Chasing After The Good Life
We live in a NOW and NOT YET Kingdom…Christ establishes God’s Kingdom on earth, but that kingdom has also not yet been fully realized on earth. Notice that all but the first and last beatitude refer to what will be. For those who are poor in spirit and persecuted, theirs IS the Kingdom of Heaven…right now and also one day. The world needs to see us…to see us stand for and speak out for what is just and good in God’s Kingdom. But this means being willing to suffer alongside of the least of these or the marginalized. It is choosing to suffer alongside those who are not like us, don’t look like, think like, believe like, live like us. And who wants to suffer, especially for a stranger or someone we may not even really like very much? We would rather bemoan our own perceived loss of freedom or rights. To live in God’s Kingdom is not about receiving a ‘free ticket’ but about costly grace…a willingness to pay even with one’s own life.