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Your kingdom come....
*Matthew 6.10a, ESV
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This continues our series on the Lord's Prayer, the Our Father, the Model Prayer, or the Disciple's Prayer.
The request "Your Kingdom come" raises a number of questions, and these partly arise for we do not live in a kingdom. So, how do we who have never lived under a king in a kingdom translate what Jesus says about the Kingdom of God, or Kingdom of Heaven, so it makes sense to us?
Hence, I will proceed to address the spiritual meaning of the divine Kingdom and how it relates to us today. I will do this by asking two questions, one concerns the identity of the Kingdom, the other the coming of the Kingdom.
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1) What is the Kingdom of God, or Kingdom of Heaven?
a. We face the problem of image, when speaking of the Kingdom of God, or Kingdom of Heaven.
Scripture uses three primary areas of life to refer to God.
(i) Political ~ God is imaged as king, lord, warrior, judge, lawgiver, ...
(ii) Everyday Life ~ God is imaged as shepherd, potter, father, ...
(iii) Nature - Inanimate Objects ~ God is referred to with likeness to the eagle, hen, fire, cloud, ...
These images comprise two categories: anthropomorphic, nonanthropomorphic. That is, imaging God in human terms and nonhuman ways.
Then, within the imaging of God are two principal models: monarchical and Spirit. The former tends to focus on power and distance. The latter focuses on love and nearness. Both are essential to the overall image of God, and the Kingdom of God entails both, though the imperial imagery often leads to an over-stress on power and distance. The idea of Kingdom as imperial power is likely a source of some persons feeling God is distant and their struggling to sense the nearness of God in their lives.
b. The Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven or two ways of speaking of the same spiritual reality.
Jesus used Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven for the same experience. Likely, persons used "Heaven," rather than "God," as a reverential way of avoiding the name of God.
c. The Kingdom of God is the "rule" or "reign" of God.
Literally, "kingdom" means "rule, reign." But, this leaves us with the question of meaning.
d. The Kingdom of God is not referring to any historical group or the Church.
Jesus, and all Scripture, never equates the Kingdom of God, or Kingdom of Heaven, with any group, not even the Church. Jesus pointed to this "other-worldliness" of the Kingdom, when he spoke to Pilate in John 18.36 (CEV): "Jesus answered, 'My kingdom doesn't belong to this world. If it did, my followers would have fought to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. No, my kingdom doesn't belong to this world.'"
e. No one can build the Kingdom.
Often persons have spoken of building the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is fully present, always, we can add nothing to it and take nothing from it. We can enter it, we can enjoy it, we cn share it, but we cannot build it.
f. The Kingdom is an expression and extension of the Presence of God.
The Kingdom is God manifesting, including the fullness of the qualities of God. The Kingdom, therefore, does not refer to a material reality, but to a spiritual experience of the Divine Presence.
This raises the question, "Where is God?" If we answer that, we can answer the question of where the Kingdom is.
Little Johnny was in Sunday School one day. The teacher asked the class where they thought God lived. A little girl lifted her hand. The teacher called on her. The girl said, "I think God lives in the sky, because that is where Heaven is." "That's good," said the teacher.
A little boy raised his hand; the teacher called on him. "And where do you think God lives?" asked the teacher. Confidently, the boy affirmed, "God lives in each of our hearts!" "That’s very good," said the teacher, with a big smile.
When she asked a third time, Little Johnny was the only one who lifted his hand. Quietly dreading his answer, for Johnny often gave embarrassing answers, the teacher asked, "And where do you think God lives, Johnny?" "In the bathroom," he said. "In the bathroom?" she asked, puzzled. "Yes," said Johnny, "because every morning my father beats on the bathroom door and screams ~ "God, are you still in there!"
On a more serious note, I refer to Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), an influential scientist and religious philosopher. He was considered a genius. For example, at age twelve, even before he had received formal training in geometry, Pascal independently discovered and demonstrated Euclid's (fl. 300 BC) ~ considered the father of geometry and wrote the most famous textbook in the history of mathematics ~ thirty-two propositions. Pascal was also a Christian.
When he died in 1662, Pascal's servant found a small piece of parchment sewn into his coat. At the top of the paper, Pascal had drawn a cross. Underneath the cross were these words.
In the year of the Lord 1654
Monday, November 23
From about half-past ten in the evening
until half-past twelve.
Fire
God of Abraham, God if Isaac, God of Jacob
Not of philosophers nor of the scholars.
Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy, Peace.
God of Jesus Christ,
My God and thy God.
"Thy God shall be my God."
Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except God.
He is to be found only by the ways taught in the Gospel.
Greatness of the soul of man.
"Righteous Father, the world hath not know thee,
but I have known thee."
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.
Jesus Christ.
I have fallen away: I have fled from Him,
denied Him, crucified Him.
May I not fall away forever.
We keep hold of Him only by the ways taught in the Gospel.
Renunciation, total and sweet.
Total submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.
Eternally in joy for a day's exercise on earth.
I will not forget Thy word. Amen.
That was Pascal's testimony to an intense, two hour spiritual experience that he kept secret. It was an experience of God that gripped his soul and changed the course of his life. He kept his record of it in the lining of his coat, close to his heart. For eight years he took care to sew and unsew it every time he changed his coat. A treasured experience it was, and something he could return to again and again.
Even as a human kingdom is the expression and extension of the King, the divine Kingdom is an expression and extension of the Presence of God. That Presence is consciously and at a felt-level to extend and express into our lives, our very bodies.
2) What does it mean for the Kingdom to "come"?
a. The Kingdom can "come," for it is a living, dynamic reality.
The Rev. Thomas Scott (1747-1821), an Anglican priest, in the highly-esteemed The Force of Truth, wrote: "Growth ~ the only evidence of life." If that is true, the coming of the kingdom is essential to understanding it as a living, dynamic reality, not merely a static, religious idea. Only the former could be an expression of the living God.
b. The Kingdom comes by means of its own inherent life and power, we can only participate in preparing for its coming.
If, however, the Kingdom is fully present always, how can it come, or grow? The Rev. William Barclay (1907-1978), a Church of Scotlan pastor and religous professor at the University of Glasgow, in his commentary "Matthew" (The New Daily Study Bible) wrote of this coming of the divine Kingdom.
"The farmer does not make the seed grow. ... [H]e does not even understand how it grows. It has the secret of life and of growth within itself. No man has ever possessed the secret of life; no man has ever created anything in the full sense of the term. Man can discover things; he can rearrange them; he can develop them: but create them he cannot. We do not create the Kingdom of God; the Kingdom is God's. ... We can frustrate it and hinder it; ... we can make a situation in the world where it is given opportunity to come more fully ... more speedily. But behind all things is God and the power and will of God."
The Kingdom is fully present, for God is fully with and among us. However, the evidence and experience of God is what needs to come, to grow.
Barclay clarifies our part in the coming of the divine Kingdom. We do not make it come, we can only be and act in ways to create an atmosphere where God is more wholly known and experienced, and the divine will more adhered to for the common good.
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1) Ultimately, the prayer for the coming of the Kingdom is our commitment to belong fully to God and join with God in God manifesting His Presence and Love in the world for the common good.
a. King Frederick William IV of Prussia (1795-1861) is remembered to have visited a school to speak to the students. Holding up a stone, he asked, "To what kingdom does this belong?" They replied: "Mineral." He pointed, next, to a flower, asking, "To what kingdom does this belong?" They answered: "Plant." He pointed to a bird flying by outside the window. He inquired, "To what Kingdom does that belong?" They said: "Animal." Then, he asked: "Now, to what kingdom do I belong?"
b. What some have referred to as True Christianity, not simply the political-organizational "christianity" is our means to join in the coming of the divine Kingdom.
"True Christianity is the regeneration of mankind and the world in the spirit of Christ, the transformation of the kingdom of this world into the Kingdom of God, which is not of this world. This regeneration is a long and complex process. It cannot be simply a natural process or one that happens by itself, unconsciously. It is a spiritual process, and it is necessary that humanity participate in it by means of a man's own faculties and mental forces...."
*Vladimir Soloviev (1853-1900). "True Christianity."
2) We, principally, invite other persons into the Kingdom by remembering they seek God, not our churches, our beliefs, our rituals, our customs, our morals, or our religion.
Ultimately, how do we as Christian communities assist in the coming of the Kingdom in the lives of persons?
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) said, in "My Conversion," "When I entered the Church I came seeking God, the living God, and not just 'the consolations of religion.'"
People seek the divine Presence, even when they do not know what they are seeking. We offer them a place and ways to experience God, not principally our church, beliefs, rituals, customs, morals, or religion.
3) Let us remember, then, that the Kingdom is a spiritual reality we share in and we cooperate with by creating an environment for its coming.
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We are left with the following questions...
How shall I participate in the Kingdom of God?
How shall I help others share in the Kingdom of God?
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*For submission of prayer requests, write to Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
*Original source of Thomas Merton quote unknown.
*Charitable contributions would be appreciated to assist Brian in the continuance of his work of ministry. For contributions, contact Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
*Brian's book of spiritual love poetry, An Ache for Union: Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major booksellers, or through the Cokesbury on-line store, at www.cokesbury.com .
*Brian K. Wilcox lives in Punta Gorda, FL, and Clearwater, FL, with his wife, step-son, and two beloved dogs. Brian has an independent writing, workshop, and retreat ministry focused on Christians living as spiritual disciples of Jesus Christ in everyday life. He serves the Christ Community United Methodist Church, Punta Gorda, FL. Brian is vowed at Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in South Georgia. He lives a vowed, contemplative life and inspires others to experience a more intimate relationship with God-in-Christ. Brian advocates for a spiritually-focused, experiential Christianity and renewal of the focus of the Church on addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons.
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