Rev. Bruce Menning: Mattew 6:9

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9).

In Jesus – the Word made flesh and dwelling with us – the kingdom of God is real in our lives and on our streets.  And, Jesus revealed what the reign of God looks like on earth during his first public declaration in the synagogue in Nazareth.

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah (chapter 61) was given to him.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:17– 21).

The witness of scripture is that Isaiah 61 and Luke 4 envision healing and hope for both time and eternity, for the living of our days and the days of our longing for the shalom of a new heaven and a new earth.

Reformed faith understands salvation in Jesus Christ as both individual and communal.  We come to faith as God works in our lives through communities of believers.  And in Christian community, we discover together what it means to live out our faith and witness in the world.  As blessed people, we are empowered by the Spirit to be a blessing to others.

Reformed faith also understands salvation as transformation.  Individuals are transformed by God’s love in Jesus. “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)  And, the world, including our neighborhoods and cities, is transformed by the Body of Christ.  Thus, the kingdom comes – becomes incarnate – on earth as it is in heaven.

When I was a young man in the 1960’s, we sang a popular song:

“This world is not my home; I’m just a passing through;
My treasure is laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world any more.”

I don’t sing this song anymore because Jesus, the Word-made-flesh, apparently wants us to not just pass through the world with our eyes in the clouds, but rather to indeed feel at home even in the midst of a world that is fallen and confusing.  At home enough to personally make a holy and hopeful difference for neighbors, neighborhoods and nations.  At home enough to long for God’s final salvation in Christ to usher in the kingdom as it will be on earth as it is now in heaven. 

Maranatha, Lord.  Come quickly in time, and in eternity with the blessings of your kingdom.  Amen.