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Edward Fudge

GOD'S FLAG STILL THERE
Today, May 30, 2005 is Memorial Day here in the United States of America, a national day of remembrance of those who have given their lives in the armed services of this nation. During a radio program of patriotic music, I was struck by the words of our national anthem which say: "And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there." What, I reflect, "gives proof" in this world of the presence of God's kingdom?

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Indeed, as Jesus told Pilate, God's kingdom does not arise from the present world order (John 18:36). Its purpose is not the advancement of human agendas. It does not depend on human defenses. It is not advanced by human strength or strategy. The sure sign of God's present kingdom is not access to political power, influence over public opinion-makers, business boycotts or commercial clout. Those things sprang from the Constantinization of the church and belong to the "Christendom" that came after and is now passing away. On the day that Jesus conversed with Pilate, the representative of God's kingdom was the man whose face was wet with spit, whose back was ripped and bleeding, the man with nails in his hands, whose side was pierced by a sword.

One day at the end of this present age all earthly governments will tumble and every human flag will fall. Then people of every nation will join voices to ascribe sovereignty and dominion to God alone. Those who trust in God now will be vindicated in public. God's poor will receive a kingdom. His people who once suffered, persecuted and powerless, will share in his reign forever (Dan. 2:44; 7:18, 22, 27). But that is then and this is now.

Where is God's kingdom today -- the kingdom that has come and is yet to come? We see it wherever self-willed and self-seeking men and women begin, like little children, to trust the Father and to pursue his agenda (Mark 10:14-15; Matt. 6:33). We know that it is present where people who once were self-sufficient approach God like beggars, conscious of personal inability and devoid of all claims, pleading without shame for his undeserved kindness (Matt. 5:3). God's kingdom is evident in the tears, labor and suffering of those who seek justice, of those who struggle and sacrifice for the weak, the poor and the powerless -- for people, in other words, whose only hope is the intervention of a force from beyond the darkness of this fallen world (Matt. 3:10).

What gives proof that God's kingdom is present? The transformation of religion does that, when rituals and rules serve rather than subdue, when internal motivations overshadow external appearances and performance, when righteousness, joy and peace count for more than theoretical religious issues and debates (Rom. 14:17). "Thy kingdom come," we pray, "as in heaven, so on earth." Where Jesus is, there is God's kingdom. Is there any sign that it is present in my life? In yours?

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