ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 15, 2026
QUESTION: Where is the Kin(g)dom of God? Some would place it in heaven after we die. Some would argue that it will come after the tribulation and Jesus returns, but I look at words of Jesus in Mark 1:15, as he was beginning his ministry right after his baptism. He says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near…” J.B. Phillips, the Anglican minister and scholar, translated it as, “The time has come at last—the wonderful kingdom of God has arrived.” Though there are so many expressions of Christianity that want the Reign or Kin(g)dom of God to be somewhere else at some other point in history, I believe that claim ignores most of scripture. Yes, there is what scholars call “the already, but not yet.” This sense that the Kin(g)dom of God has come in its fullest through Jesus, yet it remains a work in progress. Jesus summarized things in the Lord’s Prayer, when he pleaded, “thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is about us, along with God, making earth look more and more like heaven. Are there days when it feels as if we have taken a step back? I would say, “Yes!” Yet alongside those moments that appear as defeats, I also see Kin(g)dom moments all around me. In Luke 17, while conversing with some of the religious leaders, Jesus said, “Don’t you see? God’s kingdom is already among you.” Yes, it is! I see it in the simple acts of kindness, people extending unconditional love and mercy, folks standing up for justice and righteousness, and often doing these things as a reflection of the Sermon on the Mount. I’m not ready to declare victory. Far from it! And though I believe in a heaven and a God who isn’t going to let any of us slip away after death, I think our earthly task is to do our best to make that vision of heaven come alive here and now.
Empowered by your Holy Spirit, the very essence of heaven sweeping across the earth, I am going to strive toward a life that reveals all that you, Holy God, taught us in the one we know as Jesus. Amen.
