Pastor Jon Burgess
June 26, 2016 - W1626

When you hit the heart of The Lord’s Prayer you realize there is a political regime that is saying it reigns over everything on earth. There is one king that rules over every principality, every power, every authority, every queen, king, every president. The Lord's Prayer is not just a religious tradition.  This is what God, Jesus, decided to lead with when He started going into His ministry and then begins to share with them what the Kingdom of God means. And we are going to find 6 principles that will help us through this election year. And maybe this is God saying that we have to rally over the establishment of the Kingdom of God. The political conflict that is taking place in the United States this year is a difficult one. We will need to bring God with us into the voting booth.

After the Beatitudes, Jesus said,

“‘The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned’. From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” (Matt. 4:16-17)

I don't care how long you've been a Christian.  It's hard to understand what Jesus says there because He says that the kingdom of God is here or near, but if we look around just like they would have looked around, they would have said, "Jesus, that sounds great, but the Romans are still in power.  Until you overthrow the Roman rule and restore to us political power, I don't see the kingdom coming.  I don't know what you're talking about."  

Even today, we would look around and say the same.  “The Kingdom of God is here.”  How is that? Let’s look at that word “Kingdom”. “King”, the reign of one person. “Dom”, or dominium over a community. So what we have here in this puzzle is “The kingdom come conundrum”.  We have a problem or a puzzle that is difficult for us to solve because we keep expecting Him to do it in a different way than what He said He was going to do.

“Politics: the process of making uniform decisions applying to all members of a group.”

That is God and the Church. That is God is making decisions and applying wisdom to everyone who calls Him Lord.

“It also involves the use of power by one person to affect the behavior of another person.”

That is Jesus in us.

“Furthermore, politics is the study of the practice of the distribution of power and resources within a given community as well as the interrelationship(s) between communities.”

That is the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit working within a community as well as in other communities around us.

We may be praying for more of God in the White House, but how can that happen when we don’t even have enough of God in our own house?

Jesus said that the Kingdom is near but we don’t see the Kingdom of God here, so this is the Kingdom conundrum. They thought that Jesus came to get them out from under Roman rule and establish His Kingdom here but He was creating a kingdom in their hearts. His political reign is reigning over everything else going on around us. It will transform our nation because of a God who reigns over us.

The Church of England thought that they should encourage people to just pray so they wanted to pay to have a “Lord’s Prayer” video run before the new Star Wars movie. The whole UK cinema chain said, “No, it's going to be too offensive.”  So we can't advertise the only solution at turning a country around which is prayer? 

The Lord's Prayer is a subversive reality because it is saying that there is a higher kingdom than the kingdom of this world. And I'm going to give you six reasons tonight why when we take the Lord's Prayer seriously, we are going to see God's kingdom reign.

If we don't get on our knees and pray, we're going to find ourselves in a similar situation as England.

If you don't vote, you don't get to complain. Vote.  People have died for this right. 

This is an election year so this message is very important. But I'm telling you that unless Jesus is on the ballot, you and I are going to choose the lesser of two evils.  But before we get to the ballot box, I'm asking you to let God get out of the box in your life and mine.  I'm challenging you to see that there's never been a more important time for us to allow Christ dominion over us.  If we ever get to that ballot box in November, it's important how we live between now and then because that's how Christ is going to show who's actually in charge.  It's Him.

It's interesting because a recent Barna Group research poll said that two?thirds of the American population believed that the Bible would help politics to be both more civil and politicians to be more effective. The older generations firmly believe that the Bible would make a difference.

The younger generations believe less and less that the Bible is going to have any affect at all on politics nor would it make politicians more effective. It could be that the younger generations are looking at us and they hear us shouting it, but they don't see us living it.

And to you Xers and millennials in the room who are watching online right now, don't for a second use the previous generations as an excuse to not take God's dominion seriously in your life. Every single one of us before this night is done has to decide who's going to reign over every area in my life

If you know the Lord's Prayer, let's pray it. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive our debts as we forgive those who are in debt to us.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen.  My goal here tonight is that we would live it. 

There’s six Kingdom values that will help us.

1. Kingdom Come: __community____________

Sometimes we forget the fact that Christianity was birthed in kingdom community, and the only way to truly exercise our faith is within this context, within the kingdom community that God has called you to.

The Bible says, "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name’”. (Matt. 6:7-9)

There's only one name that reigns above every other name, and it's God's name. No one's going get saved by calling out your name or mine. 

Abraham Lincoln put it this way: "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side.  My greatest concern is to be on God's side for God is always right."

But how can we be a community if we can't agree on anything?

One side says, “Let's tear down the government!” The other side says, “Let's have the government involved in every area of our lives!” One side has said, “You are a terrorist!” The other side is being accused of being a traitor.

You thought I was talking about the Republicans and Democrats. I'm actually talking about two of Jesus' disciples.  He chose Matthew the tax collector and Simon the zealot. 

Now, I don't know about you, but that seems a bad way to start off things for Christianity. But Jesus is not calling you from the right or the left.  He is calling you to follow Him. 

He's coming to confirm the dominion and to finalize the kingdom. He says the kingdom is both now and not yet. That's why we have a hard time understanding it.  It's the conundrum.  The kingdom is established now, but it's also going to be coming in its fullness when Jesus comes back. 

2. Kingdom Come: _courage_____________

It takes courage to be a Christian today. It wasn’t like that before where going to church helped our business. Now it takes courage to be willing to stand for who we believe. We take up our cross to follow Him. Where we are going to today we’re going as citizens of God. We need to take Jesus beyond the box.

The Bible says, “…Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10)

We're supposed to gather, but then we're supposed to scatter to spread the Kingdom.

This is where the rubber meets the road, where faith and fear collide, that you and I take what it is that God has given us and we take it into the darkest places, into the most stressful places and we show the reality of God.

3. Kingdom Come: _contentment_____________

Enough is never enough. It’s a daily source. Enjoying what you have, sharing what you have, and thanking God for it. Godliness with contentment is great gain. God’s kingdom works in generosity.

If you're hoarding and hiding what you have, you're not content. You're afraid you're going to run out. A contented kingdom Christian understands God's our provider. And the reason why the Bible says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matt. 6:11) is because God wants us in a constant dialogue with Him about our provision.

4. Kingdom Come: __confession___________

We need to be quick to repent and acknowledging that there isn’t a day that we cannot live without God’s forgiveness. It helps keep us from judging and reminds us that all of us have sinned.

As the Bible says, “And forgive us our debts,” (Matt.6:12a)

The best way that we can show people what's right isn't by judging them. It's by showing them the real thing, showing them the good in our God. 

5. Kingdom Come: __conciliation____________

We can’t condemn others. Care more about the other person then our right to be right.

As the Bible says, “…as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matt.6:12b)

And that leads us to our fifth kingdom come reality which is Kingdom conciliation. Conciliation must precede reconciliation.  This is where you stop someone from being angry and you bring two parties together. 

Pew Research Center says that people are more angry and afraid of people on the opposing political party than they've ever been before. They're not even divided because of what the issues are. They're simply divided because they've assumed the people on the other side of the aisle are something to be feared and someone to be angry at. 

When Jesus said to forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors, He's saying that we're all on the same level before the cross. Kingdom conciliation says I'm going to choose to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry.

Recently, I found out that a church member was offended by something that I had done. So I was immediately offended by his online comments aimed at me and I intended to respond aggressively.  But I realized that is not a dialogue.  That is a monologue.  That's a devaluation of the very person with whom you are trying to communicate. Instead, I invited the man to a friendly conciliatory conversation.

6. Kingdom Come: _citizens_____________

The Bible says, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matt. 6:13)

To be a kingdom citizen looks like not being tempted but being delivered from evil. God is the one that will deliver you from evil - the world will not do so. So He is the one you should follow.

As important as it is to be involved in the political process, please don't think that your salvation is going to come from anywhere else. What does being a Kingdom Citizen look like? Jesus was crucified. Paul was beheaded. Peter was crucified upside down.

Terrible? But that is the Kingdom Come conundrum. It wasn't a kingdom established on this earth.  It was a kingdom established in our hearts. 

And I would be proud to stand with this group following my Jesus as a Kingdom Citizen saying our job as kingdom citizens is not to pull back as citizens of the United States, but it's to show that as a follower of King Jesus, I'm going to serve and love and give and follow the laws to the best of my ability.

But ultimately, I am dying for only one, and His name is Jesus. And if that's the hill that I have to die on, then that's the hill I'm going to die on because my savior died on that hill for me.  We have to decide that He is worth that. 

But here's my point with this is that if we are kingdom citizens, we're going to live in such a way that those who know us but don't know God will come to know God through us. They should see my life as a preview of Heaven and that I found joy that can outlast no matter what's going on in my country because I serve one who reigns over all.  That's what God is calling us to.

Study Suggestions

1. What is a Kingdom Citizen?

2. Why does it take courage?