CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
May 30, 2010
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
PETITIONS AND THANKSGIVINGS:
God’s will for our congregation Various relatives, friends, and co-workers
Our nation, leaders and military Those who gave their lives for our nation
MEMORIAL DAY
Keep in your prayers the families who have lost loved ones in the military service to our nation.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Keith Cruthirds (4th), Ben Oller (6th)
YOUR GOD REIGNS
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isaiah 52:7).
This text is part of a servant text related in Isaiah’s day to the return of the Jews to Jerusalem and the coming of the suffering servant, or as we would say, a prophecy of the Messiah. It is not always easy to separate the two, and maybe we shouldn’t. Paul uses this text in Romans 10:15 as a reminder of the preaching of the good news about Jesus Christ. One aspect of this is that of victory for God’s people. A runner is sent after a battle to inform the folks back home that a victory has occurred. They run until the message is delivered, and so their tired, sore, bruised feet are considered beautiful because of the message.
Jesus came saying “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 4:17). There is no explanation about this meaning because the people of Jesus’ day understood what it meant: Your God reigns. It would be a message that would resonate with the common folk. Keep in mind that since the Babylonian captivity, there was no king in Israel (1). By this time, the priesthood had become corrupted and they continued to be controlled by a foreign power. It had been some time since the people had heard the word of the Lord. While there were some who claimed to have been speaking from God over the last four hundred years, no one had spoken since Malachi. So it was an exciting message that Jesus would proclaim. They understood that God was coming again to reign in Jerusalem again and that they would have a Jewish king, the Messiah. Jesus would be the Messiah but not in the way they thought.
Why do the words, “Your God reigns,” bring fear to those in power? The Jewish religious leaders were either satisfied with the status quo or wanted a Messiah like themselves. At first the Romans ignored such a statement but by the end of the first century, an Empire policy of on and off again persecution began in earnest for the next two hundred years. Caesar was not willing to bow down to another king in any sense, and he would not allow others to do so either.
Over the centuries, the idea that God reigns or rules is frightening to many. Dictators have attempted to destroy God and the church from their countries. Stalin closed churches, established a state religion controlled by his followers, and only allowed what he approved to be preached. The Chinese have attempted to control the church in the same way, outlawing any that were not controlled by the state. Hitler compromised the Lutheran church in Germany and arrested those of the Confessing church who opposed him. In the end, those nations fell or will fall, but the Lord’s people will continue.
Today in our own country, we have politicians who will not bow down to God as Lord and King. They want not only to separate the state from the church, but to get God out of the public sphere in any way they can. Atheists rail against a God they do not believe in, and one has to wonder why. When we consider that some, not all, but some want to live any lifestyle they want, the proclamation that God reigns is a threat to that lifestyle. Others want to challenge God’s reign by proclaiming what is good evil and what is evil good (see Isaiah 5, and in particular verse 20). All this should not surprise us.
What is surprising is that some of God’s people seem to challenge the idea that God rules, that is, they recognize it verbally but in practice they appear to oppose God’s reign. One of the problems that we have in churches of Christ is the definition of kingdom. Back in the 1800s, someone made the point of showing the importance of Christianity this way:
The Nation Christianity
a law a constitution the Bible
a ruler president Jesus
a kingdom the states church
From then on we have basically stated that the church and the kingdom are the same thing. Yet the words are not synonymous. The church means people, you and me, the called out. Kingdom means the reign or rule of God (2). I realize that kingdom has a secondary meaning of a territory ruled over but it is not used that way much in the New Testament. Before anyone goes crazy, let me say this: as long as the church, that is, you and me, are under God’s rule or reign, we are a part of God’s kingdom, but that doesn’t make us rulers. We are servants under the rule of God, and this is important! To say it another way, the church is not the rule of God on earth but rather, lives under the rule of God on earth.
I think that we have not been careful in defining this which has lead to problems within the churches of Christ. Equating the church and the kingdom as the same thing, based more on the second definition rather than the first, has made some to assume authority over others. Authority then becomes a primary discussion. What authority do elders, preachers, and editors have? For that matter, what authority does anyone have in the assembly? “Well someone has to make decisions” goes the argument. We have assumed that it is the elders though we have not studied that concept in the context of Jewish culture. We might be surprised that decision making involved more than a few men gathered in a room. Then some argue that they make decisions in matters of opinion but on matters of doctrine, the scripture has already made those decisions. But if we see matters of doctrine differently, such as that of the kingdom, then what? Those who have the power limit what can be said in contradiction to their will? And why do matters of opinion in the case of a few should be the controlling factor over the congregation when it is possible that half or more might not agree with that opinion?
Then we have preachers and editors in our magazines making decisions about who should or should not be listened to, what translations to use or not use, is this or that scriptural. Most magazines no longer print both sides of an issue; rather the editors control the content and will not allow opposing views to be expressed. Often labels are used, and at times slander.
So then comes the question, who reigns? One argument is that God delegated authority to others. Really? Jesus did say that He had ALL authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18-20) but said nothing of delegating it. I don’t have any easy answers to all interactions within the church and how best it should work. But before we begin talking about authority and delegating, we need to go back to the message that was prophesied by Isaiah in the context of the Messiah, and was preached by Jesus as the Messiah, “Your God reigns!” Once we recognize that, maybe a lot of humility and service should be seen rather than efforts at control. Then we might just become what God wants us to be, citizens under His rule, living to His glory.
In a recent study, an author found that Jesus used the idea of “to follow” four times, and mostly in positive ways, than “to lead” which He used mostly in negative ways. That is something to think about (3). When we see Jesus washing the apostles feet as their Lord and King, then maybe we have spent far too much time trying to keep the church holy, that is, free from disagreements and differences. Rather, we should see us as open to tax collectors and sinners, to those who come from different backgrounds and out of different sins, who want to be accepted though they do not always see things my way. We can still be one in Christ, reconciled to God through the cross. This side of heaven, it is difficult to get a married couple to always agree, let alone twenty people, or one hundred, or one thousand. Our goal should be working together to God’s glory and on going study of God’s word in humility. We might find out that God is more pleased with us working together while seeing things differently rather than trying to be judge and jury to those we disagree with. As many of you reading this know, we do not always agree on everything but we still work together, fellowship together, and worship together in humble service. I can live with that; hopefully you can too!
George B. Mearns
(1) Herod was not a Jew and so was not considered a Jewish king.
(2) See William D. Mounce, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words, Zondervan, 2006; Verlyn d. Verbrugge, The NIV Theological Dictionary of New Testament Words, Zondervan, 2000; Allen C. Myers, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, Eerdmans, 1987; and most commentators.
(3) From Mike Cope, Pepperdine University Lectureship, 2010.