In every generation since, it is the contemporary Christ who has met and summoned people to follow. Paul believed that this is true in the local congregation and in the world-wide church. Though separated from each other by distance, culture and race, the believers in Corinth and the believers in Jerusalem were one body in Christ . While the church is not the kingdom, it can be a foretaste of life in the commonwealth of God. In Jesus' parables, the kingdom or reign of God appears as an upside-down world in which Workers who come at the eleventh hour are paid equally with those who started at dawn.
Outcasts go into the kingdom ahead of the self-righteous.
Something as insignificant as a mustard seed is capable of producing shade for many. God reigns in human hearts and in social structures, reversal of expectation abounds. For us today, as for those who met Jesus in the flesh, the reign of God is both present and yet to come. The church and our life in it are signs of the coming of God's rule. In the Christian community we treasure experiences of generosity, mutual service, caring relationships among people of diverse background and interests, and grace-empowered new beginnings.