The Lord is here; his kingdom has come. (Part 10)

The Lord is here; his kingdom has come

Part 10: Where the Lord is, there is his kingdom

So, believers no longer understand themselves to be powerless, insignificant pawns, flotsam, swirled this way and that by every current of human society, or meaningless, accidental products of a material universe . We are a band of brothers and sisters gathered into the security that emanates from the Lord, and we are a band of disciples with a mission! Where the Lord is, we feel safe. Where the Lord directs us to go, we will boldly go with confidence and hope – rather than, perhaps, cowardly fear – precisely because the Lord is with us. Again, theologically speaking, as the Lord is everywhere, and he is always with us because he will never desert us, then this is a universal, everlasting confidence. However, at the moment I am thinking of the spiritual reality of experiencing God’s presence, and this is experienced at particular times and in particular circumstances.  I also want to move on to link it to the idea that the kingdom has come – so I am exploring the sense that the Lord is here, with the idea of him being here with me – or with us, if I am together with other Christians, notably in worship or in service. The Lord is here, and a meeting with God is a meeting with a purpose – that is why God is enabling the encounter. I do find analogies helpful, though it is hard to find an ideal one for this situation, but this is the image that comes to mind.

Imagine a land oppressed by a usurping tyrant; the suffering is very great, and some have been corrupted into colluding with the tyranny to escape persecution and gain advantage for themselves. However, others have remained faithful to the true Lord of the land. This is the archetypal story of: “The King returns!”. So, my image is of a band of faithful disciples greeting the returning, true Lord. Here in this place, the Lord is here! The rest of the land is still sorely oppressed, and there is a great deal to be done to set all free. So, “the Lord is here” expresses the belief that where he is, in his presence, it is his rule that holds sway. The rest of the land is still oppressed by evil forces, but in the arena where the Lord is present there is no evil, because the goodness, truth and love of the Lord flows out from him to fill all those who look to him with faith and love. So, in this small arena, where the Lord is greeting his disciples, his kingdom has come, because the Lord is here. The presence of the Lord creates an arena in which his values of justice, compassion, forgiveness, renewal, are the ones that animate all within that sphere. Most of all, the presence of the Lord creates the arena in which he is known

So, the two elements are really two sides of the one dynamic transformation that the presence of God enables. Wherever the Lord is, there his kingdom has come.