Today is Australia Day, today is the day that we celebrate our citizenship of this great country and also welcome new citizens into our fellowship. I don’t know whether you have seen this on the news but the Prime Minister, in an attempt to drum up nationalistic and patriotic sentiment has proposed an Oath that might be taken on Australia day by All Australians… It says…
We are Australian. We stand here proudly; brave strong, open and tolerant. We stand here equal, fair, true and free. Together we will build a future, but we will not forget the past. We will stand together. We are Australians.
New Citizens Pledge:
As an Australian citizen,
I affirm my loyalty to Australia and its people,
Whose democratic beliefs I share,
Whose rights and liberties I respect,
And whose laws I uphold and obey.
The Government though the citizenship office is encouraging people to get together, even if they are already citizens and hold themselves an ‘Affirmation Ceremony’ where they recite and affirm this pledge.
This morning as we think of all the wonderful things there are that go with being citizens of this fantastic country I would like to take a look at another country… Another nation, or as the scripture puts it… another kingdom. You see this other country has no borders, and yet we are all in it and it has a King who you cannot see. I am of course speaking of the Kingdom of God. Over the next few weeks we are going to explore the kingdom of God, or as St Matthew labelled it: the Kingdom of Heaven. We are going to look at the Meaning of “Kingdom of God”. We are going to look at what the requirements of citizenship, we are going to look at the benefits of entry, and we are going to look at the codes and responsibilities.
Well, there are a number of ways the Kingdom of God is talked about, In the first three Gospels the kingdom of God is mainly spoken about in the future tense, that is it is something that is going to happen but hasn’t yet. John on the other hand talks about the kingdom being here and now. So what is it? What is the kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God is that place in our lives that is given over to God’s authority, that is, the person who has submitted themselves to the authority of God is in the kingdom of God.
What is a kingdom? It is generally a piece of land in which all the people are under the supreme authority of the King (or Queen), the king can decide every part of their lives, he can make them work, make them rest, make them clean, make them do just about whatever he wants. Have any of you heard of a computer game called the SIMs? In it you basically just control people, their daily routine if you want to, their relationships, build families, their work life etc… In a way, a medieval king had similar control over the people in his kingdom. In reality the king didn’t exercise that amount of control or power; he let the people manage their own lives to a large extent.
See we are used to talking about kingdoms as a piece of land, but the main thing about the idea of a kingdom is that the King has all authority, there doesn’t necessarily need to be any land talked about. In the kingdom of God, there is no ‘land’ but only people who are under God’s authority. But turn with me to John Chapter 18, here we have the arrest, questioning and trial of Jesus…
29So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”
30“If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
31Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” the Jews objected. 32This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.
33Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36Jesus said,
“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”37“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38“What is truth?”
Lets think of Australia, democratic nation, in reality we live day to day under the regulations of the government, Taxation, Speed limits and other things are burdens which we must carry, but there is another side isn’t there? There is freedom, greater freedom than is found in many other places… There is safety… there is pride… there is a high standard of living and a wonderful quality of life to be found here… Perhaps most importantly on days like today is a deep sense of belonging and identity when we say that “I am Australian”
In the kingdom of God, we can still say that I am Australian, but we can also say I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God, Not only that but we can say “I am a SON OF THE KING!” A Prince!, When we give our lives over to God, then we can stand and say that ‘we are Princes and Princesses’ of the kingdom of God. We have all the rights and privileges that goes with such a statement. We have a new sense of who we are…
God is THE supreme ruler of the universe, there is no other ruler above him… Turn with me to 1 Chronicles 29:11 where David is praising god with a public Hymn or Psalm he says
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
You know it is interesting to see the number of people who are coming out these days, to Australia to hold seminars in self-improvement… Do you know the ones I mean, ‘Power and Prosperity’, in ‘Self-Confidence’ and in ‘Building Yourself for a better Future’… all of these courses promise an improved quality of life, greater wealth, greater success in employment, business, family and personal relationships. These people claim to have the answer, they claim to know how people work, and they have the formula for success in this world. The thing that surprises me is the fact that these people don’t even know the creator of human beings, they are trying to figure out the formula for life by simply observing people, whereas we have, in the scripture and through prayer a direct line of communication with the Creator of the human beings. Many years ago a man broke down in his car, cars were relatively recent phenomena and so there was no NRMA or anything like that to help him out. So he got out of the car, lifted up the hood and started to look around, he could recognise bits and pieces, and thought he could see the problem but try as he might he just couldn’t get it running, occasionally it would kick over a couple of times but it just wouldn’t stick. While his frustration level was just below explosion point along came a man in another car and he pulled over and offered his assistance, the first man tried to explain and the second man had a quick look and made a few adjustments and told him to crank it over, the first man looked at him in disbelief, there was no way that this old man could have just fixed his car in such a short time when he had been trying for ages, but nevertheless, the car was tried and it started perfectly and ran like a song…
The car was a Model T ford, and the old man who had pulled up to help was none other than Henry Ford. It just goes to show that noone knows a creation as well as the creator.
As we celebrate our citizenship today let us also celebrate and affirm our relationship with our maker, with the one true source of wisdom and inspiration, the one true person who can tell us how life works best. When we do this, when we seek the wisdom of the creator, in submission to him, we are in the kingdom of God. It is in the kingdom of God that we will run properly, that we will grow wonderfully and that we will find the greatest joy…
I am a Christian. I bow before God; the Creator of the Universe and all that is in it. I confess my sins to Him and am forgiven. With God’s help and guidance I will build a future, brighter than the past. I bow before God. I am a Christian, a citizen of the King.
