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This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Matthew 24: 14
In my last post I wrote of things evolving in order to respond to God's call. In what sense are we asked to respond to God's call? It is not merely recognising God's role in creation; to recognise God's role is to submit to God's rule.
Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God. Once again we need to see this as an opportunity to respond to God's challenge rather than submit to control. We need to be highly suspicious of those who argue the Kingdom is like an earthly Kingdom, only bigger with scarier punishments. This sort of argument merely masks their own lust for power.
It is obvious as we read the Gospels, Jesus is ironic in his use of the word Kingdom. This Kingdom is one where the powerful serve the powerless. We are invited to compare it with the Kingdoms we experience on earth. There would be little point in doing so if God's Kingdom is essentially business as usual for despots.
This is why the Kingdom is good news and needs to be proclaimed across the whole world. It would not be good news if this were a proclamation of business as usual.
Matthew is of course aware of how unlikely radical obedience to God will be. Once it has been proclaimed to all nations, the end will come. The end appears to have been indefinitely postponed!
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