The Present Reign of God’s Kingdom

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

For our time so far throughout this sermon series, “What does this mean?” we have spent time in the Old Testament with familiar faces in the Old Testament and we heard how God was faithful to them despite their hardships, struggles, and challenges. They were all given promises of God and it says in Hebrews 11 - that these people of faith, clung to and believed in the promise even when the results weren’t evident or before them. Today, all three of our readings are from the book of Matthew which is the first book of the New Testament - where we finally get to hear about the work and person of Jesus - the great fulfiller of God’s promises for us. Now many people today, have many different titles for Jesus. Some call Him Lord, others call Him Savior, some call Him friend, but Jesus also was a great teacher. Some of the readings come from His most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount - where in Matthew from Matthew chapter 5 - Matthew chapter 7 Jesus gives this powerful about what discipleship, what the Kingdom of God is like and what living as a part of that Kingdom looks like. In our reading from Chapter 7 of Matthew, Jesus is wrapping up the many words He spoke throughout the Sermon on the Mount - but it is in this reading that we hear clearly His teaching again. For us today, who have been brought in and made a part of His Kingdom, may we have the eyes to see, the faith to trust, and the hands to do.

Have you had a moment in your life, where you in a rush ready to leave the house, you are running off to do errands or go to work - and it strikes you that you can’t find your keys. You quickly scan the place where you normally have them, but they aren’t there. You go and search the kitchen counter to see if you placed them there as you getting things ready to go, but they aren’t there. You go and look at all the places that your children or grandchildren normal put things when they run off with your things, and they aren’t there either. You even check the obvious spot - your pockets, but no they aren’t there either. And in response you begin to panic. It’s the only set of keys you have - there are no extras, there is no one to call to help you start your car. So you being to tear the whole house apart, you begin to look high and low, here and there, and you just can’t find them. You begin to feel discouraged, and you pull out your phone ready to cancel all the plans that you had made, and you check the hook where you normal hang them up and suddenly you see them there - they were just covered by that fall jacket that you pulled out on the coat closet. It was always there -right in front of you the whole time. May us people of part of God’s Kingdom, may we have the eyes to see. Jesus starts our reading by saying, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to one who knocks it will be opened.” I think when we hear this passage - we assume that we have run here and there seek the Kingdom of God and His blessings. People search all over trying to seek God and find His peace and assurances He gives. But Jesus is the bestower of God’s gifts. He is One through whom we receive all the promises and blessings of God. We don’t have to run all over searching far and wide, but we simply look to the cross - where through the work of Jesus we are made a people of God’s own possession. May we have eyes to see the love of God for us through Jesus. May we have the eyes to see the grace given to us through Calvary. You don’t have to go searching all over the place to find the love of God for you - in fact He has made it known to you through His Son.

So may we have the eyes to see, but also the faith to trust. Jesus in this sermon gives a very tough teaching to hear, He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say, “Lord, Lord did we prophecy in your name, and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in you name?” And Jesus response to them will be - “I never knew you.” This is so different from the way most Kingdoms work, most things work in our society and in our lives. We typically earn the things that we receive. We typically earn status or achievement through our works. Think about your Resumes. You attempt to put all your accomplishments and experiences on paper hoping that someone will notice all of your hard-work and successes that you have done. You list all the different degrees you earned through years of study. You put all these things on paper hoping to be selected to get the job or recognition. But this isn’t how it works in the Kingdom of God. These people references, they talk about all these great things that they accomplished in the name of Jesus. They are good things! Like prophesying or casting out demons, healing people, these are some great things to do! But through our work is not how we receive entrance into God’s Kingdom. May we have the eyes to see, the faith to trust. These people that Jesus lists are not far gone, because they did bad things, but it is because they lack the one thing necessary faith in the work of Jesus. May we look to Jesus knowing and trusting He has done all the work for us! May we look to the cross knowing that He gives us the victory. May we lay all of our accomplishments to the side, claiming Jesus only and the work accomplished for us!

May we have the eyes to see, faith to trust, and hands to do. Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount with a familiar parable of two builders. Jesus says, those who hear the Word of God and do them - will be like a man who built His house on the Rock. It is stable and sturdy and rains and floods will not cause it to fall. But the foolish builder Jesus says is like the man who builds his house on sand - that person is a person who hears the Word of God and does not do them. And when the winds and rains come - the house of the foolish man begins to crumble. Jesus ends this sermon will the call to hear the Word of God and do it in our lives. How many of love the show Jeopardy? Or how many of you love a good game of trivia? Jeopardy and Trivia are fun because it pulls obscure facts - that the rare person knows - and sees how much you can remember or how well you can guess. Trivia or Jeopardy questions are hard and challenging because the answers or the facts they ask about are so disconnected from everyday life. Many questions you don’t know because - you don’t interact or deal with that subject matter on daily basis. Trivia questions and answers are disconnected from the rest of our lives. May we have the hands to do. Jesus has come to invite you as member of God’s Kingdom - you have been made an heir of the promise Paul says in the New Testament. Through through the work of Jesus - He has claimed you! If you are a member of Him - our lives should model and reflect the working of His Word in our lives. Our lives should look like people who belong to Jesus. The Word of God - doesn’t just stay tucked away like Trivia facts, but it is brought close to our hearts and outflows to our lives. MAYBE ADD SOME CONCRETE EXAMPLES HERE

You are loved and saved through the work of Jesus. May we have the eyes to see, the faith to trust, and the hands to do and live the Word of God in our lives.

Now may the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding, may it guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.