The Pillage Must End; God's Kingdom Has Come

Matthew 3:1 and Mark 1:14 both declare that we should repent for the kingdom of God has come; Luke 4:18-19 does the same in different words.  See also Acts 8:12; 28:23 and 31.  Matthew 3:1 and Mark 1:14 are as an important part of the gospel as John 3:16, but strangely I cannot ever recall a sermon on these verses, not even in CCDA circles.  So, hang on, the following is my first sermonette on these verses.  Let me know if you have ever preached a sermon on these verses and what the content of your sermon was.

Biblical repentance:  radical change,  paradigm shift in loyalities, allegiances, includes restitution that leads to the repair of communities.

According to Ta-Nehisi Coates, the white American Dream has been built on pillage---400 years of pillage of life, liberty, labor and land, slave labor and theft of Indian and Mexican land.  According to the book, This Economy Kills: Pope Francis on Capitalism and Social Justice, capitalism has been highly productive but socially destructive.  I would add that the sacred free Market has far too often been tied to ethnocentrism, oppression and theft.  So God issues a call to America to repent.

What does biblical repentance look like?  Luke 3:11-14 describes specific acts of repentance---share your surplus food and clothing, don't extort money, don't misuse your power and authority over others.  Luke 19 describes repentance and restitution; Zacchaeus gave half of his possessions to the poor, and he gave four times the amount he had cheated.

What does non-repentance look like?   Luke 18:18-22 is about the rich young ruler---a personally good and righteous guy who refused to radically repent and abundantly share; he refused to share and repair.  Repentance, restitution and repair are major steps on the road to justice.  God says he loves justice, that he wants oceans of justice.

According to Graham Cray, the agenda of the kingdom of God is justice; Matthew 6:33 declares that we are to seek first God's kingdom and his justice.  So what is biblical justice?  Jubilee justice that releases the oppressed poor and then repairs damaged individuals, families and communities.

"Repent, for the kingdom of God is here"  The kingdom of God and the American Dream are not the same thing.