The Kingdom of God on earth was a dominant theme in the teachings of Jesus. He taught about the character and nature of the Kingdom of God on earth. This kingdom was the recurring subject of the stories he told. He urged us to pray that the Kingdom of God on earth would actually happen.

One of the topics about which I ponder is what the Kingdom of God would look like in modern America. I spend a lot of time thinking about the function of religious people in a society that defines its national well-being in terms of economics. I ask about the role of people of peace in a nation that controls more nuclear bombs than needed to blow up the entire world. I reflect on the role of citizens of the Kingdom of God in a nation that is hooked on Coca Cola, Budweiser, hamburgers and pizza. The list of conflicts between the followers of Jesus and America is very long.

I can only conclude that the Kingdom of God of which Jesus spoke is counter to the prevailing cultures of modern America. The gap between Jesus’ teachings about God’s kingdom and American culture is huge. My sorrow is that the followers of Jesus have not in my own lifetime offered an alternative to the tyranny of America’s thirst for power and wealth. The victory of the United States in World War II established our country as the most powerful nation in the world. When the Soviet Union attempted to challenge the U.S. power supremacy, our national obsession became the task of putting the Soviets in their place as a lesser power. The establishment of our military power was accompanied by the accumulation of wealth beyond imagination. American wealth came from exploitation of the world’s resources. To their shame, Christians and their institutions became full participants in the power and wealth game.

I keep going back to the Gospel writings that bring us face to face with the teachings and activities of the reformer, Jesus from Nazareth. The parallels between his situation and ours are striking. He too lived in a time of military domination by a single nation, the Roman Empire. He lived at a time when opulent wealth had developed in the population centers of Palestine. Wealth had been developed by the misuse of the working poor. The prevailing religious institutions became cooperative and shared in the wealth and power.

Jesus became the head of a protest movement. Before he began his teaching and preaching, Jesus renounced wealth and power. As a next step, Jesus made a public announcement of his intentions. His concerns were for people who were poor, people who were blind, people who were oppressed and people who were imprisoned. After announcing his intentions, he recruited disciples. His disciples at times faltered because of fear. Ultimately Jesus was killed, but his disciples took the messages of the Galilean all across the stretches of the Roman Empire. Jesus taught them well that the seed of an alternative way of looking at life could successfully challenge power and wealth.

Christians and those who lead their institutions are typically good-hearted, responsible people, but they have chosen not to rock the national boat. They are afraid of the consequences of challenging wealth and power. Even more essential, they are afraid of the consequences of renouncing their own wealth and power.

I hope we are coming to the end of American domination through wealth and military power. I suspect our domination will end because of the rising power of other nations and combination of nations around the world. However, there is a better way. The end of American domination can come not as a defeat but as a rebirth to a new and different kind of life.

A transition of this kind has never happened before to a nation. Nations do not give up their “king of the hill” status easily. It is my prayer that the United States can be the exception.

I am not suggesting that the United States should become a Christian nation. I am not suggesting that the United States should ever be equated to the Kingdom of God on earth. I am suggesting that the United States can become a different kind of nation, and that followers of Jesus from Nazareth can have a role, even lead in the reshaping of the nation.

So where does this leave us on the question of the Kingdom of God on earth? The kingdom of which Jesus spoke is found wherever every person is valued and fully accepted. The kingdom is found whenever wealth is share rather than hoarded. The kingdom is found whenever power is shared. The kingdom is found whenever a neighbor is loved. The kingdom is found whenever the ways of peace are pursued. The kingdom is found whenever good deeds are used to overcome harmful actions.

Christian leaders should be recruiting and training volunteers. The Kingdom of God is at hand.                

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister living in  Palmer. His e-mail address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.