Turning
His Way; Living a Kingdom of God Agenda
Matthew
6:25-33; 3:1-2; 4:17
A Different Way of Living
Jesus
invites us to live our lives very differently from the non-Christ-following
world around us. I have called this the upside-down nature of the Kingdom of
God, and it is within this kind of counterintuitive nature that Jesus so often
spoke. He told us that if we want to be first we must be last. If we want to be
greatest we must choose to be least. These concepts look great on Bible pages
where we read them but become very difficult to actualize in the realities that
make up our own day-to-day living. There is something different about this way
of living. A Recalculating of sorts has happened.
Recalculating
At times
in my life I have been driving down a road and noticed I had already passed
where I was going. Have you ever done that? Sometimes it was because I was
sleepy, sometimes I simply found myself day dreaming. I think probably there
have been times I was simply listening to a good song and got lost in it. But
for whatever reason I suddenly discovered I was going the wrong way. I was
going toward my destination and then all of the sudden realized I was going
away from it. You know, you see an exit sign or building and you realize you
have gone too far.
Or
today, I have done this maybe you have had it happen. While using a GPS, all of
the sudden you miss the exit. And it immediately says “Turn around when
possible”, then the screen says “Recalculating.” You know this may surprise
you, but if the GPS would have said Repent, you’re going in the wrong
direction, it would have been correct. Repent means turn around.
Repent!
The
word comes across as a rather stern, kind of austere word-one that is not used
very often in today’s language. You rarely ever see it in print unless you are
following someone on the road and see it on a bumper sticker, they will also
have others warning about the fires of hell…right. But as we look at the
Gospels, we see that of all of the words the writers could have used, both Jesus
and John the Baptist chose to use the word repent as the first commandment
regarding the arrival of the Kingdom of God. Both men issued a stark warning to
the entire region of Galilee that its citizens were going in the wrong
direction and that they needed to turn around immediately.
The
Kingdom of God is not something we build or establish. It is a realm, it is God’s
realm of rule-which we can enter into, that we receive. Just about every area
of the Kingdom of God that we want, or should want, to enter into requires us
to repent, to turn around. So, ….what is it that we are turning from? And,
then, what are we turning toward? Well, the first thing is from our own ways
and means of command and control. We are turning from our own demands to have
our way and to accumulate all that we can for our own selfish stockpiles. We
are turning to God and saying you are in control of my life. Your supply is
sufficient for me. Lord if you want me noticed, or promoted, you can make that
happen. If we want to experience the realm of God’s peace, we must become
peacemakers. If we want to inherit the earth, we don’t fight for it. We learn
meekness. If we want to live in the realm of God’s mercy, we become merciful
ourselves.
So in
direct contrast to the kingdom of men, which are established and sustained
through accumulating more and more by way of force and power, Jesus’ Kingdom is
authenticated and perpetuated by the authority of love. The Jesus kind of love
lays down its rights and privileges every day. This is what it means to pick up
our cross daily.
Love is
not merely a stepping back or a pacifistic stance. It does not stop at, “Don’t
return evil for evil.” Rather, it moves forward, proactively we might say. It
says, Return good for evil.” We could say the silver rule is “Do not do unto
others what you do not want them to do to you.” But, The Golden Rule, Jesus’
rule is “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.” So Jesus tells
his Jewish listeners that when a Roman solder acts upon his legal (but
oppressively and morally wrong) right to have them carry his gear for one mile,
to smile and carry it two miles.
The
ongoing effect of the Kingdom of God is that it constantly brings a holy
disruption to our lives. It messes with our plans and definitions of both what
is needed in life as well as who is worthy of our attention and devotion. This
is the essence of servant hood in the Kingdom.
In our
case, we have signed our lives over to Jesus as Lord and Master. The glorious
irony of it all is that rather than going into bondage, we move into the
deepest essence of freedom we could have ever have imagined. We are free,….
free… from the never ending loop of always trying to get ahead.
So what
it is not, is, that it is not a freedom from powerlessness, but instead is a
freedom from our own form of predominance. What do I mean…I mean
It
frees us, not from the state of being dominated, but from being dominating;
not
from our sufferings, but from our apathy, our indifference towards suffering;
not
from our guilt, but from our innocence, or maybe from the delusion of innocence
which the life of domination has long ago spread throughout our very souls.
We do
not have to read very far into the Gospels to see that Jesus clearly expects
His followers to remain fully active within all aspects of culture but to do so
from a different set of values and motivations. ..Right?!... I mean Jesus never
wants us to leave our worlds. But, He wants us to live in them, but to live
firmly grounded in the center of all things. Jesus never talks about a change
of activities, a change in friends, or even a change of pace. He always talks
about a change of heart. And this
change of heart changes everything. Even when everything else in our life
appears to remain the same. This is the meaning of “Set your hearts, “Minds” on
His Kingdom first….and all these things will be given as well. What counts is
where our minds are!
See, it
is the redemptive nature of the Kingdom of God that shapes our values and
motives. God wants us to possess and exercise power, but power from Him, not
worldly power. This is demonstrated in a very powerful way in Mathew 4:1-11.
Matthew records the motives and means of Jesus and the Kingdom in deep contrast
to the motive and means of the kingdom of darkness. Satan temps Jesus in three
ways.
Food- that
which sustains life itself.
Satan
attempts to bring the focus upon us as the only trusted provider for our
livelihood. Jesus models the posture of the follower of God. It is the word of
God that is the overarching sustainer of life. By feeding on and obeying the
Word, we will be fulfilled and sustained in all aspects of life.
Safety and Security-who and what controls our life.
Fear
and anxiety are at the top of the list of tactics that minions from the kingdom
of darkness use to control us. Jesus was firm in His faith, radically trusting
the Heavenly Father. He looked to God as the one who was in charge of His life
and destiny.
Glory- our
source of meaning.
Satan
offered Jesus the Kingdom of the world if…if…He would only fall down and
worship him. Hear me….that offer is still on the table for all of us. The truth
about worship is that what or who we worship shapes our identity. Some people
worship fashion, cars, a lifestyle, a home. They want to identify with a
certain brand or status. Often the obsession becomes idolatrous. ….True Worship
of God means that we derive our identity from Him.
The
wilderness experience that Jesus overcame provides us with an idea of what to
expect on a very consistent basis during the power encounters between two very
powerful but opposing kingdoms. But we as children of The Kingdom live by a
different set of values. We are guided by a different set of expectations. We
live out of a different source of power. And, this confirms the character of
the Kingdom of God. Those who follow Jesus must realize they are entering into
a cosmic sized conflict with the enemy, a conflict they can only win by the
power of The Spirit.
There
is no doubt that most of us fail to maintain a conscious awareness of the
spiritual battle we are in as children of the Light. The kingdom of darkness is
as real as the chairs you are sitting in right now. It is unrelenting. So,
drawing our strength from the Lord is not our only hope for victory; it is a sure hope for victory. You know, think
about it, our only fight is that of faith. The rest of the battle is up to God.
Living a lifestyle whereby we seek God’s agenda first and foremost is the initial
and ongoing step toward the missional journey. If we are serious about entering
the kingdom of God here and now, then we agree to God’s terms and God’s turns.
What counts is where our minds are.
Response
This
week I ask you to do your best to keep these two questions in mind:
First,
what areas do I need to concentrate my repentance on in order to lay hold of
the Kingdom of God?
Second,
how can I assume the posture of a servant today? How can I serve in the
situation at hand?
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