Right Before Our Eyes

Prayer

Reality Is Not What You Think

I’m guessing that many of you have heard of the term “red-pilled”, this idea that people who had a particular way of looking at the world realize that they’ve been seeing it wrong, that the things were absolutely true, are not, they were missing things right in front of them. This all has to do with that’s known as a paradigm, that we all have a basic framework, what we believe about the world and how it works. It’s the lens, the filter through which we view everything. And when someone is red-pilled, that whole framework is shattered, changes everything, it’s a paradigm shift.

Often this is used in terms of a political shift - someone is a staunch Democrat (or Republican), they come across a story or data that doesn’t fit in with their understanding of the world. They can’t make sense of it. Normally, we’re so attached to our view of the world that we simply dismiss things that don’t fit. But sometimes, we take it seriously, and it makes us question what we believe, that begins to open us up to seeing things differently. When that brings about an entire change in perspective, then you’ve been “red-pilled.”

The term comes from the movie, the Matrix. In the movie, Neo, the main character, also known as “the One”, is living his ordinary life - got his apartment in a big city, goes to work, but these strange things begin to happen, things he can’t make sense of. Then he encounters Morpheus, who explains to him that all he thinks he knows about the world is a lie. He holds out to Neo two pills, a blue one and a red one. If Neo chooses to take the blue one, he’ll forget all about these strange things and his life will go on as it did before.

But, if he chooses to take the red pill, then the veil will come down, and everything will be changed forever - there is no turning back. Of course he chooses to take the red pill - discovers the whole world he thinks he is living in is just a computer simulation, and it gets crazy confusing from there, so I won’t get into it.

But this idea of being red-pilled, of a whole paradigm shift - of having everything you thought and knew about the world transformed - this is at the very heart of the Gospel message. It is the main message that Jesus proclaimed.

Matthew 4:12-13, 17 - When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali...From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Take a few minutes to look at this - this is huge. It’s only one verse, but it says a lot! We learn first that John the Baptist has been put in prison. He was the one who was first proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of heaven. Now John was never the main attraction, he was always the opening act, he came to get people ready for Jesus. Now the mantle has been passed, it is Jesus who begins to proclaim the same message, this news that would be Jesus’ primary message.

And what was his big announcement, the one that from that time on he would proclaim over and over again? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” It’s a very simple message. It begins with a command, a one-word command, repent. Greek word is metanoia - transform. Change your mind. Rethink everything you thought you knew. Change the whole direction of your life. Take the red pill. That’s what Jesus is telling them to do.

And why are we to repent, to change everything about the way we think? For, because, the kingdom of heaven, the reign and rule of God, has come into our midst. It’s right here, right now, in your presence. It’s right before your eyes, if you have eyes to see it.

Now, let me be very clear on this - when we talk about repentance, normally we’re talking about moving away from sinful behavior and attitudes and toward obedience to Jesus. We engage in that every Sunday during our time of Confession. And repentance absolutely includes that, it’s central to repentance. But if that’s the only way we think about it (this was one of the really helpful things we learned at the ECO National Gathering), then we are missing a huge part of what Jesus is inviting us into. And this is the main point of the sermon series.

To understand repentance in a much broader sense. To ask the question, “What does it mean to have a vision, to have eyes to see - to be red-pilled, if you will - toward the Kingdom of God.” Or, as we’re calling it, the Magnificent Kingdom? Can we get a fuller picture of what it is that Jesus is proclaiming when he makes that simple announcement, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

This morning, I want to give you a tastes of what that includes, because it’s so much more than just our sin versus living in obedience. We’re going to make our way through the rest of Matthew 4 to give you an idea of what we’re talking about.

The Magnificent Kingdom

Matthew 4:18-22...As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

We start with the story of Jesus calling several of his disciples, first the brothers Simon (Peter) and Andrew, than the other brothers, James and John. He calls them as they are in the midst of their daily occupation, fishing.

Jesus invites them to be his followers. “Come, follow me.” It’s an invitation to enter into the Kingdom, to be a part of what Jesus, the King, is all about. To come under his reign and rule. Jesus is presenting himself as a Rabbi, a teacher, follow me and let me teach you the right way to live. To follow someone is, of course, to be obedient to them, to come under their rule, to put into practice what they teach you. That’s what Jesus is saying here.

But notice what else Jesus tells them, what he promises to do - “and I will send you out to fish for people.” I’m going to make you fishers of men. And it’s here we begin to get more of what repenting, changing our minds about everything is all about. It’s not just about changing the way we live - Jesus is inviting them into something bigger, grander - much more than just our morality (though it absolutely includes that), but into an active participation in the Magnificent Kingdom.

He’s inviting them to share in this grand vision of drawing others into the Kingdom. Jesus wants his Kingdom full. Just like they want their nets full of fish, like any good fisherman! Jesus wants more and more fish - people. The Kingdom of heaven is not an exclusive club - sorry, game’s locked. There’s no space limitations, max capacity for seating. There is room for all!

Jesus wants any and all coming into his Magnificent Kingdom, coming under his reign, delighting in his beauty, his goodness, his truth - and he wants us to play a central role in that, to share in that vision. And for those who choose to follow him, he will make them fishers of men, he will work in and through them to be a part of this Kingdom work.

This requires a repentance, a metanoia, a complete change of mind in terms of how we view the world, our lives, the primary purpose of our lives. Jesus is telling them - this is what it means to enter into the Kingdom: You will follow me, live in obedience to me, and share in my Kingdom work. That is what our lives are to be about.

Talk about a red pill moment! This changes everything! Now it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are to drop everything that’s a part of our lives now - like Peter and Andrew and James and John do - leave their nets and boats and immediately follow Jesus, but it might - it did for them, and it does for many of us even today. If that doesn’t point to embracing a whole new way of looking at things, I don’t know what does!

At the very least it means I have to look very differently about the way I see my day-to-day life, how I go about my interaction with family members, my work, how I engage with my neighbors, how I handle money - earning, saving, spending, giving, what I prioritize in my schedule. I am to learn from Jesus how to fish for people. How to draw them into the Kingdom. To repent means that it will have an impact on every area of my life, a complete redo because of how I know see the world - the Kingdom of God is right here in our midst. And I have a role to play in the Kingdom, there is work that is given to me to fulfill.

We see more of what the vision of the Kingdom is all about in this next passage. Matthew 4:23-25...Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Here we get a summary of what Jesus is doing in his ministry - he’s traveling throughout Galilee, teaching in the synagogues (which was the center of Jewish community, where they would gather together), and then, there it is again, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Remember, that was his primary message - that God’s reign, his Magnificent Kingdom, is right in their midst (and the proper response is to repent, to change the way you think and understand everything).

Then Jesus backs up his words with actions. He gives them a demonstration of the power, the goodness, the glory of the Kingdom - “healing every disease and sickness among the people.” Get a description of everything that involved - diseases of all types and severity, those suffering intense pain, people possessed by demons. They are seeing (and some of them actually experiencing) the magnificence of the healing power that exists within the Kingdom of God.

Try, for a moment, to put yourself in that place, at that time. Jesus is making this grand announcement - The Kingdom of God is here! Repent, change your whole way of thinking, because everything is completely different now. Then he shows them just how different it is.

You see person after person approaching Jesus, coming in all sorts of conditions - some, because of a disfiguring skin disease, are grotesque to look at. Others can barely hobble their way up to him. Still others can’t - they have to be carried by friends and family. And then those you’d want to keep distance from, a wildness about them, unpredictable, they have an air of evil about them - the demon-possessed.

And one by one, he heals them. As we see throughout the Gospels, sometimes he just speaks a word, a command. For others, he likely touches them, placing his hand whereve the ailment is. And then, skin is made new, smooth and clean. You see the relief on the faces of those who’d been in great pain as the throbbing fades away. People now walking - heck, they’d be jumping because they’d be so excited. Others weeping openly because they have been set free from the torment they’d been experiencing. It would be unlike anything else you’ve ever seen.

No wonder they were coming from all over - from the north, from Syria, from the south, from Judea, from the east, from across the Sea of Galilee and across the Jordan River. Their minds were being blown. They were in complete amazement. Because they were seeing the power, the glory, the goodness of the Kingdom of God happening right before their eyes. Things they would not have dreamed possible - are happening right then and there. Jesus wasn’t kidding when he told them that God’s kingdom is right there with them.

This is what Jesus is giving them a taste of. What he wants them to see, what’s right in front of their eyes, the immediate availability of the Kingdom of God (that is, if they are open to it. If they will indeed repent, be willing to change everything they think they understand about life. If they will, as we’ve been saying, take the red pill. And in doing so, get a vision for the Magnificent Kingdom right there in their midst in the person of Jesus Christ.

This is what Dallas Willard calls “The Divine Conspiracy” - God doing this amazing thing, ushering in his Kingdom, establishing his reign on earth, it’s happening right now, in this moment, all around us - and most people never see it. Go through life blind to it.

It’s only as we repent, as we come with a willingness, an openness to have our minds changed, to see things differently - to join the conspiracy. That’s when we will have eyes to see it. And then, it changes everything - we look at life differently completely different because we see the great reality of God’s rule and reign here on the earth, that his Magnificent Kingdom is amongst us even now, being established. And we have an opportunity to join in the work to make it happen, to see it grow. And pray it will continue to happen. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done.

Here’s my goal over the season of Lent, in this sermon series - for us to understand more fully what it means for us to repent, to have a complete change of mind, in light of the fact that the Kingdom of God is now present among us. To gain a vision for the Kingdom? What would change about the way we see and understand our life, the way we engage with the world, how we view others. We’ve touched on a few of those things, just from what we’ve looked at this morning...

A recognition of that it all begins with our willing obedience to know and listen to Jesus. Come, follow me.

And that as we do so, as we place Jesus at the center of our lives, allowing him to change our minds, to reteach us how to live life (so much to unlearn in order to learn), then Jesus will transform us toward the true purpose of our lives, to share in his Kingdom work, “I will make you fishers of men.” And it may be helpful to just stop for a moment to think - is this the way I think about my who I am and what my life is about? Has my mind changed here? Have I repented? Is the red-pill taking effect in me? Do I see myself first and foremost as a follower of the King, ready to respond in obedience to whatever Kingdom work he has for me?

Finally, the revealed power and blessing of the Kingdom - as we saw in all the healings Jesus performed, one after another. Demonstration of the life, the wholeness, the blessing God offers all of us in his Magnificent Kingdom. Let me finish with this thought, because it really captures what it means to have gained a vision for the Kingdom of God, the good news Jesus proclaimed. From Dallas Willard in his book, The Divine Conspiracy: The gospel of the kingdom is that no one is beyond beatitude, because the rule of God from the heavens is available to all. Everyone can reach it, and it can reach everyone…You are really walking in the good news of the kingdom if you can go with confidence to any of the hopeless people around you and effortlessly convey assurance that they can now enter a blessed life with God.

Spiritual Disciplines - How can we work towards repentance, of having our minds changed more and more, to see the Kingdom of God in our midst.

James Bryan Smith calls the Gospel, The Magnificent Story. Three fundamental aspects to this story, the story of the Kingdom of God coming to us in the person of Jesus Christ: Truth, Beauty and Goodness. You can recognize the Kingdom by seeing what is True, what is Beautiful, and what is Good.

This week, make efforts to be attentive to these three things. For some of us, this might be harder than it is for others, we tend to see the negative first, what’s wrong. You might choose a day for each, a day being attentive to that which is True (examples). A day being attentive to Beauty (examples). A day being attentive to the Good you see around you.

And as you see them, praise God for what you see. Thank God that your whole view, perspective is being changed - the red pill process is happening! You are learning to recognize the Kingdom of God right in your midst.