A Kingdom Like No Other

My parents, through differing means, left their homeland Cuba after Fidel Castro tightened an iron fist around the island nation.

I remember as a child asking how they were able to leave, and the reply I received was simply, “He let us go.”

That left a deep impression on my tender intellect. You see, I thought that meant they’d actually met the reviled dictator to gain permission to leave.

In my mind’s eye, I could see an impossibly large throne room with a line of people; some huddled in small groups, others alone or with a spouse, all waiting their turn at the great throne at the end of the hall.

I could picture Castro, a cigar butt sticking out of his craggy beard, waiting impatiently as my parents presented their case to him. After glaring at each in turn, he muttered under his breath to an aide-de-camp who jotted down their names on a list and motioned for them to proceed.

A procession that moved towards freedom.

Freedom from Castro’s Kingdom.

Freedom to voice their conscience, freedom to follow their dreams and freedom from oppression.

Freedom, unfortunately, found only in exile.

The reality of their departure was actually a little bit more interesting. They had not yet married when my father was able (through the help of a priest) to enlist in the United States Army and subsequently leave the country. My mother, on the other hand, secured her freedom in a manner more befitting a Cold-War spy thriller; she scaled the fence to the Uruguay Embassy in Havana where she secured her status as a political refugee. The following months were filled with boredom for her (punctuated by five marriage proposals) as she waited with over three hundred other refugees for their exit.

When my parents were reunited, it was in a new country.

What would it be like to live in exile? Away from your family, your culture and your shared history?

What does this mean for those who follow Jesus now, who often feel out of sorts with our society?

The Bible often refers to followers of Christ as “temporary residents and foreigners”.

Are we to sit idly by and wait for heaven, The Kingdom of God to one day appear, or is there more for us to do?

A very interesting piece of Scripture is found in Luke 17:20-21: “One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you. ” NLTse

What does it mean for the Kingdom of Heaven to be among us (or “within you” as some translations read)?

The seventh and final part of our Vision Statement wrestles with this idea:

A kingdom where the poor are rich and the lonely find family. Where justice and mercy slow dance. Where hearts, souls, and minds are opened and wisdom expands. Where we pour love on Jesus’ tired, dirty, beautiful, aching feet whenever we serve another person. A kingdom where we receive our name and engage our calling. Where shattered lives and fragmented dreams find the hope that leads to restoration. We have caught a glimpse of this kingdom and we have found it captivating. We as the church have been called to get this kingdom started on earth as it is in heaven. The keys to this kingdom are in our hands. When are we going to unlock these gates? Who will help push the boundaries of this kingdom until it swallows up all that causes disconnection and suffering? As this River bursts forth we will flood our community with the tangible presence of Jesus Christ.

How can we help grow God’s Kingdom this week?

Joe

Related Verses
1 Peter 2 9:12
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

“Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

Mark 12:32-34
The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”

Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Luke 13:18-30
Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”

He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like? It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”

He replied, “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’

“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out. And people will come from all over the world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom of God. And note this: Some who seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be least important then.”

NLTse