When
Martin Luther penned the explanation of the Lord’s Prayer, specifically the
Second Petition, “Thy Kingdom Come” Luther knew mankind was powerless. Luther’s explanation says as much, when he
writes, “The Kingdom of God comes indeed
without our prayer, of itself”. You
see, God, Who created the heavens and the earth, does not need our prayer. If you follow the logic, then if God does not
need our prayers, we could easily ask, why then do we pray?
Just
as in the Garden of Eden, with Adam and Eve, the first humans needed
instructed, dare I say, schooled, that God knew what they had done in eating
the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But the reality is that God, maker of the
universe doesn’t need nor require our prayers for His Will to be done here on
this earth.
Why
then do we, or should we pray, if God doesn’t need our help or even our prayers? Simply it is this, we pray with this
petition, “Thy Kingdom Come” asking and imploring God that the Kingdom of
God would simply and specifically come unto us.
We daily need to pray this prayer that Jesus taught His disciples, in
order that God’s Kingdom would come unto each and every one of us and all of
mankind.
When
we humbly pray the Lord’s Prayer and come to this petition, “Thy
Kingdom Come”, we pray this not just because it is part of the prayer,
but we pray it in faith of God. For “God's Kingdom comes even without our works!” Our society says we get what we get, because
of our works, by the sweat of our brow, by our very energy and efforts. However, God changed this reality for Christians,
when He went to the Cross of Calvary.
For when He uttered the words, “It is finished”. The reality of ‘works righteousness’ for our
eternal existence was radically removed from the vocabulary of all Christians.
The
Kingdom of Power that our society believes in is shaken to its core, because
when we pray, “Thy Kingdom Come” we pray not for power or a kingdom of power,
but specifically for the Kingdom of Grace that God gives. For it is God’s Grace that we have been given
with our Holy Baptism into Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection and the
Kingdom of Grace that we pray for comes not by our own works, but out of God’s
great love for us. When we pray in
faith, like Solomon did, not for riches or wealth, nor for power over others,
but humbly beseeching God for His Holy and eternal Will to be done, He that is God,
loves us unconditionally and gives us the greatest gift of grace and His Glory
for all of mankind.
As
we pray, “Thy Kingdom Come” we do so in sure and certain faith and hope
that God’s Kingdom comes, even without our prayers and God will give us a godly
life. And He would through we His
children extend His mission here on earth and that He would hasten His eternal
Kingdom coming and thus God will fulfill our prayer of “Thy Kingdom Come”.
This
is why when our time here on earth is done, we pray this prayer, not only at
worship and Holy Communion, but especially when we are ready to take our final
breath here on this earth. For as we
pray, “Thy Kingdom Come” it is our prayer of faith in the certainty of
God’s promise from His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ that He will come and
take us to be with Him in His Kingdom for all eternity. We pray this petition, “Thy Kingdom Come” with
sure and certain trust, faith and hope in the promises of God for we His
Children through our Holy Baptism.
No
clearer demonstration of this comes than when I stand at the bedside of a
brother or sister in Christ, about to fall asleep in the Lord. One of the greatest comforts God uses me to
be is when I am the instrument for the family and especially their loved one in
my giving them the assurance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is specifically for
them. God does this through me as I
share passages of scripture, but also by singing hymns. The hymn we are about to sing, “In the Cross
of Christ I Glory” is one of the many that I share, because not only does it
point to the Cross, but the humble undertone is that it is a simple hymn that
speaks the truth that we are sanctified by the Cross of Christ. And our connection through the Cross
completes the connection we have of God’s promise to us in the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, sealed for us in Holy Baptism and that we lay claim to with our praying
this simple petition of “Thy Kingdom Come”! AMEN!
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