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The Kingdom of God is about God’s justice in contrast to the systemic injustice of the kingdoms and domination systems of this world.
John Dominic Crossan’s memorable serious quips: “Heaven’s in great shape; earth is where the problems are.”10
God’s Kingdom (in contrast to the other kingdoms they knew) is about enough bread.
Debt, along with bread, was the primary survival issue in peasant life. Indebtedness could lead to the loss of one’s land, if one still owned some, and descent into the even more precarious world of the tenant farmer or day laborer.
the best-known Christian prayer names the two central material concerns of peasant life in the time of Jesus. The coming of God’s Kingdom involves bread and debt forgiveness.
Peasant life was marked by daily and desperate sorrow: the suffering of children, worry about food and money, illness with none to help, no way out, hopelessness. They weep now, and not just in the hour of death. But when the Kingdom comes, the poor will be blessed, the hungry will be filled, and those who sorrow will laugh.
The anti-imperial ethos of early Christianity can be seen in yet one more way. In some ways, it is the most obvious: Jesus was executed by the empire. The domination system of his day killed him.
This is the political meaning of Good Friday: it is the domination system’s “no” to Jesus.
The importance of systems can also be illustrated by reflecting about why most gays and lesbians were so deeply closeted until recently—namely, because of a system of negative and deeply ingrained conventional attitudes.
the United States has the highest percentage of two-income families in the industrialized world, as well as the largest number of working hours per year.24 The primary factor creating a greater concentration of wealth among the very rich is not individual hard work and effort.
The New Testament names some from the wealthy and powerful elites who were attracted to Jesus and his vision: Joanna, Susanna, Phoebe, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea. They must have been disenchanted members of the elites. And they can be role models for those of us who are comfortable or wealthy. There’s nothing wrong with being a Joanna or a Joseph of Arimathea.
taking the political passion of the Bible seriously would mean advocacy of God’s justice.
fear is a more powerful political motive in our society than compassion.
To whom does the earth belong? The Bible’s answer is clear: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”26 We are not the owners of the earth, but stewards; and stewards manage that which belongs to somebody else.
“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” also requires economic justice.
God shows Himself everywhere, in everything—in people and in things and in nature and in events. It becomes very obvious that God is everywhere and in everything and we cannot be without Him. It’s impossible. The only thing is that we don’t see it.
Thomas Merton
worship is not about God needing praise.
The primary purpose of participatory music—congregational singing—is to provide a thin place. More Protestants report being moved by hymn singing than by any other element in the service.
