Readings Philippians 3: 4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46
Over the last four weeks some members of the Nedlands congregation (mainly elderly) have been involved in studying a book by Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity. We have found that it involves many interesting aspects of the Christian life with a great deal of generous tolerance towards those who disagree with him. Borg claims that the Christian life is about two central issues – being born again and the Kingdom of God. He sees the focus on the Kingdom of God to be very sharply presented in the Gospel of Mark where the first words spoken by Jesus are said to be `the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the good news`. The theme of the Kingdom of God is the subject of many parables and short sayings and, as you are all aware, words that we say almost every time we come to Church `your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven`.

Borg points out that the focus on the Kingdom of God has many meanings Including a political meaning and points out that in the time of Jesus the Kingdom of Herod and the Kingdom of Caesar were both systems of domination controlled by powerful and wealthy people – when Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God there would be no doubt that he was proclaiming something radically different to what they were accustomed to. In very simple terms accepting the rule of the Kingdom of God would change everything – instead of domination involving cruelty, corruption and injustice with the ordinary people struggling to survive while their rulers enjoyed a luxurious life style, there would be equality, justice and freedom from oppression. In fact we don`t have to look back to the time of Jesus to understand this contrast for in our own time we have seen how often some rulers have lorded it over the ordinary people – Gaddafi is the most current example but we can call to mind Marcos in the Philippines, Idi Amin, Mugabe and many others including even those with a democratic constitution where often the rich, the influential and the powerful are able to impose what they want. Such people would hate to see the Kingdom of God being established on earth. In the USA, the President wants to increase the tax on the super rich but his opponents want the budget to be balanced by reducing assistance to the poor and unemployed. That conflict has some echoes in Australia!

There are other very important words in the Lord`s prayer which can also be given a very political meaning – give us this day our daily bread – the one thing we all need is food and our prayer seeks God`s assistance in making that possible – not only in the time of Jesus but ever since. I am sure that it is the will of God that everyone should have enough food for each day, and that will only happen when the world changes in such a way that what is available is shared equally rather than some having far too much and others having far too little – for the plain truth is that in our world while some die of starvation others die of obesity. A recent TV programme claimed that almost two thirds of Australian people are overweight and it seems that sort of statistic also applies in many Western countries.

In the Lord`s prayer we now use the words `forgive us our sins`. Borg points out that in Matthew`s translation the word could better be `debts`– again a very political issue not only in the time of Jesus but in our time as well. Some weeks ago, the lectionary reading was about that subject – the master who forgave the servant a large debt and then the servant refused to forgive a fellow servant who owed him much less. When there was a financial crisis in 2008 many guest workers in Dubai were stranded because they became unemployed and their employers refused to give them back their passports until they repaid their debts – mainly the cost of the airfares in bringing them to Dubai. Some business people who had large debts were put in prison until they repaid what they owed! We are of course all debtors to God and the prayer to forgive us our debts has a spiritual meaning as well as well referring to the plight of very poor people – and, for that matter, very poor nations.

Then we had the parable of the workers in the vineyard who were paid according to their need rather than to what they had earned - that parable began with the opening words `the kingdom of heaven is like . . .`. Matthew (probably because he was writing mainly for Jewish people) uses the word `heaven` 31 times. All the other references in the New Testament refer to the `Kingdom of God`. My summary of that parable would be: `When the Kingdom of God is established on earth, there will be equality and justice – an end to the vast discrepancies which exist now – with the resources of God`s creation being shared by all.`

Today we have a different aspect of the kingdom presented to us – this time the parable is given the setting again of a vineyard but with tenants wanting to claim ownership for themselves and who killed anyone who came to collect the fruit which rightfully belonged to the owner – the murders finally included the son of the owner. The words at the end of the story are clearly directed at the rulers of the religious life of the nation whose kingdom failed to produce good fruit and who were determined to get rid of the troublemaker Jesus who challenged their power and position.

If we agree that the task of the Church and of individual Christians is to seek to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, then we have to face the fact that what Paul calls `the principalities and powers` of this world will put up fierce resistance – and I include in that phrase religious as well as secular institutions. In the time of Jesus, resistance came from the temple priests and the guardians of the law. In our reading from Philippians, Paul described his opponents in very severe terms: `Look out for the dogs, look out for the evil workers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh` - clearly referring to the Jewish authorities who wanted the Jewish law to be applied to anyone who became a Christian.

In our time, resistance continues – present in many countries like Libya, Egypt, Bahrein and Syria where ordinary people have rebelled against dictatorial and corrupt rulers and where in our own country there is increasing contempt for politicians whose agenda seems to be anything other than the national good. The churches are not exempt from this disenchantment. Perhaps most noticeably at the moment in the Roman Catholic Church where any attempt at reform in its kingdom is met with threats of and actual ex-communication. Apparently there is a growing movement called `we are the church` in Austria and Germany demanding a new reformation and I suspect that we will see a rising tide of opposition to the exercise of central power against celibacy and male dominated clergy.

But we need to be very careful not to point the finger at other churches for I wonder if the Uniting Church, collectively or individually, takes seriously what it means when we pray `your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven`. If we did there should be far more political protests and far less building of little kingdoms in our congregations and institutions. If this happened it would probably make the Church very unpopular for it seems pretty clear that the kingdoms of this world – no matter if they are marked by pomp, ceremonies and adulation, or by violence and corruption, are very determined to retain whatever power they have and will be very resistant to any suggestion that they should all be subject to a higher power. If we are serious in praying `your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven` we need to remember that it is both challenging and revolutionary and could lead us into dangerous waters. Marcus Borg writes very movingly about what it means to be `born again`. He claims that `growth in love, in compassion, is the primary quality of life in the spirit. It is also the primary criterion for distinguishing genuine born-again experience from that which only appears to be one`. I believe that we as individuals and the Church as a whole need to be `born again` – not just once but over and over again so that our primary agenda becomes the same as our Lord – maybe a new reformation around the theme `repent and believe in the good news that God has not given up - his kingly rule will eventually triumph`.