041810

“The Kingdom Seen” Lk 9:26, 27 4/18/10

26- If any of you are ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 And I say to you, truly, there are certain of those here standing, who shall not taste of death till they may see the reign of God.'

[How many of you have an IPad? (most raised their hands) How many of you have heard of an IPAD? (not a single one).

I do not have an ipad, and am not sure what I would do with one if I had it, but I do know that people have gotten excited about it. The Ipad is a tablet computer by apple and they started working on it in January 2009. Word leaked out that it was coming around August, and computer geeks and gurus and magazines, and tv shows have been talking about it every day since. People hadn’t seen it, had never seen a model of it, but they heard it was coming and they got all excited about it. I thought it was interesting to watch their excitement. I have often thought that a much more important event and announcement is coming, - that would affect everyone and people don’t get nearly as excited about it. It is the coming of the kingdom of God. It is a coming that has been announced by the Greatest Manufacturer in the universe, and we have been given a model of it in the person of Jesus and his resurrection.

The real question this verse raises is “what is the reign of God” and “How do I get God reigning over me?”

Jesus was very, very concerned about the kingdom of God and God’s reign over this world and over our lives. It was a key part of his preaching. He began preaching saying, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” and he was concerned that “the good news of the kingdom of God” be spread to other places (Lk. 4:43).

There are three basic interpretations of this verse.
Some say that Jesus was mistaken that he thought he was coming back to earth right away after he died- and he did not, so he was just wrong. This is the skeptics interpretation.
Some say this is talking about the transfiguration, in which Jesus is glorified temporarily, and some of the disciples saw it (Peter, James, and John) but others did not.
Some say it is simply referring to the reign of God beginning at the resurrection- that God shows his power in raising Jesus from the dead, thus showing his glory, and the spread of faith in Christ to most of the known Roman world within the lifetime of most of the disciples.

I. HOW THE KINGDOM IS RIGHT NOW-

Jesus knew that in a sense the kingdom had come with his coming. In Luke he quoted Isaiah 61- The Spirit of the Lord is on me for he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recover of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Lk. 4:18,19). But then he adds these important words, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” They didn’t like that idea. In fact the people to whom he was preaching decided they would throw him off the cliff at Nazareth. When a proclamation has been made, there is a sense in which the reality has begun to happen. A month ago Prince Edward of England announced he was coming to Greenville on Memorial Day. It was all over the news. Things began to change all over Greenville just at the news that the Prince was coming. Immediately a lot of publicity occurred. Immediately events were planned- he is to give an award at the Ms. South Carolina pageant and show up at the Scottish games; and money was spent to have security and transportation; and arrangements made. This after all- as the publicity says, is the first time a high member of the royal family- (the fourth son of the king and queen of England) will be coming. It is short sited to say that any major event happens only when it actually gets here. There are arrangements made beforehand, during, and afterwards. There were many prophecies in the Old Testament about the messiah’s coming, and that people should clean up, put on their best for this coming King of kings. Yet, when Jesus came they did not, for the most part, recognize him.

I can remember as a kid when the teacher would leave the room, we would behave in a certain way, and we would often really act up, and sometimes even post a sentry at the door to tell us when the teacher was coming. I can remember being that sentry one time, and kids were throwing things, laughing, talking loud, and then not the teacher, but the principal started down our hall. I tried to tell them without yelling, but few could hear me or were willing to listen, or believed me… but when the principal came- he caught a few unprepared folks still throwing spit wads at each other. They got in real trouble!

We have this illusion in our culture that God is not watching or does not care. But He does. We think if God does not punish the wicked right away, then maybe God doesn’t care. Perry Tuttle said, Adam looked at Eve when she ate- and thought she didn’t die- It might be okay for me too. This week we got some video security cameras online. There have been a group of teens parking out in the back late at night, and I have threatened to put a big sign there that says, “Smile. God is watching you, and so are we.” But I won’t do that. God has always cared, and has always seen. But God shows his specific care with his presence. He came once, He is alive now, and He will come again. The common description of God in the last book of the Bible is He who was, who is, and who will be. His love and His concern was, is, and will be. The kingdom of God- God’s reign- was, is, and will be.

The kingdom in a sense is breaking in on us now as we love one another; as we help those in need; as we start new churches, and share our faith- not being ashamed of him. Yet we all know it is not perfect, it is not now.

II. HOW THE KINGDOM IS NOT YET- Jesus taught us to pray “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” We can see that God’s reign is not complete yet. Oscar Cullman gave a great illustration during World War II. He said, in some sense when D-Day happened (6/6/44) and the allies established a beachhead in France, victory in Europe was secured. But in another sense it was not complete until VE Day (5/8/45). Perhaps, to bring this closer- President George W. Bush declared victory in Iraq 5/2/2003 with the caveat that it was not a final victory, but victory was certain. Some say the victory was secured when Saddam Hussein was captured (12/13/03). Some say it was secured 11/22/09 when the Iraqi government declared a status of forces agreement, and the number of casualties went down. Some say it is not over until our troops leave. But there has never been a declaration that the war is over. How can we say God reigns? There is a lot of heartache, people still die, there is certainly a lot of sin, and Christians are persecuted all over the world. Yet within our generation- for the first time since about 1990 every nation has a believer in it- Jesus said he wouldn’t come back until every nation had heard.

III. HOW CAN I GET THE KINGDOM INTO MY LIFE- ie. Let God reign over me?

I. SEE THE URGENCY- Jesus, 2,000 years ago wanted his disciples ready when He comes again. I think there have been times when Jesus has peaked in at us- when the line between heaven and earth is (as some old Scottish Presbyterians used to say) “thin.” But there are people today who mock at his coming (as 1 Peter predicted). Jesus said we should “seek first the kingdom and his righteousness.” William Law said, and it is preserved on the cover of our bulletin- “If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.” Many of us choose something else to be first in our lives. It may be money, it may be things, it may be fame or position, it may be beauty, it may be sleeping, it may be fishing is first in our lives, or golf is first. But if you haven’t chosen the kingdom first, it makes no difference, for you have another Lord. Jesus wants us to see that the kingdom of God has broken into our world- it is upon us, among us, and is sucking us toward the day when the kingdom will be complete. Some argue that to really live as if the kingdom of God were urgent would make us not do anything. But historically those who have preached the kingdom’s coming- like Luther, or Wesley, or Whitfield and Edwards have made a tremendous difference in this world. If you put off God, and put off the gospel, what will happen? Nothing—for now, except a small layer of hardness is lacquered over your heart. It is like every day Jesus is not Lord of your life, a small coat of shellack is painted over your heart, until there is so much shellack that it cannot beat or grow or even be recognized as a heart. I remember seeing this once with an 85 year old man- who said he believed, but he just couldn’t do it, because it didn’t seem “fair” for him to come to Christ now after all these years. How very sad- to know you are wrong, and yet refuse to do anything about it because you’re in the habit of being wrong! Jesus said, “Today is the day of salvation” (Lk. 19:9). Hebrews says “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” To the living, no time is so important as the living present. Sew a thought reap and action; sew an action reap a habit; sew a habit reap a lifetime. We need to see the urgency of Christ. Instead, we often focus on "the next big thing" (like Ipads or 4GIpads). Instead of the next big thing- that will quickly fade into an old obsolete model- let us focus on the eternal- the kingdom of God.

II. REPENT- Often John the Baptist in his preaching, Jesus in his preaching, and Peter in his preaching associated the word “repent” with the kingdom of God’s coming. Repentance means we are going one way, and we stop- admit this is the wrong way- and go another direction. Christians who are not willing to repent are not worth much- they are not salt (corroded with dirt); light dingy with darkness.
We live in a day when people do not like to repent because they don't want to admit that they (or even someone else) is going the wrong way.

So- there are sections of our country where kids do not get grades- someone might feel bad if they fail. But the problem is 2 + 2 does not equal five. The truth matters. There are parts of our country where teams play sports but no score is taken- so no one loses- but we not only give up winning, we give up incentive for doing better. When people go to work and they make a bad decision and lose their job, they will be totally shocked because they have not learned how to handle losing or winning. We do not like to admit that we are playing wrong, learning wrong, or doing wrong. If people would learn to admit they are wrong, repent and live in forgiveness, the world would be much better. The kingdom is seen when people turn from going a selfish, evil way, and start living for love and God. When the drug addict gives up drugs to find Jesus- the kingdom is seen and love is restored. When the workaholic gives up workaholism to find love and family, then the kingdom is seen. Christ is seen clearly when a change occurs in someone's life, and that is seen when we repent.

III. BUILD FOR THE FUTURE- It was on Perry Tuttle’s bulletin cover and his web site. It was an old poem about an old man who was travelling the road when he came to a bridge that was washed out. He swam and waded across the stream. Then he built a bridge for the next person. Someone saw him and told him he was foolish for doing so, for he would probably never use it- but he said he was doing it for the next person who came by. The same for planting a tree. We plant seedlings or small trees knowing we may not sit under their shade, but we plant them anyway- for the good of others. The same for starting a new church that we may not attend, or building a children's building that our children may not learn in. We do such things for a greater cause- to glorify God- to build up his kingdom. When I was a boy scout one of the things drilled into our heads was to always leave a campsite better than when you found it. So if there is old trash there- that wasn’t yours- pick it up too. It is the short-sited person who lives only for themselves and for the moment. The future is dependent on what we do in the present. The kingdom is seen clearly when we are building it up- loving others, reaching out to those in need, sharing the faith we have found and means so much to us.
The kingdom of God- is here. It is seen in you and how you repent, in how you do things that are unselfish. It is announced as here now, and it is announced as yet to come.