The Kingdom. Its a huge theme in the Gospel of Mark. Pastor Ryan Lister overviews the theme and how understanding it can help us better understand the gospel.
Transcript
Welcome to this week’s sermon from Trinity Church in Portland, Oregon. This week we continue to go through the Gospel of Mark in our series called Follow the Son. But today, instead of going through the book verse by verse, Pastor Ryan Lister takes time to discuss one of the main themes in the Book of Mark, the Kingdom. Listen in as he delivers his message entitled, Fulfilled by the Kingdom. Thanks for joining us. Here’s Ryan. Well, good morning. That was good. That was good. As Greg mentioned in our introduction this morning and the welcome, we’re going to be doing things a little bit differently than we usually do here at Trinity Church. And what we’re going to be doing is we’re going to be sort of introducing, this will be the first in a few periodic sermons where we’ll sort of take a step back from our verse
The Kingdom Revolution
by verse walkthrough of the Book of Mark to gain sort of a more holistic view of the Gospel as a whole. So one way, just think of this sort of as like a map or your navigation systems, right? So what we want to do is we want to take sort of an aerial view so that when we get down in the walking and the street level of Mark’s Gospel, we’ll be oriented with kind of what he’s doing and what he’s after. And so this morning, what we want to do is we want to focus on the Kingdom of God, which we know already, as we’ve already seen, that this is one of Mark’s favorite themes because he weaves it throughout his whole Gospel. And so what we want to do this morning is we want to stop and just sort of take a closer look at this theme that permeates everything that Mark talks about and that Jesus talks
about. So we want to take the pieces, we want to put them together, and we want to try to do this so that we can understand God and God’s mission. So we want to see that through the words of Mark. And not only do we want to understand it, we want to sort of stop and say, why does this matter? We want this to transform us. That’s what we’re ultimately after here. Another reason why we’re focusing on the book of Mark and specifically on the idea of the Kingdom is that I would assume that for some of us, this concept of God’s Kingdom is a bit nebulous or confusing. And not only that, for Christians who may have been around this word for a while or this term for a while, it may be one of those sort of weird sort of Christian words that
it’s kind of like the white noise of our faith. It’s just kind of always in the background, but we give very little thought to. And so we want to say this morning, this idea of the Kingdom of God matters. It matters. And here’s why. See, for Mark and for all the Gospel writers and for us here this morning, the promise and reality of the Kingdom is, it’s a game changer. It’s a game changer. When the Kingdom of God hits, when it comes in the person and work of Jesus Christ, it’s a bit like the Copernican Revolution. Now, I mean, just think, you have to think all the way back to elementary school. I know some of you are having to think way, way back. But if you remember, I mean, Copernicus and Galilee who followed him did have this massive shift in the way we think about our universe and our world.
They showed us that the center of the universe isn’t the earth like we thought it was, but it’s actually the sun. And so in Mark and in Jesus is coming with the Kingdom, like Copernicus corrected our vision of the way the world works by replacing the earth with the sun at the center of the universe. So the Kingdom of God corrects our vision of reality, it corrects our vision of who God is, it corrects our vision of who we are and who we are to one another. It corrects it by showing us that God is the center of his world, not ourselves and not anything else. You see, with the Kingdom of God, everything changes. The Kingdom turns the world upside down. But in reality, what it’s doing is it’s turning the world right side up. See like Copernicus restored the sun to its rightful center, the Kingdom of God puts the
rightful king back on his rightful throne to capture creation with his righteous rule and his perfect reign. And friends, that is what the Kingdom of God is. So I know some of you haven’t been listening to me at all because all you’ve been waiting for in your type A personalities is a definition of the Kingdom. So here you go, here you go, get out your pens, get out your laptops, whatever. Here’s the definition and this is what’s going to drive us through the rest of our time together. God’s Kingdom is the promise and fulfillment of God’s perfect reign through God’s perfect ruler to make a home for God’s imperfect residents like you and me. Okay, let me say that again. God’s Kingdom is the promise and fulfillment of God’s perfect reign through God’s perfect ruler to make a home for God’s imperfect residents like you and me.
So this morning, what we want to do is we want to think about what that all means. We want to understand what the Kingdom is and then we want to push ourselves and say, okay, that’s great, but why in the world does it matter? So to do this, we will focus on the three major aspects in our definition or what we just talked about, God’s Kingdom. We’ll talk about the ruler, we’ll talk about the reign, and we’ll talk about the residents of the Kingdom. And then we will push ourselves at the end to say, how do we respond? What is our response to the Kingdom of God or what should it be? So real quick, ruler, reign, residents, and response. So let’s start with the ruler of the Kingdom. I mean, very simply, very simply, if we’re going to know what the Kingdom is, it’s best
The Unexpected King
to start with knowing the King. I mean, we should begin here because really that is where Mark starts. See, as he writes in his first chapter, verses 14 and 15, Mark tells us that
Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God, that massive message of what Jesus was bringing into the world, that good news of God, saying, and so how does he proclaim that message? Saying, the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.
— Mark 1
(ESV)
See when Jesus arrives, he comes to do something. He comes to proclaim the gospel, to proclaim the good news of God. But notice this, the gospel isn’t just some sort of new laws that he’s bringing into the world. It’s not just a set of instructions or a set of these propositional truth claims that are out there. The gospel, as Mark tells us through the words of Jesus, is that the gospel and the Kingdom
are first and foremost a person. See that’s the good part of the good news, is that the Kingdom of God is here because Jesus the King is here. So to understand the gospel, the central message of Jesus, we have to know and we have to listen to the King. So what do we do? Well first we recognize that the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God centers on a person. It centers on a person. But who is this person? Who is this one we are supposed to be listening to? Well Jesus as he comes in the gospel of Mark is the unexpected King. When he comes he doesn’t look like a king, he doesn’t sound like a king, he doesn’t act like a king. I mean if you picture this, when Jesus arrives it’s a bit like as if our pastor Norm, right back there. As if our pastor Norm walked into the Mr. Universe bodybuilding competition, grabbed
the trophy, thanked the audience, and then just walked out. That’s how shocking this is. See Jesus is not just not looking the part, I mean I suspect the problem that most people have with Jesus and his claim to kingship is that Jesus wasn’t the king the people wanted. Not just that he didn’t look the part, but it wasn’t the king that they wanted. This Jesus was too simple. He was just a carpenter from the sticks and he certainly wasn’t acting the way they wanted their king to act. I mean Jesus was just hanging around with 12 guys with questionable character and then when he wasn’t hanging out with them he was hanging out with sinners and prostitutes. I mean where were his army, where was his sword, and why was he in Galilee when he should be in our own heads or in the heads of those waiting for the king, he should be storming
the Roman strongholds in Jerusalem to give Israel back to her people. See Israel’s biggest problem with Jesus was that he wasn’t enough. He wasn’t the king that they wanted. Let’s just don’t pin that on Israel. This is our problem here today too. See either implicitly or explicitly we don’t think that Jesus is enough for us. We do this all the time. I remember sharing the gospel with a friend of mine and his response was telling. He said I am so bad, I’ve done so many horrible things that there is no way that Jesus could save me. Now in the front of that, that sounds like a thoughtful self-evaluation, but what I would say to you and I said to him that this is actually just short sightedness. Jesus is big enough. He is enough to save us. If he can save me, he can save you.
That’s why we need the kingdom because we need to be confronted with our own expectations and God’s better promises. This struggle, this struggle sneaks into our hearts as Christians too, doesn’t it? I mean perhaps you faced suffering or pain or you have just had horrible circumstances piling up on you all throughout your life. So as a Christian, you respond with your due diligence. You do your Bible reading, you make your prayers, but when push comes to shove, when you’re outside your devotion time, when push comes to shove, you actually don’t think God can help you. So in practice, in practice, instead of running to the Lord, we try to control the world. We try to control it on our own or we try to turn to secular professionals for all their wisdom. That’s not bad, but when it’s everything, it can be bad. Perhaps we turn to substances for escape.
Because at the root of all of this, and please know this, I am preaching to myself, at the root of all of this, we are constantly struggling with whether or not Jesus is enough for us. We don’t think he can actually do something about our circumstances. That’s again why we need the kingdom because the kingdom breaks in and gives us something better that teaches us that he is enough. Because it doesn’t just show us that Jesus is a person. See the kingdom of God and the gospel of Mark is always telling us that he is a divine person. So yes, Jesus was a man, yet everything he has done so far in the gospel that we’ve looked at is saying that he is so much more. In fact, I would say that all of Mark 1 through 4 invokes the question that we’re about to
see either next week or the week to come. The question, who is this man? Who is this one that the winds and the waves obey him? See it’s a question that finds its climactic answer in chapter 8 when Jesus the king himself questions his followers directly saying, who do you say that I am?
And Peter boldly like a bull in a china shop gives that great confession. You are the Christ, the son of the living God. You see when Jesus says that he’s saying the king of the kingdom is God himself. And just think about all the things we’ve already run into. All the things that Jesus has done that sort of shake and rattle our modern categories.
He teaches as one with authority, as one with divine authority. He heals the sick, he casts out unclean spirits, the spirits have to listen to him. Have to listen to him. And again, as we will see, he’s the one that calms the winds and the seas. I mean, Jesus the king forgives sins.
Jesus the king raises the dead and will be raised from the dead. You see what Jesus is doing consistently in the gospel of Mark is what God does. He is doing what God does because this person, this ruler is also divine. And if you know the story at all, this is eventually what gets him killed, is it not? In Mark 14, a chapter that we hope to get to in 2024, you know, the Israel’s religious leaders come to Jesus and give him a death sentence because they thought he was a sinner who was making himself equal to God.
But according to God, rather than the religious leaders, according to God, Jesus came to die to save sinners because he was and is equal to God. See, not only did people not like who Jesus was not, that he wasn’t enough, they didn’t like who Jesus was either, that he was too much. And friends, we face this problem today too. See, not only is Jesus not enough for us, we also struggle with the fact that he is too much. Perhaps you have seen the king in all of his glory.
And like the religious elite, perhaps you are saying to yourself, I don’t like that he has all the glory. Or perhaps we’ve seen the king in all of his glory, and we don’t like that he won’t use his power to make the world the way we want it to. And we don’t like that he doesn’t use his power to make the world the way we want it to be. See, when we know who Jesus really is, then we fully recognize that he has an authority and a power that is superior to our own.
But in knowing that, it doesn’t mean that we accept it. In fact, as sinners, our default is to reject it. And who he really is, is that he really is the king, the divine king, and we’re not. And what do sinners do when they’re challenged? They fight tooth and nail with everything in their power to hold on to their thrones.
So, I mean, just hear this. I mean, just watch our hearts here. Watch our hearts here. And recognize that our temptation, that my temptation, is always to push Jesus into a no-win situation in our lives. We don’t like him for who he is, and we don’t like him for who he is not. And friends, that’s why we need the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is important because it presents us with a ruler whose authority is bigger and better than our own. But not only that, the king of God’s kingdom comes to save us from who we are and who we are not. You see, we are sinners, and we are not able to save ourselves.
The King’s Reign
But this king, this divine king, is the sinless king who comes to save us from ourselves. And that leads us into the reign of the kingdom. So ruler of the kingdom, now the reign of the kingdom. See, the kingdom is who the king is and what the king does. And what does the kingdom’s ruler do? Well, he ushers in the better reign of God in a world that has been too easily satisfied with broken kings and broken kingdoms. See, if we want to understand the king, if we want to understand the kingdom, then we need to know what his reign is like. And what I present to you this morning is, I think there’s two massive categories or characteristics that we see in God’s reign. The first is that the kingdom of God is confrontational. It’s confrontational. See, God’s reign comes into the world to confront false kingdoms.
I mean, that’s what stands behind all of his actions. I mean, just think about his miracles, for instance. When he cast out demons, Jesus is confronting the supernatural kingdom of the devil and the unclean spirits. When he does miracles, when he heals, he shows himself to be creation’s true ruler, the one that takes everything that’s broken in the world and is fixing it and putting it back together. The blind see, the deaf hear, and the paralyzed walk to show you who he is and how powerful his reign is. See, he’s turning the world back into the way it was supposed to be. He’s overcoming the kingdoms that enslaved the world up until this point. Jesus’s confrontation of false kingdoms also includes false religions. So that stood behind his actions. This stands behind his teachings. I mean, what is Jesus constantly doing? Well, he’s confronting Israel’s religious leaders.
He’s taking them to task. Not because he was mean or he had some vendetta against them. No, it’s because he wants them to change. He wants to confront them because they were twisting God’s mission and God’s message into a false religion that served themselves in their worldly schemes.
But the kingdom doesn’t just confront the religious leaders of Israel. It confronts anyone who builds their own religion around something other than God himself. I mean, that’s why, when Jesus is in Mark 10, he says, look around, he looks around and he says to the disciples, how difficult it will be for those who have health or wealth, excuse me, those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.
Notice what he’s doing. I mean, Jesus isn’t confronting wealth in and of itself. He’s attacking their religion that they’ve built around their money. See, the kingdom confronts by exposing their idols and our idols as well. Because so many of us, each of us are prone to build our own self-serving religions on the things that the world offers us, that only God ultimately can.
Now, if you’re like me, you’re not a big fan of confrontation. Now, I’ve engaged with some of you. Some of you are a really big fan of confrontation. But some of us aren’t, at least. And so, as you think about this confrontation, you can see it in a negative light, but I don’t want you to miss this. See, the confrontation of God’s kingdom can be seen in a negative light, but I don’t want you to miss this. Okay, see, the confrontation of God’s kingdom is rooted in God’s grace. I mean, the kingdom comes to lay our hearts bare. It comes to knock off our masks so that we could really see who we are in all our brokenness, in all our need, in all our rebellion, and in all our disobedience. See, the kingdom comes to expose our false kingdoms and our false religion.
But it doesn’t just do.. That’s not the end goal, right? It wants to expose so that it can show us who we really are, and we can fall in love with who God really is. It does this. It exposes us. It confronts our false religions and false kingdoms so that we can destroy them, and we can find our way back to the true and living God with all of his promises.
So God’s kingdom is confrontational, but it is also comprehensive. God’s kingdom is confrontational, and it is also comprehensive. Now, what this means is that God’s reign extends over everything. It extends over time and space, the natural world, and the supernatural world. We’ve talked a little bit about the natural in Jesus’ miracle. So what I want to do here is just take the kingdom of God’s reign over time as an example of this.
The kingdom has been, currently is, and will always be. That’s what that means. Okay, this is what theologians often refer to as the already not yet. And what that means is that in Christ’s coming, in the beginning of the book of Mark, the kingdom already is. And yet, Christ is coming again, isn’t he? So while the kingdom already is, it is not yet what it will fully be. So this is kind of the difference between inauguration and consummation. So George Edwin Ladd, this New Testament scholar, kind of compared the already not yet to D-Day and V-Day of World War II. He says that Christ coming into the world that already is, it’s like D-Day. And D-Day was where the Allies won the decisive battle that ensured victory over the Axis and Nazi powers in World War II. And yet, even after D-Day accomplished all of that,
the battle itself continued to rage for nearly a whole year until it officially ended the war at V-Day. See, friends, we are currently in between D-Day and V-Day. Because Christ’s first coming and his second coming is where we stand, right in between those two, between the already and the not yet.
And if that doesn’t make sense, then it’s what’s behind the parable of the seed, isn’t it? Mark writes in chapter 4, verses 31 through 32, Mark writes in chapter 4, verses 31 through 32,
The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, which when sown on the ground is the smallest of all the seeds on earth. Yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches so that the birds of the air can make nest in its shade.
— Mark 4
(ESV)
What’s the point here? Why all this weird imagery? Mustard seeds and branches, why all of this? I mean, what Jesus is saying is that God’s kingdom is here now, but there is more to come. His kingdom will grow. It will go from small to large, which everything that he’s created that seems good right now will be bigger and better than we can even imagine in the future. You see, the kingdom of God is an invitation to joy that progressively spreads in us and in the world through us.
Now, here’s the thing, here’s the thing. Just like the confrontation of the kingdom was by grace, so too is this comprehensiveness. Now, it may seem weird to us because if we’re honest with ourselves, many struggle with this already not yet. And that’s because when we look at the world, it doesn’t look or act the way we want it to. But even further, when we think about God’s kingdom, we implicitly think that it hasn’t done what God promised the kingdom would do or be. So sometimes we question Jesus. We think to ourselves, okay, okay, Jesus, you have made me right with God. But if that’s the case, why does everything in the world still look so wrong? Where’s the results?
But friends, here’s what I would say. The already not yet isn’t the problem. It’s actually the very antidote to the struggle. See, what we see here as limitation, I think is actually an evidence of God’s unrivaled power. What it’s saying is that God’s reign is over all, all time, space, natural and supernatural world. It means he can do what he pleases to do with his own creation. And so he is not subject to our whims and our desires. It’s quite the opposite. And as that ruler, that all powerful ruler with that all powerful reign, he doesn’t use it for ill. What he does with the already not yet is he rules the mercy, rules the kingdom, rules the world with grace and mercy. The grace and mercy is why we have the already not yet of the kingdom. I mean, just think about it. Think about it.
The kingdom of God shows us that God is patient and long suffering. The kingdom is progressive because it allows people like you and me to actually enter into the kingdom, to become a part of that. And not only that, for those who are already in it, it gives us time to demonstrate our faith, to experience God’s kingdom day in and day out. The fulfillment of God’s kingdom that we experience now fuels our hope too for the promise fulfillment that is to come. Just to put it in a picture here. God is like a good chef. He gives us this brilliant meal already. He gives us this brilliant meal. And then he blows our minds when we realize that this meal was merely an appetizer that has not yet come. That’s what this is after. It’s saying God is bigger than we can imagine and is more righteous,
more perfect, more giving than we can imagine. And so all of this helps us anticipate a better world and calls us to bring that better world into our world right now by proclaiming the kingdom. The comprehensiveness of God’s reign then gives us a very solid reason to say with both hope and conviction that God’s kingdom has come. While also saying, Maranatha, Lord, come quickly in the same breath.
Kingdom Residents
Okay, so we’ve seen the ruler. We’ve seen the reign. Now let’s look at the residence of the kingdom. The question here is to whom does the kingdom belong? See, like we’ve seen thus far, the kingdom of God is unexpected. See, the world, as they look at it, they would expect that the religious elites of Israel would perceive sort of the golden ticket of God’s kingdom. But Jesus says something different. He comes in and declares that the kingdom of God belongs to anyone. Belongs to anyone. Anyone who has the spirit and who has repentance and faith. See, the citizens of the kingdom will first have the spirit. See, this is why there was all that weird talk about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit back in Mark 3. You guys remember that? So here it says, Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven,
the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness. He has forgiveness, but is unclean of an eternal sin. But they were saying he has an unclean spirit. And there’s sort of a shift here. His mother and his brothers came to him. And standing outside, they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him. And they said to him, Your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. And he answered them, Who are my mother and my brothers? And looking at those who sat around him, he said, Here, here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. Now, here’s the point as it applies to the kingdom.
Who is a resident of the kingdom? Or as Jesus puts it here, who is part of Jesus’s family? It’s those who do the will of God. Now, notice that this revelation, that those who belong to the kingdom are those who do the will of God, comes immediately after his command to not blaspheme the Holy Spirit. See, Mark is a theologian. And he’s connecting the spirit and doing God’s will. He’s quietly saying, You cannot do the will of God without the spirit. So if you want to be in my family, if you want to be in my kingdom, don’t blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Because it’s the spirit that connects you to my family, that brings you in to my kingdom. So don’t sin against the spirit, because the spirit is the one who ushers you into my kingdom. This is why Jesus says entering the kingdom is tough.
See, Mark 10, we talked a little bit about it already, but Mark 10, Jesus says, Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God. Now, why is it difficult? It’s difficult because we can’t do it on our own. So Jesus continues in Mark 10.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. And then his disciples respond. They were exceedingly astonished and said to him, And who can be saved? And Jesus looked at them and said, With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.
— Mark 10
(ESV)
See, entering the kingdom of God is not only difficult, it is impossible. It’s impossible unless God does it for us. And God, I mean, this is the good news of the kingdom. God does do it.
That is the good news, right? And as we see, and as we will see, as we continue in the book of Mark, the kingdom of God breaks into the world and into his people’s hearts when they begin to see the work of the spirit that comes to live and to reside in them. So to boil it all down, if you want to be in God’s kingdom, if you want to be in the kingdom of God, what do you need? You need God’s spirit. So don’t blaspheme the spirit, embrace the spirit, because the spirit is the one who gives us a desire to do God’s will and to accept God’s word. But that’s not it. That’s not it. The citizens of the kingdom, yes, they will have the spirit, but they will also have repentance and faith. And friends, these are connected. These are connected. See, the spirit’s work has consequences in our life.
The spirit is in our life to change us. The spirit comes to convince us that God’s kingdom is better than all other kingdoms, so much so that we reject all other kingdoms. Or to put it another way, the way Jesus does at the beginning of the book of Mark, citizens of the kingdom will live lives of repentance and belief, repentance and faith. We repent. We repent by forsaking all other kingdoms. We believe we are faithful by following King Jesus all the time. See, that’s Mark 1.15. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. And what do the residents of the kingdom do? You are to repent and believe. That’s who the kingdom belongs to, those who repent and believe. But real quick, real quick, what does that mean to repent and believe? Just to give you sort of a picture here. Imagine the kingdom here like a construction site,
right, a construction site. Repentance, repentance is the act of demolition. See, what repentance is doing is it’s tearing down all your other idols, tearing down all the other kingdoms that sit on the construction site of God’s kingdom. So you tear them down, you get rid of them. And what faith is, what belief is, is the act of construction. Faith then is the grounds for demolition. Faith is saying, I don’t want these kingdoms anymore. So you don’t just tear them down just to tear them down. You tear them down because there is something better to be built. And so with the site cleared, you have faith that God’s kingdom is actually better. By faith, you find joy and delight in his reign, in his rule.
Our Response
So much so that you let his kingdom extend to every aspect of who you are, to every thought, to every feeling, and to every action, and you fight to do this all the time. You fight to do this every moment of every day. So friends, we have some understanding of what the kingdom of God is in the book of Mark. Now I wanna ask you, where does that leave us? What do we do with this? You see, by design, God’s kingdom is an all intrusive promise that God’s kingdom is an all intrusive promise. An all intrusive promise, which upon hearing demands a response. It demands a response. So right now we need to think through what our responses are, what our options are, what they should be. And I think when you boil it down, it leaves us with three possibilities. You have three possibilities
when you sort of hit this response idea. Next slide. Yes, that’s great. All right, so what are our three options? The first one, the first option is what I call kingdom forgetfulness. Which, I mean, it’s pretty simple. It just means that when we hear the kingdom of God, then we forget about the kingdom of God. We just don’t give it any further thought. It’s just a thought. We don’t give it any further thought. It’s just this weird Christian-y word that makes little sense and means even less to us. I mean, who talks about kingdoms anyway? No one thinks about crowns. No one thinks about thrones. No one thinks about scepters anymore these days unless it has to do with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Right? And I don’t get that. I don’t understand what’s going on there. Maybe you do, but I don’t get it.
Okay? And so nobody’s talking about kingdoms. And so many of us are tempted to just say, this doesn’t really matter. And so we forget God’s kingdom. And let me just say this. This is going to be an option for you. This is going to be a temptation for you this morning to forget the kingdom as you just walk out of church this morning. Or if you keep thinking about it, you’re going to be tempted to do it when you get home and you finally have ESPN available to you or Netflix, right? And so that’s our first option. We can forget the kingdom.
The second option is what you might call kingdom frustration. Kingdom frustration. Now, some of us here in this room will like some of what we hear. We’ll take some of it to heart and we’ll try it out and some things will work. That is until God’s kingdom hits the real world. God’s kingdom will ultimately have to face what are the pressures of conformity. God’s kingdom, as we’ve already said, is antithetical to the world. God’s kingdom is against the culture and its current. And over time, for many of us, the waves of culture will overtake us. Fear of the world and fear of man get bigger, don’t they? So, what do we do? What do we do with all this pressure? Well, in order to control our fears, one of our responses is that we will conform, just conform to the world’s kingdom and leave God’s kingdom way behind.
So, we’re frustrated by the pressures of conformity, but we’re also frustrated by the longings for control. That’s the second frustration. To be in God’s kingdom, remember, means leaving the world’s kingdoms behind. It means that all the kingdoms that we’ve been building in our bank accounts, at our gym, in our politics, by climbing the corporate ladder or through our social media platforms or whatever it is, all of these self-made kingdoms have to be replaced, re-informed, changed by God’s kingdom.
So, even though we’re interested in God’s kingdom, all of this, the world in all of its worries are always knocking on our door. And the way the world works is these knocks get louder over time. So loud that they often begin to drown out the promises and goodness of God’s kingdoms. And over time, we find ourselves miles and miles and miles away from God and his promises.
Now, if you have ears to hear, you might have heard the echoes of the parable of the sower from Mark 4 in these first two responses. See, kingdom forgetfulness is the seed that the birds eat. Or as Jesus explains, it’s the word of God that Satan comes and snatches away immediately, making us forget about God’s kingdom. Kingdom frustration, well, that’s the sun-scorched seed and the seed choked out by the thorns. Or as Jesus explains, the promise of the kingdom that is frustrated by persecution and the wealth and worries of the world.
But by God’s grace, these are not the only soils available to us. There is also a good soil, which is our most promising response to God’s kingdom. This is what we might call kingdom fulfillment. You see, kingdom fulfillment is tied in to the concept of faith and repentance. See, kingdom fulfillment is the result of faith. And simultaneously, it’s the fuel for faith. See, faith makes us see that our ultimate fulfillment can only be found in the king and his kingdom. And that’s the result. That’s what faith is resulting in. But it’s also fuel. Because when we find fulfillment in our king and his kingdom, this continues to cultivate more and more faith, extending out progressively in an already not yet pattern into all the different parts of our lives. So kingdom fulfillment then is this. It’s what we find when our minds and our hearts
are fully convinced that God’s kingdom is better. It’s better than any kingdom that this world offers to us or any kingdom our hands can make. See, this is what Jesus is after, I think, in Mark 9. Mark 9, when he uses our own temptations to show us that nothing should be more important to us than the kingdom of God. See, Mark 9, verse 47, Jesus confronting our temptations and he says, and if your eye causes you to sin, what should you do? Close them? You are to tear it out. For it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell. Now there’s hyperbole happening here. There’s a lot to talk about. But what I want you to hear this morning is that Jesus is saying, we should be so willing to give up everything
because we are so convinced that God’s kingdom is more. God’s kingdom is more. We should be willing to give up everything that sin offers to us because the kingdom that is at hand in the person of Jesus is better. It’s more, it’s enough. It is better than we can imagine. Or to paraphrase Thomas Watson, sin only becomes bitter when God’s kingdom becomes sweet and God’s kingdom becomes sweet when we recognize sin’s bitterness. See, being fulfilled by God’s kingdom means that every step we take as we follow the king, we are saying to ourselves, to our own heart and to the world around us that Jesus and his work fulfills us. It satisfies us more than anything else. And every day is a daily battle to be convinced of that, to have faith, to hold on to the good news and to repent and believe. That’s why you have confession in this church.
That’s why you’re called to faith through the pardon because we know this is a weekly need, a daily need, a moment by moment need. And so here at the end, let me just leave you with a pressing question, a question, I don’t know, to tape up on your mirrors in your bathrooms and face you every single day.
Am I really convinced in mind and heart that God’s king and his kingdom are better than everything else? I mean, am I really convinced in mind and heart that God’s kingdom and God’s king are better than everything else? See, the residents of the kingdom fight every day to answer this all important question with the resounding yes. Sometimes our answers will break, sometimes it’ll be difficult to say, but this is what we fight for. So here at the end, I just ask each and every one of you, I ask myself, how do I know that God’s kingdom is better than everything else? How do I know that God’s kingdom is better than everything else? How do I know that God’s kingdom is better than everything else? Each and every one of you, I ask myself,
please, please, would you push away the forgetfulness and would you push away the frustration and find your fulfillment in God’s kingdom? Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you that you have seen fit to send your son to be our king and you have seen fit for him to establish a kingdom. That the ruler has come to bring his most perfect reign. Help us, each and every one of us, to be residents of that kingdom. To not forget what the kingdom is, to not be frustrated as it pushes us, the world pushes us to conformity and pushes us to desire to take back control. May we be residents of the kingdom who fight every single day to say that the king and the kingdom are better than anything else. They are what fulfills us. It’s in Christ’s name we pray, amen. Thanks for joining us for this week’s sermon
from Trinity Church in Portland, Oregon. If you’d like to learn more about us, you can visit our website at www.trinityportland.com.