Another kind of...King, Kingdom, Ambassador, Message, Method

'But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.'

A lot of people, for a really long time, have used this particular verse to support a dualistic understanding of where we are now to where we will be when the End comes, that is when Jesus steps down from his throne and hands the completely restored, renewed creation over to the Father, YHWY who covers new creation as the waters cover the sea and instead of the thorns and thistles, come up the pine tree and the myrtle.

The idea is that this ‘place’ where we are now is not our home, we are just passing through, some fine day I’ll fly away, etc. Basically that creation is done for, beyond redemption, and the idea of ‘getting saved’ is that we get to be among those with a ticket out when it’s all utterly destroyed and go either somewhere else or worse into some final ‘spiritual’ unembodied whatever. This is how Latin-based Western Christianity has seen things for a long time (I say that because the Eastern Church never fell into this error). There are many reasons why things are this way in the west, not least the strong influence and compromise with Greek philosophy.

Ecclesia Semper Reformanda!

I don’t want to spend a lot of time pointing out the counter-biblical nature of Platonic philosophy and Gnosticism…the wicked escapism that is peddled for profit in the form of rapture theology and the Left Behind garbage (just to be clear, I am not coming down on sheep or even undershephards that have been misled...but rather we are to go out after our lost sheep and call them to repentance). Remember, the Son of Man came to serve, not to be served and Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. The fact that Paul, John et al staunchly opposed gnosticism and platonic philosophy and yet taught using a lot of the same imagery in order to connect with and then redirect their Hellenistic audience…should be sufficient enough evidence that we should be familiar with these ideas that are opposed to the Kingdom of God and vigilant against such destructive influences, not least in our own hearts.

So, what is Paul saying here?

If you lived in Philippi you were likely very proud of your ties to Rome. Rome after all was the ‘highest’ place in the known world. It was the place were culture and technology came from, the place where individual and religious freedoms were valued more than any other place on earth, they were the worlds largest wealth generator, a place of unsurpassed commerce and education…and let us not forget that Rome is where the throne was, the control center for the known world…the place from which the Savior of the world ruled…Caesar himself.

How did Caesar expand the glory of Rome? How did he build the his kingdom(empire)? He sent out his ambassadors with a message…the gospel of Caesar. Peace, culture, education, economic stability, civility…Caesar would save you from your backwards, ancient ways of thinking and would bring an extension of a government with justice system that was unparalleled anywhere else in the world. One thing, if you didn’t like it…they are the most efficient killers on the planet. They were dealers of death…the most brutal, humiliating, dehumanizing torturous deaths imaginable…and they were really good at it.

Once an area like Philippi was conquered the soldiers and people who were sent there, for the glory of Rome, colonized it…they had no intention of eventually going back to Rome, that wasn’t the point. They were in Philippi but not of Philippi; they were in fact Roman citizens. Roman citizens, since they held special ties to Rome, and were there on the authority of Caesar carried a higher status than those without that status. They were in fact the ones ‘in the right’ or justified. It was their hope and desire to see things done in Philippi as in Rome and as a result, they commonly inherited a place in Philippi because of that citizenship and their service to Caesar and his glory (weight/importance). They did not yet see this as their home because the present reality of Rome’s sovereignty over Philippi was not fully realized…there were still uprisings and ignorance to the ways things are done, Caesar’s will was gradually being imposed on the colony by whatever means necessary. In the meantime the citizen’s of Rome were constantly opposed by and the locals, who would terrorize them always trying to hold onto their antiquated tribal ways.

Often times in these situations things would come to a head and violent rebellion would break out, great tribulation would ensue. Then a great leader would be sent in with all the power and authority of Caesar himself and the vast Roman military, a power that would cause the ground to shake and the sky to be darkened and that colony would be flooded with blood and violence and when the dust settled those who survived would come out of their holes in the ground or wherever they were hiding, underground or in caves into the air. A new air, they would be caught up in the great moment, the ‘parousia’ and they would run out of the city to receive their savior and his conquerors and escort them back into the land, a new city appearing from Rome itself, cleansed of the troublemakers and rebellious terrorists. Rome and Phillipi had become one and the Empire’s glory was on display in the death and destruction that littered the land.

This the imagery that Jesus and Paul et al, speak from when they offer the Gospel of YHWY’s Kingdom as the truth over against the anti-Christ, Caesar and Rome which is just a sick parody; A distorted, warped and violent reflection of the true King and the true Kingdom, Caesar’s kingdom…his ‘world’ has missed the mark and the wages of that are ultimately destruction.

The Kingdom of God begins within us, but it comes…and comes… and comes…we grow up into the fullness of Messiah as we bring the life of Heaven to bear on Earth…in our hearts, in our lives, in our homes, in our communities, in all the Earth…and when things get really bad, hold on tight…stand firm…do NOT let your love grow cold… we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself...the Power that raised Him from the dead.

Our Father, above us and all around us,
May your unspeakable Name be revered.

Here to earth, may your kingdom come.
Here on earth, may your will be done as it is in heaven.

Give us today our bread for today.
And forgive us our wrongs as we forgive those who wrong us.

Lead us away from the time of trial.
But liberate us from the evil.

For the kingdom is yours and yours alone,
And the power is yours and yours alone,
And the glory is yours and yours alone.
Amen.

Thoughts? Questions? Comments?