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I am GLAD that Dan Jansen finally won a medal. After so
many tries, on his last ever attempt, he came through. Strange,
isn't it - here is a man who is recognized in speed skating as
the best sprinter in the world, but just because he had never won
an Olympic medal, people asked, "What's wrong with Dan?"
Just three weeks ago, the winningest team in professional
football in the decade of the `90's, the Buffalo Bills, appeared
AGAIN in the Super Bowl - fourth straight time - no other team
has ever accomplished that. But we all know that those four
straight Super Bowls have resulted in four straight losses, so
the football fans ask, "What's wrong with the Bills?"
Of course, there was nothing particularly WRONG with Dan
Jansen prior to Friday nor is anything particularly WRONG with
the Bills, but when our heroes are not on top, if they are not
displaying the kind of near perfection that we expect from
professional athletes, the questions come - "What's wrong?
What's wrong? What's wrong?" You see, we sports fans have some
vision of speed skating's or football's or any sport's ideal in
light of which our favorites regularly leave room for
improvement.
To be sure, those same questions about what is wrong arise
from us in matters much more serious. We see a young mother in
the prime of life attacked and murdered by some drug-crazed
maniac and ask, "What's wrong with our society today?" We see a
little child run down and killed by a drunken driver who ends up
getting just a judicial slap on the wrist and ask, "What's wrong
with our legal system?" We see thousands of people in Sarajevo
being bombed daily and ask not only "What's wrong with those
Serbs?" but "What's wrong with OUR government for doing so little
to stop it?" Who knows how many billions of dollars are spent
each year with psychiatrists and psychologists by individuals
trying to find out "What's wrong? What's wrong? What's WRONG?"
There is something constant within us which realizes that
things are not as good as they could be, whether it regards our
favorite sport stars or teams or anything else. We are haunted
by a dream of a much better state of affairs than now exists. We
continue to ask "What's wrong?" because we have an inner vision
of what is RIGHT.
Of course, there is a Christian answer to the question of
"What's wrong?"... with individuals, with our legal system, with
government. What is wrong is SIN, in all its forms...separation
from God. This world chooses to go its own way and the result is
one WRONG after another. We know that ought not to be, so
Christians pray for a change; we pray, "Thy kingdom come."
True, we rarely think much about those three words, and when
we do, they are often misunderstood. To pray "Thy kingdom come"
does not ask for an end to history or for heaven to suddenly
replace this earth. The kingdom of God is anywhere God is king,
anywhere God's will is done, anywhere God is truly in charge.
This is not a prayer for pie-in-the-sky. In fact, it is a plea
for pie in the here-and-now, pie not just for us but for
everyone. That means that, properly understood, this is a prayer
that many might rather avoid. As one commentator has noted,
What will God's "kingdom" look like? Not like any of the
kingdoms we see in our day. Jesus tried to paint us a picture.
More than a hundred times in the Gospels we read of Him saying
"the kingdom of God is like THIS" or "the kingdom of heaven is
like THAT," and those descriptions show something vastly
different from any government or nation or empire this world has
ever seen.
Some differences come to mind immediately. For example, in
an earthly kingdom, rank is determined by who happens to be the
most powerful - the princes and nobles are the most wealthy and
strong. But, according to Jesus, in God's kingdom rank is
determined, not by how powerful you are, but by how much of a
servant you are. Jesus said the kingdom belongs to the "poor in
spirit" (those who are humble enough to understand how destitute
they are in the sight of a righteous God). He said that the
kingdom belongs to those who are "persecuted for righteousness'
sake" (those who are willing to make any sacrifice required to
make this a just world). He said that only those with a
childlike attitude, one of faith and trust, are able to be a part
of it. God's kingdom is different.
Earthly kingdoms have their boundaries carefully charted on
a map, and the result has been one debacle after another - the
tragedy in what used to be Yugoslavia, Iraq stealing a slice of
Kuwait, Hitler wanting anything he could grab - wars and rumors
of wars over territory that have turned the pages of history into
a bloody mess. But Jesus described God's kingdom as a great
banquet with folks coming from North and South, East and West.
This kingdom is universal with no boundaries at all. God's
kingdom is different.
Earthly kingdoms are very careful about who is acceptable as
a member of society. But Jesus described God's kingdom as a
large tree in a garden with branches so extensive that all sorts
of birds will be able to nest in it. THIS kingdom is open to all
who, by faith, would become a part of it. First-class
citizenship is graciously offered to anyone who wants it. God's
kingdom is different.
The writer of our lesson in Revelation understood that.
John lived in a time of vicious persecution. To make a public
profession of faith in Jesus Christ put one in danger of, at the
least, becoming a social and commercial leper or, at worst, being
legally murdered as an enemy of the Roman empire. John himself
was on the prison island of Patmos as he wrote. In the poetic
language of Revelation that we call "apocalyptic" he pictured the
awful conditions as they existed in his day and was convinced
they were God's judgment upon a world gone wrong.
John described the devastation of the forces of nature run
amok; he noted the moral rot and decay that turn humans into
monsters and destroy a society from within; he saw the disastrous
results of violent conflict. But with eyes of faith, John gazed
into the future and saw a better day. With ears attuned to the
music of heaven he heard the song, "The kingdom of the world has
become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah [the Christ]."
In his own way, John prayed, "Thy kingdom come" at the very end
of Revelation. Just before the benediction, he prayed simply,
"Come, Lord Jesus."
There is no question that it would be easy to repeat, "Thy
kingdom come" when we pray and understand the phrase simply as a
heart-felt hope for the future with no implications for our lives
in the here and now. But that would be wrong. As we have noted
in our previous studies of the petitions of the Lord's Prayer,
these words address US as well as our heavenly Father.
"Thy kingdom come." There is an element of confession here.
We are admitting that God's rule is not complete in this world
yet. We are asking for a major change on this earth...an end to
war, an end to poverty, an end to oppression, an end to evil of
every sort and the beginning of a new social order that would see
this world made good again as God intended. But that means that
our prayer is a personal challenge. By praying, "Thy kingdom
come" we make our own promise that, as God gives us the vision,
we are willing to cooperate and do our own part in making God's
rule a reality. With this prayer we are committing ourselves to
stop shaking our heads or shrugging our shoulders saying the task
is too great. We make a commitment to work to make this a world
in which all God's creation will be treated with dignity, with
fairness and with justice.
That is not always easy. It is not unusual to be at risk
when bringing attention to things that are not as they ought to
be and calling out for change. But to fail to take the risk and
to keep quiet is to make our prayer simply words that are devoid
of real meaning.
Are you familiar with the name Martin Niemöller? Martin
Niemöller was a Lutheran pastor in Germany during the rise of the
Nazis. He was an intensely patriotic man. He had served as a U-boat captain during World War I. In the early days of Hitler's
accession to power, he organized the Academic Defense Corps, an
armed student organization. But eventually Martin came to see
Hitler's true colors, spoke out in opposition and was seized by
the Gestapo in 1937. The next seven years he spent in
Concentration Camps. After the war, he reflected on the tragic
events and repented of not raising his voice sooner. Speaking
for all those who could and should have done more, he said,
The kingdom of God, that vision of perfection we have in our
hearts, IS coming. Actually, it has already arrived...in Jesus,
the first one in history to walk this earth with both thought and
action in total harmony with the will of God. And to make sure
that no one could miss the arrival of the kingdom in Jesus, God
validated Jesus' life and work by fulfilling for the first time
the ultimate hope of people of faith, the hope of victory over
death. Yes, the kingdom of God arrived with Jesus, and God
showed it for any who wanted to see on Easter morning.
But in another sense, the kingdom has not yet arrived. We
know that all too well when we turn on a newscast or pick up a
paper or even look in a mirror. The coming of Jesus did NOT mark
the end of disobedience; it did not mark the end of sin; it did
not mark the end of physical death; it did not mark the day when
justice would roll down like waters and righteousness like a
mighty stream. There is still so much WRONG in this world. Yes,
Jesus brought in the kingdom, but He told us to pray for the
eventual consummation. He told us to pray, "THY KINGDOM COME."
Someone has written that this prayer is not for the well-meaning, but for the desperate...those who over and over ask
"What's WRONG?" - not just with the Buffalo Bills, but "What's
wrong with this world?" - and are urgently anxious to see things
made right. This is the prayer of people who are not content
with things as they are, folks who do not want things to stay the
same. Is it YOUR prayer? "Lord, bring in YOUR KINGDOM, YOUR
RULE, YOUR REIGN, and bring it in through ME." COME, LORD JESUS!
Amen!
1. Albert Curry Winn, A Christian Primer, (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1990), pp. 41-42 2. Quoted by Jack Rogers, Presbyterian Creeds, (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1985), p. 196 3. James 4:17
`Hallowed be Thy name' is a bit abstract. `Thy kingdom
come' is a bit concrete. In fact it may be entirely
too concrete for some of us. If you feel that religion
should have nothing to do with politics, I advise you
to stay away from this petition. `Kingdom' is an
incurably political word. When we pray `Thy kingdom
come,' we are not praying to be taken out of the
political order into some heavenly sphere where no
decisions have to be made about how power and money and
services ought to be distributed among people. We are
praying that God's sovereignty may come to earth and
become effective in the political realm and for the
political questions that plague us and at times divide
us.(1)
We are saying, "O God, be as involved as possible in human
affairs so that the day will come when the whole universe will
acknowledge you as Lord of all."
In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I
didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then
they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I
wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Trade Unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Trade Union-
ist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't
speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came
for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.(2)
Yes, there are risks in speaking up, but there are also
risks in keeping quiet. I believe in a day of judgment; the
Bible is clear that it will come. And I believe that we will
answer, not only for what we have done, but what we have failed
to do. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who knows the right thing
to do and fails to do it, commits sin."(3)
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