Human vs. Divine Kings

Last week and all of next week, the first daily scripture readings are from the Book of Revelation.  The liturgical year winds down with numerous references to end times and the last judgment.  Much has been written about the fantastic apocalyptic images in Revelations.  I like to think of it as staged drama and over-the-top exaggerated caricatures with dream-like qualities.  St. John uses these images and dramatic effects to make the point that Jesus (depicted as a Lamb) is the Son of God, our King, and that our salvation depends on Him alone.  In Revelation, God not only defeats Satan, He conquers death itself.  Next Saturday, the last day of the liturgical year ends with a reading from the last chapter of the bible: “Blessed is the one who keeps the prophetic message of this book.”  (Rev 22:7) 

Scripture calls us to consider the fact that our lives here on earth will come to an end, and now is the time for us to prepare for eternity.  The last Sunday of the liturgical year celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King, and the first reading from Ezekiel begins with God saying, “I myself will look after and tend my sheep.”  (Ez 34:11)  Initially, the Jews had no earthly king, only prophets and the law to guide them.  It was only when the people complained and demanded an earthly king, that the prophet Samuel chose Saul to be the first king of the Israelites.  The problem is that right from the start, the earthly kings fell far short in many respects.  Their human faults led them to commit sins of pride, lust, greed, and more. 

God alone is perfect, and His Kingship is not based on power, but on Love and mercy.  When Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand, He did not mean that God would rule by force, as human kings do.  God’s kingdom is not a faraway realm only attainable in death; it encompasses all time and space, and is accessible even now simply by entering into a loving relationship with God.  It is Jesus who makes this relationship possible, because through His sacrifice He has revealed the nature of God Our Father, and makes Him accessible through Jesus Himself.

In teaching us to pray the Our Father, Jesus taught us to invoke the kingdom of God every time we say, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done…”   Kingdoms and leaders of the earth rise and fall, but the kingdom of God will never pass away or be destroyed, because they are rooted in the infinite and eternal Love of God.  When we enter into this Kingdom through Jesus, our eyes are opened to the beauty of creation and the dignity of human life which has been created in the image of God.  But when our eyes are deprived of this vision, the world is a darker, more foreboding place.  When we lack a relationship with God, we rely on ourselves or on human rulers and leaders, and we are bound to be disappointed.  Like Saul, David, and so many kings of history, human sinfulness seeps into their actions and their leadership is tainted.  Not so with God and Jesus.  They alone possess the Love that created the universe and the ultimate Truth about the meaning and purpose of life.

The folly of human leadership is in full view these days, but many are blinded to the errors that seem so obvious to people whose perspective includes the kingdom of God.  Here are just a few examples:

Can a nation flourish when it kills its’ own children?  The Culture of Death is in high gear in California where last summer the Department of Managed Health Care passed an edict that requires every insurance plan to pay for surgical abortions.  That’s right, not just contraceptives and the morning after pill, but surgical abortions!   There are no exceptions allowed, even churches and religious organizations must comply.  This is a direct violation of federal law under the Weldon Amendment, but federal law does not contain provisions for enforcement at the state level.  Here’s an instance where a bureaucrat wrote administrative law without the oversight of the legislature, and it is being carried out by the state government in firm control of the Democrats.  Republicans have drafted a bill called the “Abortion Non-Discrimination Act,” to enforce the Weldon Amendment, but it won’t get through the US Senate until there’s a Republican majority.

Can poverty be cured by raising taxes on professional athletes, Hollywood stars, and Fortune 500 CEOs?  You might think so if you listen to Janet Yellen and Hillary Clinton.  Yellen, the new Fed chair, keeps talking about income redistribution as if it’s the government’s job to distribute income.  At a recent speech, Hillary Clinton said, “Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs.  You know, that old theory: trickle-down economics.”  What planet is she from?  If everybody works for the government, who will pay the taxes to fund their wages?  Where was Hillary when Ronald Reagan dumped Keynesian economics and cut personal and business taxes substantially, resulting the creation of millions of new jobs and ultimately MORE federal tax revenue?  Reaganomics, as it came to be called, was based on the sound economic theory of Milton Friedman, the Nobel laureate economist who helped Reagan overcome the high unemployment and inflation inherited from Jimmy Carter. 

Will amnesty for 5 million illegal aliens help solve our immigration crisis?  Or will millions more people cross our borders illegally in hopes of cashing in on the American dream?  The DREAM Act seems to have been the impetus for tens of thousands of children to be sent across our border illegally, at great risk to their safety.  If we do this without first securing the border, won’t we be inviting another wave of illegal immigration?  And why are the unions silent about this infusion of cheap, non-union labor?  Maybe they think they’ll be able to recruit them into unions, or perhaps just increase the number of people voting Democrat.  Recent studies show rampant voter fraud in states without voter ID requirements, and found that 80% of the illegal aliens who voted went Democrat.  In Minnesota, it was enough to secure re-election for Al Franken.   

Should the Federal Government micro-manage the mortgage business?  The Dodd-Frank banking laws created a burgeoning bureaucracy that now governs mortgage loans.  In their wisdom, they’ve removed the element of risk from banks making loans, so that all defaults will be assumed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Apparently one housing crisis wasn’t enough.

These are just a few instances of the failure of human leadership when it is motivated by the desire to retain power and seems to be blind to Truth.  There are many more examples to be found in the labyrinth of federal and state administrative law.   While we are constrained to live and work in this flawed world, it’s a bit easier to take knowing that it will all pass away and our real citizenship is in the kingdom of God, even now.