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On Earth As It Is In Heaven
Heaven isn’t a place on Earth. And yet, it is. But, very often, Western Christianity spends its time talking about ‘Heaven’ as a different place, God’s place. When Jesus talks about ‘the Kingdom of Heaven’ or ‘the Kingdom of God’, he’s often talking about Earth, right here and now – but we frequently miss that. He’s not always talking about ‘how we behave to get into Heaven,’ he’s often talking about ‘how we behave like people in God’s kingdom.’
Which is why I often translate ‘The Kingdom of Heaven/God’ as ‘God’s nation.’
Heaven is a Place Far, Far Away
One of the defining tropes of our secular age is – God won’t help. In horror movies, ghosts, demons and vampires exist, but God? God is on holiday. Or heaven can’t affect anything here on Earth; it’s where you go when you’re dead and finished with Earth. To help the people on Earth, or to truly live their lives, the hero often has to reject Heaven.
So God and Heaven are ‘up there’ and we’re ‘down here.’ Yet in Jesus’ parables about the Kingdom of God/Heaven, he’s often talking about right here on Earth. Mustard seeds, pearls hidden in fields – the people in Jesus’ parables find the Kingdom, grow the Kingdom right here.
Dual Citizenship
How can we see ‘heaven’ as here? One way is to think of ourselves as having dual citizenship. After all, lots of people have dual citizenship; they have two passports and two countries. Two sets of obligations.
In my country, the United Kingdom, there are four ‘home nations’ – the four countries that make up the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. It makes us an ‘and’ nation. English and British. Welsh and British. Irish and British. Scottish and British.
You can see how the Kingdom of God might work. Christian and British – or Jewish and British; Muslim and British. We live in two kingdoms, two nations. People have a dual citizenship.
Christendom
There’s an academic tendency, right now, to use ‘Christendom’ to refer to the time when almost everyone in Western Europe was Christian. Often, the reason almost everyone was Christian was because the Jews and the Muslims had been killed or forced to leave.
So there was no ‘dual citizenship’. Being a Christian outweighed any loyalty to an earthly king, but your faith encouraged loyalty to that earthly king. The downside is that this meant that Jews, Muslims and ‘other’ types of Christian were objects of suspicion. If you didn’t share the majority faith, what might that loyalty to your Kingdom of Heaven lead you to?
The Kingdom and Politics
The idea of dual citizenship can help us understand why the Romans panicked so much. After all, Christianity was only a small Jewish sect. The problem was that religion could be (and was) politically suspect. For example, the Romans connected Judaism with the desire for independence in Judea and Galilee. After the Jewish revolts of AD66- 73 and AD 132-136, the Romans banned Jews from Jerusalem.
Yet Christianity, with its references to ‘the Kingdom’ and its Jewish-style refusal to sacrifice to the Emperor, was even worse. God’s nation; the Kingdom of God – it’s all very much pointing towards an alternative system of government. This is not what a Roman administrator would want, especially if they were familiar with the recent rebellions and civil wars.
So What is God’s Nation?
Well, according to Jesus’ parables, we can find it on Earth. It’s often hidden – but hidden amongst things you see every day. It grows – in a quiet sort of way. And it’s beneficial because it adds benefits; it doesn’t take them away (though getting these benefits may cost you everything you have).
It’s a nation where people are still expected to do their jobs, but status doesn’t apply. All are equal; the only ‘status’ in God’s nation is ‘citizen’. A rich householder and their employee will sit down together for a meal. The householder is equal to the beggar and should share their riches with them.
It Doesn’t Just Happen
Like a sourdough starter, God’s nation takes time and attention. The ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ sounds like it’s ‘Up There’ – but God’s nation sounds like something that needs work ‘Down Here’. It’s alive, it’s messy, it’s a bit weird. Why wouldn’t it be? It’s made up of people.
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