On July 13 1984, Terry Wallis was involved in a car accident that left him in a coma. For 19 years he remained comatose in a minimally conscious state. Doctors believed his condition was permanent. Then, in 2003, he spontaneously awoke.

Can you imagine how much the world changed in those 19 years? Can you imagine how it must have been to suddenly wake up? And, I wonder, if that was you, what would you like to see when you woke up? Who would you want to have around you after sleeping for 19 years?

One of the first people Terry Wallis saw was his mother. And he recognized her.

~ Pastor John

I went old-school this week and consulted my Oxford English Dictionary (yes, real paper; all 2,152 pages of it). I was curious to know what definitions it had for the word ‘kingdom’. I was pleasantly surprised. Here they are:

kingdom ènoun 1 a country, state or territory ruled by a king or queen. 2 the spiritual reign or authority of God. 3 each of the three traditional divisions (animal, vegetable, and mineral) in which natural objects have conventionally been classified.

Of course, it was the second definition that interested me. So, as I was enjoying just turning the pages instead of clicking a button, I looked up ‘spiritual’. Here’s what was written:

spiritual èadjective. Of, relating to, or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.

That made me wonder: if God’s kingdom is a spiritual reign it’s a strange one, ruled as it is by a very human king, hung on a cross, who certainly felt the nails hammered through his wrists. A spiritual rule that happens through a splash of very ordinary physical water on a baby’s head and a scrap of bread and a sip of wine. It’s not what we might expect for a spiritual reign. Then again, God does like to do things differently.

~ Pastor John

I don’t know about you, but if I am going into a new situation, particularly if it means performing publicly, I like to put on my armour. That might mean wearing particular clothes, or preparing mentally by doing some prior research, or giving myself a little pep talk, like, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Sometimes I even pray!

I suspect I’m not alone in this. What’s your armour? Is it the make-up you put on? Perhaps it’s humour? Or perhaps you avoid new situations altogether?

It’s natural for us to want to protect ourselves. Which is why Jesus’ advice to the twelve disciples is particularly challenging. “When you have opportunity to testify about me”, he says (and notice it’s ‘when’ not ‘if’), “leave your armour at home”.

Jesus knows that if his disciples are thinking about their armour then they’re thinking about themselves: protecting themselves, defending themselves, getting out alive. But, that’s not Jesus’ way. Jesus’ way is to think about others. And, Jesus wasn’t asking them to do anything he wasn’t prepared to do himself. So, he stood before the governor of Judea and refused to defend himself. And, he trusted that he too would be given the words to say at the right time. Those words came as he hung on the cross. He cried out, “Father, forgive them.”

And they mocked him for it, but the world hasn’t been the same since.

~ Pastor John