So Where Is It?

1 Corinthians 10:1-12

The Kingdom of God--simply hearing the words fires majestic imagery and triumphal thoughts. The Kingdom of God is the place where the rule of God is as it should be. The Kingdom of God is where the residents are as they should be. All is well, nothing is out of place, and all is right with the cosmos within the Kingdom. 

And it sure isn’t here!

That is the immediate response of so many as they hear the Kingdom of God invoked. The Kingdom of God seems far removed from anything we might experience here and now. The Kingdom is where love rules; here, not so much. The Kingdom is where grace reigns supreme; here, not so much. The Kingdom is where there is no strife nor discord; here, not so much. The Kingdom is where the innocent flourish; here, not so much.The Kingdom is where the meek shall inherit the earth; here, not so much.

The evidence keeps piling up that the Kingdom of God is not here. It is so not here that within the faith community itself there is an assumption that the Kingdom will not be tasted until death. We have to get out of this world to get into the Kingdom of God. It is somewhere else. 

The Rev. Eugene Peterson, compiler of “The Message” translation of the Bible, wrote that such a stance, though, is strongly repudiated in the Bible (“Christ Plays in 10000 Places”). If we read the gospels, we encounter repeatedly Christ’s admonition that the Kingdom draws near in his presence. Christ was here; the Kingdom was launched into the world as we know it; so it is here and now, not something far off and not yet known. 

That means rethinking the Kingdom altogether.

Paul recounts the history of the Israelites in the Exodus in our text from First Corinthians. In his recollection, he points out that while some of the Israelites understood and knew that redemption was theirs, that they were right then and there the redeemed, far more did not. They heard tell of the Promised Land and assumed that meant their experience of salvation was coming, but not yet. As a result, they lived as the unredeemed. In one of the more frightening of Paul’s famous lists, he recounts all the ways the reprobates fell along the wayside during the journey, meeting horrible ends. His purpose is to warn his Corinthian congregants that hoping for the Kingdom is going to lead to trouble. The Kingdom is NOW! Life as residents of the Kingdom is also NOW! Ergo, let your words and deeds show it!

Rev. Peterson teaches in his book that the way to live is to live through Christ wherever you are. Take on his love as your way to meet the world. Bring to realization the Kingdom of God wherever you are by acting and speaking in and through the love found in Christ--hence, Christ plays in 10000 places--and a million more.

But it gets so overwhelming. 

Those Israelites who fell by the wayside were not wicked, evil human beings. They were simply overmatched by the world as it was. One of their persistent cries to Moses was, “Why have you brought us into the desert to die? Were there not graves enough in Egypt?” (Ex. 14:10-12). The promises were there, but so was the world. Moses did say they were on their way to the Promised Land, but he hadn’t said a thing about Pharaoh and his chariots chasing them there. 

We hear the thundering herd of Pharaoh’s horses a lot. It scares us. And with good reason. The problems that beset the world are real, tangible, and big. One of the prevalent responses right now is resignation--things just are the way they are, so get on with it with lowered hopes and even lower expectations. 

But Christ plays in 10000 places.

Christ is here. Christ is with us. Hear and believe the good news of Christ--”Behold, I am with you always until the close of the age!” (Mt. 28:20). He really meant it. He is with us. Always and forever. 

The Kingdom is not far off, it is right here. But to see it, we have to make it seen. We are called to love one another. We are called to love the world. We are called to love ourselves. We are called to love that meets others in compassion, grace, and mercy. In so doing, we make the Kingdom visible, and, yes, it will make a difference. It will change the people we meet. It will change us.

Believe.

That is the first step.

Always.