Kingdom Conflict
Listen to the Lord s Prayer sung
Readings Acts 17:1-9 & 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12
Sing IN Christ alone
The Sermon - Listen Here
As I write this, I am hoping that the rugby games this weekend might go ahead. I would like to see the Auckland Blues takedown Canterbury (I was cheering for Otago to do that last week but they missed out – hopefully that game will be delayed not cancelled.) I always like seeing the All Blacks beat the Australians or any NZ versus Australia game. Conflict on the sports field can arouse great emotions as does politics in some circles. Thankfully, we don’t have many real military conflicts in which the NZ military are involved at the moment.
You do hear of church conflicts. My favourite is the battle over what colour the hymn books should be. Conflicts in church are never trivial and people get wounded and the cause of Christ suffers for our lack of grace and using power for our own preferences. There are many tragic conflicts through Church History such as the tangled mess of religion and politics in Ireland or during the reign of Henry the 8th and the next generation or two (should England be Catholic or Protestant?). If you have been involved in a church fight you will know how horrible they can become.
In the latter half of Acts, Paul, his companions come into conflict with those who wield local economic and civic power often fuelled by jealousy from Jews. The first incident occurs in Pisidian Antioch, where “the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city” (Acts 13:50) are incited against Paul and Barnabas and expel them from the city. This occurs again in Iconium (Acts 14:5) Philippi (Acts 16:19-24), Thessalonica (Acts 17:6-9), and Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41). The conflicts culminate with Paul’s trial for disturbing the peace in Jerusalem, which occupies the final eight chapters of Acts.
The news of a new king, Jesus – who is the Messiah, the heir to the throne of David, the one who brings in the Kingdom of God, is not good news to those who seek to hold onto whatever power they used to have, whether in the synagogue or the City. This power conflict is also behind the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees.
In Matthew 10 where Jesus is warning the Disciples about approaching conflict and persecution, he says:
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother,… a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household”. “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me….Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it Matt 10:34-39.
Many find this verse hard to understand as we think Jesus came to bring peace and forgiveness so how can he say he came to bring a sword? Maybe the reason is Jesus primary aim is not first the announcement of Peace – but an announcement of the Kingdom of God. Within the Kingdom of God there is peace and reconciliation, but to those who resist or reject the Kingdom there is a battle – which results in persecution and suffering. First for Christ who was crucified as a king, and then for his followers.
Conflict is not just external to ourselves- there is also an internal one. The
We see this played out in our readings from Acts 17. There it recounts how Paul reasoned in the synagogue from the Scriptures, “explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” (v 3). Verse 4 reports that some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.
But, then you see the reaction from others – Luke writes:
“Other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city…
Their accusation was “they are were defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”
This incited a great deal of fear from the crowd for no one wanted a reaction from the Roman military. Luke describes it with these words: “the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.” V 8.
One of the curious things in the New Testament is that Jesus refers to the Kingdom of God many times but Paul rarely does. But, he does call Jesus Lord and naming Jesus as Lord is the mark of a Christian for example in Romans 10:9 he says “ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
This led some theologians to speculate on whether Paul changed Christianity from the original message of Jesus. Of course, their speculations did not stand up to scrutiny and while Paul does use different words because he is talking to Churches which have a predominately Gentile background, he very much conveys the same ideas (Jesus is Lord or King in the Kingdom). Supporting this is Luke’s summary of Paul’s message while under house arrest in Roman in Acts says this “He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance! Acts 28:31 (See also Acts 19:8, 20:25, 28:23). Paul also uses the idea that we are citizens of heaven in Phil 3:20 & Eph 2:19.
There are 16 references to the kingdom in Paul’s writings. One of which were made famous by the rugby player Israel Folau who got in trouble for tweeting 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” Or another is often spoken at Funerals regarding the hope of a future resurrection to eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:50 “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable….”
For Paul the idea of the Kingdom had a future flavour just as it did with Jesus.
Paul and Barnabas “strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” Acts 14:22. But the kingdom was also a present reality (Romans 14:17 says “for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,”.
To call Jesus “Lord” was a rejection of others who claimed the title of ruler or Lord, primarily the Roman Emperor Caesar. That is why Paul got in trouble in Thessalonica. To call Jesus Lord it is also an affirmation of whose rules and example we want to live by:
. “…live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”
1 Thessalonians 2:11-13
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage… 2 Timothy 4:18
Paul speaks about the Christians conflict with spiritual powers who seek to rule over our lives such as Sin or the Law, as well as the more obvious battles with spiritual forces of evil (Spiritual warfare.) These battles about who or what controls or shapes our daily lives and conduct are part of the daily battle of living as a Christian in the Kingdom of God. Who is our king or Lord? Who shapes our values and actions? Is it Jesus or some other?
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms Eph 6:12
“Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” Romans 6:12
The inner conflict is resolved when we remember whose Kingdom we are a part of, and we reaffirm Jesus is our King
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:7-8
The outer conflict with those who don’t like our beliefs or values, who don’t like their loss of influence in our lives just have to be accepter with grace. Ultimately, we have to say they are not battling us but Jesus’ claim to be king – not just of our lives but all peoples’ lives. We belong to him, so he needs to defend us, and give us the grace to live as a citizen of the Kingdom of God
What am I saying today
1. Being a part of the Kingdom of God can lead to conflict with others. Becoming a Christian is a reordering of our lives around the new centre of Jesus as King, a prioritizing of our values of our new citizenship in God’s kingdom. No one likes change and when you change to make Jesus the centre of your life this upsets the balance of your other relationships. This was Paul’s experience in Thessalonica.
2. Paul makes it clearer that being a part of the Kingdom is no simple swearing allegiance to a new King (as important as that is), but an ongoing decision to live as a disciple, Living with Jesus as Lord.
3. While Paul used different language to describe the Rule of God in a person’s life the meaning is the same as Jesus’s language on the Kingdom of God.
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