kingdom

Jesus: An Actual King?

Margaret Wilson, A Wigtown Martyr

Margaret Wilson, A Wigtown Martyr

Readings

  1. Old Testament: Leviticus 16:1-19

  2. Psalm 57

  3. Gospel: Matt. 6:1-6

  4. New Testament: 1 Thess. 4:13-18

Devotional
Leviticus 16, at first glance, could hardly seem less relevant to the modern church. Blood sacrifices, empty thrones, burning incense... weird, amirite? Until we consider the fact that what is being described in the Tent of Meeting is just that- the place on Earth where God came down to meet with his people as their king. To sit on his throne, the throne of mercy. To rule his nation, his people. We think of Christianity as a philosophy (something to think) or a moral code (something to do). And Christianity certainly provides those things. But to be a Christian isn't to think something or do something... its to be a citizen of a different kingdom. Kingdoms have Kings, and Jesus is ours. And sometimes in modern life, this insight is lost. We think of ourselves as citizens of America, in which we are Christians. But most Christians throughout history have reversed that order: they thought of themselves as citizens of the Kingdom, incidentally living wherever they are. 

On this day in history, 1685, an 18 year old woman named Margaret Wilson was tied to a stake in a tidal river in Wigtown Scotland and drowned when the tide came in. Her crime? She was a Covenanter- someone who swore that they would accept no king over the church except Jesus Christ himself. You can read more about the Covenanters (who are in our heritage) here. We would not agree with everything a Scottish Covenanter believed. But their refusal to accept earthly kingship over the church led them to positions which (at the time) were extremely countercultural, but in retrospect were... holy. Covenanters opposed slavery on biblical grounds, for instance, from the time they came to America. They marched to a quirky rhythm, and endured persecution for it, because they were convinced that Jesus was their political authority, and they were determined to bring that it into physical existence. 

It is difficult to imagine this sort of conviction today. And we aren't often sure how to apply it. But the martyrdom of Margaret Wilson invites us to at least ask the question- what does it mean, really mean, for us to have Jesus as King- not just over our interior lives, or our ethics... but over our world?

Hymn
The Lord is King

Prayer
Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant
us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way,
the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his
steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ
your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Upside Down Kingdom

upsidedownkingdom.jpg

Upside Down Kingdom

“Paradox is a truth standing on its head to get attention.” -GK Chesterton

My 4 year-old son had all the power, standing in the middle aisle of the church 2 minutes before our service was supposed to start. “Where do you want to sit while you wait for mommy to come back?” He dithered. Equivocated. Listed four totally impossible options. The anxiety rises within me. What to do? Scream? Cajole? Beg? Everybody is watching now, the people to whom I’m getting ready to talk about God. I wish there was a simple answer. There wasn’t. That’s life.

When Jesus sits down to give the sermon on the mount, he says all sorts of paradoxical, counter-intuitive things. Like “happy are those who mourn” and “love your enemies.” And we look at him like he is upside down. Just give it to me straight, Jesus. Just tell me what to do. Give me an instruction, a principle, that I can take away and apply in every situation so that I never have to experience any tension or uncertainty or chaos. Give me something to stabilize me, to take away the anxiety of life, so that I can know, so that I can be sure, so that I can be right. And when he doesn’t? We lose interest. On to something more promising, the next thing, the next answer, the big show, the people who are necessarily like us in age, race, class, so that they don’t introduce any tension or uncertainty into our neatly packaged way of being in the world.

So maybe part of the reason Jesus looks upside down to us is because we are standing on our heads. We want principles, but he gives us paradox, not because he is being difficult, but because he knows that the desire for a principle is a desire to do life, to be human, without the presence of God. And he knows that that is impossible, that humans cannot flourish without him. So he says things that seem upside down, to help turn us right-side up; to force his people to carry, not his principles, but his presence, into the world. Knowing that ultimately those paradoxes find their resolution, their culmination, in the person of the God who once sat on a mountain, but now sits on a throne.

”Upside Down Kingdom” artwork painted by Hampton Watts.

Songs to Help Us See

When I (Soren) was in first grade, I failed a vision test. Which is sad. But not nearly as sad as the fact that I failed it on purpose. The doctor pulled my mom out of the room and said, "He failed the test on purpose. He was describing letters and signs that look like one another- but that isn't how your vision goes bad."

Pre-order Inheritance today http://smarturl.it/AA_Inheritance When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul. It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul) It is well, it is well with my soul.

Do you know how your vision goes bad? Do you know what defective eyesight is? There are signs of the kingdom everywhere- but what if we don't know how to look? What if we don't want to look?

from INHERITANCE http://smarturl.it/AA_Inheritance Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best Thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

The songs we sing this week are attempts to help correct our vision. But they don't just correct our vision- they help us want to see.