Bringing the Kingdom

People have used the Bible for a variety of purposes over the course of the past two thousand years; unfortunately, many of those uses have reinforced power structures and systems that oppress and dominate those without privilege. Worst of all, people have used the Bible as a means to divide humanity into those who are worthy of salvation and those who are not. However, if we look at the lectionary readings, especially the gospels, we can see that God actively seeks to undercut and subvert systems of power, and God calls Christians to do the same. Through an examination of Jesus's teachings, with support from a wide variety of other parts of the Bible, we can see that ideas of social justice and true liberation run throughout God's message to humanity. Rather than focusing on who gets into heaven and who doesn't, Jesus seeks to proclaim God's love for all humanity. By reading the Bible this way and attempting to live up to Jesus's call, we can seek to bring the kingdom to our world, as it is in heaven. ""Kevin Brown reads and reflects on Scripture in a masterful way, providing the reader a book that is both progressive and prophetic. He helps the student of Scripture make the connections between the ancient word and present-day issues, particularly those related to matters of social justice. His reflections on a year's worth of lectionary texts nourishes the inner spirit, even as he boldly challenges the reader to act justly on behalf of God's kingdom."" --Mark A. Benson, Senior Pastor, First Christian Church, Meridian, Mississippi Kevin Brown is an elder at Northminster Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is the author of a spiritual memoir, Another Way: Finding Faith, Then Finding It Again, and a book of scholarship, They Love to Tell the Stories: Five Contemporary Novelists Take on the Gospels. He is also the author of three books of poetry: Liturgical Calendar: Poems; A Lexicon of Lost Words (winner, Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry); and Exit Lines.