Sermon Title: Your Kingdom

Your Kingdom (6.19.16) 4

First Reading 1 Peter 2:9-12

9But you are a chosen people,a royal priesthood,a holy nation,God’s special possession,that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God;once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11Dear friends,I urge you, as foreigners and exiles,to abstain from sinful desires,which wage war against your soul.12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deedsand glorify Godon the day he visits us.

Second reading Matthew 3:1-6 (part 1)

In those days John the Baptistcame, preaching in the wilderness of Judea2and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heavenhas come near.”3This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”[a]

4John’sclothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.His food was locustsand wild honey.5People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.6Confessing their sins, they were baptizedby him in the Jordan River.

Matthew 6:10 (part 2)

10your kingdomcome,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Who has seen the Monty Python classic, "Search for the Holy Grail?" Hilarious and irreverent are the two words that come to mind when I think of this film.
In it, there is a scene where king Author is searching for knights for his round table. On his way to a castle, he wants to know who the local ruler is so he stops to talk to some peasants. He has a conversation with a peasant named Dennis. Dennis is going on and on about politics and Author just wants to ask a question. Eventually, Author says "I order you to be quiet!" To which a female peasant says, "Order who does he think he is." "I am your king" Author replies. "Well I didn't vote for you" the woman protests." "You don't vote for kings" Author replies, a bit confused. "Well how did you become king," the woman asks.
Angels start singing while Author explains, "The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king!" Dennis chimes in by saying "Listen strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony." And the conversation devolves from there.
As is true with all good satire, there is an important truth being played upon. Who has supreme executive power in our lives, and why should they have it? We are continuing our sermon series on the Lord's prayer. The phrase we are concentrating on is when Jesus teaches us to pray to our Heavenly Father by saying "Your kingdom come Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." In essence, we are saying to God "We will allow You to wield supreme executive power in our lives." We are saying "Lord, allow Your kingdom to come to us, and Your Kingdom to come through us, so Your redeeming love will transform the world around us." For the rest of our time we are going to unpack what this means. Why should we turn to God and say "May Your kingdom come to us, through us, and around us?"
What does it mean to say to the Lord "Allow Your kingdom to come to us?"
Primarily, it means a change in our identity. When we want His kingdom to come to us we are saying who we are, most fundamentally, is a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. That's really what Peter was driving home in the reading out of his first letter. He writes this, "9But you are a chosen people,a royal priesthood,a holy nation,God’s special possession,that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God;once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." We are, as Christians, not primarily Republicans, Democrats, or Americans, but those who have been called out of the kingdom of darkness to become citizens of the kingdom of light.
There are real, practical, implications to this. As foreigners, and exiles, our hope, loyalty, and purpose rests on our One Good King, Jesus Christ. This comes into sharp focus during election season and when tragedy is fresh on our hearts and minds. I wrestled over whether to bring up the shooting in Orlando or not because it has become so politicized. But that's the problem isn't it? Our hearts should break over the loss of life and over this young man giving himself to the kingdom of darkness. But the Democrats and Republicans could not wait to point fingers at each other as the cause.
Most people will not give into the darkness like Omar Mateen. However, when facing the results of his massacre, who do we turn to for hope? Is our first instinct to point the finger at Republicans for, what Democrats claim are, not strict enough gun laws or Democrats for, what Republicans claim are, to not aggressive enough tactics in fighting ISIS and the like? Do we blame, Obama, Bush, or either party for this tragedy? Is our primary hope for our political party to save us? Conversations about how to prevent tragedies like this are important. As citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, however, we know that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are ultimately responsible for this nor are they the solution.
Instead, the prince of darkness, and citizens of his kingdom, are the cause. He delights in us being distracted as his darkness covers us. He cowers, however, when we refuse to be complicit in his darkness and point to the hope we have in Jesus, hope over distraction, hope over hate, and yes, hope over death itself! Hope, not just over the hate that compels us to violence but also hope, over the hate that causes us to use a tragedy to further our political agenda! A hope that compels us to mourn with those who are mourning and a hope that calls us to love our enemies. A hope that gives us, as the primary purpose of our lives, being agents of our King who wishes to, and can, redeem all people and all circumstances.
Living as agents of His Kingdom is what we mean when we pray, "Your will be done." Put differently, as agents of the kingdom of heaven His kingdom not only comes to us but also through us!
We enable the kingdom of heaven to come through us when we seek first, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in our lives. This requires an intentional seeking of ways to allow God's will to reign in our lives. Feeling equipped and inclined to do something are no longer the first two considerations when deciding on a course of action. Instead, our first consideration is, am I called to do this?
How we discern this call is a lifelong process. In prayer, we ask that His will for us would be revealed. In reading scripture we seek not just information, but transformation. A book written by Dr. Robert Mulholland is entitled 'shaped by the word.' To be shaped by the word we read scripture differently from how we read other things. For example, when the Cavs win tonight, do you see what I did there, I'll read an article about it. While reading the article my goal is to master the information in it. What records did the Cavs break, what did LeBron, Irving, and Love say about the historic victory excreta. When reading God's word, in contrast, we want to be mastered by the Holy Spirit that inspired it! We also, discern this call by participating in the ministries and in the life of the church, being open to the encouragement and opportunities presented by our community of faith.
So how does God want to shine His kingdom through us? Does he want us to participate in Kingdom Sports camp? Going out and shining His light to individuals and families affected by disabilities. Does He want to shine through us by helping with VBS? Introducing children to the love of Christ, some of them for the first time. Does He want to come through us by participating in Love OPS? Showing His redeeming love by helping someone's physical needs and offering an invitation for them to turn to Jesus for the healing of their souls. Or is our good, righteous, and powerful King calling us to reflect His light in a new way?
In Matthew 16, Jesus tells His disciples that the gates of hell will not stand against us as citizens of His kingdom. Are gates offensive or defensive? They are defensive, which puts us on offence! We are not meant to passively wait for opportunities to allow His kingdom to come through us. Instead, the mission given to us by our King, with His help and guidance, is to literally depopulate Hell by storming its gates with His redeeming love and grace!
As we pray to God "Allow Your Kingdom to come to us and through us," His kingdom comes around us. We see it around us when His kingdom comes and His will is being done here on earth as it is in heaven. His kingdom here on earth.
Too often our faith is viewed only as a future hope. That we are not engaged with healing the hurts right here and now because we have our head in the clouds so to speak. But right here, in the prayer that Jesus Himself taught as the standard for prayer, He instructs us to ask for God's kingdom to come and will to be done, on earth, right here and now, just as it is in heaven. A careful reading of Matthew's gospel, and much of the rest of the New Testament, helps us to realize that the Kingdom of Heaven is much less a place we go when we die and much more a present reality that we live into.
In Chapter 3 of Matthew, John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus by preaching, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Sure enough, in chapter 4 when Jesus begins His preaching, teaching, and healing ministry, Matthew summarizes His message as calling people to "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." In both instances, the word translated to say that the kingdom is 'at hand,' or 'come near' is not in the future tense. Instead, it is in the indicative tense. In other words, it is communicating a state of affairs that is indicative, or true, of what is happening right now!
We see God's kingdom among us because we, the church, are the in-breaking kingdom. Put differently, the church is a beachhead of God's kingdom, rule and reign, right here on earth. Jason Gray puts it this way in his song "With every act of love:" "God put a million, doors in the world, For his love to walk through, One of those doors is you" and the chorus says, "We bring the Kingdom come with every act of love, Jesus help us carry You Alive in us, Your light shines through, With every act of love, We bring the Kingdom come."
The kingdom of our Savior and King Jesus Christ. Why is He the king? Not because anyone voted for Him or because a strange woman lying in a pond gave Him a sword.
Instead Jesus is King because of who He is. He is the creator and sustainer of the universe. He is the one in who's image we were created. He is the One who brings the kingdom of heaven to us by His sacrificial death on the cross. He is the One who brings His kingdom through us as the same Holy Spirit that rose Him from the dead restores God's image within us. He is the one who rules among us as we are His loyal subjects. He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Great I Am. He is the one in whom we find our forgiveness, redemption, purpose and hope. He is the one who taught us to pray, if you could join me, by saying...
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come.Thy will be done on earth,As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation,But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,The power, and the glory,For ever and ever.Amen.
Receive this blessing and benediction: Let us go forth allowing the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds by saying to our Father in heaven, "Allow Your kingdom to come to us and through us so Christ's redeeming love will transform the lives of those around us."