So Jesus came proclaiming ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ – really close.
I said recently that the solution to the Gaza / Israel conflict is not difficult. Of course by that I did not mean it is likely to be solved or that I have any skills to offer into the mix, but that the Jesus-way is always close. It is the way of reconciliation, the way of peacemaking, of meeting – whether that is at the ultimate level of meeting in Jesus name, or simply in the name of humanity, for humanity (and ultimately true eschatological humanity) is in the midst.
The kingdom of heaven ultimately comes down – and the Greek for ‘at hand’ is translated metaphorically well with ‘at hand’ but it is the verb ‘come near’. It does not simply arise from the earth, though the land groans for it, it has to arrive from heaven, and one day it will arrive in fullness from the throne of God out of heaven and ‘descend’. The trauma that the earth holds and we tap into releases memories that hold the past so that they repeat in the present; our eyes have to go higher and in doing so our sight horizontally changes. Palestinians (many of whom of course have Jewish blood) and Israelis are family at the ‘big’ picture of ‘one ancestor’ and ‘one God’. Can they see one another? Sit in a room and hear the story, the trauma that they relate to, sit where the other sits. In that sense we are always so close to the kingdom coming.
Of course I am not suggesting that the solution is simple, but I am struck by how close the kingdom is, and how close the ‘non-kingdom’ is. The history, the guilt, shame and trauma of course does not give way easily. The good news of the Gospel is that the cross which occured at the low point (the fullness of times) makes it possible. I am continuing to pray into ‘God is waiting for a human movement’ as we need to move beyond something that is transcendental, and something that is beyond human, to something that is incarnational.
So close. And as we approach Christmas – demonstrably close.
So interesting! Yes two different directions we can go in? How easy it is to choose the non-kingdom one of offence, hatred, anger and hostility it’s like a very slippery slope into a pit of darkness and despair where we justify our feelings and feel a sort of pseudo righteousness a counterfeit of the real deal and it’s very tempting to stay there sometimes!. The other so much harder even in the most everyday level, and what do I possibly understand about reconciliation in a context difficult as the Israel/Gaza situation – nobody has killed my family members or traumatised me to such an extent. However if only we can reject those feelings and as you have spoken of ‘see’ the other in the situation it somehow makes such an incredible difference and opens heaven up and I guess the kingdom descends bit by bit? So hopeful that you feel the kingdom is still close despite all the division and heartache everywhere around!!