"The more heaven comes to earth, the more the earth will look like family’"
I recently found myself drawn to this quote from singer/songwriter and worship leader Jonathan David Helser. Helser also leads the discipleship community at A Place for the Heart and the creative collective Cageless Birds, both based in North Carolina.
There is so much to consider and reflect on when we think about this, and our wee church community in Scotland has been musing on it for a couple of weeks. Each week, the global Christian church prays these words in one form or another – “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” What do we mean? Even Jesus didn’t really give a clear, concise definition of the Kingdom of God. Instead, he chose a series of parables, metaphors and stories to depict the Kingdom of God. I once heard someone say they often use the word ‘reality’ as a synonym for Kingdom. This sounds good. “Lord, may Your reality come on earth”. Dallas Willard is often quoted as saying, “The Kingdom of God is the range of God’s effective will.” This is really helpful too. The Kingdom reality of God knows no geographic borders but is present “wherever what God wants done is done” (Willard).
So, as followers of Jesus, we are called to be ‘purveyors of Kingdom reality’ in our world. And according to Helser’s observations, the more we do this the more it will look like family.
What does that mean to you, the idea of family? Issues may arise when we harbour a traumatised perception of family, often born from being hurt in our own family of origin, and we reflect that onto our ideas and expectations of God’s family and therefore the Kingdom reality of family that we are being invited into.
What does the family of God mean? Who is in the family of God? What are the hallmarks of this family? We discussed this in our church last week. Here’s a few things that surfaced (this is by no means an exhaustive list)…….
Love is the cornerstone of God’s idea for family, everything else is built upon this. Love means there is acceptance of each uniquely made person, and a family celebrates that uniqueness and diversity. I’m reminded of something Thomas Merton said, ‘Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy’. Love also means cultivating a culture of giving and receiving.
Family provides a sense of home and place, and within the walls of home there is safety and refuge. The Psalms are literally full of ‘God as refuge’ words and imagery. It’s a crucial element to our union with God, to know we are seen and witnessed and invited to dwell in a safe space.
Family is a place to be open and vulnerable. We are free to risk being vulnerable, safe in the experiential knowledge that we are held by the love and prayers of others.
Family is a place to learn, to grow and mature, where failing is considered just part of the process, part of the path to freedom. We are free to fail because we know we are accepted anyway. In family, our intrinsic worth is not connected to our offerings, to our successes or our talents, but to who we are.
In family we find belonging. All people will find belonging. In The Book of Belonging Mariko Clark says, “No matter how lost or lonesome we feel, there is always a place for us with God.” Holy scriptures, particularly the life of Jesus, are literally full to bursting with this theme of belonging, for those who seem ‘outside’ the love of God, for those who don’t feel worthy, for those who are discarded by the world and by society - they all get the attention of Jesus.
Let’s consider for a moment the encounter Jesus has with the woman at the well in John 4. Much has been said, and rightly so, about this encounter. Its multi-layered elements teach us much about Jesus’ heart for healing, for dismantling shame, for breaking down societal norms and defying expectations, as well as teaching his disciples to do the same. It’s a pivotal part of the Gospel narrative after which everything changes. The woman’s righteous indignation at her people’s exclusion from temple worship is justified and Jesus graciously speaks into hers and the collective pain of her people. Jesus recognises the injustice. In a time when Jewish people would avoid Samaria, when men would not talk to women, when Samaritans were not permitted to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus breaks down the exclusive nature of the time, breaks down the unnecessary barriers in place and opens up access to the Father.
Is this how ‘Your Kingdom come….’ looks in our global Christian family today?
Are our attitudes, our churches and our Christian culture actively seeking to break down the barriers to enable all to have the opportunity to encounter God and to worship?
What are the barriers to people encountering the family of God that you can see in your community?
What practical things could you do in your church or faith community to make sure all feel welcome in the family?
Hold the story of the women at the well up to your own life like a mirror. Where are you in the story? Do you feel like the disciples, simply following the norms, the status quo, and expected response? Do you feel like the woman, never quite feeling welcome or accepted by the institution or dominant culture, and made to feel shameful because of it? Do you feel like Jesus, who is boldly speaking truth to power and mercifully to the broken-hearted, inviting them up into something more holy and sacred? The truth is, we’re probably all of these characters in different contexts of our daily routines.
May we be so bold and so humble as to admit where we need to become awake to Jesus’ way of being and invite people into family, particularly those who feel excluded or on the outside; may we break down systems and attitudes that promote and encourage a ‘them-and-us’ approach; and may all people know the richness and beauty of belonging to God’s wonderfully diverse family.
Jon Timms
Director, Scotland and Northern England
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