It’s confession time! For quite a while I have found “kingdom of God” language difficult, if not alien. It may be that living in a republic makes talk of “kingdoms” awkward. It was easier living in the United Kingdom. At least in the name was reference to kingdom—though with a queen in charge since 1952 kingdom language is still a stretch! Perhaps it should become the United Realm.
Yet it would still have the idea of being united under a single sovereign. Most democracies have long since abandoned the idea. That Britain did not become a democratic republic in the seventeenth century has always been a mystery. Historian G. M. Trevelyan called it a “stop in the mind.” The slow development of a constitutional monarchy was an accident of history and was something of a compromise—a monarch as figurehead without any real power. Power to the people, then?
People power, too, is problematic. I have sympathized with Plato that the people on too many occasions make bad decisions. Give the people a chance and they will kill Socrates. The crowd bayed for Jesus to be crucified. Monarchs or people—not much to chose between them. Plato favored an aristocracy with philosophers in charge. But, then he probably hadn't attended a conference of philosophers who never agree about anything. (Philosophers, they say, are like manure: quite good if you spread them around the countryside. But, put them together in one place and they become a public nuisance! Of course this is not true of my favorite group of philosophers, Concerned Philosophers for Peace. We would make a decent job of running the world!)
I write these thoughts on the Sunday in the church's year called the Reign of Christ. In the liturgy of the Lindisfarne Community we changed all references to “kingdom” to “realm.” In the prayer of Jesus we petition, “Your realm come …” What would a realm without the domination, power and control look like? It would look like a realm of voluntarism where none are coerced and all are free to choose. It would look like a realm of kindness and compassion where all are cared for. It would look like a realm where wrongs are forgiven and punishment is abandoned, where all can reach their full potential. It would look like a realm of love.
+Ab. Andy