The question that the disciples asked just before the Ascension is a telling one: “Lord, at this time are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Luke tells us that the theme of Jesus instruction during the time after the Resurrection until the Ascension was about, “the Kingdom of God.” It is a good thing to think about; especially when we ponder Jesus victory over death and what else is involved in this victory.

We tend to take a narrow view of what Jesus is about. I think this is true, especially in the suburbs. What Jesus is about tends to become so narrow in scope that it becomes only about “me”— “Jesus is here to save me and give me a comfortable life.” Or, if we are really ambitious in our thinking, it includes the church—what Jesus is doing in individual communities of believers. We have to rethink these categories because Jesus would not let his first community of disciples think in such narrow and restrictive categories. Jesus came and declared in his victory over death that he was about nothing less than the restoration of all things!

The disciples question is at least a good one; they are actually thinking in terms of a kingdom. A kingdom is a place where there is a ruler who reigns. The problem with the disciples is they only think in terms of Israel! They think God’s rule and reign involves the establishment of a reign in terms of one nation of people. Jesus emphasized to them that his kingdom is inclusive of not only Israel, but also Samaritans and Romans; people with whom they were intuitively at odds. Jesus expanded their scope and told them in the words similar to those of Abraham Kuyper, a former Prime Minister to the Netherlands - "There is no realm of life in which Jesus does not point and shout, 'MINE!'"

When we limit the scope of Christianity by thinking God is only interested in our spiritual welfare and in affairs of the church, it becomes a sort of outpost, not really interactive or engaged in the culture. It also tends to make people think in categories of “spiritual” and “material.” It leads to a retreat, a fortress mentality, a “siege” mentality. That is, we circle the wagons because we don’t want the dirt of the world to get into our little holy huddle. I can’t think of anything more antithetical to Jesus’ message of making the kingdoms of this world the kingdoms of his Father.

When a group of people really gets the message of making the kingdoms of this world the kingdoms of the Father, we begin to see everything around us in a new way. We see it as holy. We see everything as in need of shalom—the blessed peace and rest that comes with the rule and reign of Christ. Suddenly everything is sacred; every moment is one to be seized. We begin to be workers of the restoration of all things! The words of Revelation begin to make sense: “I am making everything new.” Do you believe that? Do you believe that God’s purpose in your life is that you are part of a kingdom of people that are about “making all things new”?

This forces us to look at our homes and say, “Is the restoration happening here?” Notice the question is not, “Do you go to church?” “Do you volunteer occasionally to help the poor?” We can do all of that and miss the real work of the kingdom - where Christ is ruling and reigning there will be a sense of joy, peace and celebration. My oldest daughter, Bethan, sent me an email the other day which started by saying, “Here is what I got out of your sermon yesterday, Daddy.” Following is part of a poem, she obviously wrote during worship. It reflects a scene she had seen at our house in the front yard a week earlier and her appraisal of it:

Water-hose perched in a sapling in the front yard
Of a corner house- affluent
Suburb of a wealthy metropolitan city,
Homemade water park, of sorts, sees a tall lanky child with yellow hair,
In Sunday clothes,
Guiding his stumpy, orange haired, bespectacled
little brother
In underwear only, the superman type,
Under the shooting stream.
Passers by are confused, these children don’t seem to belong here;
Here amidst the built in, timed sprinklers
watering extraordinarily green, groomed lawns.
These redneck children of another breed,
Their laughter searing through the blanket of polite, chilly, neighborly quiet,
Their joy slicing through the stuffy, innate
shroud of upright citizenry.
Older siblings peer through the window and laugh.
This is the Kingdom

Have I taught my daughter bad theology, when she can look at a slice of everyday life and the laughter of children at play and make a correlation between that and the kingdom of God? No! No! No! A thousand times no! Salvation is about all of life and the life around you coming under the rule and reign of Christ, which will always produce healing, celebration and life! Kingdom life is more than a life of novelty or tantalization at the “next new thing,” but a real sense of satisfaction and joy at the simple gifts of God that are found especially in the mundane.

Till we begin to look around our church building at our neighborhoods and our town and ask the question, “How can I bring gospel restoration and peace to this situation?” We still do not understand what Jesus came to do. All Jesus asked of us is to be a witness to this big reality in word and life. He doesn’t ask for numbers or notches, but instead to just live the restoration! That or something like that is the message we should come away with this Easter.