David:      Say we both had an accident of some kind. What would we want people to remember us as talking about over and over and over again? Don’t answer yet. Just take a moment to think about it. Okay?

Karen:      Okay.

Intro:       Welcome to the Before We Go Podcast featuring Dr. David Mains and his wife, noted author Karen Mains. Here’s David and Karen Mains.

David:      So, what was your answer to my earlier question?

Karen:     Well, I think that periodically in the inner-city church where you were a pastor, you began to preach on a certain topic. That topic has appeared and reappeared through 20 years of broadcasting and many of the books that we’ve written and have been published and we’re heading back into it again, I think right now, and it would be the kingdom of God. It was one of the most preached topics that Jesus chose to emphasize, and we often have Christians who never even think about it. They don’t really have a theology that they’ve developed about the kingdom of God. So, we keep re-emphasizing it.

David:      It’s just integral to our thinking, isn’t it?

Karen:      Yeah, very much so.

David:      Uh-huh. And then we went to a dialogue that the two of us did on a normal podcast talking about the kingdom of God. What was the bottom line of that, Karen?

Karen:     You always reduce what we are going to say to one sentence. It’s a key biblical truth sentence.

David:       You know why I do that, don’t you?

Karen:     So that you know what you’re going to say and so that everyone when you’re done knows what you have said. It’s an extraordinarily helpful communication philosophy. So, I can tell what we said in the last podcast.

David:      Because we wrote it down.

Karen:     We wrote it down.

David:       Make sure we got it right. Go ahead.

Karen:     Jesus felt his followers should live with the kingdom of God as the driving reality in their lives.

David:      Okay, the driving reality. What’s really, really important. So now we’re going to go back to some of the archives, Chapel of the Air broadcasts. We were in that for 20 years. And these are programs that were kind of picked out that I did on the kingdom of God. How this kingdom message is all through the New Testament. Jesus was the one who introduced it, but it was picked up by his followers. They didn’t miss a beat. But let’s go back to these previous broadcasts we talked about when I was explaining the kingdom kind of to a newcomer.

Searching for something to get your spiritual teeth into this summer. Hey, I think I have the solution. What’s the topic? Today’s visit is called Kingdom Hype. I have always felt that Jesus intended the Beatitudes to be attention-getters rather than admonitions as to how people should live.

These blessings, which is what Beatitudes actually means, are found in Matthew 5 at the start of Christ’s famous Sermon on the Mount. An abbreviated and slightly different form of these blessings is found in Luke 6.

The Beatitudes began, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” and so on. Remember?

Now what I mean by attention-getters is that I don’t believe Christ was saying that his followers should become mourners in order to be comforted. Neither do I think that he meant they should try to be poor in spirit, whatever that means, so that the kingdom can be theirs.

Incidentally, in Luke 6 the words “in spirit” aren’t even included. So, in that chapter, if the traditional approach is followed, the crowd would have heard Christ say that to be a part of his kingdom one is wise to be poor. Or at least to act poor, huh?

Even so, these verses are usually preached as instructions concerning the way we’re to act. In other words, yes, we are to mourn. We are to be poor in spirit and so on.

Now granted, some of the Beatitudes fit that framework. We should hunger and thirst for righteousness if we want to be satisfied. That’s verse 6. For verse 7 we should be merciful if we wish to obtain mercy. Verse 8 we should be pure in heart if we want to see God.

But again, in the context of Matthew’s account of Christ’s life and ministry, and especially in light of one special word used in the introduction to the sermon, I believe the Beatitudes are an announcement, a proclamation, a marvelous attention-getting device. That one word is gospel, as it’s used in Matthew 4:23. Christ went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom.

Now gospel, as you know, means good news. So, Jesus went around preaching good news about the kingdom of God. And I believe the Beatitudes quickly highlight the good news he was talking about. And that’s why I like to paraphrase Christ’s Beatitudes this way.

Listen to me people, I have good news for you. In what kingdom have the poor, or even the poor in spirit, been blessed? Never has this been the case. But in the kingdom, I’m telling you about, because the poor are a personal concern of the king himself, they are truly blessed.

Now that gets your attention, doesn’t it? Or try this. Who listening to me right now lives in a kingdom where comfort is offered to people who are mourning? No one. But again, you are truly blessed, for I’m telling you of a new king and kingdom, where those who mourn are comforted. Sound good?

Are you who are meek and submissive, always being imposed upon? Under my reign, people like you won’t be taken advantage of. Rather, the most meek of you will inherit the earth. You can almost hear the responsive rumble move through the ranks, can’t you?

Christ continues, do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Then follow me and you’ll find it. Be merciful and be blessed, for when I reign as your rightful sovereign, the merciful will in turn discover mercy. In fact, for those who are pure in heart, I tell you the pure in heart shall see God. What greater blessing can anyone want? And I promise to provide it. Peacemakers, your blessing will be that you’ll be called sons of God.

Can’t you just feel the electricity in the crowd that hears these words?

Now, do any of you know what persecution is? Jesus was all too familiar with the conditions under which these people lived. You know persecution only too well, but here’s more good news. If your persecution is for the sake of righteousness, my special kingdom will be yours forever. So, you see, even when men revile you and persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account, you can rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Now if this isn’t a good way to capture your crowd, I don’t know what is. We can think of the Jews under Roman rule as being much like, well like the Poles under Soviet domination. You can imagine the stir. If a dynamic young Polish leader came along and declared, “I offer you an alternative rule, folks.”

Here Matthew reports, “Great crowds followed Christ from Galilee, the Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond Jordan.”

Again, how to interpret Christ’s words is a matter of opinion. Perhaps Matthew does mean that Jesus was saying, “Be glad you’re poor. Being poor is a blessing in disguise.” But I think it would be hard to excite a crowd that way. And who would want to come back to hear the next message?

Perhaps Jesus intended his words to be heard the way they’re traditionally taught, as instructions for life. But back in the original setting, I really don’t see the crowds rallying behind such a message. Do you? Be meek, folks. Adopt a mourner’s mindset.

I fear that in our society, we’re so used to overstatement and hype, an intense competition for the eyes and ears of the public, a false kind of attention getting. There were optimists the most electrifying message the common man this world has ever known, Christ’s public introduction of the kingdom of God.

Isn’t it true today that the world’s little people should be thrilled anew by Christ’s good news about the kingdom?

Allow me to restate that. It’s my key sentence for this visit, all right? The world’s little people should be thrilled anew by Christ’s good news of the kingdom.

Maybe this message doesn’t interest the wealthy, the powerful, or the famous, because often they’re busy looking for more wealth or more power or more fame. This is why Jesus said it’s hard for them to enter the kingdom of which he spoke. But for common folk like us, who knows an option that compares to this one? “Bow before Christ as your king, submit to his rule, and reap the benefits of his reign.” That’s what becoming a part of the kingdom involves. “You who are poor in spirit, listen, in his kingdom, you won’t remain second class. Slave, child, female, Gentile, for everyone alike this ruler will become your brother. You who mourn, the king cares when you’re hurt.”

“Where else can you find a government head who even knows your name much less shows a personal concern for you? Now hear me. King Jesus specializes in healing broken hearts. Are you feeling lonely? Are you meek? At the restoration you will inherit the earth. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness, for what’s fair and just? Then you will have what you’re seeking in Christ’s kingdom.” Let me quickly add, nowhere else.

Do you see what you’re being offered? And does it excite you? Where’s it all old hat? Put yourself in the context of those who first heard our Lord preach, and you can begin perhaps to sense their excitement. Even in a free country where most people enjoy the daily benefits of affluence, I can’t help but feel that many people will be gripped by Christ’s proclamation. And he gave all he promised. It wasn’t just campaign rhetoric. It was and still is the truth of the universe.

Now I have a suggestion for you. I’m going to finish our visit with it. Let me encourage you to respond to Christ’s blessings or his beatitudes, all right? By simply offering him a prayer of gratitude. A prayer that expresses your thanks. Thanks to the King for the grand opportunity you have of being a part of his kingdom today. Maybe you’ve never expressed such a thought before. Or perhaps you feel this kind of gratitude every day.

In either case, this day, simply pray something like the following. “Jesus, the kingdom thrills me. And yes, I’m glad your reign includes heaven, but that it’s also here and now. How wonderful we have the best of both worlds. May the reality of your kingdom be an increasingly vital part of my consciousness. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Yes, amen.”

Outro:      You’ve been listening to the Before We Go podcast. And if you would like to write to us, please send us an email at the following address, hosts@beforewego.show. That’s all-lower-case letters, hosts@beforewego.show.

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