Many months ago, the 2024 Presidential campaign promised to be filled with tension, divisiveness, and confusion. We had no idea. 

In recent weeks, in a shockingly short period, we witnessed the catastrophic performance of President Joe Biden in his debate with former President Donald Trump. A public meltdown like none most of us had ever witnessed. That magnified the bi-partisan tension to an even greater level.

On July 13th, sensing a need for hope during this turbulent season, for myself if not for anyone else, I wrote a blog post entitled The Hope of the World. I expressed my conviction that, amid exceptional turmoil, the hope of the world is Jesus Christ and his committed, humble, redeemed followers, not our political system, our parties, or our candidates. The next day, Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt by an inch.

Soon after that disturbing event, Biden removed himself from the presidential candidacy and endorsed Kamala Harris, who soon introduced us to the VP candidate for the Democratic Party, a man very few outside Minnesota had ever heard of before. With just weeks before election day, the drama of this race has elevated enormously. 

Like I said, we had no idea.

Many of us, regardless of our party affiliation, long for a foundation of stability on which to stand, a common banner above us to which we can all claim allegiance.

In the U.S., that banner has traditionally been our American citizenship or the flag we admire, salute, or sing our anthem to. 

But nowadays, if we’re honest, sometimes it feels like many of us have very different implied messages we intend to communicate when we fly the flag from our home, our church, or the back of a pickup truck. Even the flag has become a banner that, rather than always uniting us, sometimes divides us.

What about for us in the Church, we Christ-followers? Is there a banner we can unite under?

I’d like to suggest that, yes, there is. It’s not an earthly political party, which is simply human and, therefore, flawed. It’s the Kingdom of Heaven.

When I told one friend about this topic, he said, “I think we need a metaphor of what a kingdom looks like. We Americans don’t have much exposure to accurate images of a kingdom. Let alone a biblical one.” Good point.

It turns out authors in the New Testament, and Jesus himself, gave us numerous clues. The descriptions look nothing like earthly kingdoms of power and control.

The term Kingdom of Heaven appears 45 times in Scripture, 31 in Matthew alone, so I’d like to focus primarily on Matthew’s account of Jesus’ words, as recorded in that gospel.

Beginning in Matthew 13, Jesus says, the Kingdom of Heaven:

  • Is mixed with unbelievers like good seed or yeast. We are not separated from the world but remain in the world to influence it. (Matt. 13:24-30)
  • Has worth that may not be immediately apparent, like the mustard seed that grows into a large tree, but it will bring life to others (v.31-32)
  • Is to be spread everywhere (v.13:33)
  • Is more valuable than anything else you have (v.13:44, 45)
  • Will someday, at the end of the age, be separated from those who are lost (v.47-50)

In one setting, Jesus uses 6 different metaphors to describe the Kingdom of Heaven. I wonder if this matters to him.

Having told these parables with different imagery, some with frightening endings, Jesus, wanting to be sure his listeners were tracking with him, asks: “Have you understood all these things?” 

I think their response is hilarious: “Yes,” they replied. I picture deer-in-the-headlights expressions and robotic nods of their heads. Did they truly understand the picture he was painting? I’m not so sure. Do we? 

If you and I had been there, I hope we might have said, “Honestly, Lord, we have no clue what you’re talking about. This doesn’t sound like any kingdom we’ve ever heard of.”

Friends, the truth is we still disagree with each other to this day exactly what the Kingdom of Heaven is, what it looks like, and when it will come. I picture us with the same blank expressions and nodding heads as Jesus’ earlier audience.

Let’s continue to learn from Jesus. He goes on to say that the Kingdom of Heaven:  

  • Is childlike in its innocence, faith, and humility (Matt. 18:1-4; 19:13, 14)
  • Will be very difficult for the wealthy to enter. To do so, they must reject power and influence that comes as a result of their wealth (Matt. 19:21-26)
  • Is characterized by the greatest being the least, and the least, the greatest. (20:1-16)
  • Is not of this world; it’s of another place

Two more quotes of Jesus we should pay attention to:

“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36

“Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is…in you.” Luke 17: 20, 21

Did we get that? The Kingdom of Heaven is in you.

If this is true, and it is, this is of enormous significance!

What do we learn from Jesus’ words and stories about the Kingdom?

In summary, the Kingdom is the complete opposite of human power structures, upside down from earthly values, and works from the inside out in its influence. It is not of this world. It’s from another place. The Kingdom of Heaven is in you.

As I mentioned at the start of my comments, we American Christ-followers find ourselves enmeshed in a profoundly challenging process of determining our most influential governing authority for the next four years. To be clear, I’m not suggesting we ignore or separate ourselves from that process, but I am urging us to keep it in perspective. 

Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, give to God what is God’s.” (Mark 12:17). I take that to mean that our governing leaders have legitimate authority we should respect: obey the laws of our land, pay taxes for the greater benefit, defend our nation, serve in various levels of government, engage in the election, do our best to understand the range of issues, vote for the people we think are best qualified to effectively lead our nation with integrity, and respect the office of the leaders whom the majority votes in.

After that, we give to God what is God’s. For the fully devoted worshipper of God and follower of Jesus, that’s everything else. Everything having to do with our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies should be submitted to God’s authority. Since Jesus tells us the Kingdom of Heaven is in us, we do what we can with our time, gifts, and resources to be the Kingdom of Heaven.

In recent weeks, I’ve met men and women who initiated, currently lead, or volunteer for organizations that:

  • Lead a city mayor’s office in such a way that brings light, salt, and hope to a discouraged, weary world
  • Rescue thousands of women and boys sold into sex slavery every year
  • Build small communities of apartments that serve as homes for the 80% of young adults who age out of the government foster system and immediately become homeless
  • Engage with post-college graduates to help them find faith, strengthen it, and connect to a community of like-minded Believers
  • Provide engagement, care, prayer, and hope for the parents of children with cancer
  • Repurpose worn-out apartments and furnish them with a bed and an infant seat so volunteer women can sit with babies withdrawing in screaming agony from the addictions resulting from their mothers who used drugs during pregnancy
  • Establish legal counsel to fight for the safety and rights of abused children
  • Collect, sort, and distribute thousands of grocery items every day to feed those in their neighborhoods who live in poverty
  • Raised millions to build affordable housing and a first-class educational center to help those with autism learn how to effectively care for themselves and find a satisfying and fulfilling career
  • Advise investment clients to make wise financial decisions so they can be generous with their time and money to change their community for good

Friends, in every one of those places, if I could have seen the physical presence of Jesus standing there, I believe he would have beckoned me with his hand, he would have pointed to those acts of love and grace, and he would say, “The Kingdom of Heaven is not of this world. That is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

The Kingdom of Heaven is more subtle, deeper, and more valuable than the world thinks, and perhaps even more than we think.

Do we know that? It matters. Political power and influence are limited human examples of what earthly authority looks like. Jesus acknowledged them, but also disciplined his allegiance to those structures, rejecting every effort those authorities made that encroached on God’s authority. 

Jesus turned man-made kingdoms upside down from the inside out. So should we.

In closing, I’d like to remind us of Jesus’ words to the Father about his followers (you and me): 

“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them, I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” John 17: 14-19

Amen.