An Unexpected Kind of Kingdom

 An Unexpected Christmas An Unexpected Kind of Kingdom Luke 17:20-37 Pastor Pat Damiani December 10, 2017 Let’s begin this morning with an experiment. Place your hand over your head and point your index finger toward the ceiling. Now trace an imaginary circle on the ceiling in a clockwise direction. Now while you continue to draw that circle slowly bring your hand down to your eye level. Then keep lowering your finger until it is at chest level or lower. Now look down at the circle you’re still tracing. Which direction is it going now? Counter-clockwise, right? So if I were to ask you which direction that circle was going, how would you answer? Clockwise or counterclockwise? It depends on your perspective, right? It’s kind of like when Mary and I were newlyweds and someone would ask me if she was my girlfriend or my wife. And I gave the only answer that made sense – “yes”. Our culture has conditioned us to think in terms of “either/or”. Either something is true or it is not. And certainly our faith requires us to think in those terms in certain areas. For instance, Jesus is the only way to God because that is what He clearly said. “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). So I either I have a relationship with God because I have put my faith in Jesus or I don’t have a relationship with God because I haven’t done that. There is no other option. And there is certainly such a thing as absolute truth. Things that the Bible defines as sin – things like murder, adultery, lying, gossip, gluttony, drunkenness – are always sin. There is no gray area. But there are other parts of our walk with God where the either/or distinction may actually be a hindrance. Let me give you a few examples: • Faith or works? • Is God a God of revelation or a God of mystery? • God’s election or man’s volition? • Grace or working out my salvation with fear and trembling? • Should I be wise as a serpent or innocent as a dove? I would suggest to you that the correct answer to each of those questions is the same one I gave when people asked whether Mary was my girlfriend or my wife – “Yes”. In each pair both things are true because they are clearly taught in Scripture. And just because in our finite human minds we have a hard time reconciling concepts which seem to be at odds on the surface doesn’t mean that they can’t both be true. We might describe this as “both/and” thinking. Hopefully you’ll remember that last week, we began our Christmas messages with this overall idea: At Christmas, Jesus brought his kingdom near to us so we can bring it near to others We began to unpack that idea last week by understanding that while Jesus came to earth as a king that first Christmas, He was an unexpected kind of king. As He spoke to Pilate right before His crucifixion He revealed four important things about the kind of king He was: 1. His authority came from God, not from man 2. He was both 100% God and 100% man at the same time – there is one of those “both/and” situations 3. He rules with truth, not with might 4. He came to serve, not to be served This morning, we’re going to look at a passage that helps us to better understand the nature of the kingdom that Jesus brought near to us that first Christmas. As we’re going to see this morning, this idea of “both/and” thinking is necessary if we’re going to get a handle on the nature of His kingdom. So go ahead and turn with me to Luke chapter 17. Once again, this is not what any of us would probably consider a traditional Christmas passage, but I am confident it will help us come to a deeper understanding about why the birth of Jesus that we celebrate at Christmas is so important. Beginning in verse 20, Jesus addresses two groups who are both confused about the nature of the kingdom over which He rules – the Pharisees and His own disciples. We’ll begin with the Pharisees. [Read Luke 17:20-21] It’s interesting, but not all that surprising that the Pharisees would ask Jesus about the coming of the kingdoms of God. After all, they considered themselves to be experts on matters such as these. They probably even thought that the expected Messiah who would usher in that kingdom would come from among them. In a sense, the Pharisees were the accrediting agency for all things related to the Jewish religion. They had been observing Jesus for quite some time now and He certainly didn’t meet their expectations of how the Messiah was going to bring in his kingdom. So they don’t ask about the coming of the kingdom because they really believed Jesus could tell them anything about its coming, but rather as a way to show that they rejected any possibility that He could be the King of the Jews. As we talked about a bit last week, most Jews, and certainly the Pharisees, had a preconceived idea about how the Messiah was going to inaugurate His kingdom. They were expecting a military leader in the tradition of David who would overthrow the oppressive Roman government and institute an earthly rule that would be favorable to the Jews and their religion. So when Jesus didn’t meet their expectations, they wrongly concluded He could not possibly be the Messiah. Jesus’ reply to their question reveals two important things about the nature of the kingdom that He brought near to us when He left heaven and came to earth: Two aspects of Jesus’ kingdom revealed to the Pharisees: 1. It is present Jesus speaks of the kingdom using present tense verbs to indicate that it is a present reality. “The kingdom of God is not coming [present tense] …” “…the kingdom of God is [present tense] in the midst of you” The phrase that the ESV translates “in the midst of you” has been the subject of much debate. In fact, if you’re using that translation, you’ll see a footnote that says that it could also be translated “within you”, which is how the KJV and some other translations render it, or even “within your grasp”. While all of those are possible translations of the underlying Greek word, which is only used one other time in the New Testament, the context seems to indicate that something like “in the midst of you” or “in your midst’ is to be preferred. It’s hard to believe that Jesus would turn to the Pharisees, who had rejected Him and His kingdom time after time and claim that the kingdom was “within them”. But the kingdom had been in their midst from the very moment that Jesus entered the world that first Christmas, because, as we saw last week, Jesus was a king, even if he wasn’t the kind of king that the Pharisees and most of the other Jews were expecting. And because He was a king that meant that the kingdom over which He reigns was right there in their midst. 2. In its present form, it is primarily spiritual As we’ll see in a moment, there will come a time when Jesus is going to set up a physical kingdom here on earth. But, as Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees, at the present time, the kingdom is not something that can be observed. The verb translated “observed” was used as a medical term, which is appropriate since Luke, who records this exchange, was a doctor himself. It described how a doctor would make a careful observation of the symptoms of a patient in order to make a diagnosis. It was also used in the science of astronomy to describe the careful observation of celestial objects that was used to chart the path of a planet or a comet in order to predict where it could be seen. The Pharisees apparently thought they could predict the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom in a similar fashion. Surely, they thought, they would be able to tell the real thing when he came upon the scene. But as we pointed out last week, their preconceived notions of what that kingdom was going to look like blinded them to the fact that the kingdom was already in their midst in the person of Jesus. It’s important to note that while at the present time, the kingdom is primarily spiritual and can’t be observed, that doesn’t mean that the kingdom doesn’t impact this physical world or that we can’t observe its effects. When the principles of Jesus’ kingdom are applied, they will impact our lives in a way that is noticeable to others. Having revealed those two aspects of His kingdom to the Pharisees, He know speaks to His disciples about the kingdom. [Read Luke 17:22-37] Two aspects of Jesus’ kingdom revealed to His disciples: 1. It is future The disciples shared something in common with the Pharisees. They, too, believed that the Messiah was going to establish an earthly kingdom and overthrow the Romans. The main difference is that they believed Jesus was that Messiah, while the Pharisees did not. So Jesus has to deal with the erroneous ideas that His disciples had as well. But since they at least believed that He was the Messiah, Jesus emphasizes a different aspect of His kingdom. The first thing that we notice immediately here is that Jesus switches from present tense to future tense verbs. We see that right away in verse 22: “The days are coming [future tense] … Jesus wants His disciples to understand that while His kingdom is already in their midst because He is present with them, the physical fulfillment of the kingdoms that they were expecting was not going to occur until sometime in the future. Jesus knew that His disciples needed to know that Jesus’ death did not mean that His kingdom had come to an end, but rather that it had just begun and that the complete manifestation of that kingdom in all its glory wouldn’t happen until some future time. 2. In its future state, it will be both physical and spiritual As we’ve talked about before, the disciples, just like the Pharisees, had developed some erroneous ideas about the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom because they failed to understand the distinction between His first and second comings. At his first coming, Jesus ushered in His kingdom, but at that time it was not to be a physical kingdom. But, as He points out to the disciples, when He returns, the nature of that coming will differ from His first coming in two important ways. First, when the kingdom comes in the future, it will be observable for all, just like a lightning bolt that flashes and lights up the sky. While many people, even today, fail to recognize that Jesus is a king who has already brought His kingdom near to us, when He comes again, no one is going to miss is because then His kingdom will become a physical kingdom that all can observe. The second thing that is clear is that Jesus is going to usher in a physical kingdom in which the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will be punished. At that time, all humanity will be divided into two groups based on whether they have chosen to willingly submit their lives to the rule and reign of Jesus in His spiritual kingdom that exists in the present. Those who have only lived for self and never entered spiritually into Jesus’ kingdom by placing their faith in Him are going to fall under His judgment and experience God’s wrath. But those who have submitted their lives to king Jesus and lived under His reign will escape that judgment. The disciples certainly understood Jesus to be speaking of a physical kingdom here because when Jesus was done speaking to them, they ask “Where?”, apparently wanting to know where they need to go so that they wouldn’t miss Jesus when He returned. Jesus’ answer to their question seems pretty strange: “Where the corpse is, the vultures will gather.” Jesus is using a common idiom to point out that what is important is not the location of His return, because everyone on earth is going to see it. Jesus is more focused on the conditions that will precede His return. When the world becomes so wretched and corrupt that it becomes like the decaying carcass of an animal, Jesus will come back to earth to clean up that decay by judging the wicked in the same way that the vultures gather around a rotting dead animal. The implication is that when Jesus returns, only those who have already entered into His kingdom spiritually and have been declared righteous through their faith in Jesus will get to enter into that physical kingdom. Once Jesus returns everyone’s eternal destiny will have been determined and it will be too late to enter His kingdom for those who have not already done that spiritually. Although Jesus emphasized different aspects of the kingdom to the Pharisees and His disciples, He is speaking of the same kingdom. So before we go any further, let me ask a couple of questions: • Is the kingdom of God a present reality to experience now or a future reality to be hoped for? • Is the kingdom of God physical or spiritual? Hopefully, you answered both of those questions “yes” because when it comes to these aspects of the kingdom, it is a matter of “both/and” and not “either/or”. The parables that Jesus told in Matthew 13 certainly reinforce these aspects of the unexpected kingdom that Jesus brought near to us at Christmas. And my original plan was to take a look at some of those parables as part of this message. But since I want to make sure we have time to make this practical by drawing some applications out of what we have learned, we’re going to use the Bible Roundtable time to do that. SOME PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF JESUS’ UNEXPECTED KINGDOM 1. Citizenship in Jesus’ kingdom is a “limited time offer” Most of us are probably familiar with “limited time offers” that really turn out to be nothing of the sort. I can remember one time when Mary and I were young and didn’t know any better and we wasted part of our vacation listening to a timeshare presentation, probably in order to get some free tickets to some show or attraction. The salesman employed some very high-pressure sales tactics and when we still said “no” he told us that once we left he couldn’t give us the same deal if we changed our mind later. Of course, that turned out to be a lie and he contacted us several days later to make another “limited time” offer. But Jesus’ kingdom doesn’t operate like that. While it is true that Jesus’ offer to become part of His kingdom by placing our faith in Him alone is an ongoing one that any person can accept at any time, it is also true that His offer is going to come to an end at some point. For all of us, the offer will end when one of two things happen – either upon our physical death or upon the return of Jesus. And none of us know when either of those things is going to happen. And when either of those events occurs, unless we are already citizens of Jesus’ kingdom as a result of placing our trust in Him alone, it will be too late for us to ever enter His kingdom. It might very well be that there are some of you here this morning who are not yet citizens of God’s kingdom because you have never placed your faith in Jesus and committed to live in His kingdom by His principles. Maybe you’ve been thinking about doing that “some day”. But as we’ve seen this morning, none of us are guaranteed that “some day” will ever come. If that describes where you’re at today, then I beg of you, please don’t leave here this morning until you’ve accepted Jesus’ offer to make you a citizen of His kingdom. And for the rest of us who have already made that decision and are citizens of Jesus’ kingdom, this truth ought to instill a great sense of urgency when it comes to taking that kingdom and bringing it near to others. We’re going to talk in much more detail about that next Sunday. 2. Don’t depend on a “quick fix” To some degree, both the Pharisees and the disciples were looking for a quick fix. They figured if Jesus just installed His earthly kingdom right then, that would take care of all their problems. But as Jesus pointed out, the inauguration of His kingdom was going to require suffering and rejection on His part. There was no quick fix for Jesus that would allow Him to avoid the suffering of the cross. So His disciples shouldn’t expect one either. Jesus tells His disciples that once He leaves the earth to return to His Father, they are going to be tempted to seek a quick fix in the form of Jesus’ second coming. So he warns them not to be deceived by those who would come on the scene and claim that they had His second coming all figured out and encourage people to follow them. We were all reminded of why Jesus had to give this warning just a few months ago when a guy named David Meade predicted that Jesus would return on September 23. Obviously, either he was wrong or we all missed the event that Jesus said no one would miss. There are obviously a lot of ways that Christians can seek a quick fix in today’s culture and we can’t possible cover even a small percentage of the ways we tend to do that, so I’m going to talk about just a couple that seem to be most widespread and potentially most damaging. First, there are those who just like the Pharisees and the disciples are counting on a political solution to all their problems. They think that if they can just get the right people elected to office, get the right laws passed, get the Supreme Court to make the right decisions, that will somehow solve all of our problems. So they tend to be more invested in trying to “fix” our earthly kingdoms than they are in furthering Jesus’ kingdom. As a result, they spend much more of their time, talents and treasure in political pursuits than they do in trying to bring Jesus’s kingdom near to others. But if there is one thing we learned in our study of the Old Testament this year, it is that no earthly ruler, even one like David, who was a man after God’s own heart, can fix a culture that is bent on rebelling against God because that is a heart problem and not a political problem. As I’m always careful to point out before, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be involved in the political process, Although it’s not commanded specifically in the Bible, we ought to be good citizens and vote and attempt to elect godly leaders and promote laws that are consistent with Biblical teachings. And the one thing I know we should do for sure is to pray for our leaders, because that is specifically commanded in the Scriptures. But even then, we can’t count on politicians to be a quick fix for the problems in our culture. Another area where I see Christians looking for quick fixes is by seeking worldly solutions in areas where kingdom principles might be difficult to employ or require a long process. For instance, if someone gets themselves in financial trouble, there are some quick fixes that might actually make things better in the short run – things like bankruptcy, or borrowing more money, or not paying income taxes. Kingdom principles like giving to God first, limiting our borrowing, paying back our debts, and careful budgeting will work – every time – because they are kingdom principles. But they often require a lot more time, discipline and self-control than the quick fixes the world offers. 3. Don’t get distracted This is where the references to the days of Noah and Lot come in. In both cases people were just carrying on with the normal activities of life – eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting and building. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the activities the people were engage here. In fact, that seems to be confirmed when Jesus points out that when He returns one person will be judged and the other person doing the same exact activity will be spared. It’s really interesting to me that Jesus doesn’t even mention the wickedness of those generations that caused God’s judgment to come against them. What Jesus was focusing on here instead is that these people were oblivious to the wickedness going on around them and God’s impending judgment because they were so caught up in the normal affairs of life. And so, when God’s judgment came, they were caught completely off guard. If we’re not careful we can do the same thing. We can get so wrapped up in our daily activities, that they distract us from Jesus’ kingdom. So we don’t take time to read and study the Bible, to pray, to spend time in community with other disciples and actually work to implement kingdom principles in our daily lives. At Christmas, Jesus brought his kingdom near to us so we can bring it near to others As we’ve seen this morning, that kingdom is an unexpected kingdom that is both present and future, both spiritual and physical. That alone makes it difficult to live in that kingdom since we have to live constantly in the tension that exists between a kingdom in which only some of the blessings of living in that kingdom are currently available to us and the future kingdom where all those blessings will find their full and final fulfillment. Add to that the fact that our citizenship is in Jesus’ kingdom and that we are merely aliens here in this world where we are still subject to the rule of earthly kingdoms, it’s no wonder that living in that kingdom that Jesus brought near to us is not always easy. But I can assure you of this – even though it is not easy, it is worth it, especially when you consider the alternative. So what next step are you going to take today to live as part of the kingdom that Jesus brought near that first Christmas? 1. Some of you need to take the next step of entering into that kingdom for the first time through faith in Jesus because Jesus’ offer to become a citizen of His kingdom is a “limited time” offer. 2. Some of you here today have been missing out on the blessings of that kingdom because you’ve been looking for some kind of quick fix in some area of your life. If that is the case, then you need to ask God to forgive you for that and ask Him to help you apply His kingdom principles to whatever situation you’re in. 3. Some of you here this morning would have to honestly say that you’ve been distracted from living in Jesus’ kingdom by the everyday activities of life. If that is where you’re at this morning, will you confess that and ask God to help you break out of that rut? At Christmas, Jesus brought his kingdom near to us so we can bring it near to others For the last two weeks, we’ve been talking about the unexpected nature of that kingdom and the unexpected kind of kind that brought it near to us. Next week, we’ll focus on the last part of that idea and look at some practical ways we can bring that kingdom near to others. Questions for the Bible Roundtable 1. In Matthew 13:10-17, Jesus explains the purpose of the parables to His disciples. What insight does this give us into why Jesus spoke about different aspects of the kingdom to the Pharisee than He did to His disciples? 2. How do the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven (Matthew 13:31-33) help us to understand the different aspects of the kingdom that we looked at in this morning’s message? 3. How does the parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30) 47-50) and the parable of the net (Matthew 13) help us to understand why in its present form righteousness and evil exist side-by-side in Jesus’ kingdom? How should that knowledge impact the way we treat other disciples as well as unbelievers? 4. How does the fact that the kingdom of Jesus has already arrived – even though it is not in its final form – serve as an encouragement as we face trials in our lives?