Kingdom of Heaven: Part 3

Shema Israel, Adonai elohenu- Adonai echad
ve' ahavta et Adonai eloeikah
b'khol levavkah, uve' khol naphshekah, uve' khol m' odekah
ve' ahavta l' re' acha comocha. Amen.

This next section has been a bittersweet one for me. Being an "all-american" "miss independent" kind of girl in every sense makes it difficult to come to terms with, and yet amazed at the way our God has provided for us. So put aside your politics and everything you've been taught and step into the vision of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Everything that Jesus did was for a reason. Including settling in Galilee. There were many reasons he may have chosen Galilee all of which involve the Kingdom of Heaven. The first of these reason is that the Community was strongest there.

Much in the way that the Amish today live together with their extended families, the Jews in Galilee shared their homes with all of their family. All relations were gathered under one roof or around one courtyard. The term is "insula" or "household of faith". The community cared for one another in every way. Every woman in the community cared for every child as their own. Every father worked for well being of the entire community. There were no motherless children, no hungry people. Possessions were sold or shared and given to those in the community who were in need. The shared everything they had...nothing belonged to them, but to the community. They cared for each other and met each others needs in the most basic ways.

The Kingdom of Heaven happens in Community. This is exactly the example Jesus wanted us to have for how His church and the Kingdom of Heaven operate. So now we have a different view of a popular verse often taken out of context in our modern society. "Matthew 6:33- But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,and all these things shall be added to you."

We often use or think of this verse as meaning that if you seek God's will or follow him he'll give you what you want. But if you read the previous few verses, you see what "all these things" referes to. "Matthew 6: 31-33- Therefore take no thought, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `Wherewith shall we be clothed?' (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.) For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

So it isn't saying that you will get whatever you want, but that you will have whatever you need. Now re-read in the context of what we now know about Jesus' view of the Kingdom of Heaven you find that it makes perfect sense. To seek the Kingdom, which IS community, you automatically have all of those things. To attempt to pursue them all on your own is foolish. You'll never be able to do it and you will have missed the blessing of community with others.

This is a VERY difficult for "little miss all-american girl born-and-raised a capitalist" to grasp. Many of you will be saying...but that sounds like that dreaded C word...communism! Well...I suppose that's because it is. Bear with me here.

Throughout the years communism has seemed so appealing, especially to those who were poor or hurting or needing protection or provision. This is because we have a basic yearning for this kind of community. We were MADE for this kind of community. And yet every time communism is established, brutality, starvation, human rights violations and other horrors seem to take place.

But here's the difference. In the Kingdom of Heaven, God is in charge. He's perfect. And He genuinely wants what's best for his people, which is why He wants us to experience the love and fellowship of other individuals. Humans are imperfect. Our sin nature is greedy, self-centered and power hungry. (don't believe me, turn on tv for about five minutes...that's all it takes) And so a communist government cannot handle having that much power over the people. It becomes almost instantly corrupt and the people have no way to get out from under it because they've given everything in hopes of achieving this wonderful utopia of community.

And so, in my own humble opinion, communist governments will never work, because humans are in charge and humans are imperfect. But it's time for us Christians to stop shuddering at the thought of communism in it's purest form. The system DOES work if God is in charge and if the community is actively pursuing Him and His will and loving each other with His love.

We are blessed when we meet the needs of those around us. Today we are taught from the time we are children that it is an admirable quality to be able to do it "by myself". We're "grown up" when we don't need help anymore. This is not how we were intended to live. We were given certain flaws and certain strengths to enable us to create a community dependant on one another. You will never have all it takes to be all that you should be by yourself. You NEED other people. You were never intended to walk this life alone.

We are told that those who help others receive a blessing. To deny someone the chance to help you is to steal from them a chance to be blessed. And we all know "thou shalt not steal". ;-) We are taught that to admit a need for help is to admit inadequacy, but for those who understand the Kingdom of Heaven, to admit help is to highlight God's divine provision.

So turn everything you've ever been taught about society on its head. Communism is good (with God at the center), life isn't about accumulating things (it's about giving them away to meet the needs of others in your community), you aren't strong if you do it by yourself (you're stupid. haha), it's not shameful to admit needing help (it's a way to highlight God's goodness and to allow someone else to be blessed by helping you). Whew.

Now that's life changing.