READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
1 Kings 17:8-16
Galatians 5:25-6:10
- St. Matthew 6:24-34
Grace to you all and Peace from God our Father and our Lord
Jesus, the Christ.
Who, once again speaks to you today, saying:
Thus far our word of the Lord, spoken to us that we may hear of His Kingdom come. He reveals His Kingdom to us to know and believe that Jesus is all in all, that the kingdom has already come, and is already doing its own work. Thus, us finding it and leading others to it is as easy as “going to church”.
Of utmost importance, it must be made very clear to you, that to seek the Kingdom of God is to seek death. For, if Jesus inaugurates the kingdom with His own suffering and death, then you are at least chasing after the death of Jesus Christ, if not becoming more Christ-like. As we are commanded to seek the Kingdom, so also are we commanded to proclaim the Lord’s death until He returns.
This doesn’t mean that we have to go to our graves in order to seek the kingdom. We can find it just fine in this life, as the Lord says “Seek the Lord while He may be found” (Is 55:6). That’s our first comfort: that the Kingdom can be found. It sounds funny to mention that, but if the Kingdom is not available, no amount of searching will yield results.
So what is this kingdom we are to search for? You can do a quick Google search and gain thousands of videos and essays on the subject. And just about most of them will want you to look for a physical kingdom on earth. They will teach that there is a future king, Jesus, Who will rule it. They say that there will be territory, the new earth. That there will be laws, but they will just be the old laws, the Lord’s Commands and that there will be subjects.
But please note: it will be a future king, it will be tomorrow's world, it will be eternal laws, and it will be subjects to be determined, maybe not us. All in the future. Nothing for today because there is no way to know, right? There is no way to know who is God’s elect and who is not. There is no way to know when the new heavens and the new earth will arrive. There is no telling when Jesus will come back.
So what makes a kingdom to the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh? Uncertainty. Uncertainty and forever chasing after a carrot on a stick. Always tomorrow. Always a promised reward, but never delivered.
Besides, Jesus has already told us what an earthly kingdom is like anyway. When Israel first wanted a king for sinful reasons, the Lord said this:
“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” (1 Sam 8:11-18)
Hmmm. That sounds familiar…
In any case, this is the result of kingdoms on earth and this will be the result were Jesus to return and, instead of ending it all, decides to hang out on earth for a thousand years or so. But that's a human kingdom, you say. That would never happen if Jesus were king of it.
Have you ever asked Jesus if He wanted to be king? Some wanted Jesus to be king. First it was a large crowd in John 6 and this happened, “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (v.15). Jesus said, “Nope”.
It also happened again in Acts 1, as Jesus Ascends to the Right Hand of the Father. The Apostles say, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (v.6), and Jesus is like, “Nuh-uh” (v.7)
Jesus appears to avoid the kingdom and yet we have this Kingdom of God spoken about and promised by Jesus in the Old Testament, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish His kingdom [forever]” (2 Sam 7:12) and “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits”, from St. Matthew 21:43.
We begin to understand the Kingdom when we quit trying to take center stage in it. Oh we want the Kingdom, but only if we have a special seat. In our sin, we want Jesus to rule an earthly kingdom, because then we’re the chosen ones and get to wage God’s holy war against our neighbor to make sure they submit, or else.
Seeking the kingdom and God’s righteousness is not the new holy Crusade against the people you don’t like or who don’t look like you. In fact, you would make God’s kingdom to be so holy and so righteous, that not even Jesus would be welcome. That’s how sin works. “Come let us kill the Son and take His inheritance” (Mt 21:38)
“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground”, says Amos 9:8, “except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob;”
Even if there were an earthly kingdom, it would not help you. In fact, we are living in the days of our earthly kingdom and this current year is what it has wrought.
No, no. When the Lord speaks of His True Kingdom, He speaks in prophesies such as “Repent! The Kingdom of God is at hand, the Kingdom has come upon you, and is in you”, as in already present, at least in Jesus’s presence, when He was saying those things.
When we turn to the Old Testament, funny enough, He is even more blunt. Psalm 103:19 says that His kingdom rules over all. Now, a kingdom can’t rule, the King rules. Why is He playing? Finally, Obadiah speaks truth and says, “The Kingdom is the Lord” (1:21).
The Sabbath is not greater than Jesus, in order that we hold His own creation against Him and falsely condemn Him to death. The Law is not greater nor is the Kingdom greater than Jesus. When Jesus comes to preach the Kingdom, He is doing nothing else but preaching Himself.
Thus, the work of the Kingdom is death. Death and Resurrection. When we seek the Kingdom, we seek these things, because this is what the Kingdom has suffered and died for. The Kingdom was made man in order to be found by men. Any other kingdom would remain lost and out of touch, for it would be spiritual and we are far from that, in our sin.
And in order to find that Kingdom on earth, we find the work of the Kingdom. Or rather, we need to find where the Kingdom is working. Where He is calming anxiety. Where He is clothing the poor and giving daily bread. Where He His toiling to make you valuable and add eternal hours to your span of life.
In Christ, the work of the Kingdom is taken out of our hands and exchanged for rest. Though we are a part of the work, the True Work of the Kingdom is so much more than enforcing laws. For one, we cannot bring the Kingdom of God down to earth because it is already here. It came, it saw, it conquered before we knew it. Christ is victorious from the grave.
And another thing, the true work of the Kingdom is belief. St John has told us, “these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (20:31). The sinner cannot make himself believe any more than he can cause himself to be born, born again, or raise himself from the dead.
Jesus, by grace, through faith, for His sake, gives us His Holy Spirit. If you are praying for the Holy Spirit to come into your life, you already have the Holy Spirit. The natural man does not love the things of God (1 Cor 2:14). But, the man who is born again, by grace, loves the Kingdom, hears His voice, and follows. And the man who is born again has died in Christ and been raised in Christ.
So, you seek death in order to seek the kingdom? You have been baptized. You seek new life in the kingdom? You have been baptized, raised with Christ. You seek holiness, peace, and purity in the Kingdom? Then you seek Christ and His Word and Sacrament, which is that godly life that we lead, here in time. And it is the godly life, lived in Word and Sacrament, that prepares us for eternal godly life, which is fully ours in Christ Jesus, today.
“Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law” (Rom 3:21)
“Now we have been justified by his blood” (Rom 5:9)
“Now We are God's children” (1 jn 3:2)
“Now is the day of salvation!” (2 Cor 6:2)
Now, today, we are in the Kingdom, for Jesus is the Kingdom and what He says, goes. And what He says and what goes is the forgiveness of sins received in His Church.
Who, once again speaks to you today, saying:
“seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and
all these things will be added to you”
Thus far our word of the Lord, spoken to us that we may hear of His Kingdom come. He reveals His Kingdom to us to know and believe that Jesus is all in all, that the kingdom has already come, and is already doing its own work. Thus, us finding it and leading others to it is as easy as “going to church”.
Of utmost importance, it must be made very clear to you, that to seek the Kingdom of God is to seek death. For, if Jesus inaugurates the kingdom with His own suffering and death, then you are at least chasing after the death of Jesus Christ, if not becoming more Christ-like. As we are commanded to seek the Kingdom, so also are we commanded to proclaim the Lord’s death until He returns.
This doesn’t mean that we have to go to our graves in order to seek the kingdom. We can find it just fine in this life, as the Lord says “Seek the Lord while He may be found” (Is 55:6). That’s our first comfort: that the Kingdom can be found. It sounds funny to mention that, but if the Kingdom is not available, no amount of searching will yield results.
So what is this kingdom we are to search for? You can do a quick Google search and gain thousands of videos and essays on the subject. And just about most of them will want you to look for a physical kingdom on earth. They will teach that there is a future king, Jesus, Who will rule it. They say that there will be territory, the new earth. That there will be laws, but they will just be the old laws, the Lord’s Commands and that there will be subjects.
But please note: it will be a future king, it will be tomorrow's world, it will be eternal laws, and it will be subjects to be determined, maybe not us. All in the future. Nothing for today because there is no way to know, right? There is no way to know who is God’s elect and who is not. There is no way to know when the new heavens and the new earth will arrive. There is no telling when Jesus will come back.
So what makes a kingdom to the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh? Uncertainty. Uncertainty and forever chasing after a carrot on a stick. Always tomorrow. Always a promised reward, but never delivered.
Besides, Jesus has already told us what an earthly kingdom is like anyway. When Israel first wanted a king for sinful reasons, the Lord said this:
“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” (1 Sam 8:11-18)
Hmmm. That sounds familiar…
In any case, this is the result of kingdoms on earth and this will be the result were Jesus to return and, instead of ending it all, decides to hang out on earth for a thousand years or so. But that's a human kingdom, you say. That would never happen if Jesus were king of it.
Have you ever asked Jesus if He wanted to be king? Some wanted Jesus to be king. First it was a large crowd in John 6 and this happened, “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (v.15). Jesus said, “Nope”.
It also happened again in Acts 1, as Jesus Ascends to the Right Hand of the Father. The Apostles say, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (v.6), and Jesus is like, “Nuh-uh” (v.7)
Jesus appears to avoid the kingdom and yet we have this Kingdom of God spoken about and promised by Jesus in the Old Testament, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish His kingdom [forever]” (2 Sam 7:12) and “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits”, from St. Matthew 21:43.
We begin to understand the Kingdom when we quit trying to take center stage in it. Oh we want the Kingdom, but only if we have a special seat. In our sin, we want Jesus to rule an earthly kingdom, because then we’re the chosen ones and get to wage God’s holy war against our neighbor to make sure they submit, or else.
Seeking the kingdom and God’s righteousness is not the new holy Crusade against the people you don’t like or who don’t look like you. In fact, you would make God’s kingdom to be so holy and so righteous, that not even Jesus would be welcome. That’s how sin works. “Come let us kill the Son and take His inheritance” (Mt 21:38)
“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground”, says Amos 9:8, “except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob;”
Even if there were an earthly kingdom, it would not help you. In fact, we are living in the days of our earthly kingdom and this current year is what it has wrought.
No, no. When the Lord speaks of His True Kingdom, He speaks in prophesies such as “Repent! The Kingdom of God is at hand, the Kingdom has come upon you, and is in you”, as in already present, at least in Jesus’s presence, when He was saying those things.
When we turn to the Old Testament, funny enough, He is even more blunt. Psalm 103:19 says that His kingdom rules over all. Now, a kingdom can’t rule, the King rules. Why is He playing? Finally, Obadiah speaks truth and says, “The Kingdom is the Lord” (1:21).
The Sabbath is not greater than Jesus, in order that we hold His own creation against Him and falsely condemn Him to death. The Law is not greater nor is the Kingdom greater than Jesus. When Jesus comes to preach the Kingdom, He is doing nothing else but preaching Himself.
Thus, the work of the Kingdom is death. Death and Resurrection. When we seek the Kingdom, we seek these things, because this is what the Kingdom has suffered and died for. The Kingdom was made man in order to be found by men. Any other kingdom would remain lost and out of touch, for it would be spiritual and we are far from that, in our sin.
And in order to find that Kingdom on earth, we find the work of the Kingdom. Or rather, we need to find where the Kingdom is working. Where He is calming anxiety. Where He is clothing the poor and giving daily bread. Where He His toiling to make you valuable and add eternal hours to your span of life.
In Christ, the work of the Kingdom is taken out of our hands and exchanged for rest. Though we are a part of the work, the True Work of the Kingdom is so much more than enforcing laws. For one, we cannot bring the Kingdom of God down to earth because it is already here. It came, it saw, it conquered before we knew it. Christ is victorious from the grave.
And another thing, the true work of the Kingdom is belief. St John has told us, “these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (20:31). The sinner cannot make himself believe any more than he can cause himself to be born, born again, or raise himself from the dead.
Jesus, by grace, through faith, for His sake, gives us His Holy Spirit. If you are praying for the Holy Spirit to come into your life, you already have the Holy Spirit. The natural man does not love the things of God (1 Cor 2:14). But, the man who is born again, by grace, loves the Kingdom, hears His voice, and follows. And the man who is born again has died in Christ and been raised in Christ.
So, you seek death in order to seek the kingdom? You have been baptized. You seek new life in the kingdom? You have been baptized, raised with Christ. You seek holiness, peace, and purity in the Kingdom? Then you seek Christ and His Word and Sacrament, which is that godly life that we lead, here in time. And it is the godly life, lived in Word and Sacrament, that prepares us for eternal godly life, which is fully ours in Christ Jesus, today.
“Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law” (Rom 3:21)
“Now we have been justified by his blood” (Rom 5:9)
“Now We are God's children” (1 jn 3:2)
“Now is the day of salvation!” (2 Cor 6:2)
Now, today, we are in the Kingdom, for Jesus is the Kingdom and what He says, goes. And what He says and what goes is the forgiveness of sins received in His Church.
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