Luke 11:1-4 (ESV)
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
Devotional Meditation
When we pray, “Father...Your kingdom come,” for what are we asking?
In Luke’s gospel especially, the kingdom of God is most closely associated with the preaching of Jesus. Early on in Luke’s gospel we get this day-in-the-life account of Jesus’ miraculous ministry to the folks in the town of Capernaum. The people of the town are astonished by his teaching and enthralled by his miracles. They want Jesus to stick around longer--to make him this small town’s main attraction. But Jesus doesn’t stay because that’s not why he has come. Instead, he tells them: “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” Jesus’ preaching is central to his mission.
But Jesus’ preaching doesn’t simply fill the air with pleasant-sounding words. No, Jesus’ word is the very Word of God. It comes with power and authority. Jesus’ word makes stuff happen. Furthermore, Jesus is the incarnate Word of God who not only proclaims the kingdom of God but brings the kingdom of God. The reign and dominion of God, the purpose and plan of God, the salvation and restoration of God--all of these realities are packed into the phrase “the kingdom of God”--and all of them are proclaimed and brought to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
This is why Luther, in his Small Catechism, encourages us to understand the petition “your kingdom come” as an expression of our desire that God’s kingdom might be made recognizable in our midst. This petition is a prayer that the dominion, power, authority, life, and salvation that Jesus preached and accomplished would also be preached and accomplished in our midst. Thus, the central mission of the Church is, and always will be, to proclaim and manifest the kingdom of God in the midst of the people of God. Through the pure preaching of the Word and the right administration of the Sacraments, the kingdom of God comes in our midst. The power to forgive sins, the proclamation of life and salvation in the name of Jesus, the peace and wholeness given in the Lord’s body and blood--these are all manifestations that the kingdom of God has come. That the Word of God is in our midst--for our good.
So, this Sunday, go to church. Go get the gifts. Go to church and hear in the absolution that the kingdom has come and your sins are forgiven. Go and hear the pastor preach that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has brought God’s kingdom near to you. Go and receive the body and blood of Christ and know that, through those gifts, Jesus has made his Father your dear Father--Jesus has made you his dear child. Go to Church and recognize all the ways in which the kingdom of God has come near to you.