The Kingdom Manifesto - 7

The Kingdom Manifesto – 7

Introduction

Created in 1996 by Sid Meier, the video game Civilization II is a strategy-based game that allows players to run the world. The goal is to be so wise, and even more powerful, to be the last civilization standing. It quickly became one of the most popular games for PC’s and then for PlayStation. The issue players quick discovered was this: what do you do when you can’t win? How far into the future can you continue playing to try to finally be the ultimate civilization? One video game player decided to find out. He decided to play as far into the future as he could and see what the ramifications would be. Here are his results:

-The world is a hellish nightmare of suffering and devastation.

-There are 3 remaining super-nations in the year 3991 AD, each competing for the scant resources left on the planet after dozens of nuclear wars have rendered vast swaths of the world uninhabitable wastelands.

-The ice caps have melted over 20 times due primarily to the many nuclear wars. As a result, every inch of land in the world that isn’t a mountain is inundated swamp land, useless for farming. Most of which is irradiated anyway.

-90% of the world’s population has died from either nuclear annihilation or famine cause by the intense global warming.

-Three super massive nations are left – The Celts, the Vikings, and the Americans. They have conquered every other nation that has ever existed.

-They have been at war for 1700 years. Peace is impossible.

While it may seem outlandish that this is what happened in a video game, it still strikes at the heart of reality. There have been over 14,500 wars since 3500 BC, leaving a death toll of some 3.5 billion people. In the 20th century alone, there were 237 military conflicts, resulting in just under 96 million deaths (almost 1 million deaths per year for an entire century).

But should this really surprise us? There has been conflict on Earth since the very beginning of humanity. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden had conflict over the forbidden fruit. Their sons had such conflict that one killed the other one (the first murder in history). And it’s just been increasing ever since.

Conflict has become so pervasive in our lives and in our culture, that it has dramatically affected our outlook on life. It has created a drowning sense of hopelessness for the future. Think back over the last several decades and how those in the past viewed the future. There was a sense of optimism over what we could eventually create in the world. Ride on the Carousel of Progress at Disney and you’ll see the hope for what technology could produce in our lives. The old cartoon, the Jetsons, showed us a better future with much optimism.

But all the books, shows, and movies today that are set in the future are all dystopian. They present a bleak outlook of danger and devastation, with a war-ravaged planet, all of them based on the fact that something in our time has gone terribly wrong and ruined the future. Want to know why that is? Because we have seen, and personally lived, the escalation of conflict in the world and in our lives…and we see no hope of it getting better anymore.

Right now, today, it is more likely than not that you have some sort of conflict in your life. With a spouse, friend, coworker, neighbor, even someone in church. It is everywhere. But life in God’s Kingdom is supposed to be different, better. And those who live in God’s Kingdom are to live differently, better, than those who don’t. Notice Jesus’ 7th blessing statement:

Matthew 5:9 – God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.

God expects, and blesses those, who work for peace. Before we can talk about what it means to work for peace and how to go about doing that, we need to define ‘peace.’ For some peace brings to mind a tranquil outdoor scene, a place to find serenity and rest. For some, peace means harmony in relationships, a state of mind where everyone gets along with everyone else. Still others think of long-haired hippies flashing the familiar two-finger peace sign while protesting something.

For the most part, our visions of peace deal with the absence of conflict. We see peace as a period of time with no wars or international conflicts, with nations living in agreement (or at least understanding) with one another. When there is world peace (as Miss America keeps promising) there will be no war, violence, or injustice. Peace is just an absence of atrocities.

In Jesus’ day, ‘peace’ meant something a bit different, and far more profound. The Jewish people had their own word for ‘peace,’ the Hebrew word ‘shalom.’ When the NT speaks of peace, it brings the OT concept of ‘shalom’ into NT Greek terms. The word carries the idea of “completeness, wholeness, health, soundness, fullness.” One scholar, struck by all the words that are attached to ‘shalom’ summed up the meaning this way: “Saying ‘shalom’ purposefully means to offer a peace treaty, a pledge to live for the other’s well-being, a covenant to desire and seek the good life of God’s favor together. So peace, as translated from the biblical shalom, is not merely an absence of civil disturbances but an active pursuit of the well-being of others. It finds its expression in a sharing and caring community.” (Peter Kroeker)

One author, John Ortberg, envisions a world of shalom in quite an imaginative way. He writes, “In a world where shalom prevailed, all marriages would be healthy and all children would be safe. Those who have too much would give to those who have too little. Israeli and Palestinian children would play together on the West Bank; their parents would build homes for one another. In offices and corporate boardrooms, executives would secretly scheme to help their colleagues succeed; they would compliment them behind their backs. Tabloids would be filled with accounts of courage and moral beauty. Talk shows would feature mothers and daughters who love each other deeply, wives who give birth to their husband’s children, and men who secretly enjoy dressing as men.

Disagreements would be settled with grace and civility. There would still be lawyers, perhaps, but they would have really useful jobs like delivering pizza, which would be non-fat and low in cholesterol. Doors would have no locks; cars would have no alarms. Schools would no longer need police presence or even hall monitors; students and teachers and janitors would honor and value one another’s work. At recess, every kid would get picked for a team. Churches would never split.

People would be neither bored nor hurried. No father would ever again say, “I’m too busy,” to a disappointed child. Our national sleep deficit would be paid off. Starbucks would still exist, but would sell only decaf.

Divorce courts and battered-women shelters would be turned into community recreation centers. Every time one human being touched another, it would be to express encouragement, affection and delight.

No one would be lonely or afraid. People of different races would join hands; they would honor and be enriched by their differences and be united in their common humanity.

And in the center of the entire community would be its magnificent architect and most glorious resident; the God whose presence fills each person with unceasing splendor and ever-increasing delight.

The writers of Scripture tell us that this vision is the way things are supposed to be. This is what we would look like if we lived up to the norms God set for human life—if our world were truly normal. One day it will be.

This is what Jesus envisions when he calls us to work for peace. And notice that we are to “work” for peace. This is not a call to passive protection against hard things, but to proactive involvement in the lives of the people around us. There is a huge difference between peace-making (what Jesus calls us to here) and peace-keeping.

- Peacekeeping is passive; peacemaking requires action.

- Peacekeeping often involves concession; peacemaking often involves conflict.

- Peacekeeping is avoidance of conflict; peacemaking aims for presence of harmony.

Maybe we could think of it this way: This is the typical suit worn by an apiarist (bee-keeper) [picture]. It’s a weird hybrid of fishing waders, safari gear, and a radiation suit, keeping them safe from harm. As any good beekeeper will tell you (assuming you know one), there are pieces of equipment you never want to be without. For starters, you want to be sure to wear a hat and veil to keep the bees away from your face. Secondly, you want to make sure the uniform you wear is a little baggy. If the suit clings too closely to your body, the bees might be able to get their stingers through the outside of your clothing. In addition, beekeepers are also fond of gloves, which allow them to handle the hive without having their hands attacked. Finally, no apiarist uniform is complete without elastic bands to fit around the wrists. These bands connect the gloves to the rest of the suit, keeping the bees from finding their way up your sleeves (and bees in your sleeves is far worse than ants in your pants).

I bring this up because beekeepers actually have a lot in common with “peacekeepers.” We all know people who try to keep the peace no matter what the situation. While it seems on the surface like they’re doing a good thing, their methods for keeping the peace often do more harm than good. They avoid confrontation. They run away from conflict. They appease those they disagree with. They do whatever they can to keep from being stung relationally. They use gloves when dealing with a delicate situation, they keep their distance from anyone who may cause a bit of trouble. No matter the level of personal suffering, they are going to make everyone happy.

Friends, that is not what Jesus is talking about here. He isn’t telling us to be doormats who cave in or run away from conflict. We aren’t to pretend disagreements and arguments don’t exist. Though many are wired to hate conflict and avoid it, Jesus blatantly tells us to deal with it whenever it presents itself.

Matthew 5:23-24 – 23 “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

Matthew 18:15-17 – 15 “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 17 If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.

Seek peace/reconciliation…and notice what these two texts teach…no matter who is at fault. In Matthew 5 he tells the offender to go and seek peace. In Matthew 18 he tells the offended to go and seek peace. So not matter who is at fault, no matter who is responsible for causing the conflict, our role as Kingdom people, as followers of Jesus, is to immediately go and fight for unity.

But notice the point he makes in Matthew 18…if you are unsuccessful. Peace is not always possible. Romans 12:18 - 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Do all that YOU can do. Another translation puts it as “as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” What happens when you try to make peace and it doesn’t work? Jesus tells us to prepare for that reality.

It could be because of the other person involved. Maybe you offended them, and they can’t come to the place of forgiveness. That’s on them, not you. Maybe they offended you, you went to them to seek peace, and they have a hard heart and their ego can’t handle being told they did something offensive. That’s on them, not you. You did what the Lord told you to do.

Bart Barber speaks to both sides of this issue: “The lubricating oil of every relationship has two ingredients: ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I forgive you.’ This is true for your marriage, kids and parents, your workplace, your church…when the oil runs out, it’s just a matter of time before the machine breaks.”

Or, the problem isn’t them, the problem may be Jesus. Jesus himself said this:

Matthew 10:34-39 - 34 “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

35 ‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 Your enemies will be right in your own household!’

37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

It could be that your loyalty to Jesus could sever relationships. You cannot control other people’s reactions to your faith. For example: think of this list of beatitudes in Matthew 5. Those who understand their spiritual poverty (realistic and not spiritually elitist), those who mourn over their sin and the sin of those around them, those who are humble, those who pursue justice, those who are merciful, those whose hearts are pure, those who work for peace. What a list! Kingdom people are incredible people. What a list of characteristics to have mark you! But notice the last blessing:

Matthew 5:10-11 - 10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.

Really? Who would persecute people who are marked by such wonderful characteristics? A bunch of people. And it really doesn’t have anything to do with you. It’s because you follow and represent Jesus. Notice the end of v. 11…because you are my followers. So, Jesus isn’t saying you are blessed when people mistreat you because you are a jerk. But when you are authentically living out your faith and people just can’t stand the smell of Jesus on you.

Sadly, there are people who simply prefer to live in conflict and reject peace. Those aren’t Kingdom people. But that does not stop those of us who are Kingdom people to be those who work for peace. That is our call. That is our responsibility. And look at what Jesus said would be the result:

Matthew 5:9 – God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.

The word Jesus uses for “children” is the word for ‘son.’ There are two Greek words that can be translated as ‘son.’ One of them means genetic…like your biological son. That is not the word Jesus uses here. He uses the other one that means more like ‘reflection of.’ Those who work for peace are called ‘children of God’ because they are being a reflection of their Heavenly Father. Why? Because peace is what God is all about!

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 - 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

God has made peace with himself possible. Our sin had created conflict with God, and God is a peace-maker. Through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, God works for peace with us. He is the ultimate worker for peace. And whenever we work for peace, we are showing those around us who our Father really is.

And here is why this is so hard…there is a cost to make peace. Want to know why there are so many people in conflict? Because no one was willing to put on their big boy/big girl pants and make peace. It hurts to make peace. Someone has to initiate a hard conversation. Someone has to swallow their pride. That’s why this beatitude is linked to God blesses the humble. Remember, the beatitudes are all linked, in order. This one purposefully links to humility. Why? Because only humble people work for peace.

And if there is anyone who knows the cost of peace, it is God. It cost Jesus his very life to make peace with sinners like us. It’s going to hurt to make peace. But it is so worth it. We started by talking about how pervasive conflict is in our lives. The primary reason we have a natural bent towards conflict with people is because we have a heart that is naturally bent towards war with God. Every single human being has a natural sense of opposition to the God who made them. So, the only way to have peace with one another is to have peace with God first.

Billy Graham: “To be a peacemaker, you must first know the Peace-Giver.” Place your faith today in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. From there, he will work in you to work for peace with the people around you.

BELIEVE/REPENT/CONFESS/BAPTIZE

COMMUNION