The Tale of Kingdoms
the need for interruption
Daniel 7:1–3, 15-18 (NRSVue)
In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream: I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.
As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: “As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever—forever and ever.”
Ephesians 1:3–23 (NRSV)
In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Luke 6:20–31 (NRSV)
Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
We live in a cosmic war zone.
This battle rages around us, a battle for power, for dominance, for riches, for all the resources that make up the economy of our lives. This battle is never-ending, never ceasing, and has been waging as long as there have been hierarchies and rulers.
It’s the battle for control of mammon, for control of wealth, for control of everything the kingdoms in this war view as important, as identity-defining, as meaning-making.
Daniel saw it as a vision of beasts rising from the earth, one after another. These beasts were terrifying, powerful, awe-inspiring. And to be honest, some kingdoms that have arisen have been beautiful, at least on the surface. Sometimes, we stand in awe of what they accomplished, what they became, and what they are remembered for.
However, every kingdom that has arisen is based in the systems of this world and is animated by what Paul calls, “powers and principalities.” The force behind the kingdoms has always been the same, and it is a force that relies on violence, coercion, dominance, and hierarchy to achieve its very existence.
It has been an almost eternal cycle of kingdom after kingdom—beast after beast—rising up and eventually through violence and dominance being brought down by another kingdom.
We are caught in the wake of these violent turnovers.
These upheavals of violence catch up in their nets, and the battle between the beastly kingdoms spills into our lives. Dominance defines our interactions with governments and rulers, and we are left under the boot of whatever kingdom has control for this moment.
These cycles seem never to end, and we seem forever to bear the brunt of notional and kingdom-wide games of dominance.
But something has to change.
Even when there is a period of relative peace, we the people still suffer the greed, violence, dominance, and supremacy that the current kingdom presses on our necks.
Right now, we see this reality in actions done in broad daylight.
ICE is kidnapping people without regard for citizenship in the name of immigration.
The federal government as a whole refuses to fund SNAP benefits and continues to keep the government shutdown.
Genocide continues in Palestine.
War in Ukraine.
Our government invading its own cities to keep “Law and order.”
These issues are just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much happening in global politics, so many beastly kingdoms threatening and brokering with each other, using any means necessary to push agendas and dominance.
We need something new, something different. We need salvation from these cycles of the kingdoms of violence. We need liberation from the shackles of dominance, hierarchy, and power struggles. We need an interruption.
The truth is, none of these beastly kingdoms will save us. They can’t. They are all enmeshed in the very powers and principalities that dwell in, over, under, and through these cycles of violence and dominance. There never has been nor will there ever be a kingdom that rises from the mass of violence and dominance that can save us because all earthly kingdoms are built on violence and dominance.
We need a different kind of kingdom, something not birthed from and powered by the systems of oppression that have been our anthropological history.
In Daniel, we see the hope of a new king of kingdom, of a new kind of governance, of liberation.
In the full text of Daniel’s vision, he sees “one like the Son of Man”—that is one that looks like a human being—come before God on the divine throne, and this glorious human was given all dominion, glory, and kingship. His rulership was given as everlasting, having no end.
This is the interruption we need. One like a human who is able to divinely rule. This is the liberation from the cycle because a kingdom is given to this glorious human, not taken by force like the beasts do.
There is a new kingdom coming, one that breaks into the cycles of violence and dominion and shatters their perpetuation.
But the question remains: what kind of kingdom is this new one going to be? What kind of interruption are we praying for? What kind of liberation are we working to see?
This is a kingdom upside down, a kingdom where power is inverted and dissipated, a kingdom where the least shall be first.
It’s a kingdom where the poor are considered blessed, where the hungry are filled, where the ones that are in deep mourning over these cycles of violence in our world are filled with joy.
This is the kingdom of Jesus, that divine one who became fully a human being, entering into the cycles of the beasts to sit in solidarity with his siblings, to whisper hope and smuggle in belief in a new way, a new promise, a new kingdom.
Jesus and his kingdom are the interruption of dominance that we need.
This new kingdom offered to us is one we don’t have to wait to receive, but one that is already here.
In our actions of love, our actions of peace, our actions of ungovernable resistance, we are beginning to bear witness and uncover the reality of this kingdom come.
When we love our enemies, we are living in the kingdom.
When we don’t meet violence and dominance with more violence and dominance, we are living in the kingdom.
When we give without expecting anything in return, we are living in the kingdom.
When we do to others what we want done to us, we are living in the kingdom.
This is the kingdom of the eucharistic table, the table of thanksgiving and generosity. At this table, the beastly cycle of empire devouring empire ceases. At the table, the hungry are filled, weeping turns to joy, and the poor are freely given the entirety of the richness of the kingdom.
This is our inheritance. This is what we have been promised by our heavenly parent. This is hope distilled and freely distributed to all who dare to believe in a new way of living, of being, of economics and power dynamics.
But we don’t see it.
We remained blinded by the empires of this world, their lure of power and promise of dominance. We remain caught in the cycle of poverty and despair. We struggle, we are rejected, and we still weep, lament, and rage against the growing night.
We need the eyes of our hearts made open.
We need a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
We need to be enlightened in our inmost being so that we can know this hope… even when it seems like all is hopeless.
If we want to see hope, want to believe that God is indeed powerful enough to establish Jesus as the heavenly ruler far above all other rule and authority and powers and dominion, we need something to hang onto, something to witness to this new reality in the face of each and every beast that arises.
We need to look to the power of God revealed in the resurrection of the crucified Christ.
And we look to the Eucharistic table to see and receive the living Jesus into our very bodies.
At the table, we gather together and receive a communal identity that serves as a protest against the empires of this world.
At the table, we remember the broken Christ who comes to be in solidarity with us in our hurt, our grief, our dejectedness.
At the table we celebrate the resurrection as the display of the full power of God that is at work among us wo are inheritors of the kingdom.
This is why we keep building a bigger table.
We want everyone to come, gather, remember, and celebrate. We want people to belong.
And we want oppressors to have space to repent of empire and become inheritors of the kingdom of God.
We must build a longer, wider, deeper table, one that reflects the reality of the love of Jesus, the animating force behind this kingdom.
Indeed, this kingdom of love belongs to the body of Christ, for we together are the fullness of Jesus, who filles everything with his presence of love.
So come, gather, remember, celebrate, and believe in this interruption to the world’s kingdoms of death. Come and sit, resting in resistance. Come and share a meal, be together, and never forget that only together do we inherit this kingdom of love.
I am in the process of becoming a community chaplin with The Order of St. Hildegard. This program is designed to help form people into spiritual leaders that lead from the margins and serve the margins. It’s for the people who don’t quite fit with the traditional church because of trauma, disability, or identity. If you, as my community, would like to help me fulfill the financial obligation this chaplaincy program has, you can give at the link below. Thank you for the myriad ways you support me.