3 minute read
PETER McVERRY SJ
REALITY CHECK
PETER McVERRY SJ
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Putting God’s Kingdom first
Two thousand years ago, there was a man who was called 'The Son of God.' He was given titles such as 'Lord,' 'Redeemer,' 'Liberator,' 'Saviour of the World,' 'Prince of Peace.' Who was that person? It was the Emperor, Caesar Augustus.
Caesar had conquered the known world. His victories over his enemies had saved the Roman empire from the turmoil of constant war and brought it peace. Caesar was revered throughout the empire as the one sent by God to bring peace to the world.
But in a little corner of that empire, there came into being a small group of people who gave those same titles – 'Lord,' 'Redeemer,' 'Saviour,' 'Son of God' – to a nobody, a child born into poverty, from nowhere, ("Did anything good ever come out of Nazareth?" John 1.45), and who had been crucified by Herod, Caeser's representative. Either this was a joke, intended to make fun of Caesar, or it was high treason.
But Caesar was not amused. The early Christians were persecuted, arrested, imprisoned and sometimes executed.
Those early Christians clearly understood that their king was not Caesar but the Risen Jesus; that the kingdom which commanded their allegiance was not the Roman empire but the Kingdom of God. They understood that the Kingdom of God, which Jesus proclaimed, was not only a 'spiritual' kingdom, to be found in heaven, but a kingdom in which they were living, here and now, and which posed a challenge to the prevailing way of life. They lived together in community. They shared everything they had with each other, so there was no inequality amongst them. No one was to be made feel unwanted or second-class since everyone was recognised as a child of God with the same dignity as everyone else. The leaders of the community understood that their role was to serve the community, not to lord it over them.
Today, we Christians may no longer live together in community or share everything we have. But, at this time of Christmas, we recommit ourselves to a deep faith in the Son of God, made man, and to the kingdom which he came to establish and in which, through baptism, we now live. Now, as then, this kingdom is a profound challenge to the economic, social, and political values that dominate our world.
Economic: We are called to challenge the consumerist way of life, which continually seeks to have more, to purchase what is better or bigger, to consider that what we have is ours to do with it whatever we like, to use primarily for our own enjoyment or well-being. We are called to put others, especially the poor and their needs, at the centre of our lives, to live simply and share generously. The caring and sharing of the early Christians was so radical that those on the outside said in astonishment, "See how they love one another." We, too, are called today to be a witness to a radical love and care for others.
Social: We are called to challenge the exclusion and marginalisation of so many in our societies and world by affirming the equal dignity of every person, regardless of status, gender, disability, colour, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
Political: We are called to challenge government policies that harm the poor or further marginalise some people and to support and promote policies intended to eliminate poverty, inequality, and marginalisation. The early Christians were profoundly political – they understood that their decisions, such as refusing to serve in the Roman army, were a direct threat to Caesar's law.
This kingdom, to which we commit ourselves, is not just a social enterprise. It is a spiritual kingdom into which we enter through our faith in the risen Jesus, but with profound economic, social and political consequences for the way we live our lives. Jesus' kingdom "is not of this world," but it is very much in this world. We are called to transform this world, with all its suffering and exclusion, to be the world Jesus wants it to be, by following his commitment to the poor and the outcast, and his challenge to the religious and political authorities of his time who put their own self-interest first.
