Think of the Reign of God as a verb - not a place - not a time. The Reign of God is happening - it is breaking in - it is interrupting the patterns of everyday life. That's action. I use this image in place of the word Heaven. I suppose I could also use Heaven as a verb rather than a place but it would take so much explaining and unpacking that people would still be looking to go somewhere after they die.
Maybe the best way to talk about the Reign of God as a verb is to imagine the life of Jesus. He was a creature of creation - a human being. His life is full of the everyday aspects of his place in history and the place in which he lived. Therefore he had to walk within and through the power structures of the day. It is in that historical context the he meets his followers. It is in that cultural context that he begins to live in a manner that is at times quite contrary to the cultural norms. It is in a specific religious context that he reforms the images and expectations that made religious folk of his day appear to be religious. So, he is in the middle of all that - much like we are in the middle of our context today - yet, he lives out of a vision - a promise - an imagination that creates in him and through him - a very distinctive life. The Reign of God acts upon him - he begins to live as though no other power will be his guide. Jesus will take on this peaceable Reign as a guiding light he will follow every day - no matter what that might mean to his well-being.
We all can look around at our context and ask, "What the hell is going on around here?" This morning I was once again amazed at the brutality - the genocide - taking place in Aleppo. But more amazing is how fearful we can be that refugees from this Syrian devastation may be coming to our country. When the Reign of God acts out its life in, with, and under our lives, our anxieties and fears need not control us. The Reign of God welcomes - heals - soothes - offers life in the face of death. More importantly, the life within the Reign of God does all that - knowing there is a cost to being caught up within the active spirit of that Reign. Let's remember that there is a risk to the world-as-it-is when we step into the life of God's Reign and begin to act as though we are like the relief workers who step into hostility with an unbending ability to side with - stand with - care for - those who are the victims of such hostility. Let's also remember that the world-as-it-is will always be a hell of place to be. The Reign of God breaks into this place and time to face off against the power of hellishness that is so often the standard operating dynamics of a world of fear and anxiety.
The Reign of God is consistently and eternally one of peace - nonviolence - justice - reconciliation - forgiveness. Once again, we are talking about action - not a place. Just yesterday I put myself through the painful ordeal of reading the words of a pastor whose vision of the Reign of God consists of violence. In his hellish attempt to do a make-over of the Reign of God, it becomes fine and even necessary to kill in the name of God. He calls for active violence against others. For him it was violence to counter another form of violence. And yet, at the end of those hellish acts of violence against violence - we are left in the middle of a hellish life in which death continues to rule and the Reign of God never comes to life. I find it interesting that the way of violence - the way of self-righteousness - the way of blame and condemnation never seems to bring about the life of the Reign of God. Oh, there are many promises - but all of them prove to be quite empty.
The living presence of the Reign of God - even if it is only able to impact a moment in time - has the power to change hearts and display a peaceableness that is inspiring to all. I find that when this Reign comes to life, people step back and watch - they become speechless - they breath more easily - they smile - they even seem to cross sides and agree that something new must come to life. Walking in the Reign of God is a daily discipline. It is the ordinary interruption of what is - so that any of us may be shaken up by a life in which peace presides in the face of hostility. I find that I am never ready to be face-to-face with the life of the Reign of God. Yet, there in the shape of others - even others with whom I find great differences - my hostility/hellishness is exposed and I am handed the opportunity to walk to a new beat that seeks the well-being of all. I an invited to swallow my pride and enter into an adventure for life that I had not anticipated.
This is not an easy walk. We not only must face the hellishness of others - we have our own investment in our brand of hellishness that keeps us from walking in the way of the Reign of God. I cannot always hear or see just how hell-bent I can be - how violent I am in thought, word, and deed. And yet, there are those wonder-filled moments when the life of the Reign of God is on display within the life of others - and it turns my head. More importantly they are able to turn my heart. You see, this life within the Reign of God acts upon us - it invites us - it pulls us - it tickles us - it opens us to that which is not us - yet. Whew, that can change the day.
TRRR
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