Your Kingdom Come.

Luke 11:2b

October 17, 2004

 

1.  “The Kingdom of God.”  What do you suppose “kingdom” meant to those disciples?   Probably nothing good!  They may have frowned--Israel’s kings should have reflected the nation’s dependence upon God, since they ruled in God’s name.  However, one by one, those kings turned away from God.  “Kingdom” had come to mean bad things—power-hungry folks who cared nothing about anyone but themselves; those who always wanted to be first.  Or, maybe the disciples had quizzical looks on their faces.  After all, hundreds of years had passed since the last time Israel had a king.  Maybe they didn’t even know what a “kingdom” was supposed to be.  Who knows what they thought!

 

2.  There obviously was some confusion about “kingdom” because Jesus spent much of his time teaching about it.    He meant that perfect order of things which he was about to establish—God’s rule!  But even that wasn’t easy to understand.  So he used sayings and parables and similes and allegories to describe this “perfect order, people in power who were dedicated to God; all of the people intimately united with God.”  But what did he mean by that term?  What is “God’s kingdom”?

 

3.   So what’s our “first clue?”  What can we find in Luke?  The very first clue was only that--a hint of things to come.  It came from the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah that Jesus read to his home congregation.  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.  The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”  And sure enough, it wasn’t long before he made those words real.  “Blessed are you poor,” he said, “favored, privileged, fortunate,” he said, “are you who don’t have anything, because God’s ruling is in your favor.”   Who are these “poor” who have caught God’s eye?  We so often associate the word “poor” with those who don’t have the material goods they need, but the word Jesus used means more than that.  At its root, it means “to be frightened, to cower down, to hide in fear.”  That brings to my mind an image of someone sitting on the sidewalk, hat pulled down to hide any facial features, shabby clothes, a tin cup held out for nickels and dimes.  “You’re the privileged ones,” Jesus, said, “you who are, cowered down, hidden in fear.  You are the ones God notices.”  That’s our first clue--Anyone relegated to the shadows is part of this perfect order—“kingdom.”

 

4.  Is that all?  Are poor and frightened people the only ones?  No.  There are others.  Probably the biggest surprise of all was the day when Jesus was teaching, and some parents brought their children for him to touch and bless.  It must have seemed to them like the best thing to do.  But their simple request outraged the disciples.  In Luke’s words, “they sternly ordered those parents to take their kids away, don’t bother him.”  Jesus heard them.  He knew God’s perfect order.  And he knew children were among those who didn’t have what the needed and were frightened and often hid in fear.  So he said, “Bring them here!  Don’t stop them; for it is to people like them that the kingdom of God belongs.  I mean it, fellas, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it” (Luke 18:15-17).  So the “little people” made up the kingdom of God, little in prestige and influence, and little in size. 

 

5.  So far, we know God’s realm in those days was made up of the people who were frightened and had to depend on others for what they needed.  There were not many of them, apparently, but this little group grew and grew until it was much larger.   And what happened?  They made a difference!  Little by little, those who had to hide came out into the sunlight.  Children could show their faces; women started being treated as real people rather than property to be bought and sold; outcasts and sinners were no longer shunned—Jesus and his disciples included them all.  This was good news! 

 

6.  And it would grow!  Jesus said this kingdom, this realm, is like a mustard seed, the tiniest of all seeds (they obviously didn’t have poppy seeds in that area–poppy seed are much smaller than mustard seeds).  Seeds of any size, once they are planted, begin to grow.  And they grow bigger and bigger until they make a difference!  The mustard plant provided a place for birds to build their nests.   This “kingdom of God” which was only getting started, would grow and grow and grow.

 

7.  There is a church in Washington D.C. started out small, but they’re not small any more.  It is called The Church of the Savior.  They took Jesus’ words literally, and began in the 50’s dedicated to the “kingdom of God.”  .  Rather than spending their money on buildings, they invest in people.   They’ve sub-divided into small groups who meet for study and worship in homes, and each group supports a group home for some category of “the poor.”  Only theirs isn’t a kingdom, it’s a “kin-dom of God.”  When I first heard it, I was in a group of people learning more about their way of being church.  I thought the poor lady had a speech problem--dropping her ‘Gs’ in the middle of the world.  She said it again and again, until she finally saw the puzzled looks on our faces and explained.  “Kingdom,” she said, “speaks of a hierarchy; a top-down model where the one at the top has it all and the ones at the bottom get crushed.  They feel frightened, they cower down, they hide in fear.”  We don’t want these people left out.  So we’ve renamed it--“kin-dom.” Here each person is a full brother or sister, and everyone cares about each other

 

8.  We have two “little sisters" about to join the kin-dom of God.   They fit the definition, don’t they?  Right now they depend on everyone to provide what they need—except perhaps Haley, who is two, and some things she can do all by herself, thank you.  By our act of baptism, they will be received into God’s kin-dom.  And we will be a little closer to helping God answer our Lord’s Prayer.