KEEP YOUR FOCUS ON THE KINGDOM.
M: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Cong: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the name + of Jesus.
After Jesus rose from the dead, he remained on earth in his physical presence for forty days. Those forty days offered many opportunities to prove to his disciples that Jesus is the Lamb who was slain, but is now risen from the dead. Jesus also used those forty days to teach his disciples about the kingdom of God. Jesus encouraged them to keep their focus on the kingdom.
Unfortunately,
the disciples had not completely purged their minds of popular misconceptions
about the Messianic kingdom. Now, to be
fair, the language can be misunderstood.
When Mary was told by the angel Gabriel that she would give birth to the
Messiah, Gabriel told her, “The
Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will
reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no
end” (Luke 1:32-33). Similar phrases were used by the
prophets. So, many people came to believe
that the Messianic kingdom would be like David’s kingdom. The Messiah’s rule in Jerusalem would be greater,
grander, and more glorious than all empires.
That is why the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, will you at
this time restore the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6)? They were eager for a kingdom on earth in
which Christ’s people could live in glory.
Disciples of Jesus still have such
misconceptions today. We are grieved to
see the evils that fill the world today.
We are eager to see the evils come to an end. We can achieve that to some extent with laws that
punish evil and promote good. But that
is the role of the government, not the Church.
Now, if Christians want to pursue a career in government, that would be a
noble vocation. Having more Christians
in government would be beneficial to society. But it is not the role of the Church to pass
laws or to enforce morality under penalty of law.
That’s not to say it has never been
tried. Perhaps the best example was
Geneva, Switzerland under John Calvin.
Christianity was enforced. Leaders
tracked church attendance and scrutinized people’s behavior. People were fined, imprisoned, and even executed
if they rebelled against the Christian government. Mercy and forgiveness were thrust aside. Life was lived under a continual threat of punishment. What was supposed to be a wonderful, moral society
became an oppressive life under harsh laws.
This is what happens when the Church tries to become the government.
Keep your focus on the kingdom. Certainly, Christians will exercise their vocation
as active citizens in society. You are
welcome to write your congressman to plead for better laws which curb wickedness
and promote righteousness. But our focus
is especially to be on the kingdom of God.
So, when the disciples asked about Jesus restoring the kingdom to
Israel, Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times
or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7). Jesus told the disciples not to worry about
empires or politics or worldly glory.
All these things will pass away eventually. Besides, no one is saved by anything the
government legislates. Therefore, the kingdom
of God is our focus, for only there do we find salvation.
Keep your focus
on the kingdom. Perhaps we could use a
better word than kingdom. When we hear
kingdom, we think of palaces, kings, and countries. Better would be to think of the reign of
Jesus Christ. Jesus lives and reigns
over all things. He reigns with grace
for the good of his people. Rather than
breathe out threats to force begrudging behavior, Jesus reveals his mercy to
inspire a joyful response and willing obedience. He is not eager to smite lawbreakers. Instead, Jesus was convicted and condemned so
that we would be pardoned for our disobedience.
He preserves us from sin so that we will not be ensnared by it and lost
to it again. He delivers us from death
and the grave so that we will be delivered to goodness and glory in an everlasting,
heavenly kingdom. He defeated Satan so
that no matter how much Satan taunts us, Jesus’ words of peace silence our
fears and his words of comfort remove our doubts. Jesus lives and reigns to assure us of our
place in his kingdom.
Keep your focus
on the kingdom. For now, the glory of
that kingdom is hidden. You dwell in God’s
kingdom now. You benefit from his mercy
already. But your blessed status is not
obvious to anyone—sometimes, not even to yourself. By faith, you know that you are the children of
God—not because you look or act like it, but because God says you are. When the Last Day comes, you will be revealed
as the glorious children of God. The Bible
says you will shine like stars (Daniel 12:3), that you will be raised with
glorious, incorruptible bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-44), and that you will be
like Jesus (1 John 3:2). This is what
the reign of Jesus delivers to you. This
has been begun in you now; it will be perfected in you in the bliss of heaven. Nothing else on earth can deliver this, so do
not fool yourself into thinking that such glory can be achieved here—not in
you, and certainly not in a corrupt world.
Keep your focus on God’s kingdom.
Jesus commanded
his disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). It is the mission of the Church to call
sinners to repent and to declare that Jesus is the only source of forgiveness and
eternal life. This is how Jesus’ kingdom
advances in this world. By the preaching
of the Gospel, the Lord strengthens our faith and our place in his
kingdom. By the Gospel, the Lord snatches
sinners from death and expands his reign of mercy and grace. Legislation might make people behave—although
people always figure out how to get around such laws—but legislation will not
convert a single heart. Only the good
news of Jesus does that.
Keep your focus
on the kingdom. The Ascended Savior not
only converts our hearts so that we are children of God, but he is also
transforms our minds so that we strive to live as children of God. This is what the Lord says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that
bears much fruit” (John 15:5). It
is not that you had better bear much fruit; it is that you will and you
do. Keep your focus on his kingdom. Keep your attention on his word. Keep on being fed by the body and blood of
Christ. Then the good works will flow
from you.
I don’t know what
makes a young person think that shooting people is a good idea. We already have laws against that, but they
are not stopping crimes from happening. Laws
will not convert hearts. The Gospel of
Jesus does. If your desire is to see
more and more people order their lives according to God’s word, then keep
proclaiming the good news of the kingdom.
When people are brought into the kingdom of God, they are not only
snatched from the power and influence of the devil, they also rejoice in the words
of God who declares peace and eternal life.
They taste and see that the Lord is good and that living as a child of God
in his kingdom is good. They learn to honor
other people with the honor God gives to human life. They learn to love their neighbors as themselves. The Holy Spirit works in them self-control of
their sinful impulses and a yearning to do what is good and right. This weekend we honor the men and women who were
willing to be killed to defend and protect this nation. That is good and noble. There is nothing noble about killing others
to satisfy whatever bitterness or selfishness lurks within. Laws can curb wicked hearts, and sometimes
they don’t. The Gospel of Jesus can and
does. By his word, God is at work in the
hearts of people “both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians
2:13), just as he has done in you.
Therefore, keep your focus on the kingdom of God.
As far as worldly kingdoms and governments are concerned, Jesus said, “It is not for you to know times or
seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7). Don’t worry about
such things. The Father has determined
the course of history. Nations will rise
and fall. Kingdoms will come and
go. Not long after Jesus said these
words, the nation of Israel was scattered around the world by the Romans. The Roman Empire lasted a while longer, but it
has fallen too. As far as the United
States? I don’t know what God’s plans
are. If history repeats itself, as it usually
does, the USA will fade away too. I don’t
know. God has not revealed it, and he
has told us not to be focused on it.
But you—keep
your focus on the kingdom of God. We don’t
know what will happen in this world; God has not revealed that. But we take great comfort in what God has
revealed. Jesus lives, victorious over
death and having authority to raise us up from the dead on the Last Day. Jesus reigns over all things. Nothing happens apart from his will. Even the evils that happen, Jesus will use for
his purposes. For, God has revealed this:
Your ascended Savior
reigns “far above all rule and authority and power and
dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age
but also in the one to come. And (the
Father) put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things
to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who
fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:21-23).
Jesus lives and
reigns for you. His word is supreme and
guarantees you all his blessings. By
holy baptism has marked you as his own. You
know that your citizenship is in heaven and you eagerly await Jesus’ return
from there. You know that Jesus ascended
into heaven and is preparing a place for there.
You know that he will return the same way as he has gone into heaven—descending
from the clouds in glory to bring us into that glory. You know that the kingdom of our Lord will still
stand even after every empire lies in dust. It is the only kingdom that endures forever
and the only kingdom that bestows grace, mercy, and salvation. God reveals all this for your comfort and your
peace. Therefore, keep your focus on his
kingdom.
The risen Savior presented himself alive to the apostles for a period of forty days to teach about the kingdom of God, and then he ascended into heaven. The ascended Savior lives forever and reigns over all things. He has brought us into his kingdom so that we have unending peace and unshakable hope. Keep your focus on that kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns so that you will finally live and reign with him.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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