THE WORLD AS IT SHOULD BE

Introduction

Jesus talked about the “Kingdom of God” more than any other subject. It was his big idea: a vision of the world as it should be. A new way of seeing. How well do we understand this “already begun” kingdom we’re helping build—on earth as it is in heaven? And how does it change the way we live and believe?
From the four corners of the earth
    people are coming to their senses,
    are running back to God.
Long-lost families
    are falling on their faces before him.
God has taken charge;
    from now on he has the last word.
All the power-mongers are before him
    —worshiping!
All the poor and powerless, too
    —worshiping!
Along with those who never got it together
    —worshiping!
Our children and their children
    will get in on this
As the word is passed along
    from parent to child.
Babies not yet conceived
    will hear the good news--
    that God does what he says.
the end of Psalm 22, 
begun by Jesus on the cross as he dies
The Message by Eugene H. Peterson

Kingdom 101

  • The Kingdom was Jesus' big idea. The Good News--the Gospel--is that the Kingdom is on its way.  That is the message Jesus came to share with us (Matthew 4:23, Luke 4:43, etc.).
  • Jesus talked about the Kingdom all the time. The phrase “the kingdom of God” appears 122 times in the New Testament, including in 90 quotes from Jesus in the Gospels. He talked about it throughout his public ministry, and then rose from the dead to talk about it more (Acts 1:3).
  • The Kingdom is coming and is not far away. Jesus told his contemporaries that the Kingdom was "in their midst" (Luke 17:21) and told parables comparing it to sprouting seeds.
  • The Kingdom comes in our hearts, in the world today, in Christ's return, and in heaven. These different comings are interrelated: when the Kingdom comes into our hearts and transforms us, it empowers us to share it and bring it more fully into the world around us. It also prepares us for Christ's return and our own eternal life.
  • "Kingdom" is not an ideal phrase. The term can conjure up archaic monarchies, sexism, and rule by force. But the Kingdom of God is an upside-down kingdom that is a stark alternative to all of these. In that sense, "kingdom" is ironic: in Jesus, we follow a king who chose service and sacrifice over power.
  • Not of this world, but in this world. Jesus said the Kingdom is "not of this world" (John 18:36) because it is God's kingdom, not a human kingdom. But it is in this world, and growing.
  • God builds it, but we help. As humans, we can't build the Kingdom on our own. But God has chosen to build this Kingdom through us, the Church. It is our job to cooperate.

Dreaming God's Dream

He (Jesus) is not talking about a place or an afterlife, but a way of seeing and thinking now. The kingdom of God is the naked now – the world without human kingdoms, ethnic communities or social identifications.  That is about as subversive and universalist as you can get.  But don’t think about that too much; it will surely change your politics and your pocketbook.

How different this is from our later notion of salvation, which pushed the entire issue into the future and largely became a reward and punishment system.  How different from Jesus’ "the kingdom of heaven is in your midst” (Luke 17:21) or Paul’s “Now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Healthy religion is always about seeing and knowing something now, which demands a transformation of consciousness on my part today, not moral gymnastics or heroic will power to earn a prize later.
Richard Rohr
The Naked Now
I'm fairly convinced that the Kingdom of God is for the broken-hearted. You write of 'powerlessness.' Join the club, we are not in control. God is.
Fred (Mr.) Rogers
If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to born both within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we don’t know its name or realize that it’s what we’re starving to death for. The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers. We glimpse it at those moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know. We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength. The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it.
Frederick Buechner
The devil can quote Scripture for his purpose; and the text of Scripture which he now most commonly quotes is, “The Kingdom of heaven is within you.” That text has been the stay and support of more Pharisees and prigs and self-righteous spiritual bullies than all the dogmas in creation; it has served to identify self-satisfaction with the peace that passes all understanding. And the text to be quoted in answer to it is that which declares that no man can receive the kingdom except as a little child. What we are to have inside is a childlike spirit; but the childlike spirit is not entirely concerned about what is inside. It is the first mark of possessing it that one is interested in what is outside. The most childlike thing about a child is his curiosity and his appetite and his power of wonder at the world. We might almost say that the whole advantage of having the kingdom within is that we look for it somewhere else.
G.K. Chesterton
What I Saw in America

The Kingdom of God...

In his book The World as It Should Be, Gregory Pierce identified 30 attributes of the Kingdom and wrote a short chapter on each one:
The kingdom
of God...
  • was Jesus' big idea
  • is an unfortunate phrase
  • is authentic
  • is in and for this world
  • has already begun
  • is about action
  • is about the future
  • is about fruitfulness
  • is a peaceable kingdom
  • is one big thriving family
  • is about repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation
  • is nonjudgmental
  • is an imperative verb
  • is full of joy
  • is between the world as it is and the world as it should be
  • is for the young and the young at heart
  • is not just for Christians
  • is not for everyone
  • is first
  • is a different way of seeing
  • is not fair
  • is not coercive
  • is the law of love
  • is freedom from fear
  • is not sexist
  • is not patronizing
  • is expensive
  • pays off big
  • is eternal
  • is true

Songs For the Kingdom

Music is one good way to let the Good News enter our hearts. Throughout this series we are suggesting songs from a variety of genres for reflecting on the Kingdom. Take a listen and see what speaks to your tastes and heart.

With Every Act of Love

In this infectious pop song, Jason Gray sings of how "heaven touches earth" as we "bring the kingdom come."  Fair warning: this may get stuck in your head.
Read lyrics
Buy on iTunes
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This World

Caedmon's Call delves into the challenge of Kingdom living as broken people in a broken world, amidst beautiful harmonies.
Read lyrics | Buy on iTunes | Buy on Amazon

Father, They Will Be Done

Somewhat eclectic late-90s rock from Canadian singer-songwriter Carolyn Arends delivers a repetitive appeal for the Kingdom.
Read lyrics | Buy on iTunes | Buy on Amazon

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