Kingdom Thinking #2

Very early in our common faith history, in the years following the death of Jesus of Nazareth, people who gave their allegiance to his ministry and memory were known as “People of The Way,” The Way meaning the path of belief and spiritual practices that leads to fullness of our humanity, wholeness, the Kingdom of God. But it was the word Kingdom and Jesus’s casual use of the title “King” that got him into trouble and eventually caused his death. This threat to the existing kingdom, that of Caesar, was simply too great. There could be only one kingdom and one king, and that would be the Emperor. Threats were treated harshly as a demonstration of political power. Caesar wanted to rule, control, exercise military power, and crush competitors. Jesus, the apparent leader of the new kingdom movement, the threat to the Roman Empire, wanted to release people from bondage into freedom and show people how to establish an alternative kingdom built on selflessness and compassionate concern for all people. 

Over all the centuries, The Way of Jesus has taken detours, been held hostage by people and movements who want to reshape it according to their own desires and designs. And those efforts have produced variations of The Way, variations that, in my opinion, Jesus would not recognize. For instance, and this is where I declare that you are about to read my own opinions, The Way of Jesus is not about the next life, it is about this life. It is not a plan to get from here to there. It is a way of living that starts exactly now. Freedom from bondage, no matter the bondage, is possible right now. And that was very good news to everyone but Caesar. Then, The Way (substitute Kingdom of God, if you wish) is not about creating competitive religions but about building compassionate relationships. And the first one is with God who is the definition of compassion. In truth, I don’t believe for a moment that Jesus ever thought about the establishment of a new religious order. He never gave any indication of moving away from his Jewish traditions, he just went above and beyond them with startling hospitality to anyone who wanted to know God. His hope was to unite not divide. Also, the movement called The Way was, at its heart, not about saving. It was about spending, freely giving, spiritual and practical generosity. What we know as salvation theology was not his primary message. Saving “for” was not his approach. He was saving “from,” from hunger, from thirst, from illness, from brokenness. Then he said “Go, and do likewise.” And those who chose to follow his instruction, who gave water and food and love to their neighbors, that is, who chose to follow The Way, were, in that moment, citizens of The Kingdom of God. They had been “saved” into the alternative kingdom. Works theology? No, compassion theology; love theology that set people on the pathway to God’s heart. Well, enough to consider for one day. Let’s do it again tomorrow. May the Spirit guide you in all your pondering and in all your praise. Press on.