KINGDOM’S COME!
Rev. Karen Pidcock-Lester
First Presbyterian Church,
Matthew 4:12-23
During the 1960s, something huge was happening.
In the great upheaval of those years, a new order disrupted the old.
Major changes were unfolding – in civil rights, the role of women, the Vietnam war, explosions in science and technology, the space age.
The tremendous upheaval would affect the way we think, the way we live, and who we are. Nothing would ever be the same.
Perhaps no year in that tumultuous
decade was more disruptive than in 1968.
That was the year of Martin Luther King, Jr’s
and Bobby Kennedy’s assassinations, the Tet Offensive
in
At the end of that year, there was a stunningly beautiful moment. 1968 was also the year that Apollo 8 became the first manned space vehicle to circle the moon. On our television sets, we got a glimpse for the first time of what the earth looks like from space. If you are old enough to remember those days and that flight, you may recall what the astronauts read on Christmas Eve as they beamed back those breathtaking pictures of the earth:
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said ‘Let there be light,’ …” they read on until the tenth verse, “And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering of the waters he called Seas, and God saw that it was good.”
Watching this momentous event was an awesome, thrilling, experience. As Tom Brokaw comments in his new book, BOOM!: Voices of the 1960s: “all those who went through the
long, deeply painful and disorienting year of 1968…had an opportunity [on that
Christmas Eve] to stop and contemplate their place in the vast universe of
history.” (Brokaw,
BOOM! Voices of the 60s, p. 610.)
But even more awesome than watching it on television, was being part of it. Brokaw recounts astronaut James Lovell’s recollection of actually being there:
“Early in the morning on Dec. 24, Apollo 8 was within reach of the moon’s gravitational pull but the astronauts couldn’t see the lunar surface. The spacecraft’s blunt end blocked their view. The crew fired an engine and manipulated the spacecraft to get into the position for a lunar orbit. Lovell’s voice still rises slightly with excitement forty years later as he recalls the moment,” ‘All of a sudden…just sixty-nine miles below, the ancient craters of the far side of the moon were slowly slipping by. We forgot the flight plan. We were like three kids in a candy store.’
“The best was yet to come. ‘As we kept going, suddenly on the lunar horizon, coming up, was Earth.’ Lovell remembers the vivid contrast between the lifeless moon and the vibrant earth. ‘The moon is nothing but shades of gray and darkness. But the earth – you could see the deep blues of the seas, the whites of the clouds, the salmon pink and brown of the land masses.’
“He says, ‘At one point, I sighted the earth with my thumb – and my thumb from that distance fit over the entire planet. I realized how insignificant we all are if everything I’d ever known is behind my thumb. But at that moment I don’t think the three of us understood the lasting significance of what we were looking at.’”
(Brokaw,
p. 608-9)
At that moment, none of them understood the lasting significance of what they were looking at.
I don’t think that James and John,
Andrew and Simon Peter, here in Matthew 4, at the shore of the
They are about to witness the arrival of a new order, a new era, a tremendous upheaval. Something huge is about to happen that will disrupt their lives – and not only theirs, but the whole world’s –not just for a period of time, but for all time. And it will affect the way they think, the way they live, it will determine who they are and who they will become.
“The kingdom of heaven is at hand!” announces Jesus.
God’s new order was penetrating mortal life,
God’s realm was coming near.
Simon, Andrew, James, John are about to see it appear. Jesus will tell them about it first – preach, and teach – and then he will show it to them – healing the sick, curing disease. They will get to see what God’s realm looks like. In the dimensions of time and space, God’s dimension will begin to appear.
It will be stunning. The disciples will watch with hushed awe; or perhaps they will be like kids in a candy store. They will tremble with excitement,
and for a long time they will have no understanding of the significance, the cosmic significance, of what they are seeing.
But the disciples will be more
than eyewitnesses to this disruption of the order of heaven and earth. They will also be participants. Because when
Jesus says, “Follow me,” they do. That very day, they “let go of everything and
give themselves to God.” Simon, Andrew,
James, John all respond to Christ with what someone has called “radical
availability.” They “stand ready to do
God’s will at all times,”
(Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Companions in
Christ, p. 180) which is what disciples do. Whether that means being sent to the far-off
reaches of the Roman Empire, or staying on their home-turf of
As disciples, they will know fear: John the Baptist has already been arrested and they know it. There is risk involved in following Jesus.
And as disciples, they will live with uncertainty: where will they go? When will they see their families? How will they carry out their responsibilities? Many things will not be clear.
They could remain on the sidelines, and just watch. Mimimize the risk. The uncertainty.
But they have met Jesus, he has said “follow me,” and something about him makes following worth the risk. And because they do, they will find the kingdom of heaven which has come near. They will not just witness it, but they will participate in it, even assist in its appearing. They will be there. They will experience the awe, the thrill, the other-worldly joy that will come to them. They will behold things they cannot begin to imagine from their human point of view; they will do things they are utterly incapable of doing on their own. They will come to see the place of their earthly lives in the vast universe of eternity…
and it will change them. Alter the way they think, the way they live, and who they will become. From now on, nothing will ever be the same for these fishermen.
They will become kingdom-dwellers, even as they live upon the earth.
The kingdom of heaven has drawn near to us.
It is already here! Breaking into this realm, here and there, now and then, appearing all over the place. Something huge is already happening.
We can be witnesses to it. Bystanders who watch with awe as it unfolds in other people’s lives. There is some thrill in that, like watching the astronauts circle the moon.
Or, we can participate in the inbreaking of God’s realm; we can experience God’s life, behold the power of Christ at work again and again, disrupting the old order of life, healing, making people whole. We can be part of things that exceed our understanding and expectations…things that will change us, alter the way we think, how we live, who we are, who we will become…
we can live conscious of our place in the vast universe of God’s eternity…
How?
By being not just a bystander, but a follower. Not just a witness, but a disciple.
Staying close to Christ, and
listening to him. Listening
to His word, praying, staying close to the body of Christ, remaining open to
the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, daily, hourly. Living with a radical availability to God. Jean-Pierre de Caussaud
said, “At every moment, we practice a surrender that has no limits…our sole
duty is to submit ourselves to all that God sends us and to stand ready to do
[God’s] will at all times.” (Companions in Christ, p. 180)
At every moment to stand ready to do God’s will.
Every morning to present ourselves: “Here I am. What would you have me do today?” Every moment, encounter, choice, to consult and submit: “I stand ready.”
God may send us far off on a great
adventure to unknown lands – the deserts of
Or, being a disciple, being radically available to Christ might mean following him closer to home. Being available, standing ready in our families, with friends and neighbors, in school, with strangers, available to God’s will, so that through us Christ’s kingdom power might bind up and mend, show mercy, forgive, teach, preach, heal. The kingdom breaks into our Galilees too, and its appearance in our home territory is no less thrilling when we see it.
Christ heals the rupture between a daughter and her alcoholic father, and she trembles with the sense that a power beyond herself has been at work through her:
Christ supplies the needs of a schizophrenic woman, and in marvelous ways provides a place to live, ‘angels’ to keep watch,’ so that her distant family is awed and is sure that the kingdom of heaven has drawn near;
Christ equips unskilled youth to build safe housing for impoverished, disabled strangers, and in the process, strangers and youth are bound into a unlikely community -- and behold, the kingdom breaks into time and space. We see what God’s realm looks like.
It is exciting and gratifying to
be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
To be sure, when we are disciples,
there is sometimes fear as well. Because there is risk. The new order cannot break in without
disrupting the old. Ugandan doctor
Matthew Lukwiya knew fear as he led his mission
hospital coworkers to respond to an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. He said, “It involves risk, but when we serve
with love, that is when the risk does not matter so much.” (editorial, “Christian Century”
When we are disciples, there is also uncertainty: how will we do what we are given to do? How will manage? But when we are certain of God, we can live with uncertainty in our lives.
Oswald Chambers wrote “To be certain of God means that we
are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of
sadness; it should be rather an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are
certain of God. Immediately we abandon
to God, and do the duty that lies nearest.
[God] packs our life with surprises all the time” (quoted in Companions in Christ, p. 180.)
Whatever fear and uncertainty disciples through the ages have felt, it has been surpassed by the experience of participating in the power, the love of Almighty God’s breaking into this beleaguered realm. Is there any greater thrill, anything more worthy of awe, any deeper joy than being part of the kingdom’s coming among us, and beholding something more, something real, something beyond the limits of this human life?
What could Andrew, James, John have done,
what could you and I possible do, that is more thrilling, more worthy than that?
This week I’ve wondered what it was like for Jesus to teach and preach the good news of God’s kingdom, what it was like for him to show everyone it was all true as he astonished them with signs and wonders. Did he enjoy it?
Did he delight in proving to people that God’s new order was already beginning? Was he excited to show them that ‘nothing would ever be the same’?
In the past, when I have read these verses of the call of the disciples, in my mind I have heard Jesus beckon Andrew and the others in a stately, regal manner and tone:
“Come, follow me,” as a king summons his subjects.
Perhaps it was like this, for he is the Lord, and it was a high and noble purpose to which he called them.
But perhaps when he called disciples from the sidelines into the thrill and joy of working for the kingdom’s coming,
perhaps his voice was brimming with anticipation, his manner energized by eagerness:
“Come on Simon! Andrew, James, John, you will not believe what’s about to begin! Stay close. You can be part of it! Follow me!”
The kingdom’s coming is happening still,
and Christ still beckons with eager anticipation,
Come on, Kerry…you cannot imagine what is happening, all around you. Something huge is going on. Dave, stay close! Donna, Chris, Elizabeth, Paul, you can be part of it…follow me…
I’m telling you:
Nothing is ever going to be the same!!