Then I listened again to the gentleness and strength of the word "kin." I remembered that "kin" is at the heart of some of the words that most inspire me--kinship, kindred, kindness. I recalled one of my most treasured lines of hymnody--"All children of the living God are surely kin to me." (from "In Christ There Is No East or West," an African-American Spiritual, Presbyterian Hymnal, #440).
Soon I learned more about the origins and purposes of "kin-dom." Dr. Rosemary Radford Ruether, writing in 1998, gave credit to mujerista theologian, professor, and author Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, who wrote about "kin-dom" in her 1993 essay, "La Palabra de Dios en Nosotras--The Word of God in Us." In that illuminating essay, Professor Isasi-Diaz not only pointed out that "kin-dom" encourages us to move beyond sexist imagery, but also observed that kin-dom "makes it clear that when the fullness of God becomes a reality, we will all be sisters and brothers--kin to each other."(p. 95)
For all these reasons I was delighted to hear The Rev. Rebecca Segers, the first woman ever to be called and installed as the lead Pastor at Third Presbyterian Church here in Rochester, New York, say very naturally, "kingdom/kin-dom" as she preached her very first sermon in that pulpit early this year. Without explanation, without apology, without hesitation, Rev. Segers just said "kingdom/kin-dom" and continued with her sermonic reflections on Sunday, January 9, 2022. Easy as pie. As if Jesus really means it when he says, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Maybe the yoke becomes easier and the burden becomes lighter when we carry it together, as when Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz takes the risk of writing about "kin-dom" in 1993, and Rosemary Radford Ruether echoes her, and credits her, in 1998, and gradually the word becomes part of our shared language about God's liberating love, so that Rebecca Segers can preach it without pausing to explain, in 2022.
The earliest canonical gospel, the gospel according to Mark, was the primary source for the gospel according to Matthew. Matthew's gospel, given its own time, situation, community, and purposes, often adapts and revises Mark's story.
Intriguingly, in Mark, it is Jesus who invites people into God's kin-dom (1:15), but in Matthew, it is John the Baptist who makes this invitation (3:2). What might this change accomplish?
Perhaps Matthew wants to emphasize that Jesus was not alone in catching on that God had begun to swing open the door into a new way of being in human community. John and Jesus were both already experiencing the new kin-dom that was now at hand.
Professor Isasi-Diaz's essay can be found in Searching the Scriptures: A Feminist Introduction, ed. Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Crossroad: New York, 1993, pages 86-97.
Rev. Rebecca Seger's sermons can be found on video at thirdpresbyterian.org