Who would have considered an unsightly backwater group of young men changing the world? Not only a backwater, but also young, probably teenagers, entrusted with shaping a future world.  The now and not yet world that had arrived and come into their midst, and is still breaking in.   These teenagers stood at a crossroads of time, who sometimes understood, although not accurately, that the coming world was to overthrow the suppressors’ force.     They stood occupied, living under the heel of the mightiest military force in history—the all-conquering Roman Empire. 

This Message of Jesus turned the whole world upside down, or better, the right way up These disciples were accused of doing that very thing.  The Jesus-type world confronted a hierarchical world, a top-down oppressive world with another way of life.   A world where all people were dominated by another, with a world that emptied itself for each other.   Father, Son and Holy Spirit world where each one raised the other and emptied for each other, being initiated by sacrificial giving wholeheartedly of life to another.  

The early followers were touched, saw with their own eyes, and were overwhelmed by self-giving love and extravagant good deeds that transformed their world.

Today, as we look at our world, we wonder what has changed when the only message Jesus uttered was ‘the Kingdom of God.’   We see the rise of a world where domination is prevalent. In a world with over 2 billion Christians, we ask where our impact has gone in terms of transformational and self-emptying expression.    It seems that Christendom has joined the world of hierarchical domination and abuse, of course, not everywhere, but often the case; perhaps this is a case of self-preservation.  

I understood just as Christ was the ‘’exact representation”, “the explanation” of Father, Son and Holy Spirit relationship that we as the church is to continue with that very representation of God.    Perhaps we have forgotten and joined in church building rather than the enlargement of the Kingdom of God.  

Having been living by the gospel for 40 years, I agonise over this and consider the dilemma in my mind.

There are so many excellent people and ecclesial expressions around us; however, I must say that, considering the many good congregations and sincere believers, something appears to be amiss.   Should we simply continue with the same old ways, we will not have a lasting impact on our generation.   

As I read the scripture and consider the Message of Jesus, I ask myself, have we seen the message being obscured, with us settling for a gospel centred on salvation and the church, rather than the Kingdom?    We have not grasped that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have a goal of restoration until Christ fills all in all, when we will finally see God’s ultimate intention arriving in creation, with both people and creation transformed, people matured in Christ and creation set free by the people of God.  

My invitation is this: to join the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in their ongoing work of restoration. This is a call to participation—to bring the promises of God spoken through the prophets to life in our world today.

The Kingdom has come. It is here, and it is still coming. It breaks in wherever people embody the self-emptying love of Christ. It advances when believers live not for themselves but for the renewal of all things, both in the earth, creation and in the lives of people.

Will you join in this divine partnership? Will you live as a citizen of the Kingdom that has already come and is still coming?

Let us rise again as those first disciples did—ordinary people carrying an extraordinary message—that the world may once again be turned the right way up.