thatjeffcarter was here: The Kingdom on the March

This is a presentation I gave a few years ago at a conference about eschatology. I thought I'd share it here.

The Kingdom on the March

It strikes me as supremely unfortunate that the most popular form of eschatology (study of the “last things” or “end times”) in America is an eschatology of “the end;” that is, the end of “human history,” the end of conflict, the end of struggle, the end of story. It is, I suppose, a tidy and comforting future where are of life’s difficulties are neatly resolved, all enemies are defeated, and, like a television sit-com, everyone learns a valuable lesson in the end.

And for many who have swallowed this eschatology, the Preterist eschatology is difficult to comprehend because it means living past “the end.” It is an open ended future. And this is somewhat frightening. An open ended future is discomforting because if there is no deus ex machina end then our decisions and actions actually have consequences and we’re responsible for them (it’s a bit like existentialism that way…) “[W]e are left with a balance of promise and warnings, a sense of profound empowerment and responsibility, and a sobering choice.[i]” If the world is frightening, if the kingdom doesn’t appear as a present reality, if it doesn’t seem very much like heaven – is that our fault? If it doesn’t seem very much like “heaven” is that an indication that we have been somewhat lax in our responsibilities?

General William Booth, founder and first General of The Salvation Army, said in one of his sermons “making Heaven on earth is our business.”[ii] And if it won’t sound too self-serving, I’d like to talk about the Kingdom on the March, the mission of The Salvation Army, and an open-ended future.

(And I should make a clarification here… The Salvation Army as an institutional whole does NOT have an official eschatology. Our founders were of the Post-Millennial stripe, but there is a wide spectrum of eschatological beliefs within The Salvation Army today…)

The Salvation Army is a bit odd. Just a bit. We have “officers” instead of pastors or priests. Our church members are our “soldiers.” Our church buildings are referred to as “corps” or “citadels.” We have our own quasi-militaristic organizational structure lead internationally by “the General.” We wear uniforms (which frequently cause us to be confused for airline pilots or hotel bell-hops, or police officers.) We have our own flag. We speak about “invading” countries when corps are opened in new countries. We have in many of our corps – brass bands for music. We, like the Quakers, are a non-sacramental denomination (or rather, we believe that ALL of life is sacramental…) And our hymnal includes a whole section of “warfare” songs –songs about the militant mission of The Salvation Army. I think we’re the only Christian denomination that has songs and hymns about ourselves, about our flag, and our warfare. But that’s part of the idiosyncratic way of The Salvation Army

I’ve included a couple of our warfare songs in this presentation, and I’d like to encourage you to join me in singing them.

Salvation Army, Army of God
Hark, hark, my soul, what warlike songs are swelling
through all the land and on from door to door;
how grand the truths those burning strains are telling
of that great war till sin shall be no more.

Salvation Army, Army of God,
onward to conquer the world with fire and blood,
onward to conquer the world with fire and blood.

Onward we go; the world shall hear our singing:
come guilty souls, for Jesus bids you come;
and though the dark its echoes, loudly ringing,
shall lead the wretched, lost and wandering home.

Salvation Army, Army of God,
onward to conquer the world with fire and blood,
onward to conquer the world with fire and blood.

Far, far away, like thunder grandly pealing,
We’ll send the call for mercy full and free,
And burdened souls, by thousands humbly kneeling,
Shall yield, dear Lord, their contrite hearts to thee.

Salvation Army, Army of God,
onward to conquer the world with fire and blood,
onward to conquer the world with fire and blood. [iii]

But, why an army, why that particular metaphor? The already quoted Brian McLaren has shared his doubts about this particular metaphor: “I’ve been working and playing with a number of new (and used) metaphors for the last years that seem to me to have some promise. I’ve had to drop a few for various reasons. For example, although Salvation Army founder William Booth used military metaphors to convey the kingdom of God, I believe that nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons – not to mention terrorism and imperialism – have made such language nearly unusable today.”[iv] And, the pacifist in me agrees with him.

But for Booth and his contemporaries, the military metaphor succinctly captured the truth of the kingdom of God, and they set about seizing the kingdom by force. (Matthew 11:12). Said General Booth:

“If it be wise and lawful and desirable for men to be banded together and organized after the best method possible to liberate an enslaved nation, establish it in liberty, and overcome its foes, then surely it must be wise and lawful and desirable for the people of God to join themselves tighter after the fashion most effective and forcibly to liberate a captive world, and to overcome the enemies of God and man.” [v]

It was to be an army of Salvation, the army of God. An army devoted not to destruction and human death, but to life, and to life more abundantly; an army devoted to the liberation of sin’s captives and the proclamation of jubilee of God.

In a letter to the officers of his army, General Booth wrote:

I want you to stand up more boldly and firmly than you ever have done for the great object for which God has made you Salvation Army Officers…it consists in any intelligent, practical partnership with God in the great business of saving the world. This you may take to be: 1) the putting down of the rebellion of man against the Divine government, 2) the expulsion of all wrongdoing from the earth, 3) the dethronement of the devils that now occupy the hearts of men, 4) the universal acceptance of men of Jesus Christ as their Sovereign Lord, [and] 5) the bringing about of the reign of righteousness, and the obedience of the entire race to the law of love” [vi]

He only had *small* ambitions...

General William Booth founded an army devoted to the mission of Jesus himself:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
for he has anointed me
to bring the good news to the afflicted.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives,
sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord.
            (Luke 4: 16 – 19)

Shout Aloud Salvation
Shout aloud salvation, and we’ll have another song;
Sing it with a spirit that will start the world along;
Sing it as our comrades sang it many a thousand strong,
As they were marching to Glory.

March on, march on! We bring the jubilee;
Fight on, fight on! Salvation makes us free;
We’ll shout our Savior’s praises over every land and sea
As we go marching to Glory.[vii]

But the common Christian understanding of heaven, or the Jubilee, or the Kingdom of God is a thing forever removed in space-time- accessible only after death, or when Jesus comes bringing in his wake a global conflagration that puts an “end to human history.”[viii] As a post-millennialist, General Booth would have rejected the idea that the world is a sinking ship and that it would be pointless to polish the brass on this doomed vessel (J. Vernon McGee) or that he was called to be a fisher of men, not to clean up the fish bowl (Hal Lindsey[ix]) William Booth would never have been able to bring himself to sing with contemporary congregations “I can only imagine…what it will be like …When I walk …By your side” [x]

Booth went to work. He went for souls and he went for the worst.[xi] The Salvation Army served the lowest of low, the undesirables –the “residuum” – a 19^th century term that spoke of society’s view of them as leftovers[xii]. Drunkards, prostitutes, convicts, criminals, and the mentally ill; all were welcome.

Booth led boldly with his big bass drum --
(Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?)
The Saints smiled gravely and they said: "He's come."
(Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?)
Walking lepers followed, rank on rank,
Lurching bravoes from the ditches dank,
Drabs from the alleyways and drug fiends pale --
Minds still passion-ridden, soul-powers frail: --
Vermin-eaten saints with mouldy breath,
Unwashed legions with the ways of Death --
(Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?)[xiii]

Booth’s army went to work in the same neighborhood occupied by the fictional “Sweeny-Todd, Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and the all-too-real Jack the Ripper, the east end of the London – the Mile End Waste. A Salvation Army labor bureau was established to help people find work.   A refuge for prostitutes was opened to protect and care for the women that society had used, abused and discarded. Other projects included a Missing Persons Bureau to help find missing relatives and reunite families, a women's "Slum Brigade" – volunteers who worked side-by-side with the masses to clean-up the slums. The Salvation Army opened hostels for the homeless and even a Poor Man’s Bank which would make small loans to workers to buy tools and set themselves up in a trade.

Booth’s mission was to see the Kingdom of God built in the here and now. Salvation for all men and women; mercy and grace transforming individual lives and
transforming society. This would inevitably bring the Army into the realm of political conflict.

In 1885 a young girl came up to London from the country in response to an advertisement for general work in a house. But instead of finding employment as a maid or a nanny, she was held against her will and forced to work in a brothel. Sometime later she managed to escape, and finding General Booth’s address printed on the cover of a Salvation Army songbook, she fled to the Army’s headquarters to plead for his help.

She didn’t meet the General immediately, but instead told her story to William Booth’s eldest son, Bramwell (who would later follow his father as General of the International army). Bramwell Booth and W.T. Stead, editor of the Pall Mall Gazette exposed the horror of the white slave traffic in his newspaper. The two of them even went so far as to “purchase” a young girl in order to obtain evidence to bring before the courts – and for this they were themselves brought to trial (and later acquitted).    Their trial and the attending publicity resulted in the almost immediate suppression of the white slave trade in England. [xiv]

“What is the sum of celestial happiness, the happiness of God, the happiness of the Angels, the happiness of the Blood-washed spirits who are safely landed there? In what does this happiness chiefly consist?

I reply, Not in the golden streets, the unfading flowers, the marvelous music, nor all the other wonders of the Celestial Land put together, but in Love. Love is the essence of the bliss of Heaven, for “Love is Heaven, and Heaven is Love.” This happiness we can have below. It is not the love others bear us that makes our felicity, but the love we bear to them; and, thank God, when this principle is carried into effect, every part of human conduct become religious – nay, a positive act of Divine worship, and an acceptable song of praise. [xv]

Heaven wasn’t something to passively anticipate, it was to be made in this world. It was to be made in the feeding of the hungry and the clothing of the naked, by visiting the imprisoned, healing the sick, and setting free the captive.

“Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to come, he [Jesus] gave them this answer, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God does not admit of observation and there will be no one to say “look, it is here! It is there!” for look, the kingdom of God is among you.”

or

the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17: 20-21)

Heaven isn’t someplace we go. Heaven isn’t “somewhere out there…”Heaven is among us….within us. It is within us so that we can share it with those around us.

In a book comparing the 12-step A.A. program with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, author Jim Harbaugh writes, “We sometimes say the Lord’s prayer … [at A.A. meetings]; we ask that the Kingdom might come – and in fact it already has in the companionship and service that have characterized the meeting itself.” [xvi]

What else did Jesus mean when he said, “For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20)? The Kingdom is within us. The kingdom is wherever we are gathering in Jesus name. The kingdom is wherever we are preaching Jesus name.

Major Andy Miller – an officer that I’ve always admired who now serves at our Territorial Headquarters in Chicago Illinois - tells a story of an illiterate man from Southern Indiana who became a soldier at his corps. And even though this man hadn’t even graduated from high school, he still loved Jesus, still loved being part of the corps, studying the bible (from cassette tapes), and he loved wearing his uniform. He was proud of it. He wore it everywhere

So much so that he got it dirty. Soiled. Now young Lt. Andy Miller knew that the Divisional Commander (there’s some of our idiosyncratic jargon for you…) was coming to the corps for a visit and, wanting to impress the DC with a top-notch, spic-and-span corps, he offered to take this new soldier’s soiled uniform to the cleaners. He paid for it to be cleaned and pressed and then brought it back to the man.

The Sunday of the DC’s visit came and the DC was there observing the corps and meeting the soldiers. When, all of a sudden, to Lt. Andy Miller’s horror, the man arrived with his uniform again covered in dirt and grime and sawdust.

Lt. Andy was furious. He called the man aside and demanded to know what had happened. How had his uniform gotten so dirty? Didn't he realize that the DC was visiting? What would the DC think if the soldiers showed up with filthy uniforms?

The man – this illiterate man from southern Indiana said to him, “I was just doin’ what you said…”

“What I said? When did I tell you to roll around in the dirt and sawdust?”

“Lt…. didn’t you say that when we do good things for others, we’re helping Jesus?”

“Yes” said Andy, “but why is your uniform so dirty?”

“You see Lt… the lumberyard allows me to pick up the scrap lumber for free and I take it to a widow woman, she can’t get out much. I take that scrap lumber to her for her wood stove.”

Forget the streets of Gold. I want to see a heaven with streets of holy sawdust.

Joy in the Salvation Army
Joy! Joy! Joy! There is Joy in The Salvation Army.
Joy! Joy! Joy! In the Army of the Lord.
Sing to God, sing to God, with loud joyful songs of praise;
beat the drums, beat the drums, while salvation music plays.
Play the music, play, sing the happy song,
Loud hosannas shout with the happy throng,
to the happy land we'll march along,
and be joyful all the way.

Joy! Joy! Joy! There is joy in The Salvation Army.
Joy! Joy! Joy! In the Army of the Lord.
Blood and fire, blood and fire, is the Army soldier’s might
blood and fire, blood and fire is our victory in the fight.
‘tis the blood and fire gives the battle cry,
‘tis the blood and fire makes the foe to fly,
‘tis the blood and fire gives the army joy
and victory all the way.[xvii]

Now serving in over 120 countries around the world, the Salvation Army continues the mission of General Booth – preaching the good news of the gospel and meeting human needs in the name of Jesus Christ. We continue General Booth’s fight.

While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while little children go hungry, as they do now, I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight-I'll fight to the very end! [xviii]

We’re not just polishing the brass on the Titanic. We're not just cleaning the fishbowl. We are making heaven on earth, bringing the joy and peace of God’s salvation to the people of the world; we are (all of us, not just The Salvation Army) making heaven on earth, living in the Kingdom in the fullness of God’s salvation. We are the Kingdom on the March.

[i] Brian McLaren, The Secret Message of Jesus, pg 180

[ii] http://74.125.45.132/search?q=cache:-moV3e601wEJ:www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php%3Fcid%3D16+%22william+booth%22+%22making+heaven+on+earth+is+our+business%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

[iii] Fredrick William Faber (1814 – 63) alt. George Scott Railton (1849 – 1913)

[iv] Brian McLaren, The Secret Message of Jesus, pg. 140

[v] William Booth, “What Is The Salvation Army,” The War Cry, pg2

[vi] William Booth, To My Officers: A Letter from The General on his Eightieth Birthday, pg 23 - 26

[vii] George Scott Railton (1849 – 1913)

[viii] http://www.schoolofprophecy.com/left_behind.html

[ix] Hal Lindsey, “The Great Cosmic Countdown," Eternity, Jan. 1977, p. 21

[x] Mercy Me - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Can_Only_Imagine

[xi] William Booth The War Cry - 16 November 1889 page 10 col.3:

“Go Straight For Souls, And Go For The Worst”