A few days ago, we drove through a part of Des Moines where there are pretty massive church buildings on nearly every corner. And they don't just sit on the "corner" of the block. They take up much of the block they're on.
Whether a church building, a stadium, or a skyscraper, you can stand in awe. Great architecture. To be honest, they are not eyesores. Unless you are not a fan of some of the more recently built sports stadiums. In that case, ok, it might be an eyesore. But you can't ignore the impressiveness, even if you don't like it.
This is like the disciples' observations when they walked through Jerusalem during Jesus' last week in Matthew 24. The disciples were just a bunch of small-town fishermen. Hadn't been to the big city. Jesus took them there on a sort of "field trip" -- one that went, from their perspective disastrously wrong. Their leader ended up dying. They were left alone together.
But at one point these small town fishermen noticed the big buildings. "Look, Jesus! Check that out! That's awesome! Can I take a quick picture?"
Jesus responds. Yea, might as well. Because these buildings will one day be just rubble on the ground. They're disposable.
What? These are made to stand the test of time. To be displays for generations. These buildings represented something. They displayed status. Prominence. Wealth. Power. Human achievement. These buildings, like ours today -- big stadiums, big office towers, big banks, big churches -- they all are physical displays of what matters, where people and communities put their money and effort. They are sources of great pride.
Jesus the king is unimpressed.
As Jesus teaches in his last days, he asserts he is king over a kingdom of people on the move for what matters. And it's not these human displays of greatness.
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Where does "impressiveness" lie? If Jesus is unimpressed by these symbols of human greatness, what is he impressed by?
Something much "smaller" from the standard of these great buildings. Something much more significant from God's perspective.
When all this big stuff falls apart, what will stand out will be something else.
Jesus tells a couple stories to make the point.
First, he tells a story about a wealthy landowner and businessman who took a long vacation, but left his assets to some of his employees (Matthew 25:14-30). "Do something with it, and I'll evaluate when I get back." Most of them did something, and there was a return on the investment. Some doubled what was given to them, which was good and pleased the landowner. There was achievement according to the boss's expectations.
There was one employee who didn't do anything out of fear. What he had to show when the boss came back was exactly what the boss gave him. No loss. But no gain. He didn't take any chances, and so there was no return on the investment, no growth, nothing achieved.
Immediately Jesus tells another story. This one imagines the day when everyone will stand before God (Matthew 25:31-46). In the story, God evaluates what's been done. The ones rewarded like the employees in the previous story, God says, are the ones who:
- Fed the hungry and gave drink to the thirsty
- Welcomed the foreigner
- Gave clothes to the needy
- Took care of the sick
- Visited those imprisoned, shut-in, canceled out
Those who did none of these things were like the one employee in the previous story who did nothing with what the boss gave him. No chances taken. Nothing achieved with the investment.
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In these stories, Jesus is not talking about how you get to heaven. He's talking about the people of his kingdom. They've been welcomed in already in to Jesus' domain. He is a king. He invites everyone to be part of his world.
And Jesus' kingdom has a certain "culture" to it, a way of living that makes good on the gifts the king has given to all his people. The actions done in the story are the natural and expected actions of the people who are living in the Jesus culture, as if Jesus is actually their king and leader, the hero of the day. This is how people in Jesus' kingdom use their resources, their time, their lives. It's what they do with what's been given to them.
And they didn't even realize it ("when did we see you hungry?"). Unlike the religious leaders, these were not actions done so that others would take notice. And they didn't realize in their simple actions that is was Jesus in the faces and bodies of the ones they cared for and invested their resources in ("when did we see YOU hungry?...whatever you did to the least of these, you did to me."). Jesus is right in front of us, not in the magnificent things. Big buildings and other such symbols of human ingenuity and creativity are often great examples of how God has gifted humanity. But they are not where it's at for Jesus.
In Jesus' world, it is the small actions of serving and caring for our neighbor in need that stand taller than the big buildings and displays of human greatness. It is these, the secret acts of service, that will actually stand the test of time, in contrast to the magnificent buildings that reveal the true interests of a community or society. That stuff will crumble and rot.
Jesus is king. He has a kingdom full of people and he sets a way of living for his kingdom. His kingdom is not known by it's displays of magnificence -- the buildings and other such displays of human achievement. No. Jesus' kingdom is a place of magnificent humanity that goes the extra mile to lift up people in their need (think of the Good Samaritan..."go and do likewise"). Jesus as king rules over a kingdom marked by investing what's been given to us in what truly matters -- other people, one person, one need at a time. That's what is truly impressive.
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