THE PREACHER'S THEME
the Resurrection in their organic relationship to the Kingdom of God. In these supreme events, it declared, the Kingdom, long dreamt of and foretold, had now appeared. By this invasion of the supernatural into human experience all life's issues were immeasurably deepened, and the sense of urgency and crisis dramatically intensified. The new era of the Spirit had broken in with power. Until we recapture and restore this apostolic perspective and emphasis, our preaching will be maimed and crippled.
If the trumpet give an uncertain sound on this matter, the whole cause of the Kingdom will suffer. And at no point has there been greater confusion, even amongst Christians. Some have thought of the Kingdom of God as a New Jerusalem for man to build. Some have postponed it to an indefinite future, a far-off divine event in which man has no part. Thus two opposing attitudes have emerged and come into collision: the activism of a thoroughgoing thisworldliness, and the quietism of a thoroughgoing otherworldliness. Your Gospel of the Kingdom must act as a corrective of both these distorted views. To those who stand for the former, it will say: "You are right to bear the world's injustices and oppressions upon your souls, and to go forth against these with the passion of crusaders. You are right to denounce a piety that talks incessantly to men about the bread of heaven, and never stirs a finger to give them bread for their bodies or employment for their energies or decent housing for their families. You are right to insist that
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