Friday February 19
A few years, I heard about a fascinating conversation at a program at Andover Newton Theological School. The speaker was Brian McLaran, a leader in what is often called the “Emerging Church,” a movement of folks seeking new ways to do church.
McLaran was talking about the kingdom of God. A hand went up. The person asked whether McLaran ever considered using language other than “kingdom”–in order to avoid reinforcing exclusively male images of God and because the only examples we have of kings in our world are despots or purely ceremonial leaders. A very good and very important question.
McLaran began his response by reflecting on the value of hearing Jesus’ words in their context. Jesus was saying something very specific when he used “kingdom” language–because he said it right in the midst of the kingdom of Caesar. To proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God was to challenge the primacy and authority of Rome.
McLaran went on. If we really want to grasp the provocative nature of what Jesus was saying–and the impact it would have had on those who heard it–we should translate “the kingdom of God,” he suggested, as “the insurgency of God.”
McLaran’s words have stayed with me. They help me understand how deeply threatening Jesus’ message was to the people in power. Jesus was calling for an uprising.
Some of his follower expected–or at least hoped–that this insurgency would drive out Rome by force. Jesus’ actions and teachings, though, revealed that he was talking about a different kind of insurgency–an uprising of love. Instead of swords and spears, this insurgency used the healing power of touch, the feeding of thousands of people, the blessing of the poor and the meek, the welcoming of a tax collector.
I don’t substitute “insurgency” for “kingdom” or “realm” on a regular basis. Every once in a while, though, I go back to McLaran’s words to remind me that the “kingdom of God” is not just a nice spiritual concept. It is a challenge to be part of an uprising of love.
With those word, “the insurgency of God” in my mind, I pray “thy kingdom come” with a combination of trepidation and anticipation–trepidation because insurgency is always risky and disruptive, anticipation because the rising up of love is more wondrous than any kingdom I could imagine.
Give me courage, God, to mean it when I pray for the coming of your realm. Amen.
–Debbie Clark