Thy Kingdom Come...

Intro

One trick we pastors like to use to sound smart is bringing up Greek

Give some funny examples

I need to admit… I HATED Greek in my undergrad studies

Share about frustration; throwing textbook against the wall; cramming and nailing my final

One requirement was to memorize the Lord’s prayer in Greek… which I can no longer do!

It was a powerful project, even if Greek still was not the original language of Jesus (Aramaic)

Wait! He didn’t pray in King James English?!

No, but many of us have memorized the Lord’s Prayer in the KJV

We memorize and recite this prayer because Jesus tells His disciples, “Pray then like this”

Not a bad idea to recite word for word; but Jesus was more interested in teaching the heart of prayer than strict words of prayer

With this in mind, let us recite the Lord’s Prayer together:

Acknowledge the words on screen (in the ESV)

Pray

What does this have to do with our new sermon series on the afterlife?

Serve as a bridge from where we have been to where we are going

A great reminder of the importance of living in the upside-down kingdom of heaven

A way to look ahead at what the kingdom of heaven means for us eternally

It also serves as a way to ground us firmly in the large priorities of heaven that are bigger than each of us individually

We do the Bible a disservice if we only approach the topics of heaven and hell as where we may go after we die

The Lord’s Prayer teaches that there is a deep longing for God to bring the kindgom of heaven to earth NOW

And as citizens of this kingdom and disciples of Jesus, we must play a part

Our focus this morning will be on the first 2 verses (9 and 10)

These verses give us grounding in the nature of the person we are called to pray to, and the priorities we are to pray for

Hopefully by the end, we will see the difference it makes today, extending to forever

The Person

God is our Father

He is personal and present

It is one thing for Jesus to call God “Father” as His one and only Son

But here Jesus trains His disciples to call God “Father”

We are invited into this personal relationship with God

Cf. Romans 8:15.

Abba = Daddy

Can’t believe how fast my kids are growing… at least I am still “Daddy” and not just “Dad”

Knowing God as our Father means He is present in a very real way

Share about wanting to make sure my kids knew I was around to comfort them when Karen was gone

We have many imperfect examples of fatherhood; but God is perfect, personal and present with us

What an important foundation to begin with

He is also separate in heaven

This gives us some tension; while God is certainly present, we know that He is not present in the same way that others are

Jesus describes in this prayer (and other places) that God is in “heaven”

The Greek word for heaven *see what I’m doing here?* refers to the portion of creation distinct from the earth

It can mean the sky, the place where stars exist, and also the transcendent realm where God dwells

Jesus is clear in the prayer: Our Father is in heaven, at this present time

Heaven, in the Bible, is not a future destiny but the other, hidden, dimension of our ordinary life - God’s dimension, if you like. (N.T. Wright)

Revelation is important; it “reveals” what is truly real; what is going on right now

Cf. Revelation 4:2-11.

This worship continuous worship of God is happening right now! Heaven is real, and it is much more than just a future destination

God is our King

He is sovereign

It is His kingdom and His will that Jesus prays to be done; God rules over all

Jesus gives us the Lord’s Prayer, but it is also steeped in His knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures

Look at this prayer of David in 1 Chronicles 29:10-13.

Notice the similar language to the Lord’s Prayer?

God is our king; His is the greatness and power and glory and victory and majesty; He is exalted as head above all

We encounter another source of tension:

God is both the transcendant king and our heavenly Father

He is both present and separate

He is both personal and transcendent

If we veer to far off in either direction at the expense of the other, we lose our firm foundation in who God has revealed Himself to be

He is our father and our king, and our understanding of what happens beyond death must be about Him

The Priorities

Hallowed be your name

“Hallowed” is an old English term that means to make or treat something holy

We still use it because there really isn’t another word that means the same thing

God is already holy; the first priority as explained by Jesus is to continue to give God glory and worship and holiness that He deserves

Name = The character and essence of who God is (not just lip service)

Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes that our obedience to God gives Him glory and points others to Him

Cf. Matthew 5:14-16.

Share about Silas asking what a city on a hill would be like

This is how it looks to live with the priorities of the Lord’s Prayer; to have our good works glorify God and show others God’s holiness (hallowed be thy name)

Your will be done (on earth as it is in heaven)

Two aspects to God’s will

His decreed will (He is King, remember)

His desired will (that still requires obedience in our free will)

In heaven, God’s desired will is perfectly carried out

His decreed will and desired will are complete and one and the same

On earth, our lack of obedience means God’s desired will is not always followed

Which is why we have evil; why we fall prey to addictions; why spouses are unfaithful in marriage; why human trafficking persists

God desires none of these things; Jesus prays that more and more His desired will would be reflected and carried out on earth

Living in obedience is the main way in which we are called to give God glory (hallowed be thy name) and invite His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven

Your kingdom come

What kingdom is Jesus referring to? The upside-down kingdom of heaven we learned about this summer

“Kingdom” isn’t so much about a place as it is about God’s rule, reign and will

Jesus established the kingdom of heaven at His first coming; it is here!

We learned a lot about the nature of this kingdom

It is where the hungry are satisfied, enemies are loved, treasure is invisible, small things are made big, suffering leads to glory, you save your life when you lose it, the first will be last and the humble are exalted

When we think about heaven, we must begin with the priority of cooperating with the work of God to build the kingdom that Jesus established

But heaven in the New Testament is more than just a reward. It is a vision for how to live today. Christ begged his Father, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” He asks that the lives of his disciples in church community might even now be an experimental outpost of heaven, a foreign colony of the future realm, lived out within enemy territory. (Layton Friesen)

Continue on “outpost” theme, sharing times cheering for the Bombers in Calgary

On a much, much, much more important scale; we can be an outpost on the kingdom of heaven in a world that thinks much differently

We have been given the opportunity to literally bring some of heaven to earth

Even as we ground ourselves in the present reality of heaven and our call to bring it to earth, we realize that there is certainly a future fulfillment we are waiting for

Jesus ushered in the kingdom at His first coming; it will be completed at His second coming (more on this in a few weeks)

So yes, we are looking to the future… just not at the expense of the present

Until Jesus returns or calls us to be with Him, we are to pray for His kingdom to come, and be an answer to that prayer

Conclusion

Show “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)” by Matt Maher to conclude