“Notwithstanding” the past week in
Ontario politics, American politics tend to be much more entertaining. The 2020 presidential election, though less
than 2 years away, promises to fill the bill like another movie in the
“Expendables” franchise. One candidate
to watch for is a political activist and performance artist who calls himself
Vermin Supreme. His real name is Vermin
Love Supreme. He has been running for
public office at all levels of government since the 1980’s. This will be at least his fifth attempt at
becoming POTUS. He sports a big bushy
grey beard and wears a black rubber boot on his head. Vermin claims he is naturally qualified for
the job because all politicians are vermin and since his name is Vermin Supreme
he should be at the top of the heap.
Vermin Supreme claims to be a fascist
anarchist. He says we misunderstand
Anarchy when we think it is just people run amuck doing whatever they
want. Rather, Anarchy is what happens
after a major disaster or car crash – people pulling together to do the
compassionate thing.
Supreme’s campaign platform is
interesting. He promises that if
elected, he will give everyone in the U.S. a pony. This will reduce dependence on foreign oil,
create jobs, and the manure can be used to revitalize the soil that has been
exploited by big agriculture. Moreover,
everybody will have to have their pony with them at all times because their
pony will be their personal identification.
He says he will make it a law that all people must brush their
teeth. Strong teeth will make a strong
nation. He will also provide a government-sponsored
toothpaste made with mildly addictive but harmless ingredients. He also promises to give all people with
major health problems a free bus ticket to Canada where they will actually get
care. These are only a few of his
insight promises.
Vermin Supreme may seem like a joke
candidate only capable of drawing protest votes, but maybe there’s something
there. He’s smart and all of his
outrageous promises address critical flaws in American government. But, simply electing a fascist anarchist won’t
fix the problem neither in the States nor here in Canada. The fundamental flaw is with the people. Citizens down there and up here too do not
think “how can we build a more perfect union” but rather we tend to think of
ourselves first and demand government protect “my” freedom to live “my” life in
the pursuit of “my” own happiness, which translates into “keep the economy
going so I can keep buying things that I don’t need but that I have been led to
believe will make me happy.” We think
the things of “me”, rather that the things of “we”.
The Twelve Disciples had a similar problem
with respect to what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah and for them to be
his disciples. They had come to see that
he was the Messiah, but they couldn’t see beyond their own expectations of what
the Messiah was supposed to do and what it meant for them. They knew the Messiah was to bring the
kingdom of God, which meant getting rid of the Romans and the corrupt Judean
royalty and then establishing a fair and just kingdom in which they, the
Twelve, as Jesus followers would be his vice-regents. Their problem was as Jesus said to Peter,
“you are not thinking the things of God but the things of men.”
In Mark’s Gospel this passage comes on
the tail end of Jesus having led the disciples all over Galilee and into
Gentile lands on a Kingdom of God Share-The-Bread Tour where he distributed the
bread that was left over from feeding the 5,000. He proved himself to be the Messiah who was
bringing in the kingdom of God according to about every Old Testament prophecy there
is. He had caused the lame to leap, the
blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak. He had freed those held captive by demons. He had caused Gentiles to have faith and to
praise Israel’s God. He had truly manifested
the kingdom of God in their midst and they
had participated in it.
But, then Jesus went a little Vermin
Supreme on them and began to teach them of other Scriptures that said the
Messiah would have to suffer at the hands of the religious and political
authorities and be put to death and then on the third day rise again. This was information the disciples couldn’t
process. According to their
expectations, the Messiah was supposed to raise an army that included the
angels of heaven, restore Israel’s independence, and rule in God’s name just
like King David did in the good ole days.
He would end corruption of every kind.
His kingdom would be one of peace and justice and fairness. Everyone was going to have their own vine and
fig tree to sit under…and most importantly…the Messiah they were expecting was
not supposed to die.
Then Jesus went on to say that being
his follower meant renouncing claim to oneself and taking up a cross too…also
not on their list of expectations. As
those closest to Jesus – those who had left everything to follow him – they
were expecting to sit enthroned at his side ruling with him. But Jesus began to tell them that to be his
followers they would have to renounce claim to their very selves. They must deny themselves and think, “my life
is not my own to seek my own goals, gain, and glory. I now belong to Jesus for the proclamation and
ministry of his kingdom which is at hand”.
And it gets more difficult. To take up the cross is to share in Jesus’
suffering for the sake of the world through the task of proclaiming and
ministering the kingdom of God being at hand. It would not be worldly gain for the Twelve. They just could not wrap their heads around
that. Seriously, just a few days later James
and John had the audacity to come to Jesus to ask him if they could sit at his
right and at his left when he takes his throne.
The disciples simply were not thinking the things of God but rather the
things of man.
Now to turn this around to us, we
suffer the same malady. We call Jesus
Lord and Saviour, Messiah, Christ, God’s Holy Spirit Anointed King, and Son of God
yet we too misunderstand what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah, the bringer
of the Kingdom of God, and for us to be his followers, his heralds. For most Christians Jesus is simply our moral
example, our ticket into a favourable afterlife, and a bit of psychological
help in times of trouble. We tend not to
think of Jesus being the King of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of God as
something present in which we now participate. The Kingdom of God is at hand. It is here among us. We as a gathering of Jesus-followers are
participants right now in the Kingdom of God over which Jesus reigns through
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Here’s how. The Kingdom of God exists as a Holy Spirit filled
community of disciples who strive to know Jesus more fully and who renounce
claim to their selves to find their life in him. It comes about when those who call themselves
Christian gather together around the Bible and let themselves be challenged and
recreated by its demands. The Kingdom
of God exists as a community where in the name of Jesus blind eyes begin to see
with compassion. Deaf ears begin to hear
with empathy. Mute mouths begin to speak
the truth in love and the lame leap up and begin to walk the way of the cross. The Kingdom of God exists as the community where
in Jesus’ name faithfulness, honest communication, kindness, and forgiveness
are the way of life. The Kingdom of God
exists as the community where those who follow Jesus share their weaknesses and
allow themselves to be prayed for and supported. That Kingdom of God exists as the community
that feels no shame in inviting others to come and share in the good news that
Jesus and his Kingdom are here; yes, right here in our little fellowship.
This leaves us with a question: “What
are we thinking”? Are we thinking the
things of God or the things of man? Are
we each truly striving to know Jesus and participate in his kingdom before
anything else or is “God” just a crutch I lean on and this congregation just a motley
crew of good people who are like minded to myself and so I give them space in
my life because I believe its important?
If we really want to live we must stop trying to fit Jesus into our own
individual lives, which is thinking the things of man, and start asking what’s
my place in him, which is thinking the things of God? Amen.
