In a recent missional conference (SENTralized) that I attended in Kansas city, I was encouraged to hear one of my heroes, teacher, writer, and missiologist, Michael Frost, speak on the kingdom reign of God. Using Isaiah 61:1 as a platform, Frosty argued that the purpose of the church is to alert the world of the reign of God through announcement and demonstration. This statement strikes multiple chords within me as I have been wrestling over the last three years with the these same truths.
Consider the writings by Saint Luke in Luke 4:18-19 where Jesus begins his ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth by reading the words prophet Isaiah prophesied about him: "the Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Kudos to saint Luke for capturing this powerful moment in the life of Jesus as Jesus reminds everyone of prophet Isaiah words (Isaiah 61:1) of the beautiful reality of the reign of God that was about to take place. "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (v. 21) he said.
From one kingdom priest to another, I'd like to point out three major kingdom implications of Jesus' words (Luke 4:18-19) to you and I.
(I) Anointing: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me." Similar to Jesus, we have been anointed, given power and the authority to alert the world to the reign of God. Just like Jesus was anointed, we have been anointed in a similar fashion. Consider the following statements from our Lord and teacher: "I have given you authority" (Luke 10:19), "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go make disciples" (Matthew 28:18-19), "as the father has sent me, so I am sending you" (John 20:21), "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21), "I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one one on me. And from our role model apostle Paul, "Christ in you" (Colossians 1:27), "Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20), "we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16), "the spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you" (Romans 8:11). And from saint Peter "you are... a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9). This is the beautiful reality, that you and I have God-given authority and power to alert the world of the reign of God through announcement and demonstration.
(II) Proclamation: we alert the world to the reign of God through proclamation. Frosty calls this announcement but I prefer to use the word proclamation. Proclamation is the starting point of the biblical idea of the good news. That is, to speak hope and encouragement to the broken and marginalized broken. As well as speak on behalf of the exploited and speak against injustice. Isaiah 52:7 states, "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!" Yes! Woohoo! How awesome is that! Going back to the original text, Luke 4 Jesus stated, His mission is to:
· preach good news to the poor = hope and encouragement
· proclaim freedom for the prisoners = speak on behalf of the exploited and speak against injustice.
· proclaim the year of the Lord's favor = party time!
(III) Demonstration: demonstration and proclamation go hand-in-hand and both are essential to alerting the world of the reign of God. No one exemplifies this practice better than the King himself in flesh. People need to hear the good news as well as experience the good news. This is the gospel. To bring healing to the lives of sick, wounded, and poor. As well as to set the oppressed free. Some believe salvation comes through hearing alone (evangelism) without demonstration and this is all they are responsible for. If this is you, I would love to reveal more to you about our rabbi Yeshua and I encourage you to study the life of Christ more deeply. In fact you don’t have to go to far from where Jesus originally declared his intentions in the synagogue (Luke 4:18-19), to find an example of his first demonstration in Luke 4:31. Saint James in James 1:27 supports the demonstrative nature of the kingdom stating that, “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” Compare this truth with God commanded to his people through the prophet Isaiah, “is not this kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” Going back to the original text, Luke 4 Jesus stated, His mission is:
· to release the oppressed = setting free
I'd like to end with John 10:1-21. In this story, Jesus proclaimed the good news of God's reign through the use of shepherding metaphors. Many of the Jews in attendance challenged his words accusing him of being demon-possessed. As you read further you will see that others stood up for Jesus, stating that in now way is he a demon. The main point of this story is that Jesus didn’t to defend himself, his works, and active demonstration of the reign of God that defended him as we see in verse 21, “these are not the sayings of a man possessed by demon. Can a demon open the eyes of a blind?" Jesus’ continual demonstration of the kingdom confirmed his proclamation so much so that his works spoke for themselves.
The fundamentalist holiness movement of the last two hundred years of church history has shaped our thinking and practices in such a way that we Christians focus solely on proclamation (evangelism). But maybe it is time that we practice the Jesus way, through demonstrating God's presence in lives of our fellow "imago Dei." Our "good works" must match our "good words". As the idiom goes, "let's walk the walk and not just talk the talk."
"In the same way let your light shine before people in such a way they see your good works and glorify your father in heaven" - Matthew 5:16
"the Kingdom is not a matter of talk but of power" - 1 Corinthians 4:20
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