The Reign of God

Introduction
You heard the Scripture Reading a moment ago. Paul is making a point to the church in Philippi. He has just pleaded with them to go deeper in their relationship with God, resulting in a closer relationship also with each other. One can see this passage as a development of the Great Commandment: Love God with your whole being, and love your neighbour as yourself.

He illustrates that closer relationship within the fellowship of believers by appealing to Christ’s example. Jesus did not use his identity as the divine Son of God to insist on his honour and glory, but rather assumed the identity of a servant.

In this section, Paul is quoting an early Christian hymn, which then turns to give glory to Jesus for his self-sacrifice:

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

This closing statement gives the earliest Christian confession: “Jesus Christ is Lord.” We can see the revolutionary nature of this confession in the way that early Christians died as martyrs in the arena. The Roman authorities would make a sacrifice on an altar and then command the Christian to make a public confession, “Caesar is Lord.” When Christians refused and said instead, “Jesus is Lord”, they were killed.

This confession, “Jesus is Lord”, is the centre of my faith as a follower of Jesus, and this is what I want to reflect on in terms of our semester theme: “On earth as it is in Heaven.”

My Church Background

I come from the Brethren in Christ Church. We are a branch of Anabaptists who formed their own church in Pennsylvania in 1778. We were one of those groups who tried to follow Jesus’ sayings as closely as possible. For example, we refused to swear an oath in court because Jesus said, “Let your Yes be yes, and let your No be no.” That is, keep your word!

I was reading a history of the BIC in Canada. Some of our people from Pennsylvania moved to the Niagara Peninsula about 1800, which is also when and where my family joined the BIC. The history noted how careful our people were to tell the truth. A part of that care was the way we celebrated a “Love Feast” (Feetwashing and Communion) twice a year. So that we would all be in right relationship with God before taking communion, the deacons would go around the church and ask each family, “How is it between you and the Lord?” We were called “the plain people”, and the history quoted the customs officers at the Peace Bridge between the US and Canada. They said, “We don’t worry about the plain people. We know that if anyone has brought something from New York State without paying the customs toll on it, twice a year they will come and confess to us and pay the dues!” So we took being faithful to God’s teaching seriously! A basic part of that understanding was the affirmation, “Jesus is Lord!”

Case One

When I turned 18, I was living in Pennsylvania, during the Vietnam War. I was drafted to serve in Vietnam. Because I enrolled in college, I received a four-year deferment from the draft, so that my draft call took effect in 1972. I registered with my local draft board as Conscientious Objector (CO), which the draft board granted. As a result, I went to Zimbabwe and served three years of alternative service with my church, instead of going to war with any classmates who served in Vietnam.

I didn’t understand my pacifism at that time very well, but in the years since then I have concluded that the biggest problem in the military is not the violence, but its requirement of absolute obedience. I cannot say, “My country is Lord”, because Jesus is Lord. This belief has not been costly for me, since my country also gives me the freedom to hold my stance as a CO. My father-in-law was also a CO, and it cost him more than it did me.

Case Two

Dad Heise was drafted during World War Two. He turned 18 in 1943 (I think), and was drafted to fight in the Allied Forces. Because he was a CO, he also refused the draft. At that time he was farming with his father (Grandfather Heise), so his family appealed to the draft board to exclude him from the draft, since farming was held to be a necessary occupation, even during war. The draft board refused, saying that the family exclusion could go only to his father. Grandfather Heise was in poor health, so when Dad went into Civilian Public Service, his parents were not able to keep the farm. (CPS was used throughout the war for pacifists to serve the government in a non-combatant role.)

The loss of the farm changed my father-in-law’s life. He and my mother-in-law were already engaged. They planned to get married and take over the family farm, but when Dad came home from CPS there was no farm. So Dad went to medical school and became a family physician. Being a doctor carries some prestige in our society, but for Dad it was always second best to being a farmer. It was also the result of saying, “Jesus is Lord”, no matter what the government said. Dad also did not suffer greatly, but he knew the cost of saying “Jesus is Lord.”

Case Three

Grandfather Heise is our third case study for saying, “Jesus is Lord.” During the First World War, grandfather was drafted to fight for the US military in Europe. He also refused to put on the uniform. The American government at that time made less provision for COs, and grandfather was put in prison. His prison accommodation was not good. The cell was damp, and he was held for an extended period. The damp accommodations affected his health, which was the source of lifelong weakness.

So grandfather’s stance in World War One cost him the farm in World War Two. His basic objection to putting on the uniform was the same one I gave for myself: He could not say that his government was the ruler of his life, because he knew that Jesus is Lord.

A Problem

There is, of course, a problem with these stories I have told you. They suggest that a really faithful Christian, one who takes the Lordship of Christ seriously, will be in constant conflict with society. There is some truth to this idea. Our world wants to control our lives. Paul tells us to not allow our world to press us into its mould, but to be transformed by the mind of Christ (Romans 12). Jesus tells us that no one can serve two masters. We must choose: is Jesus Lord in our life, or is “money, sex, and power” Lord in our lives? (Matthew 6:24)

But here’s the problem. Paul quotes this great Christian hymn about Jesus the Servant, who is also the Lord of the Universe. When he quotes this hymn, he is not making the point that we are in conflict with the larger society, but rather he is emphasizing the unity that he wants to see in the church. His point is not that we are conflictual, but that we are a people of peace with each other as well as with the military.

Hear Paul’s words again:

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

The Point

We followers of Jesus are a people of peace who care for each other quite radically. In point of fact, this commitment brings us into conflict with our society at even deeper level than the military. The USA has moved away from the draft to a volunteer army, so my sons have not had to decide in the way that I did during the Vietnam War. Yet they and I alike are influenced by the larger culture as much as anyone.

The larger culture does not understand the kind of thing Paul says here. Our culture insists that we must take care of ourselves first. There is good sense in this. We cannot love others as we love ourselves, if we don’t love ourselves. There is also bad sense in this. To love ourselves – and to love others – is not primarily a feeling; it does not mean, “Feel good about yourself and others.” It means what Paul says in Philippians: “Look out for each other’s interest.”

Our culture is based on the freedom of the individual to be unique, each of us primarily responsible for ourselves. God’s reign is based on our service to God, expressed in service to each other and therefore responsible for each other.

Can You Do It?
C.S. Lewis has described this as the Christian virtue of humility. Here is what he says: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.” You don’t put yourself down; rather you lift others up. Lewis continues: 

Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call “humble” nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. …. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.

(Mere Christianity, from the chapter on “The Great Sin” [Pride].)

“Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” God reigns in our hearts, and as a result we really care about each other. We are truly interested in each other.

·         This means dying to our own sense of self-importance.

·         This means that we “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep”.

·         This means that actually notice each other.

Have you ever felt invisible? It is a most uncomfortable feeling. When Heaven comes close to earth, we realize that we really matter – and that all the people around us really matter.

I’m not calling you to follow the path I took towards military service. I do call you to follow Jesus as Lord, and to work out the rule of Christ in the way that you treat people around you.

This really does mean breaking with the rule of our culture. For example, we will reject the political hostility of our culture, which seeks to attack the enemy at every point. Further, we will welcome those who follow Christ. Even when they have transgressed the laws of the country (as some of my friends have), we will welcome them as brothers and sisters, calling on them to repent, and caring for them throughout their lives.

“Love each other as I have loved you”, Jesus said. When we do this, we come closer to God’s reign, and we can hear the music of Heaven singing, “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Providence Community Chapel

11 October 2017

Philippians 2: 1-11

2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.