QUIET REVOLUTIONS
Matthew 13:31-33
The phrase “The Kingdom of God” is a term has been thrown around inappropriately for so many years that we’ve forgotten what it is really about. It is used so often in the context of discussions on the afterlife that many, if not most people think that when “The Kingdom of God” comes up in scripture it is a reference to Heaven, meaning some idyllic place we go to when we die. That is not what it means. “The Kingdom of God” as used in the Bible is what the world would be like…what would exist ON EARTH if God’s values and God’s vision guided all of our decision making. It is summed up in the Lord’s prayer: “Your kingdom come (here), your will be done on earth, as in heaven.
The goal of the Christian life is two fold: first to help us develop the awareness and practices that connect us to God…to the Holy one in our midst. If God is the source of life and love and beauty we want to be connected to that source…that God, not just talk about God. Just as, in our closest human relationships we want to be WITH the person we love, not just talk about them. But being connected to God then puts us in relationship with the world God loves and we become those who long for and work for God’s kingdom to be fully realized in this world. It is all summed up, of course, in the great commandment: Love God and love neighbor. Everything else is just working out the details.
What do you think of when you imagine the kingdom of God here. What would change?
OK….let’s share a few: (If no one volunteers ask: Did anyone list the absence of war? How about hungry children, would there be hungry children in the kingdom of God? What kind of homes would children grow up in? How big a divide would there be between the rich and poor?
Is that the kind of vision that is guiding the current discussions in Washington? Indeed, some of the issues and programs and proposed solutions being discussed do have direct bearing on many of the things that are of value when held to kingdom standards. And yes….we are greatly frustrated and disheartened at the tone and the emerging outcomes of these political arguments. And yes, we must approach our evaluations of any solutions that come forth…if they do…according to kingdom standards. But, this reflection is not a critique of Washington that allows us to sit back, all disgruntled and self righteous as though there was nothing we could do. To do that would be to minimize the very real tension between the ideals and mandates of the Gospel with the inescapable realities of practical politics in which the Church and the world has always existed. Some have tried to minimize the tension by either baptizing particular ideologies and parties as Christian or have simply tried to withdraw from the world altogether. *And some very well meaning Christians have put most of their eggs in the basket of political and social organizing. I fall into that category more than the others. But one of these approaches has brought about anything close to the kingdom of God. And that may be due to the way most of us think of power and what kind of power is best suited for kingdom work.
“The Kingdom is like a mustard seed….the kingdom is like yeast in the dough…in other places the kingdom is like salt in the soup.” Ordinary everyday things, abundant and easily accessible that make a huge difference. In other words, the places where the kingdom indeed begins to take root in this world will likely be where there is a proliferation of all sorts of small acts, courageous personal witness to the way of Jesus, and persistence in the acts of everyday faithfulness. To put it in an overly simplistic way: The Kingdom begins with us…not with Washington
I have become intrigued by the premise of a book I’ve been reading lately by James Davidson Hunter. The compelling title is “To Change the World: The irony, tragedy, and possibility of Christianity in the late modern world.” That looked like my kind of book but when I started reading it I was surprised to read his argument that we have, as Christians, put entirely too much emphasis on the political process as the best or only way to make the changes that are mandated by the vision of the Kingdom of God. Hunter doesn’t by any means suggest withdrawing, floating around in some fantasy world of personal piety or not voting our values or holding our leaders accountable to them. But he makes the point that speaking of power mostly or only in political terms removes the discussion from the power that we have in the exercise of daily life and then he describes four characteristics of the kind of power that Jesus used:
First he said, Jesus power was always derived, not from cultivated connections to the lobbyists and politicians but from his intimacy with God, which goes back to the beginning of our reflections….that one of the goals of the Christian life is connection to God, the source of life. This is not to be confused with just putting in a little pew time and spouting off some dogma. It’s serious, intentional engagement in prayer and other spiritual disciplines.
The second characteristic of Jesus use of social power: a rejection of status and reputation and the privilege that accompanies them. Well, there are plenty of politicians and lobbying groups that I could critique on these grounds but then I must ask myself how my own life measures up. Not always that well, I’m afraid. This is when the Gospel demands begin to hit a bit closer to home.
A third characteristic of Jesus use of power was his unconditional love for humanity and for creation. Compassion was the source, the means and the end of Jesus message and ministry. That can sound vague and trite but anyone who has ever tried it quickly learns it is meaningless unless it results in specific and robust acts of compassion and justice. Can you claim to love the world and let people go hungry? Can you claim to love creation and then pollute it’s waters and air? This doesn’t start with Washington, it starts with us.
And finally, Hunter says, Jesus exercise of power was non-coercive and the benefits of his ministry were for the good of everyone, not just a select group. Inclusion and non-violence were among the hallmarks of Jesus way. And violence can take many forms including bullying, bribery, and blackmail. Even though we do live in the tensions between the ideal and the practical we cannot justify coercive means in the name of Jesus because force and coercion are not part of and cannot bring about the kingdom of God. That is why extremist anywhere…in congress, in the middle east…in Norway…who claim to be acting in God’s name while using either physical or psychological, economic or political force are always mistaken.
Now, the kind of power that Jesus used is, in fact, world changing. But my concern is that, we have put too much emphasis on the political system as it exists and too little attention on how the Christian community itself lives and witnesses to these values. We have gotten too caught up in the dog fights. In many places communities of faith have become overly politicized, trading the relational power of Jesus which is ours to live, for the rough and tumble world of ideological politics. We can, through our participation in the political process, hold leaders accountable to the values we believe are important. But we can, as the community of the way of Jesus, work harder on living those values in our own relationships.
On Thursday morning I was listening to Morning Joe and Joe Scarborough and others were interviewing Jim Wallis of the Sojourners community in Washington. Some of you remember when he and his family worshipped here several years ago. He was doing what he does best, raising the prophetic challenge to power that always insists that the safety nets for the poor cannot and must not be sacrificed to preserve tax breaks for private jets (to use one example). But then Jim and Joe started talking about the rise of voices that transcend the divisions of the political spectrum that are also insisting on Kingdom values and living them wherever they are. There are millions of people and particularly young people who are beginning to make care for the poor a hallmark of their activity, personal economics and voting patterns. And Joe Scarborough said something like this: There is a precipitious rise of what I call Matthew 25 Christians….those who recognize that justice and compassion are the hallmark of their faith. They have been flying under the radar screen until recently but they are now being noticed and making a difference not only in their neighborhoods but by some political leaders who are increasingly accountable to them. Joe said, “There is a quiet revolution taking place that could change things.”
And I immediately thought of today’s text. The kingdom is like a mustard seed, a bit of yeast in the dough, some salt in the soup. We don’t detach ourselves from cultural and political realities but neither should we expect them to do the work for us. As followers of Jesus we have real power to change things in ways consistent with the power Jesus offered. I get pretty inpatient about what is going on south of us but I’m trying to let it not dishearten me. We who are followers of Jesus way have the power and the responsibility to stand as witnesses in our own lives, and actions, and economic decisions to the kingdom values and begin a quiet revolution that can slowly and persistently reshape the culture around us.
Mary D. Gaut
