Kingdom Citizenship

What if the Kingdom of God

was less about pie in the sky by and by

and more about footprints and fingerprints?

What if gathering by the river was less about crossing over

and more about bringing water back to a thirsty land?

What if Jesus’ example on Earth was meant to teach us about
making a difference rather than making an exit?

What if living in the Kingdom of Heaven

was less about changing post codes

and more about posting code changes?

What if Kingdom building was less about walls while we wait

and more about loosing the white-knuckle grip on our purse strings?

What if the sheep who feed the poor and clothe the naked
   — and the goats who don’t —
was less about Kingdom metaphor

And more about the King they’ve met before?

What if Saved by Grace was less about

the line we are standing in and more about
a thousand lines in which we stand

as we pass through and through and through this World

and it's many kingdoms of sand?

What if “in but not of” was our headlights

rather than our bumper sticker?

What if Citizenship in the Kingdom of God

was less about where we are going
and more about who we are?

Freedom

We all, like Israelites born in captivity, are living freed-slaves in the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land. In Egypt, we lived and died by Pharaoh’s law. In the desert we discovered God’s law. Freedom isn’t lawlessness, it’s choosing which law you will live under.

Freedom from Pharaoh’s law is death.
Freedom from death is God’s Law.
Freedom from God’s Law is grace.

Grace doesn’t mean God’s Law is gone. God knows, it’s easier to take Israelites out of Egypt than it is to take Egypt out of Israelites. Grace means God is ready. We slip, we fall – slavery calls. And rather than let death have us, God sent his son as the perfect sacrifice to take our place. When we fall, we fall on the cross of Jesus. Those wooden beams that took His life, in their eternal reach, break our fall. Grace embraces the fallen, holding each of us, and presents us with a choice: Which Law will you live under? One leads to life eternal, the other to death.

The desert is better than Egypt. You know it is. But the Promised Land – that’s worth living for!