MY FATHER'S KINGDOM

 Matthew 26:29 - I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

Matthew doesn’t say how the disciples reacted to this. We, who live 2,000 years later, know that he was referring to his death, resurrection, and eventual return. Did the disciples understand? Or did they think the war with Rome was about to start? How did they understand the term ‘my Father’s kingdom?’

How do we understand that term? What does it mean for us as Christians today? Does it imply or command any action on our part? Or is it something that comes about without our contribution?

My Father’s kingdom. To me, it means everyone, absolutely everyone (yes, even that person you’re thinking of) deserves dignity, justice, peace, love, joy, freedom, food, water, shelter, and all the good things in life in abundance. The New Jerusalem.

I’m thinking about this term in light of what has been happening these past weeks, especially, this past week: Chauvin’s trial for the murder of George Floyd, Duarte Wright’s murder at the hands of a police officer, school shootings in Knoxville, and so much more. It feels as though the US is coming apart at the seams, as though everything is unravelling. I think it’s the last gasp of White Supremacy and “Republicanism” (or Trumpism if you will). They are losing the cultural battle, the electoral battle, and the population battle. Because they only want white voters, the only way for Republican candidates to win in many places is to cheat: suppress the votes of Black people. They know this.

Jesus says the kin-dom of heaven is near; we can experience it in part here on earth. Yet, when we hold that vision of justice and equity and joy and love in our minds, we can’t help but see how far we are from that vision. And still I say we can experience God’s kin-dom here on earth, if we are willing to work with God for the dignity of all people, for a world in which no one suffers from poverty, for a world in which everyone has enough, for a world focused on love of God, ourselves, and others. No, we are not there, and that means we all have work to do.

In Matthew 25, we saw the cheat sheet for the final test, the judgement. Did we give water to the thirsty? Food to the hungry? Freedom to the prisoner? Companionship to the sick? Did we care for those around us in need? Did we do what we could for what Jesus calls ‘the least of these?’ Did we in fact love our neighbor as ourselves? That is our work, and those are the questions that not only will we be asked but that Christ is asking us even today. How are we loving others? Where can we do better?

One answer stands out to me: end systemic racism. That’s a lot to ask. Yet, racism, especially in the US, lies at the heart of the majority of the world’s problems – even climate change. We have never reckoned with our race problem and how it impacts everything from how our food is distributed, to our infrastructure (yes, highways are racist as Black neighborhoods were destroyed to clear a path), to our architecture, to our laws, to our health, to our view of the insurrection of January, to the way we see each other. Racism hurts everyone. Everyone. I don’t know about you, but I am so tired of seeing Black people be killed by police in situations where white people would walk away. We all deserve to live in a world in which we feel safe from oppression and predation. The US is not that place. But we can turn it around. We are called as Christians to turn it around in whatever way we can.

One way to turn it around is to join with others already doing the work. My church has voted to become a Matthew 25 church in the PC(USA). The Matthew 25 Initiative focuses on three areas: ending systemic racism, ending systemic poverty, and congregational vitality. These three areas are intersectional; poverty and racism go hand in hand in the US. Working to end them entails educating ourselves about where our own church has had racist roots, where our own communities embody racism in their highways, their architecture, and their housing policies, what policies of our communities create more poverty, what policies might help, where is the dignity for people in our policing, our city councils, our county and state governments. There is so much to learn and address; working with God and the entire community, we can accomplish beautiful things. Is something similar possible in your worship community?

Jesus gave us the cheat sheet. How did we love our neighbor as ourselves? How can we love better? As Christians, these questions should always be in our minds and hearts always, and especially during the pandemic of COVID, the pandemic of poverty, and the pandemic of racism in the US.

B