The Kingdom Is a Person!

Wherever the King is, there is His Kingdom! Orthodox Christians are constantly challenged to make the Kingdom of God real by staying focused on Jesus Christ, the King!

Throughout human history, humanity has conceived of the “perfect” society, and each time we humans have endeavored to build it, it has either failed or become a nightmare.

In 1787, the United States Founding Fathers met in Independence Hall in Philadelphia to hammer out the Constitution, the nation's governing document. When a lady asked Benjamin Franklin outside the Hall, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a Republic or a Monarchy?” Franklin responded, “A Republic if you can keep it.”

Humans mean well. We have always tried to organize ourselves under lofty goals, and each time we do, we humans discover the limits of our wisdom.

Even the Roman Empire lasted until 1453, when the capital of the Roman Empire fell to the Turks, but not before watching its boundaries shrink under the relentless march of history, corruption, and failed alliances.

We, humans, mean well and try hard to create heaven on earth. But our good intentions never seem to pan out. Just ask the millions slaughtered, all in the name of the “worker’s paradise!”

Does this mean humans can’t create a “perfect” kingdom on earth? It sure looks like it. But what if we have it all wrong?

What if this perfect Kingdom isn’t a place but a Person?

Look at our Gospel Lesson today in Luke 17:20-25:

At that time, when Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Lo, there!’ or ‘Lo, here!’ Do not go, do not follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”

Our Lord Jesus reveals the principles of the Kingdom of God to these Pharisees and His disciples. He tells them the Kingdom (notice, please, it IS a Kingdom) that will finally satisfy humanity's best intentions will not “come” with signs to be observed. No, the Kingdom meant for all humankind isn’t some hereditary monarchy, some democratically elected leader, or even the benign dictatorship of the wisest man.

This kingdom, where humanity flourishes and finally becomes what we were meant to be, isn’t dependent on the next election cycle or some political party platform. It isn’t over here or over there, no matter what the politicians promise you during an election season or what some political philosopher tells you in theory. This Kingdom is “in the midst of you.”

In other words, the Kingdom of God is a Person, not a place!

And that means all our seeking to make the Kingdom about this or that policy or patriotic endeavor will always disappoint us.

The Kingdom of God, the rule of God in the world, will always start and exist in the hearts of those who have willingly allowed God to come and take His place as the Ruler of our lives. That’s where the Kingdom is because that’s where the King is!

And that invites you and me to understand that the transformation of human society doesn’t start when this or that politician is elected or this or that political ideology is achieved, but only when I am transformed into a faithful subject of the King Who has died and has risen again and will come again to confirm for the world what we say each Liturgy: “His Kingdom will have no end!” That’s because HE will Have No End!

St. Plato, the Great Martyr of Ancyra, was killed for his Faith in 266 when Agrippinas was proconsul. He was the brother of another saint named Antiochus the Physician. Plato was a young man when he went about the towns around his home preaching Christ to the pagan people. Many converted to Christ because this young man was a brilliant preacher and contested well. His preaching got him arrested, and Agrippinas tried first to flatter the young man by telling him he could be as bright as his namesake if only Plato would worship the gods. St. Plato refused. Then Agrippinas tried to tell the young man he was too young to die. He told him to spare his life and avoid death. St. Plato replied there were two deaths and two lives: one was eternal, and the other was temporary. He insisted it was foolish to trade the eternal for the temporary! St. Plato was beheaded for his faith in Christ, choosing the eternal Kingdom.

Today, as we rightly struggle to do good and have a just and honorable society, we Christians do not fall for the utopian rhetoric of lesser “kings” who worship power. We know the only King who can ever establish His government in our hearts, and to Him do we look and place our confidence, not in the fads of this or that political movement. No, we are committed to the only Kingdom that ultimately matters. We choose Christ and the Normal Orthodox life!

P.S. Your all-holy memory cheers and gladdens the whole world, calling all to come to your august and venerable temple, wherein now, with jubilation we have all gathered, and with odes we hymn your triumphs, O Martyr Plato, and with faith, we cry out to you: Rescue your people, O Saint, from barbarous foes.

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV