(P)Review Bible Study: Luke 23:33-43....The Magic-er Kingdom

    There were any number of things I did not particularly like about living in Florida: the bugs, the heat, the hurricanes, the tourists, the sandspurs, the fire ants, the alligators, etc.   Even with all of that, I really loved one thing:  Disney.  Did you know that Florida residents can get a fifty percent discount at the Disney theme parks?  It's Disney's way of keeping the parks busy in the somewhat off season...unlike the rest of Florida, Orlando does not have a really off season, but it slows two times a year.  During the blazing hot months of summer and the quiet time between Halloween and Christmas the parks have some great deals for the locals to supplement the flagging tourist turnout and we took copious advantage of them when we lived there.

     A lot of the hype around Florida really is hype (the beaches aren't that amazing and the weather can be brutal) but the theme parks are the real deal... and then some. I really have to say, I wanted to dislike them.  I wanted to walk away from my first trip to Disney World and say, "what a waste of money". But, it simply isn't possible.  They are engineered to maximize the "wow-factor" so that you cannot help but walk around gaping at some of the astounding things you see. The only things that rival the experience is the majesty of natural landmarks like the Grand Canyon or first time you see the ocean but those things are marred by natural (and man-made) imperfections.  Here are a few little tidbits about the Magic Kingdom I learned while there. 

    When you are walking around the theme park you are actually walking on the roof. The park is actually elevated above a warren of tunnels, storehouses, kitchens, dressing rooms, and the like that were built first. The part of the park that you see was built on top of the lower level and the lower level was buried.  So, as you walk around Main Street USA, the entry point to the "Magic Kingdom" theme park, below your feet is an army of workers preparing for your every need.  There are actually underground subway systems for moving people and equipment around the parks.  

    The underground tunnels, called "Disney Utilidors"  had to be built above ground and then buried because the park is so close to the water table that any basement space that needed to be created would have suffered from constant flooding.  But, the designers of the park, called "Imagineers", wanted the parks to have a magical quality that included never letting any of the guests see actual "work" being done.  So, you will never see someone carrying boxes, or cooking (unless that is part of the experience), taking off their Mickey heads, or carting trash cans...it is all hidden seamlessly under your feet.   Magical and perfect mean pretty much the same thing there in the Magic Kingdom.  So, everything must be perfect. 

   They have gone so far out of their way to be "magical" that in the community of Celebration, a somewhat secret Disney-built town on the grounds of the theme park complex in Orlando, every year in December the Imagineers use micro-bubbles to simulate snow.  You can put on some shorts and a t-shirt, go walking in downtown, and enjoy the nightly "snows" even when it is eighty or ninety degrees.  Disney leaves no magic un-done in their little Florida kingdom.  Prices for houses range from a meager $150,000 for one bedroom condos to houses that cost in the millions. Magic ain't cheap folks.  But this is what it costs to live in a perfect kingdom.
    
    Or is it?

    Lately as we have all followed the events of the last several years it seems more and more folks are fed up with the way this world seems to be headed. Any number of exit points from real life seem to have become popular, from immersive video gaming to gated communities. One might point to this last election and see the elements of kingdom building that were part of both party's game plans.  Even the nut cases in ISIS are part of this whole issue.  

    Ever wonder what ISIS really is? A sponsor of terror certainly but what IS it?  It's a group of Muslims who had the idea that it would be possible to build the perfect Islamic wonderland here on Earth.  Instead of Utilidors and Imagineers making it snow in ninety degree weather, their idea of a perfect kingdom was one in which Sharia law, or the strict legalistic interpretation of Islamic law, reigned supreme.  They really believe that they could build heaven on earth if only everyone followed their interpretation of Islam...on pain of death if necessary.  Does it seem odd to talk about ISIS and Disney in the same breath?  It really isn't such a stretch.  Both want to create a perfect world separate from the rest of the world where their people can enjoy the benefits of perfection.  One is expensive and artificial, one is brutal and bloodthirsty, but they share a common goal: create the perfect kingdom on earth.  Likewise they share one common assumption: to be perfect one must be separate.  
   Jesus had an entirely different kingdom in mind.  Not only was this one not expensive, it was also not on Earth, nor was it separate. In fact, Jesus' kingdom shares almost nothing in common with ISIS...or Disney.   Read on:

Luke 23:33-43When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine,and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us! "But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong."  Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

    Jesus' kingdom is different.  It's magic-er.  Jesus' Kingdom cannot be seen, it is not an earthly kingdom that can be corrupted by greed or envy.  It isn't a worldly kingdom that can be usurped by human leadership or human ideologies. Jesus won his crown on the cross and he is its sole leader, his word its only law, his way its only ideology. Jesus' kingdom is as far above this world as the sky is from the ground, but at the same time it is in our midst every day. Just like the thief on the cross as we confess our sin, repent of our old life, and accept the new one offered to us... though we still live here in this world... we become citizens of a nation that the world cannot touch.  We live here in the ruins of the old world serving the lost sheep of this place, not separate from the world, but not OF the old world.  We can't march off to some hill somewhere and leave the lost children of this world any more than Jesus climbed down off the cross.  We can't represent that kingdom on earth through violence and harm as this kingdom was won for us, not by fighting and killing, but through sacrifice and love.  No matter how you might want to purchase a home in this kingdom no price could possibly buy your way in, for this reason God chose to make entrance free for those who believe in Jesus Christ.  We live in this world but we are OF the kingdom of God.  It is a kingdom that this world cannot see, but we see it through the eyes of our Lord: Jesus the King. 
    So let the nations rage around us.  Let leaders rise and fall.  Let despots and rulers struggle and contend.  It's not our world.  We live in it.  We serve the lost sheep of it.  But we are not citizens of it, we belong to a magic-er kingdom which this world cannot touch. Its perfection is not a result or our planning, wealth, separation, laws, leaders, or manipulation.  Its perfection is founded on the perfection of our king and leader: God himself.  Never lose sight of the fact that as much as you may feel suffering in this world your savior turns to you each day and says, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."  Our king is on the throne, death and sin have been defeated, Jesus reigns supreme and all will be well.