An Introduction to the Kingdom

Text: Sermon on the Mount (especially: , , )

Text: Sermon on the Mount , ,

So you get to hear two sermons tonight.

A few minutes ago you heard selected passages from Matthew chapter 5-7. Those three chapters record what has come to be known as the Sermon on the Mount. (We spend so much time looking at pieces of it that it’s good to hear longer portions all together.) As we focused on last Wednesday, the King has come. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. And now, in this sermon from your King, you are re-introduced to that kingdom. What does it look like to live as part of the Kingdom while you are still in this world?

You’ve heard that the truly blessed People of the Kingdom are not the rich, powerful, and successful, but the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the persecuted. People of the Kingdom are salt and light in the world, shining for all to see, giving glory to their Father in heaven through their good works.

The law and the prophets are not abolished in the Kingdom. Your King has come to fulfill them. In fact, in His Kingdom, the law demands far more. It’s not just murder that is forbidden, failing to love your neighbor, itself, is a sin against the 5th commandment and lust, itself, is a sin against the 6th. In His Kingdom, His People love their enemies and do good for those who hate them. They are perfect as their Father is perfect. And yet they don’t make a show of their righteousness. It’s not done for others to see and applaud. It’s done only to be seen by the One who sees even what happens in secret. That goes double for prayers and fasting. If they’re done to win the approval of others, then the person doing them has already received their reward. No, People of the Kingdom pray and fast regularly and diligently. But they do it only for the attention of their Heavenly Father. They are heard, not because of their many words, but because He has promised to hear and answer.

In that first sermon from our Lord, you were reintroduced to the Kingdom.

Far be it from me to add to the words of our Lord. So let me simply ask: Does that sound like us? Does this congregation— this little corner of the Kingdom of Heaven in this place at this time— look and sound like what Jesus describes?

Is it a place where you show no partiality to the rich? Do you value the meek and merciful rather than the proud and persuasive? Do you naturally show mercy? Do you strive for purity in heart and mind? Do you pray for and speak out for the persecuted? Are you preparing to endure persecution, yourselves?

Is that who we are?

Do you uphold the Law and the Prophets? Are you willing to uphold the full meaning, the full weight of what God’s Law requires—or are we eager to make exceptions, especially for those we know and claim to love?

Do you love even your enemies? Do you seek the welfare of those who hate you? Before you come to this altar, do you go running to try to resolve any dispute, any offense that might exist between you and a brother or sister in Christ?

Does that sound like us? That is who you were called to be in Jesus Christ. That is what the Kingdom of Heaven that He has gathered here in this place at this time should look like.

Except such a Kingdom seems too frail and weak to survive in this world. It seems like a dream, at best. Perhaps, like in the stories of King Arthur, men can create that sort of world in a certain place for a short time, until jealousy among them and evil outside of them tear apart what they’ve built. It’s a beautiful image, but is it strong enough to stand in this world? In fact, not only does that Kingdom seem too frail and impossible to survive in this world, it seems too weak and frail to survive here among us—among sinners like you and me.

It seems too frail and weak to survive, but it is founded upon Christ’s Words so no storm or trouble, no persecution or hardship or danger can shake it or cause God’s People to fear. And when we say that it is founded upon Christ’s words, we don’t mean that it’s founded upon His principles that you are have to “agree and activate” God’s Word in order to release its power into your life.” No. His Kingdom is not founded upon “Biblical principles.” It is founded upon His Word. It is founded upon the Word that says, “5 he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (, ESV). It was founded when that prophecy was fulfilled as Christ allowed Himself to be pierced by the crown of thorns, to be chastised by the whip, to be wounded with the nails that secured Him to the cross and the spear that proved His death. It was founded when He declared, from the cross, “It is finished.” It was founded when He sent His Kingdom out into the world, saying, “18 …All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (, ESV).

Brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow People of the Kingdom here at St. Paul, allow me to reintroduce you to yourselves. St. Paul Lutheran Church in Unionville, Michigan, was organized in 1876 when a constitution and bylaws were written and approved and it formally became a 501(c)(3), legally incorporated under the laws of the state of Michigan. But don’t let the institutional and legal facts obscure the spiritual reality: this is the Kingdom of Heaven, gathered in this place and time as Christ, Himself, calls and gathers people into His Kingdom at this font, around this altar, and from this pulpit.

He builds His Kingdom among you as you are baptized into His death and resurrection. He builds it here as He gives you the very body and blood that were given and shed on the cross for you. He builds it here as that Word continues to be read and taught and preached.

The Kingdom of Heaven seems too weak and frail to stand in this world. It seems too weak to stand against budget deficits and shrinking membership numbers. It seems too weak to endure our pettiness and our complaints and our arguments, all the ways that we sin against each other (sometimes deliberately and sometimes without even realizing it). And it most definitely seems too weak to stand against the persecution that Satan is mustering against God’s people day after day. But the reality is that it is this world that will not stand. It is this world that will not endure. It is this world that will pass away and be consumed in fire until all that is left is the Kingdom of Heaven. “2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’ 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 ‘As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill’” (, ESV), and He—your King, O People of the Kingdom!—shall reign forever and ever.

It is not the rich and the proud who have pride of place here among us. It is the meek. Because the King who came in weakness to save you and gather you into His Kingdom continues to come to you in weakness through the meek, the lowly, the powerless, the oppressed, promising: “Whatever you do for the least of these you have done for me.”

Show mercy. Because you have received mercy. Strive for purity in heart and mind because God has come to you here and has made you holy, He has “26 …cleansed [you] by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present [you] to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, …holy and without blemish” (, ESV). Pray for and speak out for the persecuted because they are your brothers and sisters in Christ—and yes, prepare to endure persecution, yourselves.

Uphold the Law and the prophets. Your King did not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Treasure His Law as it “sets His will before your eyes, showing you the way of righteousness,” (LSB #579, stz. 1) even as “its light of holiness imparts the knowledge of your sinful hearts that you may see your lost estate and turn from sin before too late” (LSB #579, stz. 2). Treasure it so that you may abound in works of love as “it shows [you] what deeds are His delight and should be done as good and right” (LSB #579, stz. 3).

Love your enemies. Seek the welfare of those who hate you. Because, while you were His enemies, your King died for you. Frankly, since He causes rain to fall upon both the just and the unjust, that is what children of your Heavenly Father do.

And how much more should you seek peace with everyone here. You are not simply fellow members of the same organization. You are brothers and sisters in Christ. You put up with a lot from your siblings because you all were born of the same mother. How much more unity should you have with others who have all been born again of the same baptismal font? Let there be no unresolved dispute, any unresolved offense between you and a brother or sister in Christ.

That is who you were called to be in Jesus Christ. St. Paul Lutheran Church is not simply a 501(c)(3) corporation. It is the Kingdom of Heaven gathered here in this place at this time. The head of this church is not Steve Stolarczyk or Paul Treiber or the Voters’ Assembly. The Head of the Church is your King, Jesus Christ. It was organized in 1876, but it was founded 2000 years ago. And yes, every day, the rains will fall and the floods will come. You will have to find the money for new roofs and you’ll have to balance budgets. The world around you will continue to beat against the walls of our confession of faith, but the Kingdom will not fall, for it has been founded upon the rock—you, fellow People of the Kingdom, have been founded upon the rock that is Jesus Christ.