Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon begin their book Resident Aliens with a story from their youth: “Sometime between 1960 and 1980, an old, inadequately conceived world ended, and a fresh, new world began. . . . When and how did we change? Although it may sound trivial, one of us is tempted to date the shift sometime on a Sunday evening in 1963. Then, in Greenville, South Carolina, in defiance of the state’s time-honored blue laws, the Fox Theater opened on Sunday. Seven of us — regular attenders of the Methodist Youth Fellowship at Buncombe Street Church — made a pact to enter the front door of the church, be seen, then quietly slip out the back door and join John Wayne at the Fox. That evening has come to represent a watershed in the history of Christendom, South Carolina style. On that night, Greenville, South Carolina — the last pocket of resistance to secularity in the Western world — served notice that it would no longer be a prop for the church. There would be no more free passes for the church, no more free rides. The Fox Theater went head to head with the church over who would provide the world view for the young. That night in 1963, the Fox Theater won the opening skirmish. You see, our parents never worried about whether we would grow up Christian. The church was the only show in town. . . . Church, home and state formed a national consortium that worked together to instill ‘Christian values.’ People grew up Christian simply by being lucky enough to be born in places like Greenville, South Carolina, or Pleasant Grove, Texas. . . . A few years ago, the two of us awoke and realized that, whether or not our parents were justified in believing this about the world and the Christian faith, nobody believed it today. At least, almost nobody. . . . All sorts of Christians are waking up and realizing that it is no longer ‘our world’ — if it ever was.”
It is obvious to anyone paying much attention that we are no longer a “Christian nation” — if we ever were, as Willimon said. It does not take long in the average conversation, or the average sitcom, to realize that we are not only a non-Christian culture, we have become an anti-Christian culture. The question is how do we live in a world that has abandoned God? What do you do when you realize that you are living in a completely different universe than many of the people in the world around you? The apostle Peter addressed this question when he said: “. . . what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming” (2 Peter 3:11-12).
All of this has to do with perhaps the most important concept in the New Testament. It is a concept that is the foundation for almost everything that Jesus said and taught. The single thing that Jesus talked about more frequently than anything else was the kingdom of God. So often he began his teaching with the phrase, “The kingdom of God is like. . . .” Jesus wanted us to live in the kingdom of God.
But what does kingdom living look like. First of all, kingdom living means that: We live with an awareness of the kingdom of God. Many Christians live as though the visible world is the only real world, and seem to have no awareness that we are surrounded by another world which is more real than the world that we come into contact with each day through touch and sight. The Bible admonishes us to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
In the film The Matrix, we are taken to the year 2199. The world has been taken over and is being run by AI: artificial intelligence. Harvested humans live in a computer generated dreamworld of artificial reality, never understanding that they are captives of an evil empire. But there are a few people still connected enough to reality who discover the Matrix. What they see is that there are two worlds now. One is evil, and it depends on control and deception. It is an unreal world. The other is the real world, even though it would not be seen as such by those caught up in the Matrix. There is a great deal of religious symbolism in the film, and it picks up on the biblical theme of the kingdom of God and its opposition to the kingdom of evil. In the movie, Morpheus tries to explain the Matrix and says to Neo: “Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?”
In the same way, we live in the real world while so many around us are living in a world of deception. Unable to wake from the dream, they only know what they see. They have never known anything different. Our responsibility is to never forget which is the real world and which is fantasy. We are also responsible for rescuing as many as possible of those who are trapped in the Matrix. We live in parallel kingdoms — the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world — and the reality is that we are in one or the other, there is nothing in between. The wheat and weeds are growing together, and will be together, until the end when the chaff is gathered to be burned, and the wheat is gathered into the Father’s barn (Matthew 13:30).
Jesus began his ministry by saying, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news ” (Mark 1:15). Repentance is the way we enter the kingdom of God, and then the kingdom of God lives inside of us. With burning hearts, we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
Make no mistake about it, the kingdom of God is already here and operating, and one day it will be here in its fullness. From the beginning of creation the righteous rule of God has been in place. The Psalmist said, “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad” (Psalm 97:1). Jesus came to establish his kingdom on the earth. His kingdom began in earnest when he rose from the dead showing his victory over the world, sin and death. Dallas Willard writes: “[The kingdom of God] has never been in trouble and never will be. It is not something that human beings produce or, ultimately, can hinder. We do have an invitation to be a part of it, but if we refuse we only hurt ourselves.”
It is important to live with an awareness of the kingdom of God, but, secondly, kingdom living means that: We recognize that the kingdom of God is within. The people of Jesus’ day kept looking for the kingdom of God to come in an outward, visible display of overwhelming power. They thought there would be an overthrow of the foreign oppressors who occupied Israel and a new age of peace. Everyone would see it. It would be unavoidable. But Jesus’ concept of the kingdom was a complete reversal of the thinking of nearly everyone in Israel. It was an right-side-up kingdom in an upside-down world. His kingdom would not come with an outward display of power and success. It would not be a military victory or a political kingdom. Jesus’ kingdom was an interior kingdom, a kingdom of the heart. Jesus never sat on a king’s throne, but he rules the world today in ways that most kings never dreamed. He rules the world by winning and ruling the hearts of people. He has reigned over more people than any king who has ever lived or ever will live. But the problem for many is that this is an invisible kingdom. It does not have the accouterments of power and prestige. God’s reign is happening without many people even noticing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). Here is where we experience the kingdom of God and its power — within. This is where Christ sets up his throne. It is a spiritual kingdom that in the end will conquer all the military and political kingdoms of the world.
Jesus Christ is changing the world by changing people. C. S. Lewis has written: “The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to ‘inject’ His kind of life and thought. . . into you; beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin.”
The third thing that kingdom living means is: We experience the blessing of his reign. The song says, “He comes to make his blessings flow.” We serve a God who loves to bless. The amazing thing is that people resist his blessing. Dallas Willard tells of when the REA (Rural Electrification Administration) extended the electrical lines to his home in Missouri. He says, “When those lines came by our farm, a very different way of living presented itself. Our relationships to fundamental aspects of leisure, preparing food, and preserving it — could then be vastly changed for the better.” Those farmers, “in effect, heard the message: ‘Repent, for electricity is at hand.’ Repent, or turn from their kerosene lamps and lanterns, their iceboxes and cellars, their scrub boards and rug beaters.” The power was now inside their homes to make their lives better, if they would accept it. But some did not accept the kingdom of electricity. They were suspicious of it, even afraid of it. Some thought it cost too much. Some just did not want to take the trouble to change. The blessing was there waiting for them to enjoy, but they were not taking advantage of it. In the same way, the kingdom of God is here waiting to be enjoyed. Some say it costs too much. Others are suspicious. Still others don’t want to take the trouble to change. But it is here nonetheless. The Bible says, “. . .the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him” (Romans 10:12).
The fourth thing that kingdom living means is: We are to be a part of a subversive movement. We who are a part of the kingdom of God live in a parallel kingdom with the kingdom of evil, and these kingdoms are in conflict. We are engaged in a spiritual battle, but the Bible reminds us: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). Our weapons are faith, prayer, righteousness and joy in the Holy Spirit. As God changes us, he changes the world. As things begin to change within us, they also change around us. We begin to influence the world and win others to the kingdom. We are robbing the devil of his people and his power. It is a subversive movement, what Dallas Willard calls “A Divine Conspiracy.”
Jesus said the kingdom of God was like yeast hidden in a lump of dough. It was worked into the dough and caused dramatic change in the nature of the dough and what happened to it. The dough cannot resist it. Jesus said the kingdom was like a mustard seed which looked small and insignificant, but when planted, it grew and became a great tree. That is what the kingdom of God is like. It appears to many to be little or nothing, but it has great power to influence, change and grow. It is the seed in the crack of the sidewalk that eventually breaks and lifts the concrete. The little bit of yeast affects all of the dough. It does its work while hidden and unseen. The tiny seed is hidden underground, but when God puts his life in it, it becomes a great tree. God works silently and in hidden ways, but what he is doing is quietly conquering the world. The Bible says, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28).
The amazing thing is that he has chosen me and you God takes our little, insignificant lives and makes an eternal difference. We are his agents in this world — the yeast in the dough, the seed hidden underground. We are to quietly and faithfully work until his kingdom comes, and his will is done, on earth as it is in heaven. The wheat is growing right alongside the weeds. We work with a smile on our faces, because we know that the day will come when “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).
The fifth thing that kingdom living means is: We live expectantly. We live anticipating the complete reign of Christ when he comes to reclaim the world he has created. We are not distracted by the bad news of the world. Our emotions do not go up and down with the reading of the news or the stock market reports. Our eyes are fixed on eternity and a God who reigns. We are members of a kingdom that is not of this world. God is not discouraged. He is full of irrepressible joy, and he shares his joy with us. The great hymn says,
Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong;
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.
God reigns, let the earth be glad!
Rodney J. Buchanan
October 6, 2002
Mulberry St. UMC
Mt. Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
(Questions for October 6, 2002)
1. Read or retell the story of “Angular Living” in the Messenger. How does this relate to Kingdom living?
2. Read Luke 17:20-21. Where is the Kingdom of God? Why is this important in our understanding of the Christian life?
3. In the film The Matrix two worlds coexist side by side. How does the film mirror the reality of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world?
4. Read Hebrews 12:28. What is this verse telling us about the kingdom? How does it affect our view of life?
5. Read Mark 1:15 and John 3:3. How do we enter the kingdom of God?
6. Read Matthew 6:33. How does this work out practically in our lives?
7. Read Luke 13:18-20. What is the meaning of these metaphors, and what do they teach us about the kingdom?
8. Why is it important for us to be subversive in this world as kingdom people?
9. It is true that the kingdom is here and now, but there is also a part that is the “not yet.” What is the “not yet” part of the kingdom?
