Kingdom of God
Pathway
to
Christian Empowerment
Kingship before Jesus
Assyrians
Medes
Persians
Macedonians
Romans
(63 BCE)
Roman Imperial
Theology
1.You worship
the Gods
2.You go to war
with their
assistance
3.You are
victorious
with their help
4.You obtain
peace from their
generosity.
Postcolonial Naming
1. The gods have chosen Rome
2. Rome and its Emperor represent
God’s rule, will and presence among
human beings.
3. Rome manifests God’s blessings –
security, peace, justice, faithfulness,
fertility – among those that submit
to Rome’s rule
SOURCE: Warren Carter (2006), The Roman Empire and the New
Testament, p.83)
Divine Emperors
Caesar Augustus, Divine Son of
God
High Priest
Agustus was Divine, Son of God, God, and God from
God. He was Lord, Liberator, Redeemer, Saviour of the
World.
Divine Emperors
Messianic
Hope . . .
To
restore
the
kingdom
of David
In the O.T., the word throne
occurs 166 times, but only 7
in the four Gospels, and 37
in the Book of Revelation.
y
The
Kingdom
of Jesus:
English:
Kingdom (M)
Greek:
Basileia (F)
Aramaic:
Malkuta (F)
Hebrew:
Mamlaka (F).
A Different Kind of Kingdom
The Companionship
of
Empowerment
Is this what
the new
Companionship
is really
about?
MELEKH: The King in Hebrew
“When we bring mem and lamed
together with khaf, we can read
Melekh in this way:
The maternal waters, source of
creativity from which all life
issues forth (mem),
are channelled and guided (lamed),
towards the hand or vessel that is
open to receive and give (khaf).
Melekh takes us from source,
through channel, to ourselves
as receivers and givers.”
(Marcia Prager (1998),
The Path of Blessings, p. 123)
The Disturbing Prophet
It would have been impossible for the
people of Jesus’ time to have thought
of him as an eminently religious man
who steered clear of political action.
They would have seen him as a
blasphemously irreligious man who
under the cloak of religion was
undermining all the values upon which
religion, politics, economics and
society were based. He was a dangerous
and subtly subversive revolutionary.
(Albert Nolan)
EMPIRE
To resist Empire as such, we must
know what we are up against.
It is something inherent in civilization
itself. Non-imperial civilization is
something yet to be seen upon our earth.
J.D. Crossan.
HOUSEHOLD
Criteria for authentic Discipleship
1. Unconditional Love
2. Radical Inclusiveness – expansive vision
3. Open Commensality
4. Unconditional forgiveness (healing)
5. Justice through adult empowerment of people
6. Freedom from all oppressions
7. New criteria for family membership
8. Reclaiming imagination in the power of
story
9. Being HUMAN in a new way.
10. Whither the Cross & Resurrection?
EMPOWERMENT: Critical Dimensions
1. Health Care
2. Basic Education
3. Credit & Insurance
4. Functioning markets
5. Phones & Internet
6 Non-degraded
environment
7. Personal Empowerment
to gain freedom
from exploitation
8. Community Empowerment
for participation
in the wider world
Aramaic Lord’s Prayer
OUR FATHER: O Cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration.
WHO ART IN HEAVEN
Soften the ground of our being and carve out a space within us where
your presence can abide
YOUR KINGDOM COME
Fill us with your creativity so that we may be empowered to bear the
fruit of your mission
YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with your desire
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD
Endow us with the wisdom to produce and share what each being
needs to grow and flourish
AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO ARE . .
Untie the tangled threads of destiny that bind us, as we release others
from the entanglement of past mistakes.
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION
Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our true
purpose
BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL
But illuminate the opportunities of the present moment
FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER AND THE GLORY . . .
For you are the ground and fruitful vision, the birth, power and
fulfilment, as all is gathered and made whole once again.