Do We Really Want the Reign of
God?
Deacon Matthew Simpson
December 2, 2018
So it is that time of year again. The Christmas trees are going up all around,
wreaths are being raised, soft holiday lights are hung and all aglow; the
constant bombardment from advertisers promising holiday cheer at bargain prices
is streaming from every media possible…and Christmas music is playing wherever
you go…so it must be time for Jesus to talk about the Apocalypse again; dashing
our hopes that Jesus will be participating with us in light-hearted holiday
cheer. As I said last year in my sermon
on the first Sunday of Advent, I love preaching on the Apocalypse and 2nd
Coming, as I find that it typically gets a bad deal. Most Episcopalians find it awkward to talk
about…and the people who are eager to talk about it are awkward to talk
to.
In our culture
the mainstream thinking of the 2nd Coming follows the traditional
pathway of Medieval Christianity: Fear and Guilt. Often associated with the 2nd
Coming come images of plague, terror, fire, and judgement. Who will make it to the pearly gates, and who
will be thrown into the lake of fire? Everything that has ever been built up
will be torn asunder, as suddenly the God of Love and Mercy will become the
Great Terminator in the sky. And while I
think the Apocalypse, or as I like to call it the “Great Revealing” will be
terrifying, and for many it will be cataclysmic…I don’t think it will be
terrifying for reasons we think. So what
do we do with this? What is the Good News of this 2nd Coming? What is the call to us as Christians to
prepare for and participate in this Messianic Event?
If we
go to the text we are told that the world will be in turmoil: natural
disasters; nations will be in conflict; there will be great distress in the
world…so basically all of human history.
And these words of Jesus were said in a time of violence and angst, and
were recorded in a time of conflict; Luke’s Gospel is written after the temple
has been destroyed; Jerusalem is laid waste; the diaspora has begun; systematic
persecutions of Christians are now underway.
The wisdom from this Scripture is not necessarily to foresee great doom
coming ahead…but to recognize the turmoil here and now…the signs of the Coming
of the Kingdom are all around us all the time.
Do we see them?
Next we see the response to these events…people fainting
from fear and despair; people giving up.
The image is people falling all around us from distress…but what are we
told to do? Stand up; Raise your head,
for your Redemption is near. And so the
people of Jesus’ time, and our time are being told to have a radical hope: The world around us may seem like it is
falling apart…but in faith, in holding to God’s promises we know it is temporary;
something bigger than us is happening; something is coming that is just,
merciful and eternal…so do not despair.
Act as though the Kingdom is already here…act in justice and mercy:
despite the despair, horror and violence around. Later we are told do not give into
extravagance and drunkenness and excess that derives from despair. Stand UP! Be ready! The Beginning is Near.
So what does that mean for us today? Well in true Episcopal fashion, I largely
leave you to wrestle with that question on your own. However, I do want to offer how this Scripture
could guide us in our engagement with the world today spiritually and
practically. One of the things I like to
remind the Church is that the 2nd Coming might be scary for us who
live mostly comfortable lives…but to those who suffer from injustice and
oppression, the 2nd Coming is Gospel; it is Good News. The Coming Reign of God is one of Justice,
one of peace, one of mercy. And in this
Kingdom no one is exploited, no one is victimized…and while this sounds like
wonderful ideals, in reality they are actually hated by those in power, and demonized
by those profiting off unjust systems, which includes at times us as Universal
Church, and our own society. The Powers
of Religion and Empire, hate the Reign of God ideals in reality so much they
crucified the Son of God over the whole ideal. And not just the Son of God, but
prophets, martyrs, civil rights activists, union leaders, environmentalists,
journalists…the list goes on. Those who
speak truth to power, and advocate for the dignity and respect of the
downtrodden usually end up in an early grave.
And I think this Advent it is important to take time in the midst of our
cultural urge and push for consumerism and profits, to reflect on what the
coming of the Reign of God means for us, and do we really want it?
In 2013
in Dhaka, Bangladesh an 8-story garment factory that produced clothes for major
American, British and French retailers collapsed with workers trapped
inside. The workers had raised concerns
about the safety of the structure. But
because of cost, and the demand from business partners the concerns were
ignored. Local officials also ignored
safety protocols as the local government was making money from the business
deals as well. 1,134 men, women, and
children perished in the collapse, with another 2,500 injured and maimed. When garment workers and families of those
who perished protested for better working conditions, they were met with rubber
bullets, batons, and tear gas. And when Western
Retailers and consumers found out…production was just moved to another factory,
with same conditions. And if we are all
brutally honest, this same cruelty and reaction to injustice is found all over
the world, including in our own nation.
The Reign of God
values humanity pretends to have and cherish are cast easily aside because in
the end, we want cheap clothes, and our corporations and shareholders want
profits even at the cost of human dignity and lives. Do we think about and give thanks for the
hands that make our clothes, food, cars, electronics that we purchase this
holiday season? Do we give thanks or
care for them? Do we really believe those human beings are worth dignity and
respect? And would we be willing to pay
higher prices to back those beliefs up? Behind the “cheap deals,” and profits
we love so much, is often the exploitation of other human beings…are we ready
and do we want the reign of God? Do I,
do we want to be more responsible consumers? I struggle with this question too.
One
small way that Kasey and I are trying to approach this issue, and I would like
to suggest it for this community is that this Advent we are starting to buy
more free trade, particularly coffee.
And we are trying in our prayers to consciously give thanks for all the
hands involved in enjoying that delicious cup of joe in the morning. It is a recognition that our lives depend
upon our common toil, and a recognition of the humanity in persons that our
consumer-based society passes over as resources, not children of God. I ask
that we start buying free trade coffee here as well. It might be small, but in this one area we are
at least saying the unnamed and overlooked workers are worth it.
This
Church Year, I will also try to bring up unjust systems more in my
preaching. Often it is not people who
are evil, but systems that we are a part of…I just mentioned the clothing
industry, but there are other examples: take your average middle-age white guy
in Central Bucks County. If you asked most of us, do we believe white
children and children of color should have the same funding and access for
education, we would all say “Yes, absolutely.”
Yet we are all apart of and pay into a system that gives more State
money to predominantly white school districts than districts with a majority of
its students being children of color, such as Chester, who don’t even have
access to textbooks in some classrooms.
Not one of us are evil, but we are in a racist system that is evil. It is these systems that the Coming of the
Son of Man will tear asunder: systems that exploit the poor, systems that separate
families, systems that justify the bombing children…and while many of us have
anger or feel helpless in the cold shadow of such systems; and others want to
simply ignore these injustices are taking place, especially this time of year;
a most inconvenient and uncomfortable and wonderful life-giving message and
promise from Jesus is laid before us: Stand Up, Raise your Heads; The Reign of
God is Coming…The Beginning is Near...are we ready and do we really want it?
No comments:
Post a Comment