Sermon Tone Analysis

While y'all gathered at RHUMC… I went home this past weekend

Remember all the things that used to direct my life

For many years… I was running from my past… driven by my past

Many live for the past… dragging it around.

Others live for the present… getting everything they can.

Still others have goals and they really live for the future.

Jesus tells his disciples there is a better way to live though… yes be future oriented… but be kingdom minded

What was Jesus saying?

-NOT individual

Entos humin, best translated “among you” or “in your midst.”

Where I’m from, you would say, “The Kingdom of God is in the presence of ya’ll.”

But what is Jesus talking about?

Remember, Jesus had already performed plenty of visible signs for everyone, including the religious leaders, to observe - cast out demons, healed the sick, and raised the dead – all evidence that God’s kingdom was at hand.

But Jesus hadn’t taken over… So, with doubt, the Pharisees ask “when the Kingdom of God would come” (v.20).

“Kingdom” to most Jews in the first century suggested a restoration of political power.

The Messiah would raise up an army to defeat the foreign powers, restore Israel’s independence, and bestow economic prosperity.

Much like we heard over the past days as politicians and news-makers obsess over movement in the Dow Jones, the Pharisees were looking for signs of the times.

Jesus wasn’t doing what they thought he should be doing as Messiah.

The kingdom he heralded did not seem to be focused on their political situation.

Jesus’s response to the Pharisees in Luke 17:20 is icy: the kingdom does not come with careful observation.

in other words, don’t be looking for political signs of a glorious political future through political channels.

Rather, “The Kingdom of God is among you” (v.21).

It is right here, Jesus says, among the crowd of healed lepers, deaf, the demoniacs and get this … even the Gentiles.

We have to understand why the Pharisees were so offended by this.

They expected to see signs and wonders manifested in them as a nation, not among the poor and lowly.

The Messiah is supposed to come through the temple and mosaic law… Jesus seemed to be bypassing these cultural influences.

Pharisees could never accept such an insulting paradigm.

That is why they keep asking about the “real” kingdom, the victory of Israel and the religious establishment.

Unfortunately for the Pharisees, the kingdom had already arrived, and not where they expected it… right in their midst.

But this isn’t all there is to teh Kingdom is it?

NO

MOre is to come, we’ll get to that in a moment, but the Kingdom is Real right now Jesus says.

THat’s where we get the idea of the Kingdom of God being now but not yet… or already but not yet.

By that we mean that believers are actively taking part in the kingdom of God today as we follow the promptings of the HOoly Spirit in us, but the kingdom will not reach its full expression until sometime in the future.

We are “already” in the kingdom, but we do “not yet” see it in its fullness.

That’s because the kingdom of God is more of a Who than a WHAT.

The Kingdom of God is more of a WHO than a WHAT

It’s about the presence of God, his Son in the world, and his Spirit at work in his church.

The Pharisees were fixated on the kingdom coming… and couldn’t recognize the king… the lesson for us is to focus more on:

● the King than the kingdom

● the Giver than the gifts

● the Healer than the healing

This is the start of having a kingdom mindset and being able to live from your future.

A future that is now… but not yet.

Look at what Jesus says next

The Disciples knew something was different about this time with Jesus.

The Kingdom had sort of just appeared among them.

But Jesus wanted them to know that there was a time coming when this consummation would be obvious.

Everyone wants to know when and where, Jesus said just focus on the who.

Looking forward to someone you love returning… called all the time checking in… now that I’m here you know what she doesn't do… now she just talks to me… now she just walks in and scratches my back… now she just

Don’t get caught up in my return, the when and the where, just get caught up in my presence among you here and now.

Because even if you knew the where and when it wouldn’t matter.

That’s the sad reality.

Even if we knew the moment of Jesus’s return, it wouldn’t make a difference for most people.

Jesus went on to explain

This sounds pretty normal, but the truth is that when we think back at these two occasions there is more to the story.

Remember Noah, built a 435 foot boat over the course of 120 years, all the while telling people about a flood that was coming.

In 120 years, he was only able to convince 7 people… his family… of what God was doing.

Everyone else was eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage.

When the flood came it wasn’t a surprise… they had been told… they didn’t do anything with the knowledge.

Same with Lot.

An angel appears in the town and warns the people and Lot is only able to convince his family… everyone else is eating, and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

Everyone knew God was about to judge Sodom and Gomorrah... they had been warned… but just like in the days of Noah, no one did anything with the knowledge.

Instead people just kept doing with normal things of living right now.

Knowledge does not equal Relationship

Focused on living right now, rather than the future they were being invited into.

Because it’s scary to step into the future right?

We are more comfortable with our past because we know it pretty good… we know how we always respond to things… we know how we always react… it’s like an old pair of tennis shoes… sure they may stink, but boy do they fit like a glove.

A relationship though is different from knowledge… a relationship is risky…

It’s easy to get caught up in the things of this world and take our relationship with Jesus for granted.

But Jesus says instead get caught up in me and your place in my Kingdom here and now because one day...

Where?

YOU WILL KNOW WHERE

How to live from your future

Not striving to attain… but allowing what has been won on your behalf feed, direct, and sustain you today

I asked my football players how would you play if you knew you had already won

Keys to live from your future: Accept your citizenship - 1 Thess 4:13-18

See it

Compare it

Make changes

Keys to live from your future: Think Eternally 2 Corinthians 5:1-13

A kingdom mindset

Keys to live from your future: Remember, your eternity has already begun

Expect resistance