The apostle Paul found himself pulled in two directions:
There were two opposing forces in his life which we all recognise. Jesus called these forces the Kingdom of the World and the Kingdom of God.
Our physical self is the product of evolution, the survival of the fittest. It is governed by the laws and equations of biology, chemistry and physics. Survival is built into our genes so we are driven to think constantly about ourselves and our own needs - for warmth, food, shelter, rest, self-gratification and so on. This is how I understand the Kingdom of the World.
"Love", in this me-first world is expressed in the sexual desire that has evolved to procreate the next generation, in family affection and friendship that enable the survival of the tribe, and in our “love” of money, power and possessions which are humanity's survival systems.
Yet me-first, is not all we are; another kingdom is at work within us, an altruistic force that puts the needs of others before our own. This other kingdom was the focus of Jesus teaching. Matthew records the start of Jesus’ ministry in these words:
“Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”.
I prefer to use a less supernatural phrase - the Kingdom of Sacrificial Love. I believe this is the essence of the good news (gospel) that Jesus preached. He was directing his followers away from a self-centred life to a love-centred life. Bishop John Robinson, in his book Honest to God, titled his chapter on Jesus, "The Man for Others".
The Kingdom of Unselfish Love runs counter to our ego-centric, selfish, evolution-born selves. Where scientific laws and maths equations rule the Kingdom of the World, self-sacrifice, repentance and forgiveness are the laws that rule in the Kingdom of Sacrificial Love.
Jesus was faced with the conflict between these two kingdoms before the start of his ministry. Matthew's account tells of him retreating to a wilderness for 40 days where he was tempted by Satan. There were three challenges. - personal survival, personal status, and personal ambition. He rejected all three.
In the “Blessed” sayings listed in Mat. Ch 5, Jesus spelled out those who are blessed by God: the poor, the pure in heart, the merciful, the peacemakers, those hungry for righteousness and so on, and later in the Sheep & Goats parable he teaches that the division of humanity after death is based on sacrificial love, not on what you believe.
In The Sermon on The Mount (Mt: 5-7) Jesus sets out the values of the Kingdom of Heaven but sets an impossible standard:
The Kingdom of Unselfish Love runs counter to our ego-centric, selfish, evolution-born selves. Where scientific laws and maths equations rule the Kingdom of the World, self-sacrifice, repentance and forgiveness are the laws that rule in the Kingdom of Sacrificial Love.
Jesus was faced with the conflict between these two kingdoms before the start of his ministry. Matthew's account tells of him retreating to a wilderness for 40 days where he was tempted by Satan. There were three challenges. - personal survival, personal status, and personal ambition. He rejected all three.
In the “Blessed” sayings listed in Mat. Ch 5, Jesus spelled out those who are blessed by God: the poor, the pure in heart, the merciful, the peacemakers, those hungry for righteousness and so on, and later in the Sheep & Goats parable he teaches that the division of humanity after death is based on sacrificial love, not on what you believe.
In The Sermon on The Mount (Mt: 5-7) Jesus sets out the values of the Kingdom of Heaven but sets an impossible standard:
“You must be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect”
He finishes with the challenge to build the house of our lives on the rock of the Kingdom of Sacrificial Love, not simply by hearing his words but by living them out.
Our inevitable failure to live the sacrificial life means we constantly need forgiveness. Jesus taught that forgiveness has a price, not the price of his death on the cross but the price of our forgiveness of others. The prayer he taught his disciples includes, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. The prayer is entirely about asking for Kingdom of Sacrificial Love to come ever more completely into our lives as we face the daily choice between the values of the two kingdoms.
We have created a society where the gods of money and power rule – the survival of the richest. So much for Jesus’ warnings about camels and needles, or rich farmers building bigger barns.
Jesus’ way of sacrificial love is a narrow way, few find it and few live it. The writer G K Chesterton said:
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”
In Conclusion
Though I am no longer a traditional Christian believer I remain a faltering disciple of Jesus and believe in his Gospel of The Kingdom of Sacrificial Love._______________________________________________
0 comments:
Post a Comment