Tuesday, December 6, 2022

PILLARS 14 - Heaven on Earth Part 1: Kingdom of heaven (Mt 6.9-13)


Your kingdom come.  The Kingdom of heaven.  Last time we looked at heaven.  How the presence of God can turn any place into paradise.  How heaven is not just about a specific place or destination but more about an eternal relationship with the God of heaven, the God Who made the universe and made you and me to enjoy a personal relationship with Him.  Forever.  That begins when we decide to trust in Jesus’ death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  It can begin today in fact!  But to that point Jesus talked about the kingdom of heaven being within us [Lk 17.21].  For sure, there will be a physical kingdom of heaven one day when Christ comes back to rule as King over all the earth, but the King of kings would reign in each of our hearts TODAY.  Your kingdom come.


We see this in the Lord’s Prayer - let Your KINGdom come, let what You want be done.  Reign in me - today.  Everyday.  Yes, there is a future component to this, but this entire prayer is tied to today.  Daily bread - today.  Forgiveness - today.  No temptation, deliverance from evil - this day.  We’re not putting any of these things off till eternity.  They play out in our lives each and every day.  Your will be done (literally, let what You want come to be).  When is that supposed to happen?  Someday, yes, but also today.  Let Your kingdom come.  Someday yes, but also today - and it begins in my heart.  The kingdom of heaven.  It’s about me and you cultivating our supreme loyalty to King Jesus.  This day.  Surrender.  Reverence.  Devotion.  Today.  And tomorrow.  What He wants.  He is King.  The kingdom of heaven is within you - that’s where it begins today.  Heaven on earth.


The kingdom of heaven. [Phil 3.20][2Cor 5.20]  As citizens of God’s kingdom, our loyalty to His kingdom, to THIS King, supersedes all others.  We represent the values and promote the interests of the kingdom wherever we live on earth.  It’s what the angel said to Joshua outside Jericho [Josh 5.13-15].  God’s not taking sides, He’s taking over.  On a human level, we instinctively roll like it’s us vs. them.  The enemy.  We’re so quick to take sides.  To form up ranks and oppose and separate from our fellow man.  People who look different.  Talk different.  Believe different.  Who vote different.  People who aren’t from around here - strangers (xenoi).  We let our differences divide and distance us from our fellow man, from our would-be neighbors.  We do this as children.  Instinctively.  We make fun of the person who is different.  We shun the new kid.  The stranger. (and not totally without cause, kids).  But sometimes we get it in our heads that the person standing opposite me is my enemy.  Somehow they’re a threat to me, to my family, to the life I aspire to enjoy on this earth.


This shows up at the Olympics, doesn't it?  That normal nationalistic pride.  We root against the strangers, don’t we?  Ethnic pride.  Ethnocentrism.  It’s as old as the Tower of Babel.  Whether there's only one culture like at Babel [and we say, WE are great!], or many cultures [where we say, WE are greater (i.e. than them)!].  The LIE says, different is bad.  Our flesh is so easily prone to look down on those who are different.  If we have even a bit of power we see them as inferior.  Racism - America has no monopoly on this.  It rears its ugly head in every culture on earth.  And our flesh can have a natural distrust of strangers.  Xenophobia.   Fear of strangers.  We have this in good ol’ East Texas, land that I love.  Most folks in these parts live a certain way, talk a certain way, have certain values.  If you’re not from round here, it can be hard to break in, hard to fit in, can’t it?  Many here at HF know what I’m talking about…


In Mt 24, Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven.  The fig tree [24.32] - when you see the leaves coming out, you know summer is near.  I.e. He's telling us that there will be obvious signs when Christ is about to return as King.  He adds that no one will know the exact time [24.36] - so we need to be ready, on the alert - AND we need to be about the business of the kingdom [24.37-38].  UNLIKE the people in the days of Noah, who were NOT ready.  They were so caught up in living this life - eating & drinking and marrying - that they missed the boat.  Literally.  And I wonder if many in the US aren’t in danger of missing the boat.  The Kingdom of heaven - and its business - takes precedence.  We can be concerned about preserving our lifestyle.  We do enjoy such wonderful unprecedented liberty and peace and prosperity in our land.  And strangers have a way of changing the status quo.  Can’t relate to em.  Can ya trust em?  Jesus is reminding us that His Kingdom, The kingdom of heaven, trumps all earthly priorities.  


So Jesus relates the parable of the ten virgins.  They are given one main objective - be ready for when the Bridegroom comes.  And half of them weren’t ready when He came.  They didn’t prioritize the kingdom.  Next Jesus tells the parable of the talents.  The Master entrusts His resources to His servants, and they are engage in business of the Master’s kingdom until He returns.  Two of His servants do that, but one does absolutely nothing with what the Master gave him.  And when the Master returns, what does He call this third slave who did nothing with the Master’s resources [25.26,30]?  Wicked.  Lazy.  Worthless.  Really harsh words from the God of grace.  But the utter lack of engagement in the Master’s business is evidence that the one who is by all appearances a servant of the Master, in fact is not.  Which brings us to the last half of Mt 25 [31-37, 46].  Some of the most sobering verses in the entire NT.


The kingdom of heaven, which takes up residence in the hearts of its citizens, comes oozing out in the form of kingdom priorities.  It manifests in the form of supreme loyalty to the King.  To His kingdom.  And it reflects the supreme values of the kingdom: not the least of which is: compassion.  Compassion towards those in need.  Those who are hungry.  Thirsty.  Naked.  Sick.  And strangers.  Vulnerable.  They need help.  Strangers are far from home.  Possibly dealing with loss of home, job, etc.  As much as anything strangers are deprived of community.  And community - specifically the community of God - is God’s intended vehicle for dispersing His blessings [Gen 12.2-3].  When I was a stranger, Jesus says, when strangers showed up at your community, you invited them in.  Literally, you synagogued with them.  The synagogue WAS the community.  And it’s a verb.  You synagogue, you gather together with your community.  And in this case, the community welcomed strangers.  You didn’t necessarily require that they convert.  But you extended God’s blessings to them.  You were a good neighbor to them, you showed them compassion.  Like the Good Samaritan.  The guy in the ditch was a stranger.  [Maybe an Enemy?  A danger?]  But the Good Samaritan made space in his life to help that person cuz he had already made space in his heart for the King —> Kingdom of heaven.


This happens to be the business of the Kingdom.  You will bless the nations.  The business of the kingdom is to extend the blessings of God to strangers.  Spreading to all peoples the knowledge that there is a breathtakingly good God Who made us to enjoy His goodness forever.  And the only way to do that is through a personal relationship with that promised Seed of Abraham [Gen 22.18].  Blessing strangers, introducing them to the Kingdom of heaven.  To the King Himself.  Jesus.  There are billions and billions of people around the world who are separated from the God Who loves them.  Walking in darkness.  Some 1.5B Muslims.  ~30M in a [terror-ridden] land called Afghanistan.  It has become highly problematic for outsiders to go in now.  But guess what God our Savior has done?  He has arranged it so that 55k of these Afghans had to leave everything and come to the land of the infidel.  God says, here you go.  It's the Heart of King of heaven which drew so many strangers to seek a more blessed life in the so-called Nation-under-God [Lady Liberty]  May that same King of heaven give us grace and a heart to see these and all our neighbors with His eyes, with compassion… The sacrifices will be worth it.  If it costs us our lives it will be worth it - cuz our King, Jesus, He is worth it.


"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"


Gen. 12:2  "And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; 3  And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who 1curses you I will curse. 

And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Genesis 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;

2Corinthians 5:20   Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

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