More than 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ said ‘kingdom of God’ is at hand. ‘Kingdom of God’ means a kingdom where good, truth and righteousness reign supreme, where there is no more injustice, oppression and tyranny, where peace and justice flow like the river. It’s a long time now and still no kingdom of God in the world. Was Jesus a dreamer? Is the kingdom of God just an ideal that would never ever be realized? Is it all fantasy? Or is it closer at hand than we imagine?
What if the only way for the kingdom of God to come is though weakness and vulnerability, sacrifice and love? What if it can conquer only after being conquered? What if being conquered is absolutely necessary to expose the brutal violence and dark oppression of these governments of the day, to show that no human system of government or ideology, can be trusted – so that they, having been exposed, can be seen for what they are and freely rejected - making room for the new and better kingdom of God to come?
What if the kingdom of God must in these ways, fail first in order to succeed? What if our only hope lies in this impossible paradox: the only way the kingdom of God can be strong in a truly liberating way is through a scandalous, non coercive kind of weakness: the only way to be powerful is through astonishing vulnerability; the only way we can live is by dying, by moving from selfishness to selflessness: the only way it can succeed in the end is by failing first? Scientists believe in evolution. The kingdom of God is evolving too. Slowly, but surely, we are beginning to distrust the governments and the systems of this world, as their serious shortcomings are exposed daily through the wonderfully evolving media. Never in man’s history has information and knowledge been transferred and shared at such astonishing speed. Perhaps our new found knowledge and collective experiences are moving us towards a kingdom which emphasizes more on the self government of the individual, where the internal laws or morality and compassion, will eventually prevail over external laws. Perhaps the day will finally come when then is no need for governments and the kingdom of God within each one of us is finally realised - that we are all one and that a house divided, cannot stand.
As in John Lennon’s “Imagine”
Imagine there’s no heaven
Its easy if you can
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
And the world will live as one
What if the only way for the kingdom of God to come is though weakness and vulnerability, sacrifice and love? What if it can conquer only after being conquered? What if being conquered is absolutely necessary to expose the brutal violence and dark oppression of these governments of the day, to show that no human system of government or ideology, can be trusted – so that they, having been exposed, can be seen for what they are and freely rejected - making room for the new and better kingdom of God to come?
What if the kingdom of God must in these ways, fail first in order to succeed? What if our only hope lies in this impossible paradox: the only way the kingdom of God can be strong in a truly liberating way is through a scandalous, non coercive kind of weakness: the only way to be powerful is through astonishing vulnerability; the only way we can live is by dying, by moving from selfishness to selflessness: the only way it can succeed in the end is by failing first? Scientists believe in evolution. The kingdom of God is evolving too. Slowly, but surely, we are beginning to distrust the governments and the systems of this world, as their serious shortcomings are exposed daily through the wonderfully evolving media. Never in man’s history has information and knowledge been transferred and shared at such astonishing speed. Perhaps our new found knowledge and collective experiences are moving us towards a kingdom which emphasizes more on the self government of the individual, where the internal laws or morality and compassion, will eventually prevail over external laws. Perhaps the day will finally come when then is no need for governments and the kingdom of God within each one of us is finally realised - that we are all one and that a house divided, cannot stand.
As in John Lennon’s “Imagine”
Imagine there’s no heaven
Its easy if you can
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
And the world will live as one
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