Week 25 Wednesday (Year 1)

Readings: Ezra 9.5-9; Tobit 13; Luke 9.1-6

The interface between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of the world is always complicated. They are inevitably intertwined, sometimes in ways that are helpful to the kingdom of God and sometimes the opposite.

The issue is clear in the readings today. The political situation in the Middle East changes with the rise of Cyrus, King of Persia. Where before the situation led to the loss of the promised land, the city of Jerusalem  and the temple, now the wind blows in a different direction. King Cyrus enables and encourages the return of the people to the land and to the city along with the rebuilding of the temple. In this way the worldly power of the day may be regarded as helpful to the kingdom of God.

Of course they remain distinct realities, easy enough to see when it is 'a foreign political power' that rules and more difficult to see when the 'secular' power is home grown: then the danger is of all kinds of compromise and confusion even to the point of establishing a 'theocracy', an identification of the two kingdoms. 

The people of God saw that the loss and exile they experienced was the inevitable outcome of the corruption that had spread among them. It was not so much that God had to take action as it was simply a question of allowing that corruption to have its full effect, imploding things from within. Once again it is clear that the two realms remain distinct even when they are intricately interwoven - political and military success and the growth of the kingdom of God are two distinct realities. They do not necessarily go together and they operate, in fact, by very different criteria as to what counts as success and what as failure.

So in the gospel Jesus speaks of power and strength as he shares his authority and his mission with the disciples. It is a power over demons and a strength to heal. They are sent to preach and to heal and to exorcise with that power. They are to live simply, offer peace, and when rejected do nothing more than shake the dust off their feet.

The kingdom of God, inaugurated by Christ is about announcing the good news and working miracles. The political powers of the world have always been interested in the community that has been entrusted with that mission. Sometimes they oppress and persecute its members, and sometimes they seek to exploit its membership and its resources for their own ends. Those who regard themselves as belonging first to the kingdom of God - 'seek first the kingdom of God' - must also always align themselves within worldly politics - the New Testament teaches them not to avoid or ignore such 'civic' responsibilities. But the temptations of worldly power have sometimes - often? - overshadowed the preaching of Christ's kingdom, confusing and distorting the distinctions and the lines of interaction between the two realms.

There is no easy resolution and so there have been many and varied forms of this relationship. The task remains for each generation and each community to interpret the signs of its own time and place. If we are to be faithful here and now to the power and strength of Christ's kingdom, how are we to dispose ourselves in relation to the worldly powers within whose ambience we find ourselves living?

Sometimes it is foreigners and outsiders who save believers from themselves and call them back to their true selves. Sometimes the power of Christ is understood and welcomed, sometimes it is exploited for purposes other than its own, sometimes it is understood and feared and rejected. The servants of the kingdom are to remain peaceful in all circumstances, as Christian martyrs have always been. They are to shake the dust off their feet which may mean seeking other places in which to preach the good news or staying where they are and waiting for a more favourable time, a new kairos moment in which the kingdom can once again show itself in its true form.