When I read our text for this week I have two immediate responses. The first is, “Wow! This is amazing – the kingdom of God has come near!” And given the fact that God is the center of the universe it must be a pretty spectacular kingdom. He is the eternal living God so you wouldn’t expect his kingdom to be equivalent to a trailer down by the river. His kingdom has got to be awesome.
My second reaction is, “What is the kingdom of God? Where are its boarders? What is its GDP? What is its population? How can I find it? How do I get a visa? What is the kingdom of God?”
During the weeks leading up to Easter we’ll be examining God’s Word to address that very question, “What is the kingdom of God?” But for today, understand that the Kingdom of God doesn’t refer to a territory but the dynamic rule of God. The Psalmist paints this picture for us when he writes,
“The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.” (Psalm 103:19).
The Psalmist links God’s kingdom with his rule. The two are synonymous. Wherever God rules, that’s where his kingdom is. That’s why in Mark 10 Jesus calls us to “receive the kingdom of God …” (Mark 10:24) He’s not calling us to move into the kingdom of God, he’s calling us to receive it. That means that we are to receive God’s rule in our lives. He is to take center place.
Of course, our problem is that we have what is called a Ptolemy gospel. Do you know who Ptolemy was? He believed that the center of the universe was earth, the sun and moon all revolved around it. But then Copernicus came along and said, “No, no, no. It’s the other way around. It’s the earth that travels around the sun.”
Many of us need a Copernican revolution in our lives. We need to take ourselves out of the center of our universe and let the King of Kings reside there. We need to allow the kingdom of God, his rule, to be at the heart of our lives.
When I was young my mom had her hands full with 5 young children, so we hired a cleaning lady. She would come in once a month and clean house. Can you imagine my mother’s reaction if the cleaning lady said, “You’re lucky I’m here today. I’ve had a busy week so I’m going to lay down and watch my favorite program. I’d like tea at 10 and lunch at 12 and while my car is in the drive could you please wash it?”
That’s the way we sometimes treat our Lord. He is the King and with the coming of Jesus his Kingdom has arrived. He deserves to be the center of our lives. We seek to serve him, not the other way around.
May his Kingdom truly come into each of our lives, Pastor Tom.