Christ the King 06
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14Psalm 93
Rev 1:4b-8
John 18:33-37
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Reflect for a moment on what those words mean.
They help open the model prayer Jesus taught us.Your kingdom come. Both Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospels call our attention to the fact that just after John the Baptist was arrested, and Jesus then went public, the basic message of Jesus’ first sermon (Matt 4:17; Mark 1:14) was this: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news.’ You could say that this message, that the Kingdom of God is come, is at the very heart of all Jesus’ ministry. The true king has arrived. A new kingdom kind of kingdom has come. A kingdom utterly different from any other in this world. Jesus’ first sermon in Luke’s Gospel tells of what kind of kingdom it is supposed to be. Jesus stood up in the synagogue of his hometown of Nazareth and read out words from the Prophet Isaiah: ‘”The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And then, with all eyes fixed on him, he said: ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” Jesus came to proclaim a new kind of world and new kind of life. It was a totally different kingdom from any other.
It’s charter goes like this: Not blessed are the confident for they shall intimidate everyone, but blessed are the poor in spirit (for theirs is the kingdom of heaven); not blessed are the happy or callous for nothing will affect them, but blessed are those who mourn, (for they will be comforted); not blessed are the bold and arrogant, but blessed are the meek (for they will inherit the earth); not blessed are those who have no appetite for loving others or God, but blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (for they will be filled); not blessed are the vengeful, for they’ll squash their enemies before they have a chance to retaliate, but blessed are the merciful (for they will receive mercy); not blessed are the morally wayward because they are more interesting, but blessed are the pure in heart (for they will see God); not blessed are the violent in speech and action because everyone fears them, but blessed are the peacemakers, (for they will be called children of God); not blessed are those who mock those who try to do good and bring joy to others, but blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (for theirs is the kingdom of heaven).Jesus’ kingdom is different. And unfortunately, it seems all too otherworldly. But that did not stop him. He knew God’s will and was going to initiate the kingdom, and show people, by example, how to live it. He was going to show people how to pray for God’s help for it to happen. ‘Your kingdom come, O Lord.’When he was around, people felt the Kingdom of God at hand. They lost their cynicism and skepticism because he spoke so powerfully, with insider’s knowledge about God’s hopes for creation. When he was around, the kingdom felt close, too, because the King could be touched. What an awesome thing. Jesus actually welcomed that contact with people, all sorts of people, rich and poor, clean and unclean. Most kings and queens are surrounded by bodyguards. But Jesus wanted to be touched, physically and by the needs of ordinary people like you and me. The Kingdom is come. Reach out, touch it and be touched by it.Now, all this may seem at odds with the images of the Heavenly King we get in the prophecy of Daniel or the Revelation to John. The ascended Christ, surrounded by the heavenly hosts, being congratulated by God the Father. But that vision is important. It shows that Christ is King, and will rule over heaven and earth. But when we think of Jesus up there, in heaven, we risk losing touch with the fact that he was here, and by his Spirit, still is. If we put too much distance between him and us, between his kingdom and our world, we may unconsciously be pushing his kingdom out of this world. We may get defeatist: oh Lord, you’re kingdom is impractical, too far away, not realistic. But he teaches us to pray: Your kingdom come, O Lord.Your will be done. Your will be done links the coming of the kingdom with our own behavior. In praying your will be done, we are saying that we want what God wants to be what we want. God wants his kingdom to come. He sent his true Son to show how. God wants us to bend our hearts, minds and energies to building his kingdom here. He will not bully us to do so. He sends his Son so we will see we have a role.When we pray: ‘Your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven,’ we are admitting that there is a very real difference between earth and heaven. But we are also praying that that no longer be the case. The fact that earth is no paradise is obvious, isn’t it? God gives occasional, inspiring glimpses of the good and perfect in this life, and we thank Him for them. But from sometimes painful personal experience, we know that heaven is not yet on earth. Reports of yet more bombings in Bagdad, assassinations in Beirut or in London (!), starvation and disease in the developing world, global warming and pollution, let alone our own imperfect bodies and lives seem to shout how distant heaven is. Pop music star Travis wrote a song called Pipe Dreams that expresses the depressed spirit of the age: ‘i'd pray to god if there was heaven, but heaven seems so very far from here’The gap between heaven and earth seems unbridgeable. But that is false. Jesus came to bring heaven to earth. Heaven is not just some nice idea. We call this the ‘real world’ but the Kingdom of Heaven is what is real, authentic and good. It is what we live for. It is our birthright, where we all belong. And we are called to live by its values, even while we are resident aliens in this world. We’re not supposed to be fully ingeburgerd!When we pray ‘your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’, we are praying for Christ to come, not at some comfortably distant future time, but now, into our hearts, to transform us to serve the will of the Father in this world so that it may look more like heaven. Like he wants. Jesus had to admit to Pilate that ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’
I wonder if there was a tinge of disappointment in Jesus’ voice. Not that the people he’d taught to turn the other cheek had not taken up arms to liberate him. No, not that. I wonder if he was disappointed that his kingdom was not yet fully come into his people’s hearts. May we pray that it will for us, and that God’s kingdom will come, and his will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Let us pray it and mean it and live it. Amen.
Any questions? Contact: The Chaplain, Revd Sam Van Leer, 026 495 0620,
