This week at Unity of the Valley: Finding the Kingdom of God

At the 10:30 a.m. Worship Celebration Service this Sunday, November 15, Unity of the Valley’s Spiritual Leader, Licensed Unity Teacher Michael J. Scales, will present the Sunday Lesson, titled “Finding the Kingdom of God.”
Jesus instructed his disciples to go to all the world and proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven. He enjoined his followers to seek first the Kingdom of God, and all good and needful things would follow. When he taught using parables, he often began his parables with the words, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like………”

What was this “Kingdom” of which Jesus spoke so often? Some teachings maintain that he was speaking of the kingdom that he is to establish when he returns to earth to defeat the forces of evil. In that case, he would have been speaking of a physical, political kingdom. Is that the kingdom he was teaching his followers to seek so that all things would be added to them? It doesn’t seem to follow. What, then, did Jesus mean when he referred to “The Kingdom of God?”

Various spiritual traditions, including the Unity School of Christianity, propose that the Kingdom of which Jesus spoke, rather than being a physical, national entity, is a spiritual realm of existence and experience that can be accessed by the individual. In Luke 17:20-21 Jesus’ description of the Kingdom of God is as follows: “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, ‘The kingdom of God doesn’t come with observation; neither will they say, “Look, here!” or, “Look, there!” for behold, the kingdom of God is within you.’”

The word that is translated in the previous passage as “within” is translated in other versions as “among” or “in the midst.” Jesus is portrayed as having uttered these words to a group of Pharisees in the province of Judea, which was part of the Roman Empire. It doesn’t make sense, then, that he was speaking of a national entity because the nation in which all the participants in this scene were located was Rome. So what did Jesus mean when he said, “the Kingdom of God is within you”?

One answer to this question is that the Kingdom of God is the divine essence embodied within the individual human-spiritual being. Charles Fillmore, cofounder with his wife Myrtle of the Unity movement, wrote that the Kingdom of God is “the Christ consciousness,” (The Revealing Word, p. 115) that localized presence of God at the center of the human heart, mind and soul. He also wrote that the Kingdom of Heaven is “the realm of divine ideas, producing their expression, perfect harmony, which is within man” (The Revealing Word, p. 115) and that the kingdom within is “that realm in man’s consciousness where he knows and understands God” (The Revealing Word, p. 115). This, then, is the kingdom the seeking of which Jesus taught we should make our highest priority. He said we should seek the kingdom and its righteousness. What does this statement mean? What is the righteousness of this inner kingdom?

One aspect of righteousness is right action in the sense of action that is in alignment with the absolute goodness of God. It seems that Jesus was teaching that as a result of finding the Kingdom of God, we can achieve a state of righteousness – a state in which we more easily and naturally perform right action. If we act in a way that is right and in harmony with God’s law, then the things we need should be provided for us they are part of God’s will for us. In other words, the Kingdom of God is the source of the guidance we need in order to live successfully.
The Rev. Dr. Rocco A. Errico, well-known author, speaker and scholar of the Aramaic language, which was Jesus’ native tongue, offers an interesting insight into the meaning of the word Jesus used for “kingdom”:
“Malkutha, ‘kingdom,’ derives from the root verb mlkh (or malkh) and means ‘to counsel,’ ‘to advise.’ It is the same root for the words king, advisor, and counselor. Thus, God’s kingdom from a Semitic and semantic point of view also denotes God’s sovereign counsel. Linguistically, the kingdom of God is a state in which God’s guidance s a Father is carried out.”

“In this kingdom, the Inner Being rules, not with force and regulations, but with celestial, parental counsel and loving-kindness. When we pray this phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Let your kingdom come,’ we are actually saying, ‘Let divine, spiritual forces (Father’s wise counsel or parental loving advice) guide our lives and direct us in all our ways.” Since this spiritual guidance is parental in its nature, we are totally dependent on abba – as little children would be dependent on their parents” (Setting a Trap for God: The Aramaic Prayer of Jesus, pp. 48-49).

In light of these understandings of the Kingdom of God, we can take heart that it is nearer to us than our very breath and that by turning within to the Presence of God within us, we can receive the guidance and spiritual nourishment we need to allow God’s perfect plan for our lives to be fulfilled.

In his lesson, Scales will share with the individual ways in which he or she can find the Kingdom of God within and receive its benefits in every area of his or her life.

If you enjoy the writings of Stephen Covey, Eckhart Tolle, Louise Hay, Deepak Chopra, Oprah Winfrey, the Dalai Lama, A Course in Miracles and the Daily Word, you’ll enjoy a Unity Church Service. The “Daily Word” devotional magazine is published by Unity, and read by millions worldwide each day. Unity Village headquarters may be accessed on the Internet at www.unityworldhq.org, where you can also read today’s Daily Word.

Call the church office at (956) 787-4411 for more information about church activities, classes and study groups. Unity of the Valley welcomes worshippers from all religious backgrounds and meets at 301 E. Polk in Pharr.