"Your Kingdom Come" September 2, 2007 Proper 17, Pentecost 14

(First, read the texts for this sermon: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14)

“Your kingdom come.” We pray that each time we gather for worship.
“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.” When you pray that, are you praying for something that will come in the future? Are you pointing towards that time when history will end, and when the kingdom will be fulfilled? There is that! That promise of future fulfillment is the basis for our hope in Christ!

But “your kingdom come” does not refer exclusively to the future. “Your kingdom is come, today!” – as God’s kingdom is breaking into our day-to-day lives. This morning’s readings from Hebrews and Luke show what that looks like, now.

Let mutual love continue, writes the author of Hebrews, to his congregation. It’s a congregation of “Hebrews,” Jews who have become followers of the Christ. They are knowledgeable about the rules that characterize the Judaism of their day – the myriad of rules significant and trivial. (You may remember, for instance, in last week’s reading from Luke, that Jesus angered the leader of a local synagogue by breaking a rule about doing work on the sabbath. Luke 13:10-17)

But the point of all those rules is this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. … You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is reported to have quoted those verses from Deuteronomy and Leviticus, to answer the question, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” (Matthew 22:36-40) In other words, the single point of all rules and laws in the Judeo-Christian system is love; to love God, and to love each other! And so, the author of Hebrews writes to his congregation: Let mutual love continue.

Then, the author of Hebrews goes on, to describe what that mutual love looks like – and here, I would suggest, is where we see “Your kingdom come,” now. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. That’s what love looks like. Here’s more love: Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. The mutual love of the kingdom also looks like this: Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. And, Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." So we can say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?"

The author of Hebrews is describing what mutual love looks like within the covenant community. Of course, that is what this community is, this congregation, which is an expression only of the wider church. All who have been baptized have been gathered by the Holy Spirit into the catholic, universal community of Jesus people, the community called to practice mutual love – which means that we engage in mutual servanthood, mutual accountability, mutual support, mutual admonishment and guidance and modeling for each other, as the Holy Spirit uses us to form each other into followers of the Christ.

When you and I are open and hospitable to each other in this community, and to strangers outside of the community, that’s a sign of the kingdom! “Your kingdom come” – now!

When we remember the sufferings of those who are in prison, and those who are suffering torture; when we identify with those who are suffering as if we were also suffering in the same way, that’s a sign of the kingdom! “Your kingdom come” – now!

Did you notice the sacramental language that the author of Hebrews uses when he refers to the sexual relations between a husband and wife? He writes, let the marriage bed be kept undefiled. The gift of sex, within the protective boundaries of marriage, is a sacred gift from God. When a husband and wife live in such faithfulness to each other, and in such mutual pleasure-giving, that’s sacred! That’s a sign of the kingdom! “Your kingdom come” – now!

[A]nd be content with what you have, writes the author of Hebrews. A sign of the kingdom is our confidence in God, rather than a reliance on our money. When you and I live in trusting simplicity, free from the love of money, we witness to “your kingdom come” – now!

“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.” We pray that every time we gather here for worship, around the table of our Lord, preparing to receive his Supper.

You and I are protected from a great danger by that gathering around the table. The danger of all this teaching about being hospitable, and remembering those who are in prison and suffering torture, and the sacredness of marriage promises, and living simply, is that some of us do those things better than others of us! You know what the danger is, then, don’t you? It’s that I begin to question “how good a Christian” you really are, because I don’t think you’re living simply enough! You begin to judge me as not really committed enough, because I don’t visit often enough in the jail! Judgmentalism arises from self-righteousness – which means that I’ve put myself in the center of the universe, and displaced God! I am filled with hubris and think that the life of faith is something that I accomplish and achieve and “get better at.” There is great danger in that!

Think of what happens instead, when we gather around the table of our Lord. There we all hold out our hands, as beggars. We are hungry people – hungry for grace and forgiveness and new life! In our worship gathering, we receive that good news through our ears, as we hear that Word spoken, of grace and forgiveness and new life. And then, beggars around the Lord’s table, we eat and drink that Word of grace and forgiveness and new life! It is not what we achieve; it is what we receive! It is all gift from God! We gather around the table in the same humility as that taught in the meal story we read this morning in Luke.

And we receive with joy! We gather around the table in celebration as we receive the gift of grace and forgiveness and new life in bread and wine. What good news! It is God’s kingdom come – this morning! It is the high point of the liturgy. That is why we celebrate by singing hymns!

Out of that meal, our response arises. We act in God-pleasing ways. Let mutual love continue. That happens by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit who is bringing in the kingdom. “Your kingdom come.”

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia