Seventh Friday of Eastertide

Seventh Friday of Eastertide
Introductory Note

We are in the last week of Eastertide. Sunday is Pentecost Sunday – the day when we commemorate God’s giving of the promised Holy Spirit and the spiritual birth of the Church. 

So empowered by the Holy Spirit, God’s Easter People, whose song is Hallelujah, pray that God’s kingdom would come not merely in our hearts and homes, but also in our politics and business, arts and sports, media and urban planning, culture and civilization, indeed, across the whole spectrum of human endeavor, as well as the rich span of the natural world of God’s Creation.

Jesus commanded His people to ‘seek first the kingdom of heaven and God’s righteousness,’ (Matthew 6:33), not just to seek God’s kingdom established in our hearts, but for the reign and rule of Christ to come upon the whole of the earth, (Matthew 6:10). 

It is for this that Jesus came: to bring His Kingdom back to His Creation. Jesus read from Isaiah to declare Himself and His mission: “And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4)

Dr. Cornelius Plantinga, former President of Calvin College, explains how Isaiah, whom Jesus quoted, along with all the prophets of the Old Testament, anticipated, indeed dreamt of, the coming of God’s Kingdom. The prophets longed for the Kingdom because they “knew how many ways human life had gone wrong and because they knew how many ways human life can go right… These prophets kept dreaming of a time when God would put things right again, [that is, establish His Kingdom again on earth]. 

“They dreamed of a new age,” continues Plantinga, “in which human crookedness would straighten out. The foolish would be made wise, and the wise made humble. They dreamed of a time when the deserts would bloom, the mountains would run with wine, people would stop weeping and be able to sleep without a weapon under their pillow. People would work in peace and work to fruitful effect. A lamb could lie down with a wolf because the wolf had lost its appetite. All nature would be fruitful, benign, and filled with wonder upon wonder. All humans would be knit together in brotherhood and sisterhood; and all nature and all humans would look to God, lean toward God, and delight in God. Shouts of joy and recognition would well up from women in streets and from men at sea. 

“The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. In English we call it peace, but it means far more than just peace of mind or ceasefire between enemies. In the Bible shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight—a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as the creator  and savior opens doors and speaks welcome to the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things are supposed to be.”

And God’s Shalom is the way of the Kingdom of Heaven that is now at hand, that our Lord Jesus Christ brought to earth, and that we are to seek and pray for now.


HEIDELBERG CATECHISM
Lord’s Prayer - Q & A 123

Q. What does the second petition mean?
A. “Your kingdom come” means: Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you. Preserve your church and make it grow. Destroy the devil’s work; destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspiracy against your holy Word. Do this until your kingdom fully comes, when you will be all in all.


WESTMINSTER LARGER CATECHISM

Q. 191. What do we pray for in the second petition?
A. In the second petition (which is, Thy kingdom come), acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate; that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him forever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.


GOSPEL READING: Matthew 13: 44-46

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.


MEDITATION: “Thy Kingdom Come

Do you give much thought to the fact that you live in a Kingdom? How well do you grasp that you, along with all nature and history, are subject to a sovereign King enthroned and ruling over all heaven and earth? 

The apostles described themselves as servants, slaves, and subjects of the sovereign Lord Jesus Christ in the greetings and texts of their epistles to the churches. 

John the Baptist said of Jesus, his master and king, “He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” 

Thomas fell on his knees and worshiped at Jesus’ feet, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus is King, the sovereign Lord over wind and waves, over demons and diseases, over nations and empires, over time and space. The question is: does He rule over you? Is Jesus’ Word your food and drink, His will your delight, His honor your aim, and His kingdom your ambition? 

If you acknowledge Jesus to be your Savior and King, do you then bring the King’s mercy and peace into the world? Do you hunger and thirst for the King’s justice and righteousness in the world? Do you strive for the King’s honor and glory to be upheld in the world? 

Meditate upon this tandem of short parables about the kingdom: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Thy Kingdom come, O God.
 


Cloud of Witnesses
  
“Before we can pray, ‘Lord, Thy Kingdom come,’ we must be willing to pray, ‘My Kingdom go.’” 
– Alan Redpath

“Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” 
– John the Baptist

“The essence of Christianity consists in: that the creation of the Father, destroyed by sin, is again restored in the death of the Son of God and recreated by the grace of the Holy Spirit to a Kingdom of God.” 
– Herman Bavinck

“The only way the kingdom of God is going to be manifest in this world before Christ comes is if we manifest it by the way we live as citizens of heaven and subjects of the King.” 
– R. C. Sproul

“The kingdom of God is not going to arrive on Air Force One.” 
– Cal Thomas

“God is concerned not only with saving man from hell in the next world, but with delivering him from the hellishness of this one.” 
– Chuck Colson


Morning Prayer:  from 3RD century prayers in the Gallican Sacramentary.

Most high God, our loving Father, infinite in majesty, we humbly beseech Thee for all Thy servants everywhere, that Thou wouldst give us a pure mind, perfect love, sincerity in conduct, purity in heart, strength in action, courage in distress, self-command in character. May our prayers ascend to Thy gracious ears, and Thy loving benediction descend upon us all, that we may in all things be protected under the shadow of Thy wings. Grant us pardon of our 46sins; perfect our work; accept our prayers; protect us by Thine own Name, O God of Jacob; send us Thy saving help from Thy holy place, and strengthen us out of Zion. Remember all Thy people everywhere, give us all the grace of devotion to Thy will; fulfill our desires with good gifts, and crown us with Thy mercy. When we serve Thee with faithful devotion, pardon our sins and correct us with Fatherly tenderness. Grant that, being delivered from all adversity, and both here and eternally justified, we may praise Thee forever and ever, saying Holy, Holy, Holy; through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. Amen
 
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