Thine...not mine | Your kingdom come...on earth as it is in heaven

 

The next line of the Lord’s Prayer goes like this:

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

At the outset, realize this:  When we pray this line, we are declaring to the Father that it’s time for a miracle to happen!  You’ll see what I mean by that…

Notice, still no question marks.  Still a declaration to the Father. 

Your kingdom come [not mine, mind you] and your will be done [again, not mine].  And both of these on earth as they already are in heaven.

Notice also, there are two main subjects here.  See them?  Kingdom and will.  We’ll start with the kingdom part.

The idea of a kingdom doesn’t mean as much to us in the West as it does in other parts of the world.  But maybe we’ve seen enough movies to imagine the parts and pieces that make up a kingdom?

At the very least a kingdom has a king who owns everything.  As well, that king likely has subjects or people under him that live in a land or territory which the king governs over with various rules and decrees and edicts and other top down legislation of the like.

Now there is certainly more to a kingdom then just that.  But think with me for a bit about God’s kingdom. 

Biblically, “kingdom” is not applied to God’s people until the book of 1 Samuel.  The only mention of it in reference to God’ people prior to 1 Samuel is in Deuteronomy where it speaks of the times of 1 Samuel.  The first king was Saul.  A rocky start at best.  David came next.  Way better.  Solomon starts out pretty awesome, but then the kingdom is divided into north and south and things kind of go downhill from there.  Eventually the land is lost, kings are killed, subjects are hauled away and new rules are applied… 

Until Jesus comes. 

Whole new King, whole new Kingdom. 

Who is the King?                              Christ Jesus.

Who are the subjects?                   Saints in Christ Jesus; those called by His name.

Where is the land?                           Hmmm, heaven…and earth, sort of?

What are the rules?                        Love God wholly; love neighbors radically.

Here is the kingdom we’re talking about in our prayer!

Matthew uses “kingdom” in his gospel book more than any other gospel writer; more than any other single Bible book in fact.  So we can learn a few things from Matthew about this kingdom we’re talking about.  Consider these:

·         Matthew 2:1-6 – Who are the kings present here?

·         Matthew 3:1-2 – What is John the Baptist’s view of the kingdom of heaven?

·         Matthew 4:17 – What is Jesus’ view of the kingdom of heaven? 

o   For both of these last two, what does it mean that the kingdom of heaven is “at hand”?

·         Matthew 4:23 – What is happening here as the good news of the kingdom is being proclaimed? 

·         Matthew 5:3-10 – Who here owns stock in the kingdom of heaven?

·         Matthew 6:33 – What ought to be the very first thing we pursue in this life?

·         Matthew 13 – Read the seven parables on the kingdom of heaven.  What do these parables reveal as true about the kingdom?

·         Matthew 21:5 – What strikes you as curious about this regal entrance?

·         Matthew 27:11 – Who here is the king?

These could summarize the 7 parables in Matthew 13

Further, as we read through the other Gospels, we discover that amazing things happen when this kingdom we’re praying for to come, actually comes, at least in part.  People are healed.  Demons are cast out.  Orphans and widows receive justice.  Folks in the margins are brought to center stage.  Sin seems to be all but eradicated!

Paul writes in Romans 14:17 that this kingdom is way more than eating and drinking.  We’re not just praying for the party to start.  The Bible says it’s a matter of “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit!”  It’s deep in us, rooted near the headwater of our being.  And later, in Colossians 1:13, the Bible says our citizenship has actually been transferred to this kingdom…RIGHT NOW!  Right now we are subjects of the King of kings (Revelation 17:14; 19:16) and citizens of the kingdom of heaven!

But it doesn’t always feel like it, does it?  Hurricanes make landfall.  Buses crash.  Gunmen open fire.  Politicians lie.  Women are degraded.  Men are debased.  Kids are lonely.  Language is crass.  Prisons are full.  Need I go on? 

Sure, we’re seen some of these parts and pieces of the Kingdom all around us and throughout history.  We’ve touched and tasted the Kingdom, and sensed enough of it to buy into it as real and now.  Yet some of these parts and pieces we don’t see at all.  Maybe we catch echoes of them in creation or relationships or technology or whatever, but we haven’t the ability to sense them fully, at least not yet. 

Consider these two passages:  Mark 8:22-26 and 1 Corinthians 13:12.  How do these passages inform your experience of the kingdom of heaven?  What do you suppose we have to look forward to?

Truth is, now we see but a poor reflection of what’s to come.  Now I know in part.  Now I see people, but they don’t look quite as they should.  There is still much imperfection and limitation and blemish and pain and hurt and lying and stealing and…the list goes on.  But one day we’ll see face to face.  One day we’ll know fully, and be known fully.  One day we’ll see people in all their divinely crafted glory; we’ll see creation in rich vivid array.

Scripture resounds with promise.  One day the blind will see and the crippled will run on streets of gold.  One day…

…there will be no more tears, no more sickness, no more poverty, no more sin!

…there will be no more feelings of inadequacy.

…there will be no more thinking you’re ugly or fat or your ears are too big.

…there will be no more trying to impress people with how you look. 

…there will be no more pornography or lust or twisted thoughts.

…there will be no more jealousy or guilt or any kind of pain.

Of course this list could go on as well, but if we’re honest, it almost begins to feel burdensome.  Imagining the not-yet-ness of the kingdom of heaven and all it may entail can feel like stepping away from a telescope and realizing all you so fondly peered in upon is really yet quite distant compared to what’s around you now.

Which is precisely when the full weight of what we’re declaring ought to be revealed; that is, when we pray that the Father’s kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven.  When we pray that line, we are declaring to the Father that it’s time for a miracle to happen!

The Father’s kingdom – all that we’ve discovered about it, and all we haven’t – His kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven is something that He and He alone generates.  He does it with us and without us.  But he starts it, inaugurates it, produces it.  It’s miraculous at least! 

So we want to declare to the Father that it’s time for a miracle!  We want to pray:

Your kingdom COME…on earth as it is in heaven.

Can you pray that?  Are we ready to pray that?

Now try this:  What are the realities of the Father’s kingdom that you want to see come?  Think about the scripture passages we’ve noted above.  Think about what you’ve learned about the kingdom of heaven so far.  Think about what may be happening in the heavenly realm right now and what you long to see happen in this earthly one.  List them all out…

You could start here:

o   Repentance and healing

o   Righteousness, Peace, Joy

o   His regal and political acclaim. 

o   His social and economic policy.

o   His eternal rule and sovereign reign. 

o   “Come.”

But add some of your own as well.

Then sit down or kneel down or take a walk or whatever, but use your list to expand on the phrase “Your kingdom come…on earth as it is in heaven.”  Put the things from your list into the prayer.  Remember, you’re praying in the plural to the Father in heaven.  Now go!