RE: TARDIS

In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name, declares the LORD who does this. -- Amos 9:11-12

The booth or tabernacle of David was the tent in which the Ark rested after David brought it up to Jerusalem until the completion of Solomon’s temple.  Amos is prophesying some two hundred years after the reign of Solomon.  Referencing the tabernacle of David would have been analogous, in a historical sense, to our referencing that period when the seat of the federal government was in New York rather than in Washington, D.C.  The words of Amos, though, look forward to the Son of David and His resurrection. 

We were talking about the Ark and how we are God’s dwelling a couple of days ago.  It is sometimes said, in words to this effect, God is so vast and transcendent that the cosmos itself cannot contain Him yet so immanent, so personal and intimate that He is able to dwell within a human heart.  We are not worried by paradoxes, recognizing enlightenment reconciles parallel lines at the vanishing point of language.     

I am not a diehard Dr. Who fan, but I know what TARDIS is, and I know that it is bigger on the inside than on the outside.  Humans are the same way.  We tend to think, in common sense, of our bodies as containers.  They are more like three-dimensional interfaces.  I won’t be tattooing this old carcass – too much like branding cattle – but if I were of that persuasion, I would consider:  Cosmos Inside.      

Restoring the booth of David would serve to unite the people of God.  Edom, that is Esau, and Israel are brothers separated and often at odds with one another.  The Lord rejected Esau as He had previously rejected Ishmael but not forever.  The rejection of the nations, whatever their lineage, was only temporary and relative.  Eventually all are reunited in and under the one Tabernacle: Christ.  We are all in Christ, and He dwells in us.  The kingdom of God is within you.   

The Wrong of Return

For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. – Hebrews 11:14-15

There have been times, I will admit, when I have thought it might be pleasant or at least convenient to go back to the old way of living, to close my eyes to reality, to pretend and to believe the delusion for a while.  From time to time, I stumble over faith.  Righteousness has its trials.  We feel alienated.  So much of what seems to captivate worldlings appears to us to be empty, as nourishing as sawdust.  We may wonder what we are missing.  The non-believer or the nominal believer -- i.e., the person who “believes in God and all that”, may be quite content and happy with his or her place in life.

When the man known as Abram left Ur of the Chaldeans, he left behind many who were satisfied with their lot and their gods.  Like millions today, they did not believe that there could be a better land, a better city, or a better life.  “I hear a voice calling,” the song says.  “It must be my Lord.”  Abram heard that Voice; those he left behind did not hear it or chose to ignore it. 

Moses, an exile in the land of Midian, named his son Gershom, for, he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.  The Dead said, What a long, strange trip it’s been.  I can identify with both.  Right now, I’m probably inclined to be less attached to this life than I was a month ago, but it has been a long time since I believed that my earthly existence was anything other than a passage to the truly significant. 

We are not talking about physical death and new life in heaven.  Heaven begins when we turn from the world.  Eternal life begins, not at the edge of the open grave but at the moment we turn to Christ, the Open Door.  Who that has stepped through the Door and entered into the land where light is as solid as gold would turn away to the ghostly, hopeless, leaf-on-the-wind existence he knew before? 

“If they had been thinking of that land …” – that was the mistake the Israelites made as they wandered through the desert.  They dwelt by their thoughts in Egypt still.  They longed for that from which they had not turned.  Instead of looking ahead and seeking the kingdom -- the Land of Promise, the land of milk and honey, they spoke of melons and onions – bitter enough when they could have them, now sweetened and enriched by memory. 

Sometimes I am no better when I think of the past as a land to which I would return, to moments when I would do things differently, when I think, If I had known then what I know now.  I forget that those moments were the path that led me to this Door, to the land of resurrection where that which has died as seed lives again in full bloom.  God will forgive us our sighs and even turn them to smiles as we press on.

To be happy on this journey we need only [s]et [our] minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (Colossians 3:2).

Return of the King

But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!  Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name! -- Psalms 80:17-18

Abraham was told that he would be the father of many nations.  His descendants were multiplied and ruled over the Land of Promise, reaching an apex in the reign of Solomon.  Apostasy led to fracture, defeat, and exile, but the children of Abraham continued to be fruitful and many returned to settle back in their homeland.  Meanwhile, the Lord had gone from widening the cone to narrowing it until it came to one young maiden to whom an angel made the most significant announcement in history.  As Paul says, “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, And to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one, And to your offspring, who is Christ “(Galatians 3:16).

It all comes down to Christ.  Here is the Israel of God, the Prince who “…went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return” (Luke 19:12).  The Lord did indeed go into a far country, into the depths of hell and death, and He returned. 

If we read Luke’s version of the Parable of the Talents, it is a little different, for it includes the detail that the citizens of the country over which this nobleman already ruled, when he had departed to receive his new kingdom, sent a message after him that they did not wish to have him as their lord.  When the man returns, he distributes his favors to the faithful, but he also deals with the rebellious:  But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me (Luke 19:27).  The gentle Jesus, meek and mild.  When judgment fell upon Jerusalem in 70 AD, this parable was at least partially fulfilled. 

That is the bad news.  The Good News is that the Lord lives and reigns today in His kingdom which shall have no end.  Through His death, burial, and resurrection, He offers life to all.  Those who are made alive in Him may be confident that when they call upon Him, He will answer.

The Kingdoms Of This World

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.  In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.” – Isaiah 19:23-25

We usually say that Egypt is a type of the world out of which the faithful are redeemed and delivered, understandably, because of Exodus.  Assyria was, in Isaiah’s time, a new enemy and a new empire that had arisen to the north of Israel.  Centered in Nineveh, the Assyrian realm encompassed the city of Babylon and the Fertile Crescent.  This is where the Tower of Babel was built, typifying false religions, or, more charitably, man’s attempts to raise himself up to acceptability before God. 

Humans are almost hopeless utopian.  In every age, somebody has a better idea that results in lots and lots of people having to be killed – all those bitter clingers.  (We really ought to thank Obama for giving us that insightful phrase which exposes the true nature of our cultural conflict.)  The irony, I suppose, is that we were built for paradise, and there is a new kingdom coming which is peace, prosperity, wholeness, righteousness and joy.  That kingdom is not a synthetic or a substitute; it is Daniel’s stone hewn out of the mountain without hands that struck and destroyed the image of history’s man-made empires.

My old friend and pastor, Jordan, said – it would have had to have been more than fifty years ago but I still remember – that you could put the Book of Isaiah into the New Testament between the Gospel of John and the Book of Acts, and it would make perfect sense.  After all, Isaiah 53 gives a more detailed and graphic account of the suffering and crucifixion of the Lord than any of the gospel accounts.  Isaiah also tells us about the nature of the kingdom:  The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food.  They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the LORD (Isaiah 65:25).  He tells us of the healing of the sick and the deliverance of those in bondage and speaks of an end of calamity.  Those last few chapters of Isaiah contain numerous familiar quotes related to the New Covenant and the eternal spiritual kingdom.

God’s kingdom is – and we, as Christians, are part of it.  Through our faith, prayer, and practice, by our love for one another, we manifest that kingdom in this world.  Whatever the nature of earthly powers – whether military, economic, scientific, technological, religious, intellectual, or political – they can all be brought together in Christ.  He is the Highway to Heaven – the Highway Isaiah saw going up from Egypt traversing Israel connecting Assyria.  They all become part of God’s kingdom. 

To put it another way, there is not a political realm and a spiritual realm – not for us.  Our financial decisions, our investments, and how we plan for the future have to be based on kingdom principles primarily.  We are not merely consumers or workers or voters.  

Christians are not a special interest group.  The kingdom of God is within us. 

We obey the magistrates when possible, for, as Paul says in Romans 13, there is no authority except God, and all earthly authority is established by Him for the purposes of peaceful and lawful relationships and interactions.  That’s a whole other post.  I had better quit, except to say that authority can be abused.  There are such things as demagogues and tyrants, and when we encounter the IRS and the DMV, we ought to make our appeal exclusively to the Lord who can set up one and take down another, trusting Him to set things right. 

But, again, we are the kingdom, and God puts us in the earthly realm where we are needed and can be the most fruitful and productive.  We are all in the Israel of God who is Christ – but He may place us in Egypt or Assyria or some other earthly jurisdiction to do His will -- body, soul, and spirit.    

P.S., I wrote this then read Rogelio Beuno's post for today on "How the World Lost It's Story".  I didn't say it nearly as well, but the convergence is evident, to me at least.     

Middling

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, Look, here it is! or There! for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.  -- Luke 17:20-21

How critical can a preposition be?  It seems rather important here.  Various translations may tell us that the kingdom is within us or among us.  The most literal seems to be that given in the ESV “in the midst of you,” which remains slightly ambiguous.

If the kingdom is among us, the emphasis would fall on community and our relationships one with another.  Most of our concern would be focused on dealing with all around us in a righteous and loving way.  We would do our best to put the needs of others before our own and follow the Golden Rule:  whatever we others to do for us, we will do the same for them.

If the kingdom, though, is within us, we would before all other things attempt to have Christ indwelling us as individuals in mystical union.  We would try to live right and always do the right thing so as to not grieve the Holy Spirit, for everything would depend upon Him and His presence in our lives. 

Fortunately, we do not need to worry about which reading is correct.  In essence both views are correct.  Some of us are inclined to a mystical approach, others to the expression of love in word and deed.  So long as our motivation is communion with God and citizenship in the kingdom, the end will be the same.  Christ will indwell Martha when she is working and Mary when she is listening.   Jesus did not chide Martha because she was trying to feed everyone and get everything in line but only because she allowed herself to be distracted from Him.  Now the Spirit may fully inhabit our lives and possess our attention and devotion while we go about doing our work and taking care of the needs of others.

It certainly doesn’t hurt to retreat once in a while and be refreshed – just you and the Lord, but He is always in our midst.