingdom?
iii. I am concerned that the church is becoming more and more the mouth piece – the delivery system – of the world’s messages. And it matters not what the political slant is because it is coming from all sides … I see the tail wagging the dog … I fear the church is being used to speak the world’s messages to the masses.
This leads into my next question:
2. Are we embodying the spirit (s) of this age rather than the SPIRIT of God’s kingdom?
i. Romans 14:17-18 says “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.”
ii. I do not see this world’s kingdoms (or the spirits of this age) aligning themselves with “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
iii. Their messages do not promote the Good News or the Kingdom that Jesus Christ embodied as he walked the earth. And again, It does not matter what your political of social paradigm is, I see all of them operating from other values.
3. Is it possible that the church is asking the wrong questions?
i. If we started asking different questions, rather than allowing the spirits of this age to set our agenda, might we be able to more effectively answer the deep nagging questions of the human heart?
ii. Might it help us to talk WITH people to whom we have serious moral and value based disagreements rather than talking ABOUT them?
iii. Isn’t that our call? To talk with them and not about them?
iv. Isn’t that what Jesus modeled when he spoke with those who were moral degenerates, ethnic outsiders, “unclean”, etc?
v. Isn’t this Christlikeness what being God’s Kingdom (as opposed to the world’s kingdom) is supposed to elicit within us?
4. Is it possible that we could engage in the conversation more effectively (and influentially) by “reframing” the discussion?
i. Think about some of the big social issues facing our nation today:
i. Immigration
ii. War
iii. Abortion
iv. Health Care
v. Materialism
vi. Globalism
vii. Homosexuality
viii. Secularism
ix. Environmentalism
ii. Might the Church have a divine alternative to the party polarity and politics that frame these discussions, or are we inevitably forced to participate in the conversation with the world’s kingdom’s “talking points”?
iii. Think about this, instead of “horizontal / lateral questions” (you know … “left and right”) what would happen if we refused to play that game and, rather, asked “vertical” questions?
iv. For example, what if, instead of talking about “pro-life and pro-choice” (which are polarizing images and immediately evoke political opinions because they move us horizontally) we “re-framed” the discussion by introducing different concepts and talked about sanctity of life, human dignity, being made in God’s image, sacredness, or stewardship? These are vertical not horizontal terms and they can speak God’s truth into the conversation.
v. Might these vertical concepts expand (or even alter) how we view some of these big social issues?
i. For example, when I think “sanctity of life, human dignity, being made in God’s image, sacredness” as opposed to “pro-life” the issue gets MUCH larger for me.
ii. I see the Christian responsibility as reaching far beyond Planned Parenthood or the hospital delivery room. It reaches into issues like quality of life for children, war, shedding innocent blood of any kind, etc.
iii. I am not suggesting I have all these things figured out but I am suggesting it is bigger than the tunnel vision that the one term has narrowed it to and I am suggesting all of these items are related to being “pro-life.”
iv. I am suggesting that by using “vertical” terms we have something real and redeeming to bring to the discussion.
v. I am suggesting God’s Kingdom can be part of the solution while, to a large degree, transcending the polarizing effect of politics.
5. Might “vertical living” and “vertical speaking” make us more compassionate and more open to approach?
i. Is it possible that such “verticality” could help us “love our neighbor” more effectively?
ii. Humankind needs us to speak the Gospel of the Kingdom.
iii. We would be naïve to think that there are not people amongst us that desperately need to hear an alternate voice; that need to hear a “vertical” voice. To think there are not friends among us who struggle with serious issues is simplistic. They are looking for real answers – “not parroted talking points” that the world has placed on our lips.
iv. Have you ever wondered why more of them do not approach the Church and share their fears, struggles and vulnerabilities?
v. Might it be because we are not “open” and compassionate; rather, we are “closed” and they know what to expect?
vi. Those who were morally damaged flocked to Jesus. Do you know why? Because he looked up from the sand he was writing in and said things like “Neither do I condemn you. Go in peace and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11, paraphrased).
vii. Jesus offered hope and relationship not judgment or a parroted speech from the party line of the Sanhedrin or Rome or the Essenes or the Zealots, or any other spirit of the age.
Summary:
Please understand, I am not suggesting we disengage from the conversation at all! In fact, I am suggesting just the opposite. We must be engaged. But the world needs us to be the “delivery system” of the message of Good News not just another voice for this world’s systems.
We can speak to the issues of our day with a vertical / divine direction. As people of God, we do not have to rely on the world to give us our talking points. WE DARE NOT RELY ON THE WORLD TO GIVE US OUR TALKING POINTS!
The last thing the church ought to be is a mouth piece for: Nancy Pelosi … or John Boehner. For MSNBC ... or Fox News. For Barak Obama … or Rush Limbaugh. For Keith Olbermann … or Glenn Beck. For the DNC, the RNC, the tea-party, the green party, etc.
It is significant to me that Jesus and the church were engaged in the world and yet transcended these types of human, earthly kingdom-building pursuits.
Do these kingdoms have the Spirit of Jesus or the agenda of Jesus?
Are they speaking from a position of faith; of “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”?
WE ARE JESUS’ KINGDOM AND WE MUST HAVE HIS AGENDA AND HIS VALUES.
WE ARE TO BE THE VOICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT NOT THE VOICE OF THE SPIRITS OF THIS AGE OR OF THE WORLD’S KINGDOMS!
Do you understand what I am trying to say? I am not asking you to agree with me but I do want you to understand me and hear my heart. This is not about a political stance for me … this is about speaking Jesus’ truth into a worldly kingdom that desperately needs His solutions.
Being a Kingdom certainly implies:
Citizenship
Identity
Privilege
Honor
Values
It also implies:
Reigning & Ruling
The King James Version translates “basileian” as “Kings” instead of a “Kingdom.” That misses the mark as far as translation goes; but it does help us to understand some of the implications of the symbol.
Someday God’s Kingdom will reign on earth as it is in heaven. All you have to do is read about the great repentance in chapter 11 and the rejoicing of verse15: “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
However, reigning and ruling must be understood within the Kingdom’s value system. Jesus said “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.” (Luke 22:25-26)
And that brings is to the next identifying image of the Church – Priests.
But this might be a good place to stop for today. I suspect some of you are already gnashing your teeth and looking to take up stones.
Wrap-Up
Just remember, in Christ you are made a Kingdom. You do not have to conform to the kingdoms of this world.
THE IDENTIFYING MARKS OF KINGDOM AND PRIESTHOOD ARE NOT JUST POSITIONS WE HOLD THEY ARE DEFINITIONS OF OUR MISSION IN THE WORLD. I sometimes wonder if they correlate with “salt and light.”
And what these identity marks told the Church of John’s day (and the church of our day) is that … we have work to do. They set the table for how and what the church did in the midst of a chaotic and dangerous time.
They still do.
Let’s pray.
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
