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THE SCEPTER OF THE KINGDOM!
On Wednesday of this past week I left for work
at about 6:15 in the morning. I needed to run off, and staple, a three-page
test for the two classes I teach at Chandler High School. I also needed
to get the room ready for taking the test. All of this needed to be done
in addition to the normal things like checking my mailbox in the office, harassing
a few people, and sitting down at the computer in the math office to deal with
e-mails - which for me means deleting e-mails.
The morning went well and by noon I was ready
to eat lunch, go visit a few people, run by Sunset Library on West Ray Road,
and drop a copy of last week's lesson in a nearby mailbox. If everything
went as planned, I would be home taking a nap by three o'clock. But as
I was leaving the Sunset Library parking lot, getting ready to turn west on Ray
Road, the plan fell to pieces.
As I was existing the parking lot I stopped, noticed
that the right hand lane was free of traffic, and consequently proceeded to turn
into the right hand lane. At about the same time a car that had been in
the middle lane switched to the right hand lane. No problem, I again stopped
and had I not been hit from behind by a Dodge Ram pickup everything would have
gone along as planned. But the bumper truck bumped the front
of my car into the right hand lane at which time the car that had switched lanes
proceeded to take off my front bumper with brute force. Needless
to say, I missed taking a nap that afternoon!
Now you might think that the accident was the
most dramatic part of the afternoon. Not so! The quiet drama being
played out in the lives of the two people I visited prior to stopping at Sunset
Library was far more riveting than the accident. The first person I visited
was a lady who has been in the hospital or in a care facility since August of
last year. In late January she was told that she would be released to go
home on February 12th, but that date has now been pushed forwarded to the 20th
of February. Another disappointment, but she patiently endures it with
a good spirit as she has endured everything else. In the meantime, she
tries to be a blessing to anyone who comes into her room but admits that she
isn't always the blessing to others she longs to be.
The second person I visited was a man who appears
to have bone cancer. When I asked him how he was doing medically he told
me the truth and said he was really okay with it. He acknowledged that,
if he indeed has bone cancer as the MRI suggest, it means that it may not be
too long before he catches the train that will transport him to the glories of
heaven. He's really looking forward to that day, while admitting that getting
to the depot may be a little rough.
But there were three other people on Wednesday
afternoon who were involved in a little drama that revolved around a police officer
investigating an accident. There was the lady who took off my front bumper,
a lady who had the best view of what happened as I exited the Sunset Library
parking lot. There was the young man driving the pickup whose insurance
may or may not have expired. And there was this old man who saw life coming
at him fast on that day.
We revolved around the police officer waiting
to tell our side of the story. In turn we were each called over, each
given the opportunity to tell the truth as we saw it. We each had a choice. We
could honestly replay the events as we saw it, or we could try to redeem ourselves
from undesired consequences by putting a nice spin on the role we played.
I stopped, I saw that the right hand lane was
free of traffic and proceeded to turn into it. I then saw a car switching
from the middle lane into the right hand lane and I stopped. I did not
turn into the right hand lane and no part of my car was in that lane until I
was bumped into it from behind by the pickup truck.
I think "bumped" is the right word. The
lady I spoke to from Travelers Insurance used the word "pushed" but
that implies deliberate and continuous action. I thought about using the
word "rammed," playing off the reality that I was hit by a Dodge
Ram pickup. But that implies malicious intent on the part of the
young man driving the pickup truck. It reads far too much into the
events of that afternoon. I was bumped into oncoming traffic and am thankful
that no one was hurt.
The overarching rule for our behavior as citizens
within the Kingdom of God is covered by what I believe is the one and only rule
within the kingdom. It is:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well.
We're to conform to the culture of the kingdom
and we're to let righteousness reign in our life. In fact, righteous is
the central tenet of the culture. Everything in the kingdom is measured
by this standard. It is a standard that we see throughout the Bible. For
example, in Deuteronomy 25:13 - 15 we read:
Do not have two differing weights in your bag-one
heavy, one light. 14 Do not have two differing measures in your house-one
large, one small. 15 You must have accurate and honest weights and measures,
so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 16
For the LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals
dishonestly.
Here Israel is warned against the use of unrighteous
weights. In Zephaniah 3:1 - 5 we read:
Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and
defiled! 2 She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust
in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God. 3 Her officials are roaring
lions, her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. 4
Her prophets are arrogant; they are treacherous men. Her priests profane the
sanctuary and do violence to the law. 5 The LORD within her is righteous;
he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new
day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.
Shame is to the moral health of a society what
pain is to the body. Spiritually, it is part of our immune system against
evil. Shame is designed to protect us and the ones we love. Unfortunately,
when an individual or a nation drifts away from God he, she, or they also drift
away from a sense of shame. But you and I ought to be thankful for a sensitized
conscience for by it God defines righteousness and this passage clearly tells
us that the culture of God's Kingdom, in this case a downsized Davidic Kingdom,
ought to be characterized by righteousness. We also see this in Romans
14:13 - 15:6 where we read:
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one
another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle
in your brother's way. 14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced
that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean,
then for him it is unclean. 15 If your brother is distressed because of
what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy
your brother for whom Christ died. 16 Do not allow what you consider good
to be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating
and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18
because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved
by men.
Let us therefore make every effort to do what
leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of
God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat
anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat
meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
So whatever you believe about these things keep
between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by
what he approves. 23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats,
because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from
faith is sin.
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings
of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his
neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please
himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have
fallen on me." 4 For everything that was written in the past was written
to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures
we might have hope.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement
give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6
so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
This passage is a mouthful, but it needs to be
taken in as one big gulp so as to appreciate the significance of what appears
to be a minor act of righteousness within the confines of the kingdom. Paul
is showing us that how we behave in the kingdom here and now directly impacts
the flavor of the kingdom. That's why he further defines righteousness as
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
You see, he was writing to a divided church in
Rome where some believers felt at liberty to eat meat offered to idols. They
felt they had a right to do this even though they were offending, or rather poisoning
the spirit, of other believers who had trouble with this practice. So
Paul appealed to the proper protocol within the kingdom. That is, he appealed
to the righteous behavior that elevates the needs of a brother over the basic
need for food and drink. He encouraged them to follow a path of behavior
that would promote peace and joy. A path that would maintain the unity
of the body.1
The culture of the Kingdom is such that we are
encouraged, even commanded, to govern our lives by what is right in God's sight. In
this case, we're encouraged to put the needs of others before our own desires,
just as Christ the King elevated the meeting of our needs above his own.
All of our responses to life are measured against
His righteousness. This is true regardless of the circumstances we find
ourselves in on any given day. Whether we're tiptoeing around a police
officer, quenching the fiery darts of Satan in a care center, or holding onto
the promises of God as we face life's greatest trial our behavior will be measured
against His righteousness.
This, as you know, isn't easy. We can be
unrighteous by simply keeping a hundred and one rules as were the Pharisees. Or
we can be unrighteous by exercising our freedom in Christ to such an extent that
we cause others to stumble. Strictness is not next to godliness, and liberty
is not freedom in Christ if it results in stepping out of the center of God's
will.
Finally, I want you to flip over to Hebrews 1:8
- 9. We read:
But about the Son he says, "Your throne,
O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of
your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore
God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil
of joy."
Righteousness is God's absolute standard of what
is correct within the Kingdom. It is the standard by which all conduct
is measured; it is the scepter of His Kingdom. And because it is his scepter,
because Jesus is absolutely righteous, we ought to allow him the authority that
he already has over our lives.
But this is not what I want you to notice in this
passage. I want you to notice that Jesus loves righteousness. Normally,
when we analyze Jesus' behavior, as when he drove the moneychangers from the
Temple, we draw the conclusion that he was motivated by anger. Or perhaps,
we say he was motivated by his hatred of those who were fleecing the crowd. And
it's true that he hates wickedness. This verse, however, opens up our eyes
to the other side of the coin. It tells us that he loves what is right
and he loves behaving in a right manner.
At best, all I can say is that I am learning to
love righteousness. When my insurance company asked whether or not I'm
willing to make a recorded statement in regards to the accident I'm a little
hesitant. I want to tell the truth, but I want to tell it very carefully. I
want to make sure I don't say anything that will come back to haunt me.
Also, while I ought to be furious at the driver
of the pickup truck for saying that he simply "tapped" me I can understand
the spin he put on his side of the story. It's natural to report things
in such a way as to make ourselves look good. I fully understand that he
was simply looking out for his own interest with little or no regard for anyone
but himself. That makes sense to me.
I don't understand someone who loves righteousness. That
is foreign to my way of thinking. Yet, when I see Jesus in action, when
I see him handling life righteously I'm drawn to him. I'm drawn to the
courage that I know it takes to be righteous. I'm drawn to the peace and
joy it kindles in my life and the lives of those around me. So I'm learning
to love righteousness but as with learning in general I find myself growing up
on the stairs of life and not the escalator.
1 Incidentally, no where in Scripture are we commanded, or even encouraged, to spend our time hunting for weaker brothers. Paul is simply saying in Romans that when we discover someone who is offended by what we believe is right for us to do that we ought to put his or her needs above our own.
JESUS & THE KINGDOM OF GOD 02/11/07 1
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