CHANGING OUR POINT OF FOCUS

Series on Prayer: "Your Kingdom Come"

Luke 4: 42-44

September 30, 2001

Jesus taught them to pray saying, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come…" Now how did that get in there? What does that mean, "Your kingdom come"? It’s there; three simple words; the very first petition of the prayer. "God, may your kingdom come."

Often overlooked, this phrase is central to the entire ministry and teachings of Jesus. In Matthew and Mark, the first words out of the mouth of Jesus to the public were, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news!" Many of his parables opened with the line, "The kingdom of God is like…" When the lawyer responded with the two great commandments, Jesus said that he was not far from the Kingdom of God. We are to become like little children in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus said, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you." At the Last Supper he said "I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." Jesus spends more time talking about the Kingdom (reign) of God than any other topic. It is on nearly every page of the Gospels. It is definitely foremost in the mind of Jesus, yet we seldom talk about it.

When I think of a kingdom, I think of the middle ages when there were kings and knights who went off to war; castles with moats around them. There was King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table; there was Robin Hood who challenged the ruthless king that there might be justice for all. When I think of kingdom, I think of a large section of land which a person, generally a man, has political, military, economic and social power and control. The king is in charge but is also responsible for the safety and well being of his subjects. Will the king treat his subjects with respect or be a ruthless, selfish dictator?

Jesus told his disciples to pray that the reign of God might come. Jesus saw his mission as proclaiming the Good News of the Reign of God. He proclaimed that it was in our midst. What did he mean? Many at that time believed that the Messiah (God’s anointed) would come and take up the reign of David again and rule from the throne in Jerusalem. The Messiah would be a political, military ruler like King David of old. That is why many missed Jesus. Jesus was changing the point of focus as to how God would reign. Instead of geography with a capitol city, God’s reign would be scattered among the people, like leaven in the loaf; like salt sprinkled on the food.

In the past two weeks our nation and world has been shocked by the terrorist attacks. As been said by many, we have witnessed evil first hand. What has shocked us is that it appears that the attackers have lived among us, and even trained here in our nation. There is the fear that there may even be others hiding in our midst. And so we have struggled with the temptation to look at all people of Middle East looks and categorize them as terrorists because we don’t know them.

Evil doesn’t reside just in people who look different from us. We saw Timothy McVay, a Caucasian male who looks like any other young man in our culture, do a similar deed a few years ago. Evil is a spiritual attitude of selfishness and greed, of seeing other people as less than equal, therefore, giving permission to treat them as less than equal. Evil seeks to destroy, tear down, cause conflict, divide people, set people against each other.

When Jesus talked about the Reign of God in our midst, Jesus was talking about our recognizing God as Lord of our lives. That means taking on the attributes and characteristics of the one who rules our lives. The Reign of God is not a place as much as a relationship. Rabbis believed that one enters the Kingdom of God through obedience to the Torah. Jesus proclaimed that one enters the Kingdom of God through faith in Christ as Lord, and to live that faith out in our daily lives.

And we see most clearly how that is to be lived out as we study the life of Jesus, who physically embodied the Spirit of God. Jesus taught us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves; he taught us to even love and pray for our enemies. He forgave sins and included people that others considered outsiders, less than equal. He opened the reign of God to Gentiles and foreigners, women and slaves. Jesus brought wholeness to lives through a healing touch. Jesus demanded of his followers a standard of ethics and life even higher than that of the Jewish Law. The ethics of Jesus is one of the heart, not just the outward act.

When we pray, "Your kingdom come," we are asking God to set up God’s reign here on earth. And that reign takes place, not as an outside political force put upon us, but within people. God’s reign is here when we set aside our thoughts and understandings of what is right and to place within us the Spirit of Christ. We have to recognize that our perspective on things may not be God’s perspective. To pray "your kingdom come" is dangerous! It is asking that God’s Spirit move into our hearts and lives and remove the selfishness, the greed, the attitudes of superiority and arrogance and let the mind and heart of Jesus Christ take control. It is submitting to a discipline that makes absolute demands on our loyalty and devotion. To pray, "thy kingdom come" may be the most dangerous prayer you could ever pray.

Jesus not only talked about the Reign of God in terms of being present, he also talked about it as something that is yet to come. How the church has understood this is in the phrase "even now – not yet." Even now through faith in Christ as we live on this earth, we are citizens of God’s kingdom, but that reign is not fully consummated. That is for a later date. Even now the Spirit of Christ lives in us and we are called to act in Christ like ways, but we will not fully enjoy the glory of God until that day in the future.

One of the most powerful statements of Jesus in the entire Gospels for is, is his comment in Matthew 7:21 saying, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my father in heaven." To become a citizen of God’s realm is more than just saying Jesus’ name. It involves a way of living. Shouting out the name of "Jesus" or having your membership on the church rolls may not be enough for salvation. I believe that the will of God is wrapped up in the teachings and ethical demands of Christ – love God and love neighbor as we love ourselves; do to others as we would have them do to us. Let our yes be yes and our no be no. Care for the hungry, the homeless, the poor, the sick, the lonely; stand up for those who are oppressed. Treat others as equals to you. Do not use positions of power and authority as means to take advantage of other people. Give an honest days work for an honest day’s wages. In other words, as we live the Spirit and message of Jesus, we embody the Reign of God here on earth. Like leaven in the loaf it permeates those around us. Like salt sprinkled on the food, it affects every taste. The ultimate fulfillment of the Kingdom of God awaits those who don’t just talk a good line, but whose lives are transformed into the Spirit of Christ. Then, the Reign of God has come.

Here these words of Jesus in Matthew 13: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." Jesus is saying that the Reign of God is of such value that we should consider surrendering everything we have and are, in order to gain it.

Are you willing to pay the price? Are you willing to grasp that which is of ultimate value, leaving behind that which our culture may consider important? Can you pray, "Your kingdom come"?