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Matthew 9.35-10.8

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Pentecost 5

Shelton, WA

Strange New World

One of the truly remarkable things about the Bible is the way it presents God’s activity in bringing about God’s will. You see, the Bible is more than a book of ethics, though it contains a fair amount of ethical instruction. It is more than a history of a people or a nation, though there is history and historical events that fill its pages and make up its message. It is more than a theological reflection on God, creation, sin, and salvation, though it is deeply theological at its core. In its essence, though, what the Bible is really all about is God’s kingdom making its way into a broken and backwards world.

Karl Bath talks about the Strange New World of the Bible. And he’s right. Page after page the Scriptures outline a strange new world—one where the last is first, where the servant is greatest, where meekness is blessed, where suffering and love are the way to fulfillment and purpose, where compassion and mercy not power and dominion are the marks of true leadership, a strange new world where you must loose your life in order to find life, a place where grace is let loose in all its unpredictability.

Jesus calls this strange new world the Kingdom of God. And it’s the kingdom of God—or the kingdom of Heaven—that forms the substance of his message. It’s what he preached. It’s what he commissioned his disciples to preach. “Proclaim the good news,” he told them, “‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’”

Good news… of course the word for good news is evangel. Evangelism is about good news. At its Biblical center, evangelism is about bringing this strange new world of the Bible into our broken and backwards world. It’s about the kingdom of God taking root here on earth and spreading to every corner of the globe.

That was God’s plan from the very beginning. When God called Abram, when God told Abram he would have a son and that all nations would be blessed through him, God intended this strange new world of God’s Kingdom to infect and transform the nations of the world. God intended Israel to be a city on a hill, calling all nations to justice and peace, mercy and compassion. God intended Israel to be a lamp-stand shining out from the darkness, illuminating truth and righteousness.

But something went wrong. Or so it seemed. This strange new world seemed far away. The city on a hill had become just as corrupt as its neighbors. The lamp-stand had lost its shimmer, the light had gone out. Israel had lost her way. Jesus calls them “sheep without a shepherd.” He describes them as “harassed and helpless.” And it moves him to compassion. The kingdom of heaven had come near.

You know, I wonder if Jesus ever got frustrated or disappointed. I mean, here he was, God in the flesh; he had come to change the world… to bring the kingdom of God to earth; he proclaimed good news, curing every disease and every sickness; but still, it seemed that little had changed. For all he did… for all his effort… for all his sacrifice… was anything really changing?

I wonder about that too. Is anything really changing? As we look around our world today, it’s hard not to wonder. It’s hard not to get frustrated. It’s hard not to get discouraged. If the kingdom of God is so near, why does it seem like things are no different than they have always been? Is anything really changing?

You know, I don’t know about you, but for me it’s always easier giving myself to something when there are visible results. When the change is obvious and tangible somehow it makes the work seem a little easier… a little more rewarding. But ministry doesn’t always work that way. The truth is, after hours of work and sacrifice and effort, we’re often left wondering: has anything really changed. Have we made any difference at all? Is God really doing anything to change our world?

When we read the statistics about any of the social ills that plague our world, how they’re getting worse not better, we have to wonder: What difference are we making? What difference is the Church making? Is God’s kingdom really near? Is God really changing the world? Where is the strange new world that the Bible talks about?

Jesus looked out over the crowd and “he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” The word we would probably use here to describe them is the word “lost”—the people were lost. And it was their lost-ness that moved Jesus to compassion.

The word compassion is an interesting word. Basically what it means is to suffer with, or to enter into the suffering of another. It’s different than pity, because pity remains distant, pity remains uninvolved. Compassion, by contrast, immerses itself in the suffering of those who suffer. Jesus had compassion. He entered into the suffering and the lost-ness of the harassed and the helpless.

This, I believe, is a clue. This strange new world of the Bible is different. It is different than our world. Different not simply by degree, but different in its essence. It is a kingdom built on grace. And grace is not something that can be measured and calculated. Grace is not something quantifiable. Grace is wild and unpredictable. It is like the wind—to pick up on Jesus’ own metaphor—it blows where it will. You hear it. You sense its affects, but it is beyond your ability to direct and control.

This strange new world… this kingdom of heaven that is making its way into our world, is like the wind. It is beyond our ability to get hold of. It is beyond our ability to categorize and control. As a matter of fact, this strange new world stands crosswise to everything we know.

Even though we may not see it, God is at work changing our world. Jesus sends the twelve out to the lost sheep of Israel with the instruction to proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” He tells them to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” He says, “You received without payment; give without payment.”

That’s the difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of this world. The kingdom of heaven is built on grace. The kingdom of this world is built on status. The kingdom of heaven is about giving. The kingdom of this world is about taking. The kingdom of heaven is about meeting the needs of the lost. The kingdom of this world is about having our own needs met.

The twelve were sent out with the instruction to give freely, without thought of payment, status, or prestige. They were told to heal, make whole, set free. And as they did, the kingdom of heaven slowly inched its way into their world. With each person they touched the kingdom grew. With each life that was changed, their world was changed. With each person that was made whole, this strange new world of the Bible became more and more real.

The truth is: God is changing the world. And God is changing the world through you. With each act of kindness our world is changed a little bit. Every time you reach out to help someone… every time you extend kindness… every time you show compassion and sympathy, our world is changed.

Think about it. In the simple act of holding the door for someone, God is changing the world. When we let someone go ahead of us in the check out line, our world is changed. Even in the small gesture of sharing a smile, or a word of encouragement, or a thank-you, God acts to bring this strange new world of the Bible into our world.

When we reach out to the broken, the lonely, the marginalized, God is changing our world. As we fight for the rights of the powerless and oppressed… as we work to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, God’s kingdom makes its way into world.

When we offer forgiveness instead of “getting even”… when we hold out grace instead of reproach… when we put the needs of the other ahead of the needs of self, God is at work changing our world.

This strange new world of the Bible is breaking through. The kingdom of God is indeed near. As a matter of fact, it is closer than you think. It is as close as the person sitting next to you. Closer even! This strange new world of God’s kingdom has taken root within you. And everywhere you go, you bring the kingdom of God with you. God is changing the world. And God is changing it through you and me.

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father; what an awesome, amazing, and humbling thought it is to know that you are indeed changing our world, and that you are doing it through us. Amen.

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