The Kingdom is Joy in the Spirit

The central message of Jesus was the arrival of the kingdom of God. The Gospel that Jesus embodied, proclaimed, and demonstrated, was the Gospel of the Kingdom. His arrival was a declaration that a new King was in town. As followers of the King of kings, it makes sense that we would be rooted in a kingdom dynamic. It also is important for us as his church to see how the kingdom God was meant to be the natural cultural and overflow of our lives.

The word “kingdom” occurs 120 times in the gospels (53 in Matthew and 45 in Luke). We are going to walk with Jesus into a rich and practical theology of the kingdom for the next 7 weeks.

Transcript

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Thank you for listening to an audio resource from Stanwich Church, located in Greenwich in Stanford, Connecticut. The vision of Stanwich Church is to know Christ and make him known.

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The epistle lesson for today is from Romans chapter 14, verse 17. This can be found on page 968 of your Pew Bible. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. May God add his blessing to the reading of his holy word.

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Thank you to all of you who prayed for us in our spiritual direction on the Camino. It was quite an experience. On the second day, we ran into a situation that we weren't expecting. The map said it was going to be 16 miles, but it ended up being 20 miles. And your representatives from Stanwich were great. They stepped beyond their own boundaries, they ministered to people, they prayed for healing, they ministered to one another. But there must have been some murmuring that day because there's two people that got engrafted into our group, Maritz and Nico, and they kept hearing about this guy, Pastor Chuck. I'm assuming that people were blaming Pastor Chuck for the 20 miles, but I'm not going to assign anything to that. But the group was great. It was a killer day, it was really difficult. About two days later, I'm walking up the hill with Tim Schuler, and Maritz comes up. And Tim goes, Hey, this is Pastor Chuck. And Maritz goes, You actually exist. So he took a selfie with me and him because he wanted to send it to Nico and all of his friends that there really is a Pastor Chuck. But during his walk, he'd picked up another companion, his name was Jonathan. And Jonathan heard Tim say, This is my pastor, Pastor Chuck. And Jonathan looked at me and he said, Are you a pastor, really? And I said, Yes. And he says, I was just praying that the Lord would send a pastor because my legs are bothering me so much. I need someone to pray for me. So we just stopped by the side of the road. His family's from Eritrea. He lives in Germany now. He's a new Christian. I took out oil and I anointed him in that moment. I don't know what happened to Jonathan after that, but Tim gave him the Instagram. So, Jonathan, if you're watching now, the Lord bless you and have his hand upon you. This is just one of multiple examples in my life of God orchestrating moments when he wants to touch someone with his rule and reign. We're in the midst of our kingdom series. We started that this is Jesus' central message. The kingdom of God is at hand. And to remind you, the kingdom is not a place, it's the reign and rule of God. We were reminded in the second week by Dr. Wanda Walborn that the kingdom is something that we steward. It's given to us, it's within us, it's in our midst, and we take it out into the world. Third week, we saw that the kingdom will not become a part of our life until it becomes a priority. Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these other things will be added to you. Seek all these other things, and you're never going to get the kingdom of God and its full representation. We saw in the fourth week that it's an upside-down kingdom. When you operate in kingdom values and ethics, you'll feel like a foreigner because it will be contrary to any culture that you live in. Our faith incarnates perfectly in cultures, but it's always prophetic. It always will stand out in the culture in which it exists. We saw this whole upside-down kingdom makes us ambassadors through our teens who are out changing their world and how they live and how they operate where God has placed them. And Pastor Gina told us last week the reminder that this kingdom is of great value, but there's a reward. Well, Paul's going to tell us today how the kingdom gets released in our life. It's by the power of the Holy Spirit. So our verse is very simple. Shouldn't take long to preach it. Carol, you had an easy day in reading scripture today. Any of you want to line up for one of these experiences? We'll find another one scripture, one verse day, and you can come and take part of it. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Now, Luke tells us at the end of Acts that for two years Paul was in this church in Rome, in prison, teaching them, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching them all things about Jesus. When you talk about Jesus, you need to understand that he is a king and that he demands loyalty. You can't just have partial Jesus. You can't have Jesus the teacher, you can't have Jesus the prophet without having Jesus the Lord. And this was Paul's very clear message. And now he writes to this church in Rome. This is long before he's in prison there. And he tells them the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking. He begins with what it's not. To get the context in this chapter, there seems to have been some bickering in the church. Some people said, in the kingdom of God, you can eat these things, but you can't eat these things. You can drink these things and you can't drink these things. These are festivals that you need to attend, and these are festivals that you shouldn't attend. And Paul basically is saying, why are you judging one another for these things? Because people have different sense of liberty. There are strong Christians who can take greater liberty, and there are weaker Christians who can't tolerate the liberty, and so you bear with one another. So don't make the kingdom about eating and drinking and what festivals you go to. You know, this is what we do often as Christians. We want to set up rules so that if you follow all the rules, then you'll be in. That's not new to us. There was a document written between 90 and 100 called the Didic. It was the early church patristic fathers taking the scriptures and telling how to apply them. It's not scripture, but it was application of scripture. And in chapter 8 and verse 1, uh it says this don't let your fast coincide with the hypocrites. The hypocrites fast on Monday and Thursday, so you should fast on Wednesday and Friday. Seriously? You're not going to be a hypocrite by fasting on a different day than the hypocrites are fasting on. We had rules growing up in the church I grew up in. We were a fundamentalist holiness movement. We had four basic rules that said you were in the kingdom of God. You didn't drink, you didn't smoke, and you didn't chew, and you didn't date the girls who do. And as long as you stayed within that bounded set, you were okay. Paul's telling us do not make the kingdom of God about natural things. It's about spiritual things that are internal that will leak out externally. He says the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy. Those are transformative things that are happening within us. But they will leak out. Don't tell me you're a person of joy and have a frown on your face all the time. Joy needs to come out. I mean, I wanted to do that conga line with uh Leon when we were going in the worship service. I can't. I'm I have no rhythm. But the whole point Paul is saying is the kingdom transforms you internally, and then slowly that stuff leaks out externally, and people go, I want to be a part of that kingdom. Don't you want to be a part of the kingdom? Don't you want to be? It's all working. It's kind of coming together here in this second time. I was really bad the first service. I'm glad they're taping this one because it's kind of warming up a little bit now. I'm starting to get into the move of things that are happening here. And then Paul gives the key to everything. This is Paul's message throughout all of his letters that the kingdom life comes through the Holy Spirit. So he's given these manifestations. The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Paul is telling us do not naturalize our spiritual life. Allow it to be Holy Spirit saturated. And watch and see what God does in those moments. Now, the spiritual life begins with the Holy Spirit. Do you remember when Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night? I'm re-watching the chosen season one right now. And uh Nicodemus is really an interesting character. He's researching to figure out. He's had all the facts lined up, and he comes to Jesus and he approaches him as rabbi. He wants to find something, and Jesus says this truly, truly. Now, when Jesus says truly, truly, that means listen, listen. I'm about to give you a nugget. I say to you, unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. Our spiritual life begins by the Spirit. He is the one who makes us alive. We do not achieve it, we do not educate ourselves into it, we do not take steps to attain it. This is so different than everything we're taught in the rest of life. It's the Holy Spirit who comes and unveils the truth of who Jesus is. There's that moment you never know when it's happening, and then boom, you see Jesus for who he is. I believe that God may be doing that right now for some of you who have lived in the darkness and God's releasing the light right now. Do not resist this because you'll get the benefit of the rule of God in your life. And that's an incredible thing. But it doesn't just begin there. Our life continues through the saturation of the Spirit. When Paul writes to the church in Galatians, he says to them, Who has bewitched you to think that somehow you can add something to your life by your performance? By not drinking, by not smoking, and by not chewing and dating the girls who do. I'm trying to erase everything that would get me fired right now. See, there's this thing in us that I think we come to understand grace. It's God's mercy and loving kindness that draws us in. But something happens to us that makes us think we need to obtain our spiritual maturity. We set the table by being in his word. We set the table by having conversation with him in prayer. We set the table by being in community. We set the table by going on mission, but it's the Holy Spirit that accomplishes this stuff. In his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul says, it is the fruit of the Spirit. Do you remember what they are? Love, joy, peace, faithfulness, self-control. I've got them all mixed up, so now you're confused, those of you who have memorized it. But it's all the stuff that we want to come out of us. This is the work of the spirit. But it's not only the fruit that changes our character, it's the fruitfulness of people experiencing God in this world. Jesus uses this language: without me you can do nothing. I am the vine in your branches. If you abide in me, basically, if you stay tied to the vine, I will allow the sap of the Holy Spirit to flow through your life, and it will be to the Father's glory that you bear much fruit. And then he adds this I've put my joy in you, and your joy will be complete. Because the greatest joy is when we get to see people reconnected to their creator and redeemer because God has placed us in this world to be his presence to other people. You are walking in the kingdom of God. And the only way that you get to access that is by aligning your life to God so that he would show your assignments every day. There are Jonathan's that are prepared for you, that are waiting to experience the fullness of God in this world. There are no accidental connections. Everything in God's sovereignty and providence, he's working because he loves people so much that he wants them to experience his love. So, what's my soul what for you this morning? Quit striving and abide. Align yourself. Allow God to be the one who shows you the people that his Holy Spirit is hovering over, and get out of yourself, get out of the way and address them because they're waiting to experience the love of God. And then now what in that is simply surrendering, acknowledging that when I want to be in control, I'm dangerous to myself. But when I'm no longer in control, I'm dangerous to the kingdom of darkness. Because God's waiting to release his light through us. I shared this with the group on Camino, and they said you need to share it with the congregation. It's too good of a story. But it really shows this idea of alignment for assignment. I actually began praying that in 2015 when you graciously gave me a sabbatical. Spent three months in Europe, and part of it is I went on the Camino for the first time. I've been on it five times now. Um, every one I say it's my last one, but I actually feel like going for a walk this afternoon. Greg, you want to go for a walk? Yeah, let's do it. Um, my very first Camino, I arrived in Vigo in Spain, flew from Madrid. Uh I get in the airport and I hear the Lord say, take the bus. I'm like, seriously? I've been waiting to come see the cathedral and explore this town. This is my first day before I start walking. And the Lord says, No, take the bus. So I went to the information desk and they said, Well, the bus will come in about 45 minutes. I was like, seriously, God? 45 minutes? It's amazing how many times God annoys me right before he wants to do something really spectacular. I get on the bus and I'm sitting there and it starts to move away, and a woman comes up and she's hitting the side of the bus to get it to stop. She's dragging her bag, and so I went and helped her get her bag in. Uh, she only spoke English and the the driver only spoke Spanish. I did eighth grade Spanish and I'm fluent in French, so I figured out what she needed. She needed to find the train station. And so I said, I think I understand which station I can help you get off. So we did all the niceties. What are you doing? I'm on the Camino, I'm on the Camino. And she uh uh asked me, so what are you what are you doing? I said, Well, I'm a professor. I never tell people I'm a pastor because the shades go down. When you're a pastor, you can't talk about God. But if you're a professor, you can talk about God all you want. Somehow it works. I don't know what the deal is on that. And uh I'm I'm on sabbatical and I'm writing some books. And I said, What are you doing? She says, Well, I'm originally from Ireland, but I work in Germany. I was coming on the Camino with some of my colleagues, and I missed the flight. They're on the other side of Spain, and so I had to fly into Vigo, and now I'm gonna train across to meet them. And so we got the information. I said, I think this is your stop. Go down this road, train stations there. Um, didn't think anything about it. I do my Camino for nine days. I get into uh Santiago de Compostela, I'm getting my certificate that shows I completed that. You need that to get in heaven. Truly, truly. Be born again of water and the spirit and have your Camino certificate. But I was so excited, I saw that there was an English Mass at six o'clock, and so I was gonna go to the cathedral early because there's a 7:30 one where they have the Botufemata. It's the largest incense bowl in the world. Takes six priests pulling ropes and it swings across. It's just it's glorious. Uh, you just drink in the anointing of the smoke coming in all this different direction, it's just phenomenal. And so um I went into this cathedral and it holds thousands of people, and I I couldn't find the chapel where the English was, so I just sat down and I started journaling. I was journaling the Psalms of Ascents. And these people came and sat next to me, and all of a stardom started calling out, Mary, Mary, Mary. I don't know if they're having an apparition. They come on the loudspeaker and say, Some people are tourists here. Uh, some are here for spiritual reasons. Please be quiet. About five minutes later, Mary, Mary, Mary. So Mary comes walking from the other section of the cathedral, walks up down several, six, four or five people, sits right next to me. So I'm journaling, and you know how when somebody you feel them looking over your shoulder? I'm thinking, get your own confession, lady. I mentioned how I get annoyed right before God's gonna do something a lot. She goes, Didn't I meet you in Vigo? I said, I don't remember. She goes, Aren't you the professor writing books? I said, Yeah? She goes, I can't believe this. So just to kind of put it in perspective, 125 miles from two different directions, having met on a bus that I didn't want to be on, that she almost missed, end up in the cathedral holding thousands of people. Her friends sit next to me, they call her over, she comes across all of them, doesn't sit at the other end, and sits next to me. I look at her and I said, Mary, you know this isn't an accident. And she goes, I know it's not an accident. I said, I believe God has a word for you, and I'm supposed to deliver it. I said, uh, can we meet after the service? I don't want to miss the botofamera. And she said, My friends are catching a flight right after the service. I won't be able to stay. I said, Well, if they'll hold our seats, let's go outside and talk. So I said, Mary, everyone does the Camino for a reason. Why are you doing the Camino? And she said, Well, my mom was a faithful Catholic. She went to Mass every morning. She loved Jesus. She served in the church, but ten years ago she committed suicide. And I've had a thing with God since that time. And I said, You're gonna find this interesting, Mary. When you were looking over my shoulder, I was doing the psalm of a sense that says, Those who weep and sow in tears at night will find joy in the morning. Basically, in a few moments, led her to the Lord, prayed an inner healing prayer over her, and God gave me a very hard prophetic word I had to pass on to her as well. We went back into the service, and for the whole service, Mary just kept saying, I can't believe this. I can't believe this. So, how does God do that? He does it because I I didn't say why, I said how does he do that? I don't know. But I know he does it because he wants people to experience his love. Now that would be enough, except a month later we were in Cornwall visiting friends who pastor a church, and they said, Chuck, we know that you're on sabbatical, but would you preach for us on Sunday? I said, Sure. I have this message that I've preached about a hundred times. I'll just pull it out of the barrel. Preach it again. And that Sunday I decided to tell the story of Mary for the first time in public. At the end of the service, this woman came up to me and she said, God sent you to Cornwall for me. My life is so desperate. I'm in such financial need. I have I'm a single mom and I have these kids. I had pulled out my life insurance policy yesterday just to make sure everything was good and I was going to take my life this afternoon. And when I heard what Mary's mother's suicide did to Mary, she said, I couldn't do that to my kids. My presence is more important than money. How does God do that? That would be enough, except two years ago I was preaching at Trinity Church in Greenwich. I told the story of Mary, and this is a time when they had two campuses, one in Greenwich and one in Darien. They'd keep your microphone on you because you had to go so quickly. As soon as you're done preaching, they throw you in a car and you drive up to the next place. They put another pack on, you walk in and you preach. That sounds like a good day to me. I'm in the parking lot, ready to get in the car, and this man comes up behind me and grabs me, and he says, God sent you to Greenwich for me today. There's Mary's and there's Jonathan's and there's other named people that God is bringing your way. If you will just allow your life to be saturated with the Holy Spirit, He will do things that will surprise you and give you a testimony that you can tell to the next generations. Last week was Pentecost Sunday. Holy Spirit is not economized to one Sunday a year. This is Holy Trinity Sunday. The promise that Paul gives us is that knowing the love of Christ, we wouldn't just be filled with the Holy Spirit, we would feel filled with the fullness of God. Be filled this morning and allow the kingdom of God to leak through you. Amen.

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