Dr. Moody’s Bible Class
The Prayer of Jesus #7
The Kingdom of God
Attending: John Williams, Jennifer Long, Harold Wilson, Jean Kellet, Sandy Galbreath, Mike Reed, James and Lisa Catron, Iris Brown, Dwight A. Moody
A re-written Lord’s Prayer:
Mama God, your reign extends above and beyond all we can see or know,
Your word and action and name is holy.
May your law of love take root in our hearts and our community,
may your will be done among us and in our world.
Give us exactly what we need this moment, this day,
Forgive us for the ways we’ve fallen short –
forgive us to the same extent that we forgive those who have hurt and disappointed us.
Guide our minds and hearts and feet away from the lure of power and pride,
Pull us out of the envy and fear and hatred that leads only to death.
We confess that authority and power and glory belong to you, and you alone.
Your love surrounds us always.
The theme this week is this phrase from The Prayer.
Your Kingdom Come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Four things I want to leave you with today.
ONE
This is Hebrew poetry, and thus parallelism.
“Your Kingdom come” means
“Your will be done on earth as in heaven”
TWO
“Kingdom of God” (or rule of God or reign of God) was the driving motif of Jesus’ message.
How many texts can we quote?
“The kingdom of heaven is near, repent and believe this good news.” (opening summary)
“If I by the finger of God cast out Satan, then the kingdom has come near.”
“The kingdom of God is like …..” (so many parables)
“My kingdom is not of this world…” (Jesus to Pilate)
THREE
“Your will”—what is the will of God?
Most of the will of God we know: tell the truth, honor parents, care for your neighbor, forgive those who wrong you, give generously, etc.
But we get hung up over other things: where should I go to college? Which job should I take? Should I buy this house? In many cases, God does not care. Regardless of where we go to college or which house we buy, we are to tell the truth, and treat others with dignity, and etc.
Concerning the will of God, I recommend The Will of God by Leslie Weatherhead: there is God’s intentional will, and God’s circumstantial will, and God’s ultimate will. This is the best three-fold understanding of God’s will.
FOUR:
This part of the prayer deals with surrender. Giving ourselves up to what we believe is the will and purposes of God. This attitude of surrender is at the core of the religious life, at the center of what it means to be human. It is the prayer of the open palms—it is the letting go of somethings in order that we might receive other things. It is relinquishing in exchanging for reliance upon God. It is a disposition of the soul, an attitude of the mind.
