Jesus, Please Describe Your Kingdom

Do you ever wonder what the kingdom of God is like?  Jesus talked about it all the time, so I had a really great thought (also very deep and very intellectual, so I hope you are impressed).  Are you ready for this?  Here it comes...

Why not just ask Jesus what the kingdom of God looks like?  "Jesus, could you please describe for the audience what this kingdom looks like?"

"What is the kingdom of God like?  And to what shall I compare it?  It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sewed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches."  And again he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?  It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened."  (Luke 13:18-20, ESV)

These are some of Jesus' own words about the kingdom of God, recorded for us in Luke's gospel.  Jesus loves to answer with stories and word-pictures, and he uses two of them here:

1. A man "plants" a tiny seed, really tiny, like a mustard seed, into the dirt.  This tiny seed grows into a mighty tree, large enough for the birds of the air to nest in its branches.
2. A woman "hides" leaven in three measures of flour and the whole lump of flour becomes leavened!

According to Jesus, this is what the kingdom of God is like.  When sown into your life it grows up mightily.  When sown into a community of people its effect is life-altering.  Highly potent, it affects change wherever it goes.  God's kingdom at work in the earth is a powerful change-agent, both in the human heart and in the culture at large (precisely because the hearts of real people are being "leavened" with its power).  Christians should breathe a sigh of relief here because this takes the pressure off of us!  The power is in the "seed," the "leaven," and the seed of the gospel will grow in our hearts with mighty results.  Others around us will reap the benefits of God at work.  Because Jesus has declared the effectiveness of His kingdom, Christians can also take a second deep breath and get to work, knowing that our work in the kingdom of God will be effective and fruitful!

God Himself, the King of the Kingdom, sows the seed of the gospel into our hearts.  He also sows us, his people, as seed-bearing agents into the world around us.  He sows us strategically into places of business, into neighborhood relationships, into schools and universities, and into various cities and towns of all shapes and sizes.  The seed doesn't  fall accidentally in this story, and the leaven is worked into the flour on purpose.  Imagine the trees that are to grow up from the dirt where God has placed us and where He continues to place us.  Imagine the aroma of fresh "bread" to come from the "lump" of a situation in which we may find ourselves!  You and I carry the seed of the kingdom wherever God plants us.  That means positive change will happen in due time.

Thank You, Jesus, for a little explanation of your kingdom.

Look Forward! Move Forward!

There is a call going out in the earth today.  It rings in my own city of Spokane just as clearly as it rings in New York City or London, Amsterdam or Baghdad.  "Come follow me."  It's the call of Jesus to His church, including those who don't even know they're a part of it yet!  As we respond to this call there can be a subtle whisper in our minds:  "But what about my past, what about my career, what about my family, what about my 'issues,' what about...?"  However, when Jesus calls he already knows our "stuff" and all the reasons we aren't qualified - even the ones we haven't realized yet!

Two stories stick out to me today:  Jesus commissioning His twelve disciples to go out and proclaim His kingdom, and Jesus calling a would-be disciple to move forward with Him without looking back.  The full stories can be found in Luke 9 but here are a couple of quick quotes.

“And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.”  Luke 9:1-2, ESV
 “Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’”  Luke 9:62, ESV

When Jesus gave His disciples power and authority to rebuke demons and to heal the sick and to proclaim the kingdom of God he then sent them out to do it.  He didn’t wait until all their theology was sorted out (made painfully obvious by their later request for permission to call down fire from heaven on their enemies), and He didn’t wait until their motives were perfect (power hungry, anyone?) and all their inner-healing issues were all resolved.  He commissioned and empowered His chosen, yet imperfect, people.  He still does that.

Later, when another man wanted to follow Jesus after he dealt with some "stuff", He told this guy that he needed to look ahead rather than behind him.  Just as it would be nearly impossible for a farmer to plow a straight line in his field without watching where he was going, so it would also be hard to do kingdom work while stuck in yesterday.  The kingdom of God is moving forward and those who follow Jesus will be caught up in His forward-moving mission.

Are there things in your past, or even your present, that distract you and would seem to disqualify or delay you from kingdom work and purpose?  In Jesus’ kingdom you are not disqualified.  Look forward!  The call to follow is now.  The issues will be resolved along the journey.*

*(Church planters, church leaders, husbands, wives, moms, and dads:  this isn't a call to bury old "stuff" and let it fester!  Issues of bitterness, unforgiveness, and pain need to be addressed or those bitter roots in our lives grow and "defile many."  The point is that we don't wait until we have them all figured out and only then step out to follow Christ forward in faith.)

It's Gonna Be Quite A Ride

Dawa used to be a Buddhist priest in Nepal.  Seeking truth, he became a Hindu, but later abandoned Hinduism to become an atheist.  And now?  Now he serves as a Christian pastor and fellow church planter here in Spokane, Washington.  Jesus' relentless pursuit of Dawa has brought this Bhutanese man to my city where I met him this morning at breakfast, courtesy of World Relief.

God's story through Dawa's life stirs worship in my core.  While still an atheist, he became very sick and the doctors could not help.  A Christian friend whom Dawa had formerly debated brought him to the elders of his church.  They prayed and he was supernaturally healed; Dawa began to follow Jesus that day which led to persecution.  Now he serves other Bhutanese refugees here in Spokane, proclaiming the kingdom of God to his people!

Another man at our breakfast meeting was named Alex.  He is a Russian pastor leading an English-speaking church (Russians, Americans, and now a Chinese exchange student) that has recently been serving the Iraqi Muslim community in Spokane.  This is beautiful.

As we shared stories together of what God is doing in the world and around Spokane, my faith was freshly stirred by the supernatural God we serve.  To hear of the approximately 500 refugees that will be coming to Spokane in 2014, many of them who have experienced trauma I cannot personally comprehend, was heart-melting yet strengthening for my spiritual backbone.  The sense of destiny I felt as we prayed together for our city and for refugee families in particular was both challenging and empowering, as I could see a tiny slice of the prophetic calling on Grace Church Spokane for the upcoming year.

Multiple Congolese families are coming to our city.  Who will be the ones to welcome them to our nation, to Spokane, and into friendship?  Who will share hope with them?  Who can see prophetic destiny on these lovely people?  It must certainly be the people of Christ!  Just as Jesus went through cities and villages "proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God" (Luke 8:1), the church in Spokane has the unique opportunity to welcome families of various faiths and backgrounds into our town and to bring the gospel of the kingdom into their cultural community!  What a joy it is as the cities and villages of the earth are coming to us!

Thanks to the leaders of World Relief for hosting such a wonderful time of faith-inspiring challenge, helpful strategy, and prophetic confirmation of my own church's call to love and serve the nations in our own city and beyond.  The gospel is good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, fresh vision for eyes that cannot see, and freedom to the oppressed; it is the good news of the favor of God in our day and in our time.  Thank you for being a part of this kingdom and for being facilitators of the church's apostolic call to "remember the poor."

Jesus is connecting His people with His kingdom purpose!  He is more committed to this than we could possibly hope to be.  As we are led by the Holy Spirit into the "villages" and people groups in our cities and towns, we can expect to see Jesus at work.  Are your eyes open?  I feel like mine are opening a little wider and kingdom vision is flooding in.  It's gonna be quite a ride...  Who's with me?

Church Planting Doesn't Make You Great

As a church planter, the role of announcing the good news of the kingdom of God in unusual places is just part of everyday life.  As one who talks one-on-one with people in coffee shops and bistros, pubs and sidewalks, and who speaks more formally in our hip downtown venue on Sundays, I find myself championing the grace of God a lot!  Talking about Jesus as the one who forgives sin, who reconciles us to God, the one who paid the price for our sin - this is just what I get to do, and I love it.  Calling people to repentance, to genuine fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and calling them to enjoy the amazing relationship we have as sons and daughters of God Himself is such a privilege.  But I can also be so busy doing all these things that I forget to take advantage of all these benefits that I have in God.

I was reading this morning in Luke 7 when this scripture jumped  out at me:

"I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.  Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."  (Luke 7:28, ESV)

Jesus had just declared that John was not just a prophet, but more than a prophet:  he was the "messenger" whom the prophet Malachi had foretold would come to prepare the way for the Messiah (See Malachi 3:1).  In that sense, John was a pretty big deal.  However, after this statement Jesus then proclaims that the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John!  What?  How can this be?  How can the greatest prophet be lesser than a brand new follower of Christ?  (To be clear, Jesus wasn't saying John was excluded from the kingdom of God.  John was looking forward to a kingdom that he could not yet fully understand.)

To participate in the kingdom of God is better than to talk about it!  To be a great preacher of the glories of God cannot compare to experiencing them!  To live as a citizen of God's kingdom, as a member of the New Covenant in Christ's own blood, a citizen of grace and truth, freely approaching the very throne of God Himself, is a completely different reality than to declare that this is available.  While I could personally call people to repentance and call them to respond to Jesus - and I do - yet, I could still stand distant from the enjoyable benefits He has provided for me.

It was not John's "prophet" status that would cause him to become great in the kingdom of God; it would be his embrace of the King.  It would not be his austerity or good works that signified greatness but his faith in the Greater One.  In the same way, being a church planter doesn't make me great.  It's not that I come as a prophetic voice into my city of Spokane.  God hasn't called me (or you) to be "merely" a mouthpiece for His kingdom, a herald of things to come; he has called us to be active participants in His covenant of grace.  He has called us to relationship, to citizenship in Himself.

I can hear your theological gears working:  "But greatness in the kingdom is all about serving!  Jesus said that!  What about serving?"  You would be right, but what's the motive for all this serving?  Our service, whether it's declaring the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ, clothing the poor, or feeding the hungry, is best given from hearts that enjoy the abundant provision God daily lavishes upon us.  Citizenship in the kingdom of God never begins with us serving God, but with Him serving us.  He opens our blinded eyes, softens are hardened hearts, brings us from death to life, fills us with His very own Spirit, and causes our hearts to then beat in sync with His!  The least in the kingdom of God can enjoy these benefits of grace; the greatest servants in the kingdom - whether they are cancer-ward volunteers, church leaders, or poor widows who pray for them all - will serve greatly because they are rooted and grounded into the grace, truth, and love of their all-sufficient Savior.

Here's the prophetic call:  take some time to enjoy the very benefits you love to talk about!  Yes, search the Scriptures, but also come to Jesus and enjoy the life He provides.  Speak from that place.  Love from that place.  Serve from that place.  Maybe even plant churches from that place!

The Purpose of Being Blessed

I'll never forget senile Aunt Bethany's prayer in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  She's asked to pray "The B-l-e-s-s-i-n-g" by her excellent-toupee-wearing husband, and she begins with, "I pledge allegiance to the flag..."  I laugh every time.  Yep, every time!  The family request to "bless" the food goes wrong just like everything else the Griswolds do.

The reality is that God really is a God of blessing, and he does a much better job of it than Aunt Bethany.  The King of all creation purposes to bless His people so that they can be a blessing to the world in which they live.  His words to a man named Abram are encouraging:

"And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing."  (Genesis 12:2, ESV)

When God chose Abram He told him to "Go."  He told him to leave his land and his father's house, and to go where God would lead.  Abram would experience famine, political challenges, war, and extreme marriage difficulties.  Abram was specially chosen to be blessed by the King, by God Himself, but it's the stories of his struggles along the way that encourage me the most!

1. His political turmoil with the Egyptian Pharaoh (all over his beautiful wife!):  God blessed a sometimes fearful, sometimes deceitful man because God has a bigger plan.
2. His adjustment to real life issues when a famine forced Abram to move his family and sizeable animal herds to Egypt in the first place:  being blessed doesn't mean being "babied" or "coddled".
3. His recapture of his kidnapped family along with the goods and citizens of wicked kings (like the king of Sodom); his refusal to accept payment but instead to honor God through extravagant giving:  God's kingdom is apparently an internally transforming one!

God still blesses the citizens of His kingdom to be a blessing to the nations, whether they are Egyptians, Sodomites (yep, I know you raised your eyebrows on that one), Spokanites, etc.  Our struggles are real but they will always serve a greater "kingdom" purpose.  When God calls us out and chooses to bless us, drawing us into His mission in the earth, it may not look quite as we expect!

Consider your struggles.  Consider your blessings.

Now consider the kingdom of God.  What might he be doing through your life to bless the nations?  It's worth thinking about.

The Kingdom Among Us

A constant collision of two kingdoms:  this is Luke 4, as the kingdom of God effectively opposes the kingdom of the darkness.  Early on in this story the devil has the audacity to offer Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, over which he had authority, if only Jesus would worship him.  Of course, Jesus doesn't, stating that God alone is to be worshiped, and the devil is unsuccessful.

Later, Jesus describes His mission:  to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, and sight to the blind; to free the oppressed and to proclaim the time of God's favor (4:18,19).  After breaking demonic strongholds and healing the sick, we see Him teaching in various synagogues and towns because he "must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well" (Luke 4:43).  This was part of His purpose.

Luke seems to tie Jesus' quote and application of Isaiah's prophecy to His declaration of the kingdom of God.  Is this good news?  Absolutely!  He is anointed not only to preach the kingdom but to bring it!  He casts out demons, rebukes a high fever, heals a great many sick people with various diseases and He teaches the truth with authority.  These things are evidence of the kingdom of God among men.

Could it be that we could still see strong teaching of the good news accompanied with the powerful evidence that Jesus says is fulfilled in and through Him?  Can we see anointed men and women of God declaring the good news of the kingdom of God to the poor, declaring liberty to those in captivity, recovering of sight to lost and blinded people?  Can we really see the oppressed set free?  I firmly believe we can... and will.  I'm really excited to be proclaiming (and walking in) the favor of God this year!

The King With Smiling Eyes

Does your king have a smile in his eyes?  Mine does.

He also deeply experiences the emotion of wrong committed in his kingdom.  My king grieves over injustice and wickedness and does something about it.

Read this carefully:  "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart....  But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD."  (Genesis 6:5,6,8, ESV)

The Lord, the Creator King, is not an emotionless, passionless being.  He is not a cosmic justice scale made of some eternally frigid metal.  He has a heart.  When he looks on wickedness or righteousness His heart is moved by it.  The Creator King cares and feels; He grieves and smiles; and He acts with clear purpose to defeat wickedness and to advance His kingdom of righteousness.

I see the extreme contrast of God being "grieved ... to his heart" and the favor that is found in His eyes toward a man like Noah.  When God looked upon Noah, His eyes were smiling.  When He looked upon the sin of the world and and the depravity of sinful man He felt sorrow.

Often, I think we can forget that God is a "He", not an "It"; a Person, not a Force; a King that rules with care and love.  His kingdom is not just an idea but a realm with an eternal ruler.  This ruler leads with passion and His royal code means something to His heart.  The instructions He gives (His laws and decrees) represent His own love for righteousness, justice, and truth, as well as His genuine love for His people.

As I write this morning, it gives me great strength to know that because of Jesus' righteousness credited to me, though my sin has grieved the heart of God, I have been declared righteous.  His favor rests on me and the eyes of my King are smiling at me like they smiled at Noah.  This is true for every Christian, even the ones who don't know it yet.  What an adventure it is to continually discover this King with smiling eyes!