February 22, 2004, Number 7 of 7 in the Series: FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

This morning I conclude this sermon series about FAQ's of New and Not-So-New Christians, and today's question is the culmination of all of the others. The question before us this morning is: What is so important about Jesus? Let us stand back for a moment and take a look at this amazing figure.

Jesus was born in an insignificant little village, in one of the least important places on the face of the earth. He was conceived by an unwed teenage mother and was raised by his mother and her husband Joseph, a simple carpenter. Jesus was a blue collar worker, employing the skills he learned from his father, Joseph.

At about the age of thirty, Jesus began a ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing. After a short ministry of about three years, he died a seemingly senseless and horrific death: he was crucified in an act of state sponsored terrorism. The Roman authorities who executed him were enforcing the Pax Romana — the Peace of Rome.

And yet, this man Jesus has been the most dominant figure in the history of Western culture for the past twenty centuries. What is it that explains the enduring relevance of Jesus to human life? Why has he mattered so much? Why does he matter now? Why does he regularly appear on the front covers of leading news magazines two millennia after his death? Why do more people identify themselves as Christian — perhaps as many as 34% of the worlds population — than any other world religion? Why does he continue to inspire religious devotion? It is estimated that Christianity will continue to grow in the century that stretches before us, at a rate that will be unequaled by other religious faiths, and that Christianity will be the faith that will dominate the world scene as the power of the gospel continues to be unleashed in Asia, the African continent and in Central and South America. Christianity will be the religion of the next century; maybe not the Christianity of Western Europe, maybe not the Christianity of North America, but Christianity. How is it that multitudes of men and women continue to credit Jesus with their life and well-being?

I think that one has to conclude that the continuing relevance of Jesus is based on his proven ability to speak to, to heal and to empower the individual human condition. He matters because of what he has brought and what he continues to bring to ordinary human beings living their ordinary lives and coping with the circumstances of their lives. In short, he promises and delivers a wholeness for our lives.

As the author of John's gospel put it in his prologue (John 1.4):

"In him appeared life and this life was the light of humankind." J. B. Phillips

Or as Eugene Peterson translates it: "What came into existence was Life and the Life was the Light to live by."

Jesus is so important because he makes sense out of human life. He came among us to show us the kind of life for which we were created. "Life was in him, and that life made sense of human existence."

What is so important about Jesus? The key is to be found in the central tenet of his preaching: "The kingdom of God is at hand."

What is a "kingdom?" Well, every one of us has a "kingdom." That is, every one of us has a realm that is uniquely our own, where our choice determines what happens. Whatever we genuinely have a say over is within our kingdom. And, having say over something is precisely what places it within our kingdom. God created us as creatures to have dominion — to rule, to reign, in a limited sphere. That is what defines us and makes us a person. If you have no kingdom you are a non-person. So it is important that we have kingdoms; realms. Now, the problem comes when my kingdom and your kingdom come into conflict. Or, if you try to usurp what I understand to be my prerogative, my kingdom.

Now, the Kingdom of God is the range of God's effective will; where what God wants done is done. And the organizing principle of the Kingdom of God is God's will; and everything and everyone that obeys those principles, whether by nature or by choice is within God's kingdom. The sun rises every morning and it sets every evening. It is not the sun's choice, it is in the design of nature and therefore in accordance with the will of God; it is within the Kingdom of God. And, when individuals honor the will of God, they become citizens of the kingdom of God.

God's intent for us is that we learn to mesh our kingdom with the kingdoms of others. As a husband or wife we each have a kingdom, and God's will is that we find a way to mesh them together. As Christians in this church, we all have a sphere of influence and God's will is that we mesh them together. And then there are corporate kingdoms; the kingdom of General Motors, the kingdom of the United States of America. God's will is that our individual kingdoms, and our corporate kingdoms mesh together. That's what it means when we are commanded to love our neighbor; if we love our neighbor then we will mesh our will, our kingdom, our domain, our realm, harmoniously with our neighbor. This is accomplished to the extent that we have learned what it means to love our neighbor. But we will only be able to love our neighbor adequately when we have first integrated our kingdom within the kingdom of God. That is why the commandment to love our neighbor is the second part and not the first part of the Great Commandment, and the reason why we are told to seek first the kingdom of God; the rule of God.

Only as we find that kingdom and settle into it can we all reign, or rule, together with God. Jesus is important because in him we see one who's life and will was in perfect accord with God. In him we see the very face of God, we see all things holy. The kingdom of his dominion was one with the kingdom of God. When we look into his face, when we look into the countenance of his life, death and resurrection, we see the radiance of the Kingdom of God.

And, as we come to rely on his word, we are enabled to reintegrate our little realm, our little kingdom that makes up our life, into the infinite realm of God. And that is what is meant by eternal life; a quality of life that begins now as we open ourselves to the Kingdom of God; to Kingdom living.

Now, the central tenet of Jesus' preaching was that the Kingdom of God was at hand. It's not something that you make a decision for today and then, someday in "the sweet by-and-by," it will come to pass. It's not something that is in your heart but doesn't work it's way out into your life. No. It is that the kingdom of God is at hand. The Greek word that is translated "at hand" or "come near," is a verb form indicating a past and completed action. Perhaps the best translation is "The Kingdom of God has come."

The reality of God's rule is present in the actions and through the person of Jesus. That's why it is a gospel; that's why it is good news. Jesus said: "The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come, repent, and believe in the good news." The New Testament is very clear that the kingdom of God is something that can be entered into now; that it already has flesh and blood citizens; citizens who have been transformed into it and who have become fellow workers, one with the kingdom imperatives.

However, though the kingdom of God is at hand, there remain other kingdoms that are at hand as well. Each of us, all of us, are still given the freedom to will that which is contrary to the will of God. And sadly, tragically, we, individually and collectively, exercise our will in ways that are contrary to the will of God and in conflict with each other; and thus, the continuing parade of brutality and evil that we witness each and every day. So you see, there is an already, but not yet, quality to the Kingdom of God.

And, we must confess that often times the place where God's reign is not honored is within the lives and the little kingdoms of those who have already received the gift of eternal life — you and me; those who belong to Christ — people in whom the life of Christ is already present and growing. But, to use the image of Teresa of Avila, the "interior castle" of the human soul has many rooms, and they are slowly occupied by God, allowing us time and room to grow and change, so that we are, slowly, being changed into the likeness of Christ.

This is why the spiritual disciplines are so critically important. They are the ways by which God changes lives; the way God begins to enter and occupy the many rooms of the "interior castle" of the human soul. The spiritual disciplines help us to deal with the residue of sin on the Christian soul.

But, this does not change the fact that the Kingdom of God is already among us. This does not change the fact that one day all of the kingdoms of this world . . . all of them will be brought into alignment with the will of God. Nor does it destroy the choice that all of us have to accept it and bring it increasingly into our lives. The door is open, and life in the kingdom is real.

From the moment Jesus first stood up and proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is here, the kingdom has been available to us through simple confidence in Jesus. A kingdom, which, in the person of Jesus, welcomes us just as we are, just where we are, and makes it possible for us, by the grace of God, to transform our ordinary life into an eternal one.

It is so available that everyone, who, from the center of his or her being, calls upon Jesus as Lord and Savior will be heard and will be delivered into the eternal kind of life. Thanks be to God!

Now, you may be here today and you may be moved by this service of worship. Perhaps you have never actually told Jesus that you want to be part of his kingdom. You may have never actually told Jesus that you want to be one of his disciples.

Maybe you are in need of his forgiveness and grace today, and you would like to be made clean and whole. The first step is simply to acknowledge your desire to belong to Christ and your acceptance of what Christ has done for you.

If you would like to take that step today . . . to commit or to recommit your life to him . . . I invite you to join me in saying this prayer. You may use your own words, or, say quietly under your breath those words which I am about to pray. I invite you to join me:

Dear Lord,

I would like to follow you; I would like to be one of your disciples.

I accept the forgiveness and mercy you offer me.

Wash me clean, make me new.

Help me to follow you, as I commit myself to you

and to the kingdom that you have given us.

I pray this to you and in your name. Amen.

Eldon J. Simpson, Pastor