January 22, 2023: The Third Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 8: 20-9: 2
Psalm 27: 1-5, 13
1 Corinthians 1: 26 – 31
Matthew 4: 12 - 23
Bishop Ariel P. Santos
In the gospel, Jesus proclaims my second favorite subject which is the kingdom of God. It is second only to my first favorite which is the kingdom of God. Jesus says, “Repent!” For what reason? It is because the kingdom of heaven/of God is at hand. It is here! What is the kingdom of God? What is to repent? Where is the kingdom of God?
God contains the universe. He is bigger than our universe. Our naked eye cannot see the extent of the universe; it is infinite. The earth is just a dot in God’s presence. God is bigger than all of these and He is King of all. If He is King, where is His kingdom and what does it encompass? In reality, technically and geographically speaking, the kingdom of God is everywhere. Every we go is the kingdom of God, but the fullness of it, we will see and experience and enter if we participate in its ways. The kingdom of God is in our midst but it is possible for us not to enter it. Jesus says, “Unless you repent and get born again, you cannot see and enter the kingdom of God.”
The kingdom of God is where the will of God is being done. The kingdom of God is the government and Him ruling. It is already but not yet. A Roman Catholic priest says, “We are already in God’s presence; what is absent is awareness.” Similarly, I would say that we are already in the kingdom of God, but what may be lacking is our participation in it.
In order for us to participate in the Kingdom, we must repent. What is to repent? It is not being more religious, though it may entail this. It is not being spiritual and moral to be repentant. To repent means to change the way we think about everything. We need to rethink things so as to change our ways, therefore, our lives. In Christianity, we need to renew our minds because we are preparing for the coming of the kingdom of God. It is already here, but it is being established fully.
Jesus Christ said that the kingdom of God is here. It is breaking into our world, so it is time to repent in preparation for the coming of its fullness. Unless we renew our minds, we can’t see the Kingdom that is already here. The kingdom of God is where the order and the will of God is being followed. The kingdom of God is the reign of God. It’s what the world would be like if God were ruler.
What would the world be if God rules? Think of one-world government. It would be a united countries of the world. If Jesus were the King, President or Prime Minister, what would the government look like? What would its budget, its project, and look like? If Jesus would be King, will He spend a lot of money on nuclear bombs and weapons? Would He, like the super countries, spend more of their money for military than for their health and social welfare systems and spend more for hospitals and health care? What would our individual lives look like?
The kingdom of God is here and one day, the Book of Revelations says that the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our God. This will happen and the process has started. The kingdom of God is the government and the rule of God. Thus, we will follow His laws. There will be justice, peace, righteousness and our lives, as followers and citizens of this Kingdom, as Christians, will not just be a form, but a life of godliness.
The good news of the Kingdom is that the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame walk, the hungry are fed, the poor hear the good news, the naked are clothed, and the prisoners are visited. This is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the elimination of hatred, division, of wars, and the establishment of peace, justice and righteousness. The good news of the kingdom of God is that these things will eventually and fully be a reality in this world. The good news of the kingdom of God is not we escaping this world because there is war, poverty, and sickness. The good news is the things will be better.
The kingdom of God is the same as the kingdom of heaven. However, some people think it is the kingdom IN heaven. No, it is the kingdom FROM heaven coming here. We pray, “Thy Kingdom come” and it will come when His will is done on earth as it is in heaven. It is the conversion of the world, not the evacuation to a better place. God made the world good! Sin entered so there came the sickness, injustice, and oppression. This tainted world is being restored so that we could look into a new heaven and a new earth one day. It is being converted and restored back to its original. Nothing can be better than the world made good by God.
Every time Jesus heals, making the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, clothes the naked, feeds the hungry, raises the dead, comforts the widow and the orphans, there and then, the fullness of the kingdom of God is happening. Jesus is executing God’s order and will. Every time Jesus forgives sins, the will of God is being done. Every time we participate in all of these that Jesus did, we participate in the will of God and we hasten the coming of His kingdom. Every time we forgive the sins of others, we partake in the government of God and we make His kingdom come.
In the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done.” We are enabled by God’s grace as He gives us our daily bread to make it happen. We need our sins forgiven, but our part is as we forgive those who sin against us. This will hasten the coming of the Kingdom. Every time we teach and equip people to do forgive of themselves and to participate in the work of Jesus, then, we usher in the kingdom of God. What does the establishment of the kingdom entail? It requires us caring enough to give and to forgive.
I am appreciative of people who are in ministry because there is sacrifice – that of giving of oneself. Jesus came for us and for our salvation as the Creed says. It is not for Himself but for our sake and for our good. What God does is always for our good. In our Corporate Prayer, we pray, “For facilities in which God’s people, ever growing in love for Him, might become a habitation of His presence and ministers of His life.” Ministry is to meet a need; imparting a blessing. The world needs the life of God this is why we are ministers of His life and we are to impart it to others. We cannot give what we haven’t received yet.
Ministry is the definition of love, which is the only law in God’s kingdom. It is not for us; but it is also for us because there is great joy in the little inconveniences it may entail. It is like a mother who give birth to a child. The mother learns that after a few hours of painful labor, there is joy that is inexplicable when she holds the new born child in her arms. Inconvenience may be for a moment, but there is a lifetime of joy. Parents sacrifice a lot to pay for their children’s education, but come graduation time, there are the proud moments because of the joy that it brings. There is the price to pay in order to obtain that joy. Sacrifice for a moment, but everlasting joy after.
We are encouraged to cultivate faithfulness, which is the Liturgical theme for this year. To cultivate is to nurture, to care which is not for a moment. It entails patience, longsuffering. We commit and are faithful to it. The way of the kingdom of God is heaven’s ways being implemented here on earth and this is good news. It is not primarily about going to a better place when we die. This is not the message of Jesus and the apostles’ proclamation. Every six years in our country, there is the cycle of elections. It is sad that people during elections are very hopeful. Many times, they believe what the candidates say only to be disappointed after the elections because it is going to be business as usual. In the kingdom of God, we can count on true change. It is not business as usual, but restoration of all things.
Whatever Jesus does is what the kingdom of God is all about – the sick are healed, the sinners are forgiven, the hungry fed and even the wayward are invited to Jesus’ table. We are called to participate in this calling. The disciples were called and they immediately responded and left their trade and their families. I am not saying to quit your job; what I am saying is that if God calls, we say, “Here I am Lord, send me.” It is a joyful thing.
I believe in this Kingdom; this is why I proclaim it every time. However, it is not something that individuals can do on their own. It is a community thing. People can repent individually, which is good, but we can’t have Jesus as King alone as an individual citizen. We need to belong to His community, His nation. God ordained the Church to be the vehicle through which the kingdom of God will come to earth. It is a microcosm of what the kingdom of God should be like. We are the Church to demonstrate to the world what the kingdom of God is all about. We are not perfect, but we cultivate faithfulness in the Church because we tell the world that they don’t have to escape. We may be in the process of being made new, and we have hope that one day, all things will be back to good. We are a community of imperfect people struggling, desiring, by the grace of God, to love one another despite all. We need to display this to the world and by doing so, we offer them hope. We offer them a preview of things to come.
If we hear the call of God, don’t hesitate but instead answer readily that we and the whole world may perceive glory of His good gift for our good. The community may sometimes be fun, and sometimes not fun but this is what God ordained and it is His design and His way. It is the way it is in the kingdom of God. This is why the Cathedral of the King exists. This is why the Church has ministries. This is why we have charitable projects because we display the kingdom of God to our local area and to the world. We do the work of the Kingdom until the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our God.
I invite everyone! Let us participate in the work of the Kingdom. Because participating in it is eternal life. It is everlasting life. It is sublime joy and the way it is in the kingdom of our God.
