Every time I read the verses of our gospel reading my mind immediately focuses on the verses about people being left behind. Jesus says, “I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.” I’m reminded of the Left Behind books and movies from a couple decades ago. I also recall seeing bumper stickers that say, “Warning: In case of rapture this car will be driverless.”
It inspires vivid images in my imagination, but all of that misses the point of what Jesus is trying to get across. We remember that Jesus often taught in parables, images, and used great exaggerations. Taking these verses literally misses the real point.
Jesus, who we’ll remember is on his way to Jerusalem with a group of his followers, is asked by some Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming. The Pharisees’ question connects two themes that Jesus decides to separate.
It’s often said that the Jews of Jesus’ day were looking for the messiah. But what does that mean? Some Jews thought of a messiah as a military figure who would lead Judaism to independence and national restoration. In Jesus’ day the nation, and the religion, were fractured into different sects and territories. This messiah figure would unite them all and establish God’s reign for a glorious future. Other people in the past where thought to have done similar things. King David was called a messiah. Persian king Cyrus was called messiah. Each had something to do with restoring the government and religion.
Those hopes and expectations also got mixed into another idea of a messiah. Some Jews didn’t see the messiah as someone sent by God who would restore earthly Judaism for a period of time. They saw the messiah as someone God would send at the end of time. All things in the world would be brought to their ultimate conclusion.
So, the Pharisees question is when the kingdom of God is coming. What does that refer to? Is it the restoration of God’s reign on earth, or is it the end of time? Jesus responds to both possibilities.
First, he says, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”
This challenges what the Pharisees expect. There will be no national militaristic figure who will bring about restoration and independence. That is not how God’s kingdom works at all. All through Jesus’ ministry he has not explicitly said, “I am bringing about the kingdom of God right here and right now.” But that is in effect what he has been teaching. They should not look for God’s kingdom as a military victory and political restoration. The kingdom of God is an orientation of life that Jesus’ followers will exhibit. And collectively, among them, it does have real world effects.
Here's the problem with all ideas of the kingdom of God being a military or political enterprise. Many Jews of Jesus’ day thought that when the kingdom of God came the bad guys would get what’s been coming to them, and they (the Jews) would rightfully be restored and recognized as the true believers all along. For centuries there were teachings in Judaism that all the world would come to them for salvation.
But that attitude is filled with arrogance, even if only subtly so. If the kingdom comes with political or military forms that means that one group becomes the winners and others are the losers. While being on the winning side can feed your ego, and being on the losing side feels horrible or shameful, it doesn’t actually change the human condition at all. The idea is based on the vision that God will just rearrange who’s winning and who’s losing.
The same dynamic plays out in politics, business, warfare, and social dynamics today. I feel like many of the tensions between liberals and conservatives is just moral posturing over the other. Each claims to have the moral high ground. Each funds research and studies to prove themselves right and the other wrong. Of course, someone wins and someone loses; or else you end up fighting it out endlessly.
Now, I am not above this. I have my thoughts and opinions. I like to think that my position is right and morally superior, and that others are wrong and inferior. Ultimately I tell myself that if everyone just did things my way, the world would be a better place. (But woe to you all if I got my way. I’m pretty sure the world would be in far worse shape than it is now!)
The kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurates is a fundamental change of heart and motive. The entire gospel of Luke can be summed up as a conflict between two kingdoms. On one side is the kingdom of this world. In seminary one professor called it, “The Redistributive Economics of Exploitation.” It doesn’t matter what economic system you use: laisse-fare capitalism, neo-liberalism, communism, socialism, or any mix thereof, the same things end up happening. An elite class emerges that controls the key resources and others are exploited to serve the elite. It’s the way the world ends up working in all societies; across all races and cultures.
The professor called the other kingdom, “The Divine Economy of Promised Compassion.” Here we have a way of being that changes the heart. It is based on all people recognizing their need for God, and that they are loved by God. It means building your life around a relationship with God first and foremost. This is not a sweet, sappy, sentimentalist, pie-in-the-sky ideology. The divine economy of promised compassion requires hard work and diligence from everyone. It makes all decisions and does all things based on being in relationship with God. It’s not about ecology or superior morality. It’s about truly trusting God. We’ve hit these themes many times before:
It says that I do not need a life of endless hollow consumption.
It says that my value is not measured by the impressions I make on other people.
It says that I will use my abilities to contribute to the good of all, even when doing so is hard and tedious.
It says that I know I am held by God into eternal life, so that even how long I live does not matter. So it’s not worth worrying about or expending energy on.
This is the kingdom of God that Jesus is ushering in. It’s not going to lead to any military conquests or government restoration. No one gets to be the winners with moral high ground over others. All need God’s compassion and all live that out.
When the Pharisees ask Jesus, “When?” he’s telling them that it’s already happening. It’s not overtly visible as a great movement or army though. It is an orientation of life. They’re invited to have it.
That takes us to the second part of the issue about the kingdom of God. What about the end of time stuff? What about God bringing an end to the world and an end to all pain, suffering, and misery? That’s a separate issue, but one that ties into what Jesus has said.
Jesus says that one will be taken and the other left. Don’t get too literal about this. Jesus often taught with parables and extreme images. The point is not that at the rapture many cars will suddenly become driverless. The point is that everyday life will continue. Those who are saved and those who are not – meaning those who live by the divine economy of promised compassion, and those who live by redistributive economics of exploitation – will all be doing their thing. They may be indistinguishable. Those in God’s kingdom do not leave the world and take on holy callings that are noticeably different. All still need to eat and sleep. But the point is that it may happen suddenly. Don’t strategize thinking that you’ll wait for signs and only then decide to become a faithful person. True faith is a disposition. It is not a strategy to get ahead with either God or humanity. To scheme with Christian faith is to show that you don’t really have faith.
We’ll conclude with the frustrating yet humorous end of the passage. We began with the Pharisees asking Jesus “when”. Now at the end the disciples ask “where”. Have they not been listening at all? Did they not understand a word Jesus said? Jesus said it is not about when, it is already happening. And if it is happening it is also not a matter of where. It is everywhere! But the disciples don’t get it either. Once again we find that the disciples of Jesus are really no closer to the truth than Jesus’ opponents.
It’s hard for us as well. We truly need God’s promise of divine compassion for our lives. Life will always be a struggle. There will be work, pain, and uncertainty. We’ll never get it perfectly right. But God will remain perfectly faithful. For that we live with expectation and hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment