Making God's Kingdom Here

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Every Sunday, we say it: “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done.” Now, if you’re anything like me, sometimes we just gloss over those words. Sometimes, it’s just another thing that’s said during worship. But, I invite all of us to take these words seriously not just today, but make them part of what you strive for every day. These words are part of how Jesus instructs us to pray. They are part of Jesus’ teaching from his Sermon on the Mount. Every Sunday, whether we realize it or not, we are not just asking God for God’s kingdom to come, we are saying that’s what we want-we want the realization of God’s kingdom here and now. In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus tells the Twelve disciples that “the kingdom of God is has come near.” Without getting too much into detail, I do think it’s worth pointing out the language being used here. Jesus doesn’t tell his disciples that the kingdom of God will come or that it is on its way. No, the writer of the Gospel of Matthew uses the perfect tense, meaning something has been completed. “The kingdom of God HAS come near.”
So, what does Jesus instruct the disciples to do as they go out to proclaim the good news of that kingdom to the lost sheep? They are instructed to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I have never encountered a leper or had the opportunity to participate in an exorcism, let alone raise the dead. But the disciples have seen Jesus do these things, time and time again. Jesus is saying, look, I’ve shown you what to do - I’ve shown you how to take care of God’s children, now Go and Do it!
Like I said before, I’m not sure I’ll ever encounter a leper or have a chance to cast out a demon, but our beautifully broken world is full of ways to be like Jesus - to make God’s kingdom here and now. When Jesus instructs his disciples during the Sermon on the Mount on how to pray, he precedes it by showing them what the kingdom of God is like: it’s full of peacemakers, full of those who love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. God’s kingdom is full of those who thirst for righteousness, of those who are merciful, and of those who are poor in spirit.
This is the precedent that Jesus has set before the disciples, and before us. Some of us, like my mom and stepdad, work hard in curing the sick, and I’m so thankful that their calling is to take on the task of caring for the health of God’s children. But I am not called to be a nurse or a doctor, nor are many of you, but you are as fully equipped and capable of being agents of good for the kingdom.
Friends, being salt and light in the world is our calling, that’s how we act out our petition of “Thy Kingdom Come” If you truly wish for God’s kingdom and will to be here and now, as Gandhi would say, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” So if you want God’s kingdom here and now, be that change to make our world into God’s kingdom.
Growing up, I listened to Garth Brooks religiously. I would sing the song“Rodeo” at the top of my lungs while I still small enough to be in a car seat. I honestly cannot overstate my love for Garth Brooks. I remember being in elementary school and playing his “Hits” album over and over in my CD player - and I’m sure a lot of you know most of those songs. But there was one song that caught my attention from the start; it’s called “We Shall Be Free.” In this song, Garth speaks of what it will look like when we all are free - when children don’t cry from hunger any longer, when we can love anyone we choose, when the poorest have shelter, when the skies and the oceans are clean again. In retrospect, I think I know why that song stuck out to me so much; that’s what God’s Kingdom looks like. That’s what I mean when I say “Thy Kingdom Come.” We shall be free then. But what role do we play in the bringing of that freedom?
Ms. Ella Baker is a name most of you have never heard of. She was as integral, if not more, to the Civil Rights Movement as Dr. King. Ms. Baker was CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee. Ms. Baker didn’t like the spotlight, but the Movement would not have been anywhere near as successful if not for her. Ms. Baker understood what role we play in making freedom happen, in making the realization of God’s kingdom happen. I say to you what she said to those fighting for Civil Rights - “We who believe in freedom cannot rest.”
Now this may seen like a daunting, even overwhelming task; but as Jesus tells his disciples to do, I’m here to tell you the Good News and that is: because of God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, we are empowered to do so. Paul tells the church in Rome that by faith, we have obtained access to God’s grace and are justified. Now, in the Lutheran church, we often speak of justification, but maybe miss the full extent of what it truly means to be justified by grace through faith.
Y’all, there isn’t anything that we have done to obtain this justification, this grace, this faith. This is purely a gift from God. A few of weeks ago, we read in the Fourth Gospel about when Jesus tells his followers that if they love him, he will give them another comforter, advocate, helper. The Greek word for this is the παρακλετος, meaning the one called to one’s side. That is the Holy Spirit, which Paul assures us has been given to us and through whom love has been poured into our hearts. The Spirit of God, the paraclete, is with us always, Jesus promises us and Paul affirms.
So just like the disciples were empowered by Jesus to go out and cure the sick, cleanse the lepers, and raise the dead, so too are we empowered to be the body of Christ in the world, through which we can effect positive change. As we all see in our own backyards as well as around the world, God’s children and God’s creation needs our intervention. Sure you will probably face resistance, externally or internally. You might wonder to yourself, am I really courageous enough to interact with people experiencing homelessness or are we strong enough to fight for the protection of natural resources?
When I was in high school, I went on a mission trip to Atlanta with St. John’s LCY. Our main mission was to do sidewalk Sunday School in project homes during the day and at night, we would feed and talk to people experiencing homelessness. As a 16-year-old, that was quite outside my comfort zone. I remember crawling underneath a chain-link fence one night, having no idea what was in store for us. It wasn’t just some of the teenagers that were a bit timid to venture into the unknown, I remember Martha Sigmon being quite hesitant too. During that week, we met God’s children where they were, behind chain-link fences, underneath interstate overpasses, in hovels in the woods near a train track, sleeping on the steps of buildings. Here’s the amazing thing, though, y’all, while we were interacting with these people, I wasn’t afraid at all; none of us were. Now without Christ, was I equipped to go into that situation and make a difference? Likely not. However, because of the presence of the Holy Spirit and being a part of that microcosm of the body of Christ, we were not only able to minister to and be ministered by these people, but we made a real connection to God’s children, people with infinite worth, who our society views as less than. Y’all, I’m here to tell you that Christ’s grace, love, and mercy covers all of us wholly and equally.
So, I implore all of us to take on the calling of Jesus, that filled with love and the Holy Spirit, we are freed by grace to be the hands, feet, arms- the body of Christ. We are called and empowered by God to spread the Gospel and to share the love of Christ in service to all. So, the next time you pray “Thy Kingdom Come,” understand that you all, through the power and commissioning of Christ, are the agents through which God’s kingdom can be here and now.
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