Kingdom Ready Blog

Today was a strange day, and very thought provoking.  It started by seeing NT Wright deliver a sermon at Park St Church, which is celebrating its 200 year anniversary with guest speakers.  It ended at a wake of a grandmother.

NT Wright’s sermon was about hope.  He started out with a wonderful observation.  At the same time Paul was in prison writing to the people of Colossae another announcement was being sent out.  A young man, with some of the best education of his time, extremely popular with the people took office bringing a new hope to Rome.  This was the emperor Nero.  Although, we could easily change a word in that previous sentance to be much more applicable to our own time here in the United States.  Yet, where does our true hope lie.  Paul tells the people of Colossae not to trust in Nero – but rather Jesus

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, {both} in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the {Father’s} good pleasure and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, {I say,} whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, {engaged} in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach– Col 1.13-20

Jesus, the ruler of the new creation, the King and reason for that new creation has subverted all the other rulers of nations who are now subject to him: including Caesar, including the United States of America.

Jesus is the one who rescues us from the evil power of sin today, and calls us to be signposts for the coming Kingdom.  He sends us to go rescue others and show his love and Gospel to the world.  We have hope, both now, in the time for the peace we can have, and change we can affect, and for the future, when God’s plan will be fully realized on earth.

Then, I had to go to a wake.  Earlier I had a conversation specifically about death.  About how I had yet to go up to a dead person, even though I’ve been to several funerals.  I despise death, it is not part of the plan.  I don’t want to be near it if I don’t have to.  It reminds me that the power of sin still holds, and the kingdom I hope for, think about, and write about, is still waiting to fully explode on the world.
All of the hope I had that morning, in the atmosphere of people who don’t believe in either the Kingdom, or God’s transforming power of new creation today, the hope was no where to be seen or heard.  All the talk was about how we are all dying, hopefully later than sooner.  From a normal perspective of the world, of course that is true.  But I can’t help but feel so far from that.

Sure all you “oldies” are just going to tell me I’m young with tons of vitality left.  As much as that is true, there is more.  Because of the Gospel I feel more alive.  Life is more important because of the Gospel, with death so shattering and alien to God’s world.