Jesus’ message was the kingdom of God. He came to announce,
to embody, and to inaugurate a new way of living, of relating, of loving. Jesus
did not simply have a message about the kingdom, Jesus is the message of the kingdom. A seminary professor of mine once declared that the entire Gospel
could be distilled down to one verse and he asked us to announce to the class
what we thought that verse was. Quick to answer, many of us shouted, “John
3:16! Matthew 22:36-40! Romans 5:8!” Yet his answer surprised us:
“The time has come,
the kingdom of God is near.
Repent and believe
the good news!”
Mark 1:15
Jesus' primary message, the one that he took on flesh to
personify, is the kingdom of God. But
what does this kingdom look like? What are its distinctive features? And how
are we to contribute to this kingdom today? These are the questions that fill
my mind, particularly as we enter into the entangled web of broken
relationships, growing fears and bitter divisions that constitute today’s
complex world. These are the questions that buoy my spirit when I get bogged
down in all the challenges and uncertainties that surround the colossal project
of bringing Catholics and Young Lifers together for the sake of Christ, kids and kingdom.
On days like today, hearing the words of Scripture, I am
reminded that my central aim, just as it was for Jesus, is the kingdom of God.
So what does that look like?
I’ll never forget how the above-mentioned professor, noted
Princeton theologian and missiologist Darrell Guder, began each class.[1] “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a
broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”[2]
Those weren’t his own words. Dr. Guder was quoting David, the great Psalmist
and hero of ancient Israel. What he was trying to get across, through this
daily ritual of contrition, is that true kingdom work is not born of our
esteemed efforts, as noble and sophisticated as they are. They are God’s. The
mission is God’s. The kingdom is God’s.
This humility opens the door for real healing. In a world
and in a church marked by fracture and division, our humility before the Lord
and before each other allows the Spirit to tend to our wounds, alleviate our
pain, and silence the voices that cause us to be afraid. Humility allows us to
hear the words of God spoken to us in the daily liturgy, “Lord, I am not worthy
to enter under your roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”[3]
Humility allows us to own our mistakes but not be imprisoned by them. It allows
us to say, “I’m sorry,” and set out on a new course of relationship and
oneness.
This humility is the repentance about which Jesus spoke when
he proclaimed, “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the good
news!” In humility we see that the relationship between Protestants and
Catholics has been tragically marked by sin and separation. Through kingdom
eyes we can see that the Lord calls us to repent and believe in a united
future. In humility we know that the road to reconciliation will be hard and
fraught with painful trial. Yet with kingdom hearts we acknowledge that
Christ’s suffering paved the way for our healing, that we are one body of
Christ called to serve one mission of God.
Lee Corder, Young Life’s Senior Vice President of the
International North Division, notes, “Under missio
Dei [the mission of God], the church becomes the community that is sent by
the triune God into a world of alienation. As that church moves out toward the
world, it must then come as reconciled community.”[4]
A reconciling God sends a reconciled people into a world in dire need of
reconciliation. In a word that speaks prophetically of the missional moment we
are living in today, a moment of healing and shared mission between Young Life
and the Catholic Church, Lee closed his doctoral project with this:
The blessings and challenges that such
a synergy of ministry offers will not be without frustration and great
difficulty. But, as individuals each uniquely touched by the Lord Jesus’ call,
it is incumbent upon all to work to honor the call to unity and mission that
this challenge presents. . . We must learn to respect, honor and serve one
another under missio Dei. We, both
church and mission, need one another.
Thy kingdom come, thy
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.[5]
[1] Dr. Guder
currently serves as Princeton Theological Seminary’s Henry Winters Luce
Professor of Missional and Ecumenical Theology. Guder is a brilliant mind and enthusiastic supporter of Young Life.
[2] Psalm
51:17.
[3] These
words come from the mouth of the centurion, noted in the eighth chapter of
Matthew’s gospel, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But
only say the word and my servant will be healed.”
[4] Lee
Corder’s Doctor of Ministry project, entitled “Church and Mission, Collegial Partners
Under the Missio Dei,” provides an
excellent vision for the relationship between mission organizations like Young
Life and the institutional church as they participate, together as one body of
Christ, in the one mission of God.
[5] From
the Our Father or Lord’s Prayer.
