The Lord's Prayer: Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done - Matthew 6:7-13

There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.

An angel hears his plea and appears to him. "Sorry, but you can't take your wealth with you." The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules.

The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.

Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. St. Peter seeing the suitcase says, "Hold on, you can't bring that in here!"

But, the man explains to St. Peter that he has permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, St. Peter checks and comes back saying, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting it through."

St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, "You brought pavement?!!!"

We began by praying “Our Father,” and realizing that we come together as a community of faith, not as individuals, to worship a God who is not far off from us but is intimate enough with him that we can call him, “Daddy.”  Then we moved in our prayer with “who art in heaven,” realizing that though God was near to us, He is far above anything in this world, and as creator of the all that is, He is more powerful than anything in all of creation, nothing in all of creation can separate us from His love.  We also remembered that all who live and breathe were created by Him, knit together in their mother’s womb, and that we are called to love them as our neighbors.  That means we embrace them regardless of skin color, language spoken, religion practiced, political views, nationality, educational level, socioeconomic status, lifestyle chosen, or, even, immigration status.  Next we offered up, “hallowed be thy name.”  In praying this, we realized that God must be realized as holy, not just by our speech, but also by our actions, that as His children, folks can come to understand and see who God is by the way that we live our lives day in and day out.  We are called to be holy as God is holy…we are called to love because our God is Love.

This week, my brothers and sisters, we continue on by looking at the second and third request of the Lord’s prayer, “…thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

How many of you have ever heard the phrase, “Be careful what you ask for, you may get it.”   I often wondered about that phrase when I was younger.  How could getting what you asked for be something to be wary of?  But then the learning comes in.  Think of those kids who want a pet and promise to take care of it and be responsible for it, whether it be a cat, dog, fish, or even a bearded dragon.  Finally they get what they have been asking for, only then to realize how much work and effort it is going to take from them.  It is not just about children, though, who encounter something they thought they wanted.  Consider the adult who tries time and time again to get a promotion, and finally getting it, realizes that the pay increase did not even come close to the work load increase.  These are just a couple of examples, and I’m sure that we could go on and on, of ways that it is only after we’ve gotten what we’ve asked for that we realize we hadn’t thought through all the implications—kind of like the guy who wanted to take some of his wealth to heaven, only to find out that his gold bars were no more special than a brick in heaven.

My brothers and sisters, as we are following Christ and praying as He taught, we are praying that God’s Kingdom will come and that God’s Will will be done, here on earth, as it already happens in heaven.  This is part of the prayer, and we must offer it, but then we must realize what we are praying for and be willing to accept it.

What does the coming of God’s Kingdom entail?  We saw glimpses of this Kingdom when Christ came to us in the person of Jesus.  Every time that Jesus healed someone who was sick or hurt; every time he gave sight to the blind, every time he drove out a demon or raised someone who was already dead, we saw the Kingdom.  Every time Jesus ate with the sinners and went to the lepers, we saw the Kingdom.  When Jesus visited and talked with the Samaritans, we saw the Kingdom.  When Jesus forgave the thief on the cross, we saw the Kingdom.  God’s Kingdom is seen wherever there is healing, hope, acceptance, compassion, and forgiveness.  And, my friends, we have to remember, that this Kingdom is not one we are to look for in the future as one of the Pharisees did when he asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would be arriving.  Jesus responded to him, “’The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ Or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’”  It is not about some future Kingdom coming that we are waiting to see, it is about the Kingdom that has already come, has already been made present in Jesus, and that is supposed to still be revealed through the living body of Christ.  We are supposed to be constantly revealing what the Kingdom of God looks like in our lives every day for we are supposed to be gathered here today, and live every day, not as Republicans, not as Democrats, not as Libertarians, not as conservatives, not as liberals, not even as Americans, but first and foremost over everything else we are supposed to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God and reveal that Kingdom by our interactions with all we encounter.  The campaigns and agendas we support and endorse and struggle for should be the revelation of that Kingdom and no other.

Likewise, we are praying that God’s Will be done. What is God’s Will? According to the prophet Micah (6:8), God desire is that we do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.  If we are praying that God’s will is to be done, then we are praying that we will be doing these things.  We will be doing the same acts that Christ did.  It means we will be working to make God’s Kingdom visible here and now as it was in the time of Christ.  It means we will work to stop racism, for in Christ there is no separation of folks.  When God’s Kingdom is realized here on earth…and we have to remember that we are praying that this will happen here and now…not some future day, that when God’s Kingdom and Will are made known now—those divisions will cease to matter, they will be left behind.  It means we will work to be sure that all folks have what the need, regardless of their social status, regardless of their skin color, regardless of their nation of origin—that everyone will be equal.  It means that that we will be working to ensure that care and provision is made for those who are sick and in pain, even when their position is due to their own actions.  It means insuring that the hungry are fed, the naked are clothed, the thirsty are given drink, the stranger is welcomed, and that those in prison and house-bound are visited.  And it means that we do these things regardless of what we have, regardless of where we are found, and regardless of what others do or will think of us.  For it is not our will, others’ wills, but God’s will that is to be done.

These are the things that we are praying for when we pray that God’s Kingdom will come and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  My brothers and sisters, we must pray this prayer sincerely and live it out earnestly.  We must truly choose to seek out God’s Kingdom and God’s Will above all else.  When I say “must” it is not that we are forced to, but that we should desire to above all else.

One of my favorite theologians, C. S. Lewis, puts it this way in his book, The Great Divorce:  ‘There are two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy Will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’”  We get to choose and and if we are praying this prayer with all that we are and not merely lifting up empty words, we have made that choice.  We have chosen what Kingdom we desire to live in and what Kingdom we desire to reveal in the world, until that Kingdom is fully revealed at our Lord’s return as revealed in John’s vision of the new heaven and new earth.  For those to whom God has had to say, ‘Thy Will be done’ for those who have chosen to not seek righteousness, for those who are faithless, they will find themselves forever separated from God—they have chosen to reject God’s Kingdom.  However, for those who are faithful, those who don’t simply say, but sincerely pray “Thy Kingdom come and Thy Will be done” and seek it through living out that desire they will find the New Jerusalem fully realized where there will be more joy than ever imaginable, where the praise and celebration of God continue day and night as God wipes every tear away as the peace, love, life, of the Kingdom of God are fully realized.

My brothers and sisters, let us be prepared to reveal glimpses of God’s kingdom now and pray for its full realization as we give our wills over to God’s:  Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven….

(Note:  Actual delivery of the sermon ended significantly differently, if you are interested in the audio, please let me know and I will send you the link... Pastor Lee, revcaz11a@gmail.com)