3. CHURCH - people who make known the tangible presence of the Kingdom of God
He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. …. Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:3-6)
It is hard for some sections of the church to accept the fact that Jesus came to do more than simply die on the cross and rise again. We often refer to the historic creeds of the church when we want to define Christian orthodoxy as if the creeds offer a replete summary of core doctrine. The fact is that they don’t. They wonderfully speak about the trinity, and the dual nature of Jesus. After all, those were the major threats in the fourth century. If we were to measure the creeds against any of the gospels, we might think that the story of Jesus went from his birth straight to his death. In the case of the Gospel of Matthew, that would take in the first two chapters and then jump straight to chapters 26-28. It leaves out about 83% of the overall content. By this metric, we can only assume the thoroughgoing description of his teaching and ministry are of little value while we wait for the real action to start again, namely the events leading directly to the cross.
I am certain that Matthew chapters 4 to 25 contain as important revelation as the narratives about Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection. If we continue to accept evidence from Matthew’s Gospel, we will find that John the Baptist was the first to speak about the kingdom (3:2). What follows are twenty-one chapters telling us how Jesus modelled it, revealed it, taught it and demonstrated it from the beginning of his public ministry (4:17) until the week prior to his arrest (25:1). According to eminent New Testament scholar, NT Wright, this middle portion of the gospels is there to tell their story of the kingdom and that they progress of Jesus through the three years of his ministry, is the way he establishes his kingdom. The cross, in this scenario is the coronation ceremony, establishing his authority over sin and death.
The three-year exposition of the kingdom of God offered by Jesus is irrevocably linked to the Old Testament story, but the nature and process by which the kingdom comes is different from anything that was anticipated. That’s why Jesus says, “You have heard it said, …..but I say to you” (Matthew 5:21; 5:27; 5:33; 5:38; 5:43). The same is true as he blatantly breaks with Jewish religious tradition (eg. fasting days, Sabbath regulations, ceremonial washings). It is the reason he chastises his disciples for arguing about who is has the most elevated status, or who will sit on his right and left, pointing out that in the kingdom of God, greatness is linked to servanthood. The same is later majestically described by Paul as he recounts Jesus’ self-intentioned commitment to make himself “nothing” as he proceeded on the way to his coronation: “therefore God has highly exalted him…” (Philippians 2:9-11). It is a totally different kind of kingdom with a totally different process. And the church is the vehicle for bearing testimony to it.
In the text of Acts 1 we are told two things about Jesus, the kingdom, and his disciples. Jesus appeared numerous times over the forty days between his resurrection and ascension. Many of those are referenced either in the gospels or as Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15. It seems that his agenda for these meetings were threefold. Firstly, they were fully convinced that he had risen from the dead. The second was a remedial or refresher about the kingdom of God. It seems that the subject he started with and finished with were exactly the same. If I let my imagination run wild, I can see the Master turning up in a room in Jerusalem, or on a hillside in Galilee. As he begins to speak, he is talking again about the kingdom. I can imagine some of the disciples groaning, wanting to satisfy their penchant for speculation when instead, they are being reminded about things they assume they have understood perfectly.
Their lack of understanding was exposed in the very next action. The last recorded question they asked Jesus is telling beyond measure. “Lord is it at this time that you will restore the kingdom TO ISRAEL”? (Acts 1:6) Notice the subtle switch of language. They had been hearing about the kingdom OF GOD but clearly, they were more interested in the kingdom TO ISRAEL. I am prepared to believe that Jesus restrained his frustration at that point. Instead of another stiff rebuke, he simply pointed them to the coming of the Holy Spirit and from there to the mission to the ends of the earth.
My own experience of church has involved a significant tension for me. I am referring to the difference between a tribal idea of kingdom to non-tribal. In the case of the first-generation disciples, when they heard the words “kingdom of God” they interpreted them to mean “kingdom of Israel.” That is, US MOB. The contemporary version of that is to cite the theological system you prefer, or perhaps the denomination or movement you belong to. We have created tribal worlds for unwitting believers to dwell in. Just like Westfield Shopping Centres want to provide the entire range of shops that you will ever need. They want you to come and shop and Westfield and never have a need to go anywhere else.
We’ve done the same with church. If you meet another Christian anywhere in daily life one of the first questions to be asked is, “what church do you belong to.” The answer has traditionally been one or other of the historic denominations: Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist etc. It was common for individuals to be born into a family preferred denomination, get married in one of the churches of that denomination and be buried from that same kind of church. Much like Westfield. In the more developed versions of this phenomenon, you could even go to schools and universities belonging to that denomination. You could attend hospitals and engage lawyers who were part of the same denomination. Such churches could fill your whole life with activities, mission field work and so on. You may never need to face the challenges of individuals and groups other than those who agreed with you. We tried to tribalize the church and therefore miss the kingdom.
What has been happening around the world for the past thirty or forty years or more is an identity shift. Followers of Jesus are no longer defining themselves by their denomination, neither are they competing with other denominations. They are making the discovery that it is the kingdom of God they belong to first. They are listening to what Jesus said and taking their identity as members of the kingdom of God FIRST (Matthew 6:33). And it is causing some angst among some denominational hierarchies. It is hard for denominations and movements to get a genuine feel for what God is doing. Especially if they are groups that have some form of success and think they have something important to defend. It is so easy for pride and the desire to control to get in the way.
The kingdom of God that Jesus has established is a journey, not a location. It has many facets and expressions, not just one. As mentioned previously, a stroll through Matthew 4-25 will make this clear. Every incident in the life of Jesus is an expression of God’s kingdom rule happening through his chosen Messiah (king). It is the King establishing his rule and realm. The church is called to make this kingdom tangible because it represents the rule of God happening through transformed lives and relationships. It’s not about a distinctive tribal practice (Baptist) or about a form of governance (Presbyterian) or about a personality (Lutheran) or a signature experience (Pentecostal). It is about the King’s rule being made known through those who serve in that realm.
NEXT: The first disciples were told to wait for the Holy Spirit to come and fill them with power (Acts 1:5,8). Jesus described it as being “clothed with power” (Luke 24:49). This is the only ‘clothing’ that we should be wearing. It should be the clothing people get to see when they get near to us.