Bent into Shape – His Priority
4/29/18
Matthew 6:10
Sunday AM
In 1999, Eddie Stankey died at the age of 83. You might be asking, who’s Eddie Stankey? Time Mag. wrote, “Eddie Stankey was a pugnacious, pennant-winning 2nd baseman who battled his way thru 11 seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Braves, and NY Giants.” Branch Rickey, the Dodgers GM said of Stankey, “He can’t run; he can’t hit; and he can’t throw. But if there’s a way to beat the other team, he’ll find it.” Time 6/21/99
A man who wants to do something will find a way; a man who doesn't – will find an excuse. Dolley Jr
As a former player, I can tell you that if you can’t run, hit, or throw, there’s not much left to do in baseball. Yet in spite of this deficit, every team wanted Stankey to play 2B. Why? B/c if there was a way to beat the other team, he found it.
As we come to the phrase– Your Kingdom come… in the Lord’s Prayer, we’re asking God to place w/in us a drive to give everything we have to see His Kingdom come to pass.
3 weeks ago, we started a series in Matthew 6 on the model prayer Jesus offered to his disciples to teach them how to pray. So far we’ve looked at the phrases – Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name…
As previously discussed, when the disciples approached Jesus to ask Him to teach them to pray, prayer had been so corrupted by rabbinic tradition that prayers like the Shema/Shemoneh ersay had become prescribed/ritualized – and the people had no idea how to have personal communication w/ God. So Jesus gave us this prayer example/pattern to keep us from using vain repetition.
pray (proseuchomai) pro = facing toward – refers to one who seeks God’s face. euchomai = to utter aloud. Meaning prayer is a personal, face-to-face encounter w/ God.
Knowing this, when Jesus taught His disciple to pray – He was clear this prayer was be a pattern/model to connect w/ God but never to be a substitute. We’re to understand it and follow it to get face-to-face and bent into shape.
When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard b/c of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6:9-13
In week 1, we looked – Our Father in Heaven… and we saw how the eternal, sovereign Creator is also our Abba Father. This was a radical invitation Jesus was issuing. Until this time, seldom did the Israelites view God as their Abba (daddy). In fact, it was just the opposite. He was the sovereign Creator who was to be feared/respected.
So Jesus was inviting us into our Abba’s lap to seek His will and guidance yet he was reminding us that we must always keep a healthy tension b/w intimacy/awe, personal/powerful, meekness/majesty. We’re to never be afraid to enter into His presence, yet never forget in whose presence we’re entering.
In week 2, we discussed how – Hallowed be Your name… is the first/greatest priority of a Jesus-follower as we’re asking God to cause to cause His name to be revered, His Word to be believed, His displeasure to be feared, His commands to be obeyed, and His person to be glorified.
Today, we’re looking at the next phrase – Your Kingdom come… and can I tell you it was this phrase that spoke to my heart to call me to teach this series.
A few weeks ago, as we looked at the topic of God’s Kingdom in LIFE Group, as I was preparing to teach the teachers, the H.S. wouldn’t relent asking me a question – Can a person have a healthy, God-honoring walk w/ Jesus w/out a solid understanding of the Kingdom of God?
After a great deal of reflection/study my answer is – NO! Yet it’s staggering how many believers walk thru life oblivious to this priority calling.
When Jesus asked us to pray – Your Kingdom come… he was offering a priority imperative. Meaning, we’re to ask God to give us diligent desire/ambition to seek first His Kingdom/righteousness until He comes by living each day as if He has already come.
Yet while most of us live hopeful for the Kingdom to come, I fear that most of us also live desiring He tarry until we’ve experienced as much of life as we possibly can. I know I have. I remember when I was in my early 20’s begging God to tarry until I could get married, have kids, and live a long fruitful life. It wasn’t that I didn’t want His kingdom to come, but for Him to postpone it just a bit.
So as we pray, Jesus is telling us that we’re to have a single-minded focus/priority to make His kingdom our consuming passion/desire.
When we pray, we’re to ask God to place w/in us such a burning desire/burden for His Kingdom that nothing else this side of heaven should matter to us. And like Eddie Stankey, we should ask Him to give us a will to find a way to make it happen so that His will is accomplished and His Kingdom is revealed both in and thru us..
It’s interesting that the phrase Kingdom of God doesn’t show up in the OT, although it is obvious from the NT that it was a critical OT concept. We first encounter this phrase in the preaching of John the Baptist.
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ Matthew 3:1-3
When Jesus began His earthly ministry in Galilee, He too taught about the kingdom of God. In fact, Jesus mentioned the kingdom 86x in the Gospels (37x in Matthew alone). In fact, Matthew 4:17 records the first time Jesus speaks about it – Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
Interestingly, neither John/Jesus ever defined the Kingdom of God. Why? I think it is b/c His audience already knew what He meant. Jesus defining the kingdom for them would be like a preacher in America today spending 20 min. in a sermon to explain what America is. It was a familiar concept to His listeners. But I’m not so sure it is familiar to us today.
kingdom (basileia) sovereign dominion or rule – meaning the Kingdom of God is the sphere/realm where God reigns and is acknowledged as king.
The interesting thing to note about God’s kingdom rule is that it is both now/still to come. It has come and is coming. So to pray for His Kingdom to come reflects our allegiance to His sovereign rule until He comes.
What does it mean to pray – Your Kingdom come…
I I will Live as a CITIZEN of the Kingdom
In receiving Christ as our Savior an amazing spiritual transaction takes place at the moment of salvation.
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14
rescued (ruomai) to instantaneously retrieve to safety. It’s as if we’re drowning in a sea of sin and God through His grace and our faith snatches us out to safety. He delivers us from death/damnation to give us life.
brought (methistemi) to remove or change – used in secular literature of the removing of a person from one country to settle then as colonist and citizen in another country.
We’ve been lifted out of the citizenship of this earthly sinful world and relocated w/ full citizenship into God’s kingdom. Though we live in this world, we’re no longer held in its grip. We’re stranger passing through to citizenship w/ God.
Pastor Craig spent the past 10 days in Budapest on a mission trip. While there, was it vital for him to live according to the laws of Hungary? Yes! But where was his citizenship? The USA! If he would’ve had any need as a US citizen, all he needed to do was go to the US consulate, and b/c he was a US citizen, they would’ve helped him.
B/c of the collision of our faith w/ the God’s grace – God has relocated us into His kingdom, adopted us into His family – and until His return, called us to seek first His kingdom by living under His rule/reign. So when we pray – Your kingdom come… we’re recognizing who we are.
II I’ll Live the COMMISSION of the Kingdom
This means we’re praying to align our lives to the mission and purposes of Christ – surrendering our aim/ambitions for His. We’re in essence praying – God make your will my will and your kingdom priorities my priorities.
The Kingdom of God comes in our lives when we live surrendered to the will of God and when we’re dying each day to our own desires… Thus, when we’re asking for the kingdom of God to come in the situations of life, then we’re asking that the ruling presence of Jesus that already exists would exist in this very moment, for this very season, and for this specific time in my life. Steve Gaines
Why? So we might participate in His commission to see His rule/reign become glorious thru out the earth.
For Christ’s love compels us, b/c we are convinced one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, so those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Thus, we are Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:14f
B/c of the saving work of Christ, we should be compelled to this commission b/c we’re convinced Jesus was who He said He was/did what He said He’d do.
Commission – B/c of Jesus, we no longer live for ourselves but for the One who gave His life for us:
A Being a MINISTER of Reconciliation
To reconcile is to bring people back into relationship
B Being an AMBASSADOR of Grace
An ambassador is one who represents his homeland in a foreign land. As citizens of heaven, we represent Jesus in this world to influence others to Christ.
So when we pray – Your Kingdom come… we’re praying for who we’re going to be until Christ returns. We’re aligning our lives w/ His commission w/ a determination to carry out His calling on our lives by being obedient to the Word of God while living under the influence of the H.S.
III I’ll Live Expecting the COMING of the Kingdom
When we pray – Your Kingdom come… we’re living in the expectation of His imminent return recognizing that on that day we desire to be found faithful and not faithless.
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. Titus 2:11-14
We’re to live each moment in anticipation of Christ’s return. Live in step w/ the H.S. Be determined in your heart that upon His return you will be faithfully in service and not asleep at the wheel.
You Kingdom come…
