It is almost time to vote. As a Christian, I want to vote for candidates who are most likely to embrace the values Jesus lived and taught.

Jesus was a very political person. His primary teaching metaphor was political: The Kingdom of God. He said that in him, the Kingdom of God had drawn near and had begun.

Christians are called to live by the values of the Kingdom of God.

What is the Kingdom of God? It is how the world would run if God ruled.

“Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is an alternative lifestyle - an alternative economy and politics. Jesus’ proclamation of a new reign of God got him executed as a political enemy of the Roman Empire.

The Kingdom of God looks at the world fromthe bottom up, from the perspective of the little, the lost and the least.

When Jesus speaks of the 1 percent, he’s telling us to leave the 99 to search for and to help the one who is most needy.

Jesus expects the rich to take responsibility for the poor - the rich man is responsible for Lazarus who begs at his gate. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48b)

In anticipation of his birth, Jesus’ mother Mary sang that God was casting down the mighty and lifting up the lowly, fi lling the hungry and sending the rich away empty. (Luke 1:46f) Jesus preached “blessed are the poor” and “woe to you who are rich.” (Luke 6:20, 24) The early church took these messages to heart and created a community of radical equality: “(They) had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts. 2:44)

There is a bias in the Gospel. It is generous to the poor and challenging to the rich. A government following the values of the Kingdom of God would embrace those values.

“Give us today our daily bread,” Jesus taught us to pray. In his parable of the vineyard, every worker got a full-day’s wage, even thosewho worked only one hour.

In God’s Reign, everyone is paid a living wage.

The only time Jesus acted with violence was to strike out at the oppressive financial system that bilked peasants in the big business of the Temple monopoly.

Jesus’ typical work each day was as a healer. Access to health care is a basic expectation of the Kingdom of God. Jesus gave special attention to the most challenged among us - the lepers and people possessed by demons. He reached out with healing care to those with the most frightening illnesses. His compassion and coherence helped the mentally ill become whole.

The Kingdom of God cares for the physically and emotionally ill.

Jesus fed multitudes.

Much of his ministry was centered around meals.

No one goes hungry in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus oftered the same gifts of feeding and healing to foreigners as he did two his own people. He was remarkably generous to people from other religions, being graceful to traditional national enemies like Samaritans, Canaanites and a Roman Centurion. The Kingdom of God treats those of other countries and faiths with radical generosity and acceptance.

In his famous parable about the judgment of the nations, Jesus laid out a policy for how a government might promote God’s agenda: give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit compassion upon the imprisoned. “When you have done it unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:31f)

So if we are to govern by God’s values, we should adopt the characteristics of the Kingdom of God.

Choose the leaders who are most likely to challenge the wealthy to take responsibility for the poor; to promote a living wage and labor for all; to restrict oppressive fi nancial systems; to provide access to healthcare for all, including mental health and extreme illnesses;

to eliminate hunger; to welcome foreigners; and to be gracious to other faiths.

Those who live by the values of the Kingdom of God are willing to do the hard work of sacrifi ce in order to embrace the characteristic values of Jesus: love and compassion. That’s the political agenda of God’s Kingdom on earth. LOWELL GRISHAM IS AN EPISCOPAL PRIEST WHO LIVES IN FAYETTEVILLE.

Opinion, Pages 13 on 10/14/2012