It becomes hard to hold onto the image of the Kingdom of God, the perfect world that Jesus brings, as we continue to live in a world of current events, nations, wars, media, scandals, celebrities, political parties, corporations, globalization, community development plans, social services, community service-learning, international law, education, careers, financial planning, urban planning, problem-solving, economic growth, our children’s futures, possible nuclear holocaust, global warming, etc. In our era, most of us are no longer rural people with farming or shepherding as our familiar lifestyle, but we are decidedly urban people with a cosmopolitan mindset. No matter where we live, we can see the world through our televisions and we can even communicate across great distances with the internet.

How can we be part of the Kingdom of God in the middle of the United States, in our particular state and city, with our particular job, family, neighborhood, church? It is not easy to be in the world and not of the world; not easy to know if we should redeem our culture, resist it, ignore it, or celebrate it!

The image of the future Kingdom often refers to the City of God, Jerusalem. As Augustine wrote, the City of God lies in contrast to the evil city, or those who choose to disobey God. The earliest images of Biblical cities are of evil places, prideful and against God: Babel, Sodom, Gomorrah. God calls Abraham to leave the city of Ur and become a nomad and shepherd walking in faith in the countryside.

Once Israel conquered the land, the city of Jerusalem became the central place of worship under King David. Much as it is loved and idealized, it is not yet the perfect City of God and the prophets denounce the sins of its inhabitants. The evil cities, Babylon and Tyre, are a force of evil, worthy of God’s judgment. But the promise is made, that in the end, Jerusalem will be purified and will become the ideal city.

The cities I have lived in have had elements or shadows of the perfect city to come, and elements of the archetypal evil city. Each city can foreshadow Jerusalem or Babylon! In San Diego, for example, there are beautiful parks, beaches, landmarks, collections of art, musical performances, congregations of Christians, places with great food, environments of learning, beauty, kindness. I have my favorite places—Balboa park and its museums, Old Town with the Mexican era adobe, the harbor where the Star of India is moored, the beach and lighthouse at Del Mar, the art in Chicano park, the architecture and gardens of the University of San Diego, the view from the Coronado bridge, the historic Hotel Del… But I also work with social services and know the lack of affordable housing, the migrant workers living in the canyons, the problems in lower performing schools, etc. The newspaper offers a daily litany of the sins of the City. There is the sad statistic that only 15% of San Diegans attend church.

I lived many years in Antigua, Guatemala, a beautiful small city of churches built in the 1700s and before, cobblestone streets, bougainvilla falling over the whitewashed walls, a volcano on one side, and a hill with a cross on the other, a plaza with a charming fountain as a place for the people of the city to meet. Pleasing and joyful reminders of Jerusalem to come. But also in the city —kidnapping, murder, witchcraft, adultery by religious leaders, and various levels of complicity in the massacre of Maya in distant villages— all symptoms of Babylon.

Recently I walked in New York’s Central Park, a stunningly beautiful landscape in a city, an image to me of the central greenery in the perfect city that will come. At the park I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, deservedly known as one of the great art museums of the world, and saw many beautiful things that reflect God’s gifts to us. I also visited “ground zero”, site of a great tragedy and reminder that this city, the center of world wealth, could not help but invite judgment.

Given this ambiguous nature of the city, we look for guidance in the relationship Jesus had to Jerusalem in his day. The image is ominous and disturbing. There is no affirmation of the city as a place of the good things men can enjoy; instead it is a place in conflict with him. Those following him assumed that he would bring in the golden age of the prophesied city, and as he approached Jerusalem excitement mounted that this moment had arrived. But Jesus had to warn them this was not the case. “Because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away.” (Luke 19:11) or “was going to appear at once." (NIV) He chose to go to the city, knowing that his conflict with the religious leaders and the powerful of his day would inevitably result in death. (Mt. 20:17-18) He lamented the judgment they will bring on themselves by rejecting him: “I wish that even today you would find the way of peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from you. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you. They will crush you to the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you have rejected the opportunity God offered you.” (Luke 19:42-44)

Another reminder that the God of grace and the God of judgment are the same—Jesus’ lament reflects similar laments in the prophets who plead with the people of Jerusalem to repent and avoid the coming judgment. All their words of warning, and words of warning from so many different speakers, are signs of grace. He gave them every chance to listen and change, just as Jesus —miracle-worker, teacher, fulfiller of prophecy— had given them every chance to listen.

Our cities today have blinded themselves, made themselves deaf. There is no excuse in our age of information and education to say that “we did not know.” The evidence that Jesus told the truth about himself is widely available. Once more, we have been warned and warned with the patience of grace, but there is a consequence for rejecting Jesus. Those of us who have listened and heard his message must patiently wait for him to bring the promised Kingdom, must seek to reflect his light in the world, must pray “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” must hold lightly the material things we’re given, must love our neighbor as ourselves, and must “seek first the Kingdom of God.”