I have a passion for the Kingdom of God. Some might say it’s an obsession. It doesn’t take much to get me talking about it. So what is the Kingdom?

“In the beginning God created…” What did he create? Everything! God’s sovereign will was in all he created. And what do we call the place where a sovereign is present? A Kingdom! God’s Kingdom is everything he created. That includes us. Humans had a special place in God’s Kingdom. First, and most important, he created us in his image. That was just not appearance. We were created as spiritual beings. And we were given free will. God created us to be in a relationship with him and that required choice. He did not create slaves. We also had purpose. We had dominion over the animals and plants and were charged with their care. And we also were good.

Everything God created — his Kingdom — reflects him. We may not be able to see God directly, but we can see him reflected in all his creation. Whether we admit it or not, we all carry within us an image of God.

That reminds me of the story of a little kindergarten girl who was furiously coloring on a sheet of paper. Her teacher came over to her and asked her what she was drawing. The girl answered, “God.” Her teacher gently explained that no one knows what God looks like. ”They will when I’m done,” the girl replied. She was in touch with the image of God she held in her heart.

God’s perfect Kingdom is all about us now. I defy you to go someplace dark and peer up into the night sky and not see God’s Kingdom. And there are just things that occur in the world that you know only God could ordain. God created us to be at peace with him and the world, no matter our differences. That was life in his Kingdom.

So, what happened? Sin. To be succinct, we happened. That free will we were given led us to think we could be in control; that we could take care of ourselves; that we did not need God. Sin is simply the word for anything that alienates us from God. When we decided to try to control our lives instead of relying on God, we introduced sin into our lives and into the world. God expelled us from his presence and into the earth over which he had given us dominion, but now was outside his sovereign will. And that is where we find ourselves today: living on the imperfect earth side-by-side with his perfect Kingdom. Living in sin, but aware of his Kingdom. One foot in a sinful earth and one in the Kingdom.

 What does Jesus say about the Kingdom? As we read the Gospels, we encounter Jesus teaching about many things. He does, however, have a central theme. I think if you asked many people, both Christians and non-Christians, what that central theme is, they would say “love.” Indeed, I have no empirical evidence, but I wager love is likely mentioned in more sermons weekly than anything else. And love is central to Christ’s message. It is central, however, because it is critical to life in the Kingdom, not an end to itself.

Jesus mentions love 43 times. Forgiveness only 24 times. These are elements of Christianity we hear all the time. But he speaks of the Kingdom 117 times. Wow! He speaks of the Kingdom more than anything else. But go week in and week out to your average church and I expect you will find love, forgiveness, and many other things mentioned now far more than the Kingdom.

And it’s not just how many times Jesus mentions the Kingdom. It’s what he says about it. The first message Jesus preached was about the Kingdom.

Let’s look at what Matthew says in 4:17: “From that time on Jesus began to preach ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’” This is the very first reference to Jesus preaching anything. Mark reports exactly the same thing. And what does he say? “The kingdom of heaven is near.” He doesn’t say you will see it after you die. He doesn’t say live a good life and you might find it. He says it is near.

Although scriptures contain some references to specific events after the Resurrection, Acts 1:3 gives us a general report of the purpose of Christ’s teaching before the Ascension. It states, “ After his suffering, he … appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”  Not only was the Kingdom of God the core message of Jesus while he was alive, but also after his resurrection. Do you think maybe it was important?

But there is more. He made it clear that proclaiming the Kingdom was his mission. Luke reports him saying, “I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” The Kingdom of God is the Gospel of good news! It was the core mission for Jesus and remains his core message.

Jesus brought himself to us to show us exactly how to be in a relationship with God. Every parable he taught was about how God intends for us to live with him and each other. Many parables, particularly those in Matthew, begin with “The Kingdom of heaven is like…” Those who first heard them, however, had a difficult time understanding the teaching, because Jesus taught a message that was upside down from their thinking. Indeed, the Kingdom that Jesus brought is a complete inversion of human expectations. Jesus didn’t just teach them though, he lived them as an example.  Christ reflects the nature of the Kingdom. In doing so, he also reflects the nature of God. Jesus makes the Kingdom concrete. He makes it real.

It is important to remember that Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom before the Church existed. He proclaimed it before there was Christianity. The Church and Christianity are relevant only insofar as they proclaim Jesus Christ and the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Let me say that again because I want it to sink in. The Church and Christianity are relevant only insofar as they proclaim Jesus Christ and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom is absolute. It is the ultimate order for life as God has intended since creation. Think about that. I’ve been told that the Kingdom is hard to understand. But I don’t think so. Any time you do anything or think anything that is how God intends us to live, you are living in the Kingdom. He came to us as Jesus to restore us to that life and Jesus doesn’t work in half-measures. Either he and the Kingdom are the most important things in our lives, or we are going through some seriously futile motions.

When he taught us the Lord’s Prayer, the first thing Jesus teaches us to seek is that the Kingdom will come to earth as it is in heaven and his will also. He is not telling us to ask that we be whisked away at the end of our lives. We are supposed to seek the Kingdom on earth now. Jesus could not make it clearer when he said later in the same chapter, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” All of the things he referenced were not heavenly, but very earthly and immediate: food, drink, and clothing.

So where does this leave us? If the Kingdom of God is Jesus’ message and, indeed, Jesus is the Kingdom, why don’t we hear about the Kingdom constantly from our pulpits and in our churches? Is the Kingdom lost? Or perhaps, have we lost the Kingdom?

By the early 1960’s, the Kingdom of God had almost disappeared from the lexicon of mainline Protestant churches. The National Council of Churches had for some time been struggling to redefine the mission of the Church and did so in the context of participation in the social movements of the time. As Dallas Willard states: “The gospel, or “good news,” on this view, was that God himself stood behind liberation, equality, and community; that Jesus died to promote them, or at least for lack of them; and that he “lives on” in all efforts and tendencies favoring them. For the theological left, simply this became the message of Christ.” The social gospel replaced the Kingdom.

Many of us were raised in churches that proclaimed the social gospel and built ministries and missions around it. That explains why so many have a hard time explaining the Kingdom of God. It has been lost to us. But some are committed not only to finding it but exalting it again by spreading the news of the Kingdom. So how do we do that?

When I preached here in March I spoke about the process of sanctification. Sanctification has many definitions. Wesley saw it as God renewing hearts and minds in his image; restoring our lost holiness. That is interesting theologically, but practically what does it mean? We are transformed in sanctification, but for what? If God is renewing us in his image, isn’t he transforming us into the people we were created to be — created in his image? And where were we when we were created in his image? The Kingdom! Sanctification is the process that restores us to the Kingdom of God as the people we were created to be. The emphasis is on created to be, not to do. Doing, our actions, follows and is the natural product of changes in who were are. Changing who we are is the primary importance.

On the assumption that you have confessed sin and been redeemed by Christ, then we are all on the journey of sanctification. I live with one foot in the Kingdom by virtue of my sanctification that has transformed me partially into the person I was created to be, and one foot in sinful earth with its siren songs that pull me to the rocks. Surrender of our will to the Holy Spirit is the key to sanctification. Easy right? Absolutely not! Surrendering control is absolutely antithetical to our nature. I have emphasized to my children, people who worked for me, and indeed, anyone who would listen and many who cared not to, that control is an illusion. The only thing we control in life is our response to whatever happens. But we cannot let go. We try to manage events, we manipulate people, we worry, and so on and so on. All to try to control life. To give that all over to the Holy Spirt, therefore, is a very difficult thing.

All too often Christians accept redemption from Christ that brings them to the gate of the Kingdom, but then do not enter because they think they need to work at being a good Christian. The focus is on doing good things instead of becoming the person Christ intends us to be. In other words, Christ wants to bring us into the Kingdom to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit to become the person we were created to be, but we stop and try to sanctify ourselves by doing good works.

A recent Kingdom moment from my life I want to share with you happened at a grocery. It is a small thing that shows how the Kingdom is around us and in us even in the routine events of life. One day as I was walking into our local Publix God seemed to be saying he had a mission for me in there. I went in and filled my list, but nothing happened, and I thought that once again, I was talking to myself rather than listening to God. That happens all too often! I reached the checkout line and at the end saw a young woman bagging groceries. Her face was sullen and absolutely wooden. I told God that I recognized her as the person he meant for me, and I asked him what I should do. The only answer I received was just be yourself. That wasn’t real comforting to me, but as I approached her after she had bagged my groceries I asked her how her day was going. She did not answer or even look at me. The cashier in a somewhat harsh “move along” tone said, “She’s deaf and can’t hear you.” Now my undergraduate college has a special program for deaf education and one of our friends spent her entire career educating deaf students, so I did not move along. I extended my hand so it was falling below her eyes, and she followed it to my face. I smiled, gave her a thumbs up, and, hoping she could read lips, said, “thank you.” She exploded. A big smile covered her face, and she began rapidly signing. I had to explain that I did not know signing. I left her, however, smiling.

That Kingdom moment may have been one of my best. Not only did I walk out feeling the peace of Christ, but also understanding that I had become a person that all I needed to do was be myself as the Holy Spirit was transforming me to be. Doing had flowed naturally from being. I also learned that the most important thing we can do in and for the Kingdom is affirm the value of another person. The Kingdom exists in relationships grounded on the Holy Spirit.

So how do we live for Christ’s Kingdom? What should we do to advance it? I have to tell you something you may not want to hear. The Kingdom of God is not about you. It is about you surrendering yourself to a much greater goal. There is abroad in the land this idea that God is supposed to help us and make our lives easier. That’s possible, if it fits into God’s greater plan to restore us to the Kingdom and return Kingdom life to the earth. If you surrender your life for that plan and that Kingdom, however, it may become more difficult. Indeed, there is a fair chance it will. When I finished writing my book, I went to God and said I had finished, I knew nothing about marketing, and had no resources for it. I told him that was his problem and I expected an easy solution to appear. Within a day or so, I received a call from an attorney asking me to serve as an expert witness. That was something I had the experience and skills to do and would be reasonably lucrative. The Holy Spirit was answering my prayer for resources, but just adding to my workload with something I really was not keen to do. My life did not get easier.

My point is that surrender to Christ is risky business. We leave our agenda and frequently have no idea what will happen next. That actually becomes a good thing, because what happens will be a blessing beyond imagining. We become people we could not imagine using our gifts and talents in ways we cannot imagine with a purpose to our lives that exceeds whatever we might have hoped. But it takes some adaptation. Our prayer lives change. Our petitions do not change, but we have to accept that God will answer them in accordance with his grand plan for the Kingdom. God, however, remains just as compassionate as ever. Jesus reflected his character and certainly was compassionate. So, I still pray that God will intervene in my life and the lives of others in his compassion. But I never expect him to do that contrary to the plan and purpose for the Kingdom.

Let me give you an example. You have a friend at church who becomes gravely ill. She is a good Christian. You pray frequently and fervently that God will heal her, but nonetheless she dies. From your perspective God did not answer your prayer. From the Kingdom perspective, however, God answered hers. She prayed constantly that God would use her for the Kingdom. She was not afraid of death and witnessed to that point and why she was not afraid to her daughter, who finally came to Christ. Her death served the greater purpose.

So, surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit is the key to the Kingdom, both our transformations into the people we were created to be and our use in the Kingdom now. Complete surrender would be wonderful, but I have not seen or heard of that.  Just a little bit day-by-day is sufficient. Sincere surrender is what is important. So sincerely surrender your life to Christ and the Kingdom. Or sincerely surrender a day. Or sincerely surrender a minute. But give the Holy Spirit something of you to transform and use. That’s when you pass through the gate and begin life in the Kingdom now.

There is something I have mentioned several times to which I want to go for a final revisit. And that is purpose. I cannot understate the importance of the purpose that comes with life in the Kingdom. We are a people starving for purpose. Stanley Jones said, “The central and acute sickness of this age is that people do not belong – do not belong to anything significant.” We are social beings. We need community. But it becomes harder and harder to find. The isolation of home is becoming the default life, and more and more for young people.

Jones also said, “The modern man stands between two worlds – one dead and the other not born. And he stands there empty, for meaning dropped out of life. He could stand anything if there were meaning, purpose, goal, especially if that meaning, purpose and goal were worthwhile, worth living for and worth dying for.”

We have generations of people in this country searching for meaning and purpose to their lives. They are broken. We have the cure for that brokenness in the person of Jesus Christ and life in the Kingdom but have all too often stood mute. We have been called to proclaim that cure, but all too often default to doing church stuff instead. Showing people how the Holy Spirit will transform them into the people they were created to be, as well as the peace that comes with that, is a cup of water to a thirsty soul. Explaining the purpose their lives can have in the Kingdom when Christ calls them to serve in ways unique to their gifts, talents, and skills lights fires that will burn brightly. It is radical.

I suspect that most here have heard about witnessing to others by asking if they know Jesus, are a Christian, or something similar. I think those tend to shut down discussion rather than open it. If, however, you ask someone if he or she is living the life they were created to live or what his or her purpose is in life, that can open all manner of avenues for discussion and may eventually allow you to explain Jesus and the purpose he offers for life in his Kingdom. One thing though, you better know your purpose as it very likely will come to you as a question. Also, that does not ignore discussing salavation. These questions open the why. Salvation is the how. Both are essential.

We must demand more of us for the Kingdom. Test all of the ministries of our church against the test of service to the Kingdom. How do they advance the Kingdom? Much of what we do in our churches is well meaning but bears little difference from secular organizations. We hold food drives, bake sales, workdays at local charities, etc. And so do secular organizations. If what we do does not clearly point to Christ and the Kingdom, then we offer no meaning or purpose beyond the world. Why would someone be interested? But if we proclaim the Kingdom, show people how it brings meaning to their lives, and show them the purpose they can find in the Kingdom, I think we can become standing room only.

We have rejected secularism and the relativism of the world. We affirm the Kingdom absolute as God’s plan for the order of life. But the power of the world is strong.  Political and social issues are invasive and subtle. We can be pulled back into those debates if we are not careful. Jesus set before us the clear goal, “seek first this Kingdom…” Let us never lose sight of that goal.

Amen