An Alternate World
Mark 12:28-34
Where is the Kingdom of God?
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'he is one, and besides him there is no other' and 'to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself,'-- this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to ask him any question. - Mark 12:28-34
There is a reason we love science fiction and fantasy so much.
It allows us to explore alternate worlds. We can dispel all unbelief and venture into an alternate universe that coexists with this one.
What Jesus was talking about may have sounded a lot like that. This Kingdom he spoke about could be a far off land or it could exist here, in this place at this time, but we cannot see it.
We hear Jesus talking about the Kingdom of God and we assume he means Heaven, that other-worldly place where we go when we die.
But he tells people they are close now or that they are in God's Kingdom already. So, where is it?
Feel free to substitute whatever word you have for God here. Whatever power, spirit, force that you believe caused everything to come into being, that entity's kingdom or domain is here, now.
Now I am not talking about people of middle earth or trolls or fairies. I am saying that the time and space we live in, has an alternate presence that many of us refuse to see.
It's not that we don't have the power to see it. We do. We simply deny its existence.
We can be fascinated by The Matrix, but we have trouble believing what Jesus said is true.
Through wisdom and truth, we approach and become part of the Kingdom of God.
And once we have arrived, everything is different. Everything is beautiful and manageable. We can do things we couldn't do before, because we have the power of God's Spirit in us.
Yes, it sounds like a Netflix series, but it is as old as Creation itself and as new as the sunrise.
The cool thing is we don't have to believe it. We can go through life feeling alone and despondent, ignoring the presence of God right beside us.
Welcome to God's Kingdom. Take the keys and walk in.
More to come...