[When we discussed the first petition of the prayer we learned from Jesus a month ago - "Hallowed be thy name" - I said that this petition is perhaps the most difficult to understand, the least self-evident, of all the Our Father. And now, when it comes to this second petition, "Thy kingdom come", I can say that it is the most conceptual, the most powerful petition in the whole of the Lord's Prayer. Perhaps it will bring you closer to understanding it if I draw your attention to something beforehand: the subordinate clause after the third petition, "on earth as it is in heaven" (Mt 6,10b), refers not only to the third petition, but to all three petitions. So also to "hallowed be thy name", "on earth as it is in heaven" and also to "thy kingdom come", "on earth as it is in heaven".This immediately gives a greater perspective to this phrase: the kingdom of God. It is immediately clear that we are not talking here about a 'kingdom' with customs posts, border posts, a square kilometre of land, like an earthly kingdom, but that the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. The New Testament's original term, "basileia", means not so much a kingdom as a kingdom. Here it is a spiritual kingdom in which God is Lord and King without contradiction, as He is in heaven at present. The kingdom of God is therefore a perfect, happy spiritual empire, where God's love, goodness, peace, joy, holiness, prevail unhindered. That is why Jesus, when he speaks of it, says: the kingdom of God, and sometimes: the kingdom of heaven. So the kingdom of God: the circle of the reign of a holy, just, loving God.
One could say, and rightly so, that God has this reign over all things, that he has always had it. For according to our faith, God is the Lord of the whole created universe. His royal throne (also a figurative expression) is unshakeable in heaven, all other authorities are subject to Him. The kingdom of God, the reign of God, the scope of God's reign cannot be extended any further, for the universe is subject to him. What, then, is it for whose coming Jesus teaches us to pray?
It is absolutely true that everything, everything is subject to God's kingship. Not only God's children, but also his enemies. Not only angels, but demons too. Not only the church, but the world. Not only good, but evil. But God does not want anyone to submit to His power out of compulsion, but willingly, voluntarily, willingly, happily. God is not a tyrant who would force Himself on anyone - He wants to conquer by the power of love. God desires not mere obedience without more, but the voluntary obedience of love. For this is the King, this is the Lord, this is the supreme power: Father. He is the almost unimaginably loving Father of this world.
Now: how the situation has developed in other parts of the vast universe, we do not know. Perhaps in eternity we will know that too. But we do know that in this one of the smallest points of the great universe, which we call Earth, there has been a rebellion against God's claim to rule. It is this mysterious mystery of the beginning of life on earth that is the subject of the allegorical narrative of Adam and Eve, the eternal tragedy of the eternal man. So this province of the kingdom of God, on which men dwell, has been torn away, subjected to alien domination by eternal sin. And that is why it has so much suffering, sickness, war and death. But God has not left it at that, nor has he given up this earth. We know from the Bible that there is a great divine plan for this province that has been torn away from Him, and that plan is to reconquer this lost territory, to bring it back under His dominion. He wants to expand and enforce his kingdom here too. This is God's great concept, His plan of salvation for this earthly world, that He wants to restore His kingdom on earth as He did in heaven. For this we pray when we ask: "Thy kingdom come... on earth as it is in heaven..." (Mt 6,10)
Is it not utopian, is it not wishful thinking to hope, to expect that God's reign of love will prevail on this earth among men? That Satan, sin, evil, selfishness, death may be driven out of this earthly world, and that life here may be filled with God's peace, his goodness, his love, his Spirit? Is this not just a pipe dream? Certainly not, for this heavenly kingdom has already landed on this earth, it has already appeared, it has already broken in, and it was when a mysterious child was born in that stable in Bethlehem. When this child grew up and came out into the open, his first proclamation was this announcement: 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand' (Mt 4,17b). (Lk 17,20-21) Referring to Himself, Who is there in reality among them, as the incarnation on earth of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven.
It is almost astonishing that the demonic powers immediately recognized that in the person of Jesus the great turning point in world history had arrived on earth. Remember? Once, in the province of the Gadarenes, the demonic powers within a possessed man complained wailing, "What have you to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? (Mt 8,29) Behold, they had already seen what it meant that in Jesus the kingdom of God had begun on earth, the great reckoning had begun. And all that Jesus has done to the blind, the lame, the lepers, the poor, even some of the dead, are all signs that already show something of the new world, of the new divine order of things that is already being realized on earth.
Behold, then, the kingdom of God on earth is not a fantasy, but a reality, a history. And even further: there on Calvary, as I have already said, the great "battle of Stalingrad", the decisive clash of the forces of the Kingdom of God invading the earth, took place. Afterwards, the kingdom of God began to unfold on this earth, like a tree sprouting from a mustard seed, like leaven permeating the dough, like a seed germinating in its fruit. All this today is a beginning, a start, a possibility, not yet complete. It will be complete when Jesus reappears in all his divine glory and power, for the full triumph of his kingdom. Therefore, until then, this prayer for him is topical: "Thy kingdom come".
It would, of course, be easier to say this prayer if we could turn the edge of this supplication towards the outside world, and pray that the heathen, the ungodly, may all bow down before the sovereign power of our God. Who would not wish with all his heart that an atmosphere of goodness instead of evil, of love instead of selfishness, of joy and contentment instead of suffering, might pervade this life on earth? How good it would be if this whole world were to be under the influence of God's redeeming power! Thus: thy kingdom come, let heaven descend on earth. Yes, but this petition has credibility only if you turn the edge not towards the outer world, but towards the inner world of yourself! So here too, as I said in the discussion of the first petition, whenever you pray: your kingdom come, always repeat within yourself: in me, Lord, and through me.
So in me! In other words, it is not a question here of this world finally changing, of all the bad things in it disappearing, but of me remaining as I was, but of this: Begin, O Lord, through me, that your kingdom may come as fully as possible to the small part of the world that is in me, that is around me. Let me obey you more and more, Lord! Take note that we are talking about the greatest thing. It is to pray for a full Christian life for ourselves. For I have seen many times that one only comes so far as to be inspired to faith, to accept God's grace freely given for the sacrifice of Jesus. He is happy in the knowledge that he has become a child of God, an heir to heavenly salvation, but then he stops there. He fails to take the next step of faith: the complete surrender of himself to God's lordship. Now, here it is a question of surrendered life to God. It is a desire, a will, that every work of my hands, every word of my tongue, every movement of my heart, every thought of my heart, should be brought as fully as possible under the guidance of the Spirit of God, and that God should control not only my actions, which others see, but even my thoughts and feelings.
Do you feel the gravity of what we are talking about here? It is recorded of Augustine that in his youth he pleaded, "Convert me, Lord, to you, but not just yet!" Is it not the same with us: let your kingdom come, but not yet, not yet completely, not yet in all things! Are we not so bold as not to dare to ask it for ourselves without reservation? And yet there is nothing that would lift one above the troubles, the problems, the sorrows of daily life like this request, if we could make it with a sincere heart. A kind servant of God once said: 'Is there anything greater, better in this world than life given to God? A state of complete surrender to God? It overwhelms everything. In order to bring myself and all that is in me, all that is around me, as fully as possible under God's royal rule, I must fight against myself. Obedience must be learned, practised. Let no one be discouraged if it does not come at once and completely. But this is precisely why Jesus made it the object of our daily supplication! Let us also fight for it with the weapons of prayer. Yes, may your kingdom come, may your reign in me be more and more fulfilled!
And through me. So let the kingdom of God come in me, so that it may then be spread as widely and as widely as possible through me. We have said that in Jesus the kingdom of God is about to be inaugurated, about to begin on earth. And Jesus always taught, fought, died and rose again so that the powers of the kingdom of God might take hold, so that there might be a more just, a nobler, more human life on this earth, so that the compassionate love and peace of God might triumph in this world of all kinds of misery and sin. Yes, this is what Jesus wanted and worked for, and continues to want and work for, not in some supernatural way and means, but through me and through you. So there is also in this petition that the purifying powers of the kingdom of God that ennoble all life on earth should permeate this world, but always in such a way that: show me, Lord, what is my part in this great plan of yours to redeem the world, where can I take your peace, where can I bear witness to your compassionate, helping love? Never expect from others that on this earth there may be less pain, darkness, destruction, suffering, anger, death, that in this world there may be more of Christ, for this God expects from you and from me, in whom He has already begun to exercise His kingdom, His reign. Yes, with this petition, "Thy kingdom come", we pray for the redemption of the whole earthly world, for the fulfilment of the divine reign of love begun in Jesus, which, if begun (for it was begun by God in the death and resurrection of Jesus), He will also accomplish most certainly, but it is not the same whether with us or without us. So, "Thy kingdom come" - by me!
I said that this is the most conceptual request in the whole of our Lord's Prayer. With this request, Jesus almost forces us to dare to ask God for much, to ask God for much. Luther commented on this passage, "Would we not consider a beggar to whom the king has promised to ask for whatever he wants, and he will grant his request, to be senseless, and this beggar would ask for only a plate of soup as a gift?" Well, when Jesus says, "Pray ye therefore thus: ... Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," is a way of reassuring us that we dare to ask God for something great and worthy of God. God has a great plan for this world. Jesus' appearance on earth, death and resurrection have dizzying prospects. So let us break out of the petty, selfish thoughts that revolve around our own selves and connect with the great divine concept that pervades heaven and earth, with what this statement means: the kingdom of God. And so let us pray now, "Thy kingdom come."
Thy kingdom come,
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,
O our King, this land;
Increase thy army.
Ready shelter for thy precious yoke,
Give everywhere a free flow.
(Canticle 483, verse 6)
Amen
Date: 24 November 1968.
Lesson
Lk 17,20-30