Kingdom Life (# 1)

So here begin my thoughts (very few of them original) on Kingdom Life: the way Jesus taught it particularly, but not limited to, the Sermon on the Mount. Much of my thinking has been informed by Dallas Willard, professor of Philosophy at USC, and his students. He substitutes the term “apprentice” for disciple. I like that. It connotes one who is in the process of learning in order to be able to finally do well, with joy and quite naturally, what one has been practicing in the school of the Master.

So begin by asking, “To whom does the Kingdom of God belong?" And the answer is everyone and anyone who desires to trust the Master in how best to live life on this earth. All those “blesseds”' that begin the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 signal that God favors people in all walks and lots in life. The Kingdom of God (which we shall take to mean where God dwells and all places where is love is found, especially in Jesus) was kept and is still kept from certain people.

But God's love can not be restrained by any of us. That love reaches from the farthest points of eternity into the most intimate places of our lives.

Take the first “blessed”: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God. Let's rephrase that from all we know about God. The people who know nothing about God and who well might be atheists are favored by God. They are not favored because of their situation but in spite of it. The Kingdom, the love of God, has come for them as evidenced by Jesus talking with them in this context. Willard sometimes paraphrases them as the “spiritual nobodies”. There are folks who are not born again but the Kingdom has come for them. It is open to them. And once they know it, they will want to begin life again with the love of God. His Kingdom, his reign, his will to love his creation is available to all. Everyone.

So, first of all the apprentice must know that he or she is welcomed by the Master. Many people feel unwelcome in the church because somehow the Master's way and the Master's love has not been communicated to them. Remember how Jesus told his disciples at the end of Matthew's Gospel: Go and make apprentices; show them God's love; baptize them as a demonstration that they are loved and teach them to obey all that I have commanded.

Jesus didn't say: Go and make Catholics, Calvinists, Mennonites or any other division of people. We have done that and by so doing we have shunned some folks. We have been unwelcoming.

Jesus gathered children of God, apprentices, people who longed for God. And they followed him. And throughout the Sermon on the Mount he will instruct them on how to live the best life possible, no matter their station or circumstances of life.

We won't look at all beatitudes but we will see next time just how Jesus walked through the crowds that day pointing out who was well off.

Yours in Christ for another day.