Many of us dream of visiting exotic places. Maybe we'd like to see the magnificent castles in Europe, or the unparalleled beauty of Hawaii. Or perhaps the mysterious orient, with its unique culture. When we're there, we might even start dreaming about what it would be like to live there permanently. Would it be as beautiful or as impressive if I saw it every day, or would I begin to take it for granted, just as I do my present surroundings?
A scribe came to Jesus and asked him a question: "Which commandment is the first of all?"
Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'" But Jesus didn't stop there. He continued, "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, teacher; you have truly said that 'he is one, and besides him there is no other'; and 'to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself': this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
When Jesus saw that this scribe answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." (NRSV)
That's an interesting statement. You are not far from the kingdom of God. What did Jesus mean by that? We know that the kingdom was at the very center of Jesus' teaching, because so many of his parables are about this kingdom. But nowhere in scripture is the kingdom defined. We know that it has to do with the reign of God in human hearts. But what does that mean?
Is it possible that the kingdom of God is not so much a place as it is a state of mind? This makes sense, doesn't it? The kingdom of God is not something that we enter. The kingdom of God enters us.
Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar tells a fun story about a couple who were driving through a lonely stretch of back country and decided to stop at a cabin for a drink of water and to make conversation with a grizzled old settler. The husband visited with the man on the porch. To begin the conversation with this old-timer the husband said, "Seems pretty lonesome around here."
The older man shifted the chew of tobacco in his toothless face, spat onto the yard below, and said, "Solitude is a state of mind, which effectuates its reactionary tendencies and inoculates those with hypersensitivity. However, having been a victim of claustrophobia during my adolescence, I find habitation in the environment of nature's wonders not only serene and desirous, but fundamentally mandatory."
The couple left in silence, and after a short drive down the road the wife turned and asked her husband, "Well, why don't you say something, Einstein?" (1)
In his own way, the old settler was saying that he had found a satisfactory state of mind. He had learned to live in harmony with his surroundings. That's more than most of us have achieved.
Jesus told this scribe that he was not far from the kingdom of God. The scribe had indeed found the key to harmonious living in this world and the next. Love God and your neighbor as you love yourself.
Want to live a truly fulfilled life? Some people think you must have just the right job in order to live a fulfilled life. Others think it comes from having just the right marriage. Some seek fulfillment in their relationships with their children. All of these things are important. But what if you have a bad job? What if you have a bad marriage? What if your children hate you? Is your life over? No, not if you love God and love your neighbors as you love yourself. It's really very simple.
Love God. Some people have such a messed up view of God. They see God as some divine policeman, looking over their shoulder, waiting for them to make a mistake so that He can squash them like a bug.
Others view Him as a vindictive being who enjoys playing havoc with their lives. "Lord, why did you let me get this traffic ticket? Why did you let my nose run just as I was giving this important presentation? Lord, I know you're busy, but I would like to golf this afternoon and the weather has been lousy lately." It's hard to believe but some people have a god with nothing better to do than to run breathlessly all over the universe, cleaning up their messes, spoiling their plans and occasionally granting them a lucky break. No wonder so many Christians have trouble loving God. It's a wonder God can stand us.
The truth is that God gives us an amazing amount of freedom. Our lives are pretty much what we have made of them. Sure, some of us had lucky breaks along the way--some good breaks, some bad breaks--but mostly the choices we made were the determining factors in our successes or failures.
Some people are uncomfortable with that idea. They want God to look after every detail.
Steven Wrage, a professor teaching American politics in Singapore, wrote about an incident that illustrates the difference between our society and theirs.
One evening, Steven went to water a sickly-looking fern a previous resident had left at his apartment. He was sort of reckless in his watering, and just about drowned the poor fern. Afterward, he went for a swim, then returned to the apartment.
A persistent knock at the door interrupted his peaceful evening. Steven opened the door to find two Singaporean police officers standing there. They politely but firmly told Steven that his fern was a public danger. Evidently, his over-watering had left standing water in the flowerpot. Pregnant mosquitoes thrive on standing water, and mosquitoes can spread dengue hemorrhagic fever. So the extra water in the flowerpot created a health hazard to the neighborhood.
Steven quickly emptied out the extra water. As he did so, he marveled at Singapore's social policies. He had watered the fern a little over an hour ago. Evidently, one of his neighbors had reported him to the police. After the fern was taken care of, the police officers continued to make polite conversation with Steven. During this time Steven discovered that the police knew quite a bit about him. Evidently, they had some information about him.
This episode sounds very foreign to us mind-your-own-business Americans, but it demonstrates one way that another country maintains social order and harmony at all times. (2)
How would you like to live under such restrictions? Police at your door because of the way you watered your fern. Some of us would be in trouble for something just about all the time. That's how many Christians view their relationship with God. God is in control. He determines when a patrolman will be on duty on the interstate to write a speeding ticket. God determines whether I get to play golf this afternoon or whether or not I will win the lottery. Poor God--to get the blame for all our misfortunes. No wonder it's difficult for us to love Him.
God has given us an amazing amount of freedom. The Psalmist phrased it this way: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love . . . He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us." (103: 8-12)
Jesus noted that God "makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:45)
God does not run around willy-nilly rewarding some people and punishing others. He does not determine the outcome of football games or send rain on your daughter's wedding. God simply doesn't work that way. Here is how God does work. God is always there when we call upon Him to give us strength for the journey, to heal our hurts and refresh our spirits, but for the most part God allows us to make of our lives what we will, be it a mess or a masterpiece. God is not a policeman, a matchmaker, or a meteorologist. But God is the best friend you will ever have. Relax and love God for who God is.
And love your neighbor as you love yourself. It's assumed that you love yourself. Except we know now that this is not always the case. Some people loathe themselves and are, as a result, unable to love others. That's extremely sad, but it happens. No, it's far more than sad--it's tragic, especially if you're the one who is angry all the time, or depressed, or withdrawn, or if you have to live with someone who suffers from those problems.
Some of these problems are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, and medications can help. But often a great deal of our pain as adults can be traced back to our childhood, when we were not given what we needed to develop a healthy self-image. So some people have to work very hard to get outside themselves. We have to work at loving others. But here's what you'll find. If you are truly able to love others, it will help you rebuild your own self-image. You'll find that a healthy state of mind is the proper heritage of children of the Most High.
These are the keys to living in the kingdom of God. The Bible is our travel brochure. The price of the voyage is simply to love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. But you knew that all along, didn't you? Sometimes we need to be reminded.
In fact, this is the key to experiencing the kingdom of God all over this world. This is the purpose of our evangelistic endeavors. If enough people were introduced to the God of Jesus in such a way that they would come to love Him, and if enough people could love their neighbors as they love themselves, everything else would fall right into place.
Theologian R. C. Sproul tells a wonderful story about traveling in Eastern Europe with his wife and another couple, Bob and Marjean Ingram. This was before the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.
When they crossed the border from Hungary to Romania, Sproul says, three burly, rough-looking soldiers boarded the train to check their passports and examine their luggage.
The leader indicated that he wanted to see their passports. As they handed them over, he pointed to their luggage. As R. C. Sproul rose to reach for a large suitcase, the lead soldier suddenly stopped him. In broken English he said, "Wait! You not American!" Then he looked at Marjean and said, "You not American."
Sproul confesses that at that moment he found himself terrified. The man pointed to a paper bag on the seat beside Marjean."
What is that?" he asked, pointing to the edges of a book that protruded out of the top of the bag. Marjean pulled out her Bible. Sproul gulped, thinking that they were now in real trouble.
The policeman took the Bible and began to leaf through its pages. He opened to the Book of Ephesians and pointed to 2:19. He ordered: "Read."
Sproul read it aloud: "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God."
Instantly the policeman's face radiated with a benevolent smile as he said, "You not American. I not Romanian. We are citizens of heaven."
Then he turned to his fellow officers and said, "These people okay." He returned their passports and bid them Godspeed.
R. C. Sproul adds a message to this story just for us, "Thank God for your citizenship in heaven!"(3)
I do thank God for my citizenship. I am thankful for my citizenship in this country, but I am even more thankful for my citizenship in the kingdom of God.
"You are not far from the kingdom," Jesus told the scribe. I suspect that most of us are in that state. We're still standing just outside. But it takes only a baby step for admittance. Love God, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.
1. Staying Up, Up, up in a Down, down World (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, 2000).
2. "Watering to Endanger," by Steven Wrage, Atlantic Monthly, June 1996, pp. 41 42.
3. R. C. Sproul, In the Presence of God. Cited in Fireside Stories of Love, Life and Laughter, compiled by Mary Hollingsworth (Nashville: Word Publishing, 2000).