Citizens of Heaven - Residents of Earth

I was listening recently to a programme on Radio Four that brought together those at the forefront of the hand over of Hong Kong to Chinese rule. Amongst the many fascinating insights was a comparison to the Falklands Islands.  Many Hong Kong people feared becoming part of a Communist Dictatorship especially following the aftermath of Tiananmen Square. I have also been watching the fascinating series with Mary Beard trying to unearth and get to know the ‘ordinary’ people of 1st century Rome. What Beard suggests is very telling. That Rome wasn’t so much a place as an idea.

The ‘idea’ of being Roman was not focussed on a certain land mass, even less so on the city of Rome. It was its customs, its laws and practices. It was a whole mixed bag of stuff that went to make up the idea of what it meant to be Roman. At the extent of the Roman Empire the world could almost be divided up into two basic groups, Romans and the rest.  And what the ‘rest’ needed to do was to become Roman or at least as near as they could be by at least accepting the ‘Pax Romana,’ the rule and authority of Rome whilst of course paying taxes.

A common enough sight that Jesus would have seen was an evangelist proclaiming good news (the evangel) if not in his home village then certainly in nearby Sepphoris.

This good news would be that the mighty Roman Empire had won yet another victory and that the great ‘idea’ of Rome was continuing its advance or putting down any rebellion against the idea.

‘Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God, and saying, “The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the Gospel.’ Mark 1:14. That is dangerous and subversive language to use in a country that was under Roman occupation.  The Gospel writers tell us about this kingdom movement and what it means to become a member. Repenting is certainly one thing spelled out here by Jesus. Repenting meaning to turn around and follow a different path, not so much as saying sorry. ‘One small deed done is worth a thousand good intentions.’

One thing that becomes abundantly clear is that this Kingdom is not a place but an idea much in the same way as Rome was an idea. This is why the Letters written to the early Church talk about being citizens of heaven. (See Ephesians 2:19-22 for example)  This would have been familiar to many people across the Roman Empire. Veterans of the Roman Army who had served their time would be given lands in which to settle down and form a Roman Colony. The idea of Rome would shape the new settlement and the citizens would consider themselves Romans. Yet they would have no concept or thought of actual wanting to travel to Rome as a physical place. That wasn’t necessary for them to be considered Romans. They could be Romans anywhere in the world.

The focus for Jews in the 1^st Century was largely around the Temple and Jerusalem as this was the place Yahweh dwelt.  This was the place of pilgrimage, the place to go to be identified as a devout and faithful Jew.

It was the Romans who destroyed all of this as prophesised by Jesus (Matthew 24) who saw that unless people repented, took a different path, then destruction would come upon them.

Therefore the question that arises is, just what is the Gospel? For some it is to escape from hell and enter into heaven in some future realm, place or state where God dwells.  ‘Earth is not my home I am just passing through.’ The Church is the vehicle which transports us on this outwards journey to our eternal destiny beyond the skies.

However Jesus proclaimed the good news that the kingdom was already here; geographically, politically, personally and any other way you may choose. This is surely what the Lord’s Prayer is saying isn’t it?  ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.’  Isn’t this what we read in Revelation that the New Jerusalem will come down from heaven to earth.

Isn’t the Gospel then an invitation to repent, i.e. change direction, and sign up as a citizen of heaven? Then, much as a Roman Veteran would do, living with the idea of Rome, seek to live out the idea of being a citizen of heaven wherever they find themselves, in the present reality.

Roman expansion began in the days of the Republic, but the Empire reached its greatest extent under Emperor Trajan: during his reign (98 to 117 AD) the Roman Empire controlled approximately 6.5 million km of land surface.

Our hope for the Kingdom of God is that the entire world shall come to accept the Pax Christus, the just and gentle rule of God. And the best news of all is that the last and most feared enemy has been conquered. Death itself has been swallowed up in victory. The author and pioneer of our faith, Jesus Christ, has gone ahead and won the victory. Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection and the promise is that we, like him, shall at the last have glorious resurrected bodies. Not some ethereal soul that migrates from the body upon death; that is a Greek thought, not Hebrew.

We live as signs and symbols of the Kingdom of God as a foretaste of the now and not yet but one day to be fully revealed sovereign reign of God. We live in that manner as individuals and corporately as the Body of Christ, the Church.  The Church is not a vehicle to escape from earth to a heavenly realm, but a portal through which heaven breaks into the earthly realm.  

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.
Amen.