What is the kingdom of God?
At the start of his ministry Jesus announces: “The kingdom of heaven is near!” (Matthew 4:17).[1] Later Jesus even says the kingdom “is in your midst” (Luke 17:21). But I want to know: “If the kingdom is near, why can’t we see it?” In order to understand this question we need to go back a step and first ask: “What do we mean when we pray for God’s kingdom to come. And what is the kingdom of God?”
It might sound obvious, but a kingdom has a king who reigns. We tend to think of a spatial kingdom, but the New Testament writers thought about the reign of the king. The good Father we heard about last week reigns over creation. His reign is the kingdom of God. However creation has been corrupted. There is another prince trying to take power — the devil. The kingdom of the devil is at odds with the kingdom of God.
Our Old Testament reading announces the good news: “Your God reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7). The good news is that there is shalom (peace, wholeness, safety, satisfaction, health, affection) and yeshuah (salvation, deliverance, rescue, victory). I’ve heard it said that the kingdom of God is when “justice and peace kiss each other.”
This reminds me of the Disney movie The Lion King. Mufasa is a good king. When he reigns, everything is working properly, the “circle of life” is functioning as it should, there is shalom and yeshuah, peace and safety, health and wholeness. But Mufasa is murdered by his evil brother Scar. When Scar sits on the throne the land deteriorates — there is famine, hardship, darkness, and death.
The Lion King is a Disney movie, so it tends to oversimplify: good and evil are black and white, separate domains. In reality there is grey — the kingdom of God is intermingled with the kingdom of the devil. The kingdom of God is hidden.
1. The kingdom comes to you
This answers our first question: “If the kingdom of God is near, why can’t we see it?” It’s near and in our midst, but it’s hidden. We can’t always see it. Very often when Jesus speaks about the kingdom, he uses parables or word pictures about things which are hidden. Plants grow hidden amongst weeds. The kingdom is like treasure hidden in a field. Or like a merchant looking for fine pearls (Matthew 13).
Take for example Jesus hanging on the cross. When we look with human eyes we see a man beaten and bloodied with thorns wrapped around his head. We see an insurgent rebel mocked and stripped of his clothes, tried and sentenced to capital punishment — death on a cross. We see a pathetic and fragile human body hanging from a tree. But if we look deeper, if we look with eyes of faith, we see a king wearing a crown, reigning on his throne. We see a victorious conqueror securing the safety of his kingdom, rescuing his people. We see God himself dying in your place. We see the kingdom of God breaking into the world.
So when we pray “Your kingdom come” we are asking God to give us eyes to see the hidden kingdom here and now. As Martin Luther says in his Small Catechism: “God’s kingdom comes on its own without our prayer, but we ask in this prayer that it may also come to us.” “Your kingdom come” is a plea that God’s kingdom may come to you. You need God to open your eyes so that you can see his hidden kingdom. Have you ever thought about the fact that you are earth? You are a pile of earth, a handful of dirt, into which God breathed life. When you pray “Your kingdom come on earth as in heaven” you are asking for God’s kingdom to come to this earth, to this pile of dirt — to you.
So how does God’s kingdom come to you? God uses Word and sacrament (baptism and Holy Communion). When you hear Scripture, when you listen to sermons, when you study the Word of God at home — the kingdom of God comes to you. When you enact God’s Word in baptism, when you receive the bread and wine which is the body and blood of Jesus — the kingdom comes to you. When you hear the words of the absolution, “Your sins are forgiven” — the kingdom comes to you.
2. The kingdom comes through you
But God’s not finished when the kingdom comes to you. He’s just getting started! This is when he begins to transform you into his kingdom-bearer. You bear, or carry, the kingdom of God out into the world. The kingdom comes through you. So praying “Your kingdom come” is dangerous because you’re asking God to enlist you as his kingdom-bearer!
God’s kingdom comes in two different ways. This is sometimes called “the two kingdoms” or “God’s two hands.” Like two hands working together in tandem to read a book, God operates in two different ways which co-operate and reinforce each other.
a) Right-hand (redemption). On the one hand, God works when he speaks. Here God speaks through preachers and his written Word. God speaks the law, leading people to despair of their own ability to be right with him. Then the good news is announced — Jesus has died and been raised to make you right with God, for free! This right-hand kingdom comes when people hear the good news and believe that Jesus reigns as king. When eyes are opened to see that the man hanging on the cross is the Son of God who died for them. So praying “Your kingdom come” is dangerous. It means you’re asking God for his Word to reach ears. You’re asking him to help you invite someone to church. It means forgiving someone who has wronged you. It means telling your friends what Jesus has done for you, and what he wants to do for them. It means passing on the faith to your children and grandchildren. Are you ready for God to use you in this way? Are you ready to pray “Your kingdom come”?
b) Left-hand (care). On the other hand, God works through worldly governments and authorities, through politicians and citizens. Praying “Your kingdom come” in this left-hand realm means fighting for the rights of the downtrodden (e.g. refugees), lobbying government to prevent abortion, making a stand against domestic violence, caring for the environment. Praying “Your Kingdom come” means you’ll pray for and write to your politicians. It means donating goods to reputable charities, and volunteering. It means recycling, reducing, reusing. Sound dangerous yet?!
The kingdom is revealed
But one question still remains: “If the Kingdom is near and in our midst, why is there still injustice?” Why is there still hunger? War? Oppression? Evil? Where’s the shalom and yeshuah, the peace and salvation?
Author Tom Wright provides a wonderful analogy. He says: Jesus is the discoverer of penicillin, we are the doctors. Jesus is the conductor, we the orchestra.[2] God is still in the process of working through us to bring his kingdom near. As kingdom-bearers we are called to play God’s symphony throughout the world, to sing loudly and let his song be heard everywhere on earth.
How will you be a kingdom-bearer this week? I wonder what you will do that God will use to make his kingdom come? Will you forgive someone? Invite a friend to church next week? Tell someone a story about Jesus? Fight for the poor or downtrodden? Save the planet one plastic bag at a time?
Our Father, may your kingdom come. Amen!
[1] Matthew uses the phrase “Kingdom of heaven” whereas others use “Kingdom of God.” It’s the same thing.
[2] Tom Wright, 1996. “The Lord and His Prayer.” SPCK, page 30.
