John 16.33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
How many Gospels do you know? Before you answer this, let me share some thoughts with you…
One of the greatest illusions to which Christian are subjected is that once our lives are in the hands of God we will never have problems again.
It is a lie, and a dangerous one. It is dangerous because when the bubble is busted we tend to believe that those problems are to be blamed on us. Like the friends of Job, we have the tendency to blame others and blame ourselves, for those circumstances. We say, sometimes internally, sometimes to others, that certainly there has to be some sin involved in it all…
When we preach that message we create that illusion, and when that illusion is broken facing reality we have two choices: we either think that the gospel that was preached to us is a lie, or we need to re-analyse what we truly believe in the light of the Scriptures. Every human being by nature tries to avoid pain, rejection, fear, danger, uncertainties… and sometimes we believe that our faith will be enough to help us, and therefore we hold on with all our strength to the 5th Gospel. That one is the Gospel formed by all our favourite verses, those promises that we like but without any condition attached to them, all the blessings but none of the consequences or requirements.
We select the promises, and then we go ahead declaring them as truth, decreeing that they will happen, sometimes even using them to decree the end of a lockdown or the failure of a pandemic… But reality doesn’t change because I have decided to ignore it or deny it. And sometimes, sadly, church culture seems to stimulate that culture of denial of our reality as if it was all bad, and our only hope is one day to reach heaven…
Now, Jesus never lied to us. He was very clear in affirming that in this world we will have problems, afflictions, negative circumstances. That some things wouldn’t happen the way we were expecting, of the way we wanted, or even the way we believed they should happen. But that we shouldn’t stress over it, because he has overcome this system that raises against the Kingdom of God.
This world is based upon a system that stands against the Kingdom of God. We are taught to believe in a system that oppresses and destroys the true concept of freedom. Think about the circumstances that Israel was facing when they were in Egypt when they were rescued by God: an abusive system that allowed the exploitation of human beings for the benefit of an empire. Those people would lose any notion of dignity and personal value before the system. People would become disposable, and injustice would become the rule. And man would take centre stage, and our ideas would become the concepts that determine right and wrong. A humanistic civilization that would use religion as an instrument of self-satisfaction, empty of the power to confront or correct. And if you are not satisfied, you change gods, you change theologies or philosophies, you just change to another congregation…
The journey from Egypt to the Promised Land should make us think about our own passing from this system, this world, to the new reality in Christ, that he called the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God.
In the moment in which there was a foreign authority dominating over Israel, a force that would crush any rebellion or attempt of changing the government, Jesus had the courage, the audacity of declaring that the time had come for a new kingdom. And that’s a problem because usually when we have a new kingdom we also have a new King. His followers were calling him “Son of David”, a reference to a glorious era in their past when they were free, when they experienced the fulfilment of the promises of God for them. They start calling Jesus “lord”, using the word Kurios, the same word that was used to describe the authority of Caesar.
By announcing a new Kingdom and accepting the title of Lord, Jesus is making a counter-cultural declaration with huge implications. There is a system under which we are living and the Kingdom of God is contrary to that system. There is no possibility of coexistence. One system will always stand against the other.
Even the cultural and religious identity of the Jewish people was challenged, when Jesus declared that he was greater than the temple and that he could tear it down and rebuild it in three days. Can you imagine what that declarations sounded like to the Jews that saw in the Temple the ultimate reality of their religion? Again, Jesus is declaring that there is no communion between a religious system that oppresses and abuses the people, and the new reality of the Kingdom of God.
So why do we act surprised when the system stands against the principles and values of the Kingdom of God? Why do we expect this world to agree with the principles as taught in the Scriptures? Why do we expect to live a life in this world that will be free from conflict, free from problems? Our lives are supposed to be constantly in a place of tension between living in this world and not belonging to this world. Living in this reality knowing that there will be times in which we will have to affirm the values of the Kingdom of God and we will see the dominant culture raising against it. And it’s up to us, generation after generation, time after time, to persevere in believing and in living the word of God, regardless of how hard it may be, or how much it may cost us. We need to continue to find ways to express in words and deeds the message of this Gospel that calls for transformation, not for accommodating. For renewal, not just for repurpose. For salvation, not just for agreement. And to do until the kingdom of God is established in his love and grace for the glory of our Lord, until this revolution that Jesus started is no longer needed because his kingdom has been established and his kingdom will have no end. Until then, readjust your expectations- this life is beautiful and worth living and full of great surprises, in the midst of difficulties, of struggles, of challenges. And we fight on with the weapons of love and forgiveness, grace and mercy, worship and prayer, gratitude and honour, sharing God’s heart for the world because this is who we are created to be- living and loving declarations of the heart of God. We dare to go on believing because we trust we know the end of the story- and this story ends with a party and banquet where everyone is invited. Even you.
Grace and peace to you all!