Longing for His Reign and Ways (Matthew 6:10)
Here’s Sunday’s message. You can download the audio here.
We took a short break to spend some time soaking in our Karis Church vision. If you missed those sermons, you can catch that “Identities and Rhythms” series online. But before that, we were slowly walking through the gospel of Matthew. And I’m excited to be back there today.
We’re in the middle of what has been called the “Sermon on the Mount.” This is perhaps Christ’s most famous section of teaching. It’s found in chapters 5 through 7 of Matthew. When we paused, we had just finished up looking at chapter 6, verses 1 through 18. There Jesus teaches on giving, on praying, and on fasting, respectively. But if you didn’t notice, we flew over a really important passage of the Bible, what we just read, what’s been called “The Lord’s Prayer.”
But as many have rightly pointed out, that’s a bit of a misnomer. It makes much more sense to call it the “The Disciple’s Prayer.” That’s because Jesus gifts it to us. He begins by saying, in verse 9, “Pray then like this.” In Luke 11, it comes in response to a request from His disciples. They say, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And Christ gives them what they ask. This is a prayer meant for disciples, for learners of the way of Jesus. To help us know how to pray.
Now this can be prayed as-is. The church has used it that way throughout history. Of course, we have to watch out that we don’t do it ostentatiously or mindlessly - or we go against what Jesus teaches in the verses just before. But it’s better to see this as less of a script and as more of a model, or maybe an outline for our prayers.
Now this may be right about the time you decide to tune me out. You might be thinking, “I’m really bad at praying.” Or even, “I’m not interested in praying.” But before you head for the exits, think with me a second about what prayer is and how we live. Maybe it’s not as weird or as hard as you think it is.
Now maybe I’m just really weird, but if you’re at least somewhat like me, you go through your day thinking and talking and longing. What do I mean? We’re pretty much always thinking. Mulling things over in our heads. And we engage in a sort of dialogue with ourselves, don’t we? Don’t tell me I’m the only one. And even more, we’re thinking about, talking about, things we really want. Right? We walk around processing our longings.
“Man, is she really going to make me do all the laundry again? You’ve got to be kidding me. Why can’t she show me any respect?”
“Oh, I sure hope that interview went well. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this for so long. It’s perfect!"
“Come on. I can’t understand why this has to keep happening to me. Cancer now? What did I do wrong? Have I not suffered enough?”
“Oh, I sure hope that she notices me. We would be so perfect together. And it seems like I strike out. Every. Single. Time.”
“My word. I can’t believe he just said that to her. And that we live in a world like that. Unbelievable. And it’s 2022. I don’t know how I can hold in my anger.”
Does any of that sound familiar? Well, what do each of those cries, those rants, have in common? Well, they’re spoken to us. They’re about us, right? We’re talking to ourselves, first of all. And, they’re also all about our own wants. Correct? We’re thinking about and talking about and longing for things all the time. And it’s all to ourselves and about ourselves.
Now this may sound weird. But hear me. That’s not that much different from prayer. We’re just talking to the wrong person. And with the wrong priorities. Maybe we just need redirected. And it’s not as weird or hard as we think.
Now last week, Aaron Ferguson kicked off our journey through this prayer. He looked at verse 9, which reads, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.” God is personal. He’s our Father. But He’s also infinite. He’s holy. We should be people who long for Father to be be seen as holy - as majestic and glorious - as He really is. That should be our regular prayer. What we long for. And what we call out for.
We should be about Him, and about His glory. And that leads into the verse we’ll consider this morning. We’re going to our God who is also our Father. And we have His glory in mind.
Longing for His Reign
The first thing Jesus tells us is that we should long for God’s reign. Jesus says, pray like this: “Your kingdom come.” But first off, what kingdom are we talking about? His, of course. More on that in a bit. But what do we mean when we speak of the “kingdom of God” or as Matthew more regularly puts it, the “kingdom of heaven?”
Now the kingdom is arguably the theme of the entire Bible. God makes everything, and puts Adam in the center of it all, and He asks that first man - with his wife - to rule over it all. Of course, they sin, and everything spirals out of control. But that little kingdom points ahead to a day when a new Adam, Jesus, will rule perfectly over God’s creation.
As Graeme Goldsworthy likes to put it, God’s people will be in God’s place under God’s rule again. We who believe will dwell in the kingdom of God forever. The Lord will reign over us. And we should long - and call out for that reign.
Second, though, when are we wanting it to come? I love this more detailed definition of the kingdom.
“The kingdom of God is where the Father’s rule is exercised through the Son by the power of the Spirit so that it is willingly obeyed, gloriously displayed and happily enjoyed among His people, in His world.” (Steve Timmis)
When should we want this? Yes, fully, finally at Christ’s return. He’ll return. He’ll set up His throne. And He will reign forever and ever. When we pray, as Revelation 22:20 prays, “Come, Lord Jesus,” we are longing for this final, forever manifestation of His kingdom. We’re wanting it to come perfectly on that day.
But we also want to see that increasingly here in our day. Right? Now I’ve been reading Patrick Schreiner’s new book, Political Gospel, and it’s been so good. But he argues throughout that, yes, our faith is a political message.
Now that’s easy for us to misunderstand. He says that we resist it altogether, because we like to make our faith a private thing. We’re taught not to take what we believe out in public. We make it something that isn’t meant to show itself up in this world.
But Jesus is one day literally going to return and reign as King over the earth. He’s going to reign over a kingdom. That’s a political thing. And now, as more and more people become subjects of His kingdom, and they become a part of His people, the church. And as they become citizens of heaven, but still live life in this world, it changes things. We want to see His reign spread and transform even here and now.
What, third, keeps us from desiring this kingdom? Other kingdoms, first of all, right? Tuesday’s election day. And there are people that are pinning all their hopes and dreams on what happens. Schreiner says another reason why it’s hard to see the political implications of the gospel is that we’ve made it a partisan thing. Our hope is in our political party winning and reigning.
Now we see this on the right and the left, but one huge issue that we’re facing in the church today is what’s called Christian nationalism. Have you heard of that term? Russell Moore, now the editor of Christianity Today, calls it the “use of Christian words, symbols, or rituals as a means to shore up an ethnic or national identity.” It’s seeing America as starting as a Christian nation. As needing to get back to that place - at pretty much any cost. And really understanding that as the hope of the future of the world.
But it greatly misunderstands the Bible. My friend Jonathan Leeman from 9 Marks puts it this way:
“The language of Christian nationalism or Christian nation then, unaccountably, slaps Jesus’s name onto a modern nation-state. It jumps from Israel straight to America without passing through Jesus and the church first.” (Jonathan Leeman)
Karis, America is not the kingdom we’re longing for. And we can’t get sucked into that thinking. But you know, that’s not the only competing kingdom we’re tempted toward. More than anything, we desire our kingdoms. Don’t we? You can try to build a little kingdom at your restaurant. And rule like a despot, a dictator. And make everyone quit or not want to come in to work.
I grew up in a home where my mom tried to control every little detail - from how clean things were to every little move my sister and I made. I can be tempted to make my home this place where I get to reign. And people are forced to bow. Or the church here a place where I’m on the throne. And everyone gets to be my subject. And I keep you all under my thumb. We can long for kingdoms like those. But we’re meant for something so much better and greater.
Well, how do we fourth go about seeing this kingdom come? Well, the most obvious thing is that we pray for it! Isn’t that the point of this section - and sermon? We call out for it! Change our hearts. Change our world. Jesus wants this to be your yearning, our groaning, as we walk around in this world. That we’d walk around spontaneously begging Him to bring His kingdom down.
But we also do this at structured times, right? We go before Him in our times of private worship. And it’s so critical to do that each day. We come before Him together in corporate worship. And we ask for things like this in times like this.
But we also also have mentioned other times we’re coming together to pray. On Wednesdays each week. Come at 6:30 or noon. And for sure, we’ll pray for your surgery or your exam. I’ve got a kid now in college. My wife has been fighting against cancer. But we’re mainly going to come together to pray prayers like this, that God would bring down His kingdom.
But how else do we see this kingdom come? How do people become a part of the kingdom of heaven? Subjects of our King? By faith. Where does faith come from? From hearing. “And hearing through the word of Christ.” That’s from Romans 10. Hear what Paul says right before that in verse 14:
Rom. 10:14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
Rom. 10:15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
The Lord’s Prayer - and especially verse 10 here - is a missional prayer. And we need to be a part of the mission. If you prayed every night with your kids - that the shelter down the street might have enough food and enough volunteers - one of those kids might ask, “Mom, why don’t we go buy some food? Why don’t we go help out?” As Aaron Ferguson said this week in staff meeting - and I teased him that it sounded like a good CCM song, “Maybe we can be the answer to Jesus’s prayers here.” He’s right.
The term gospel - the good news - was used in that day as a way to refer to the victory of a king, of the triumph of his reign. Heralds would go out and proclaim that in the streets. That’s what we do, also, as we pray for His kingdom to come. We go out and shout the good news. The King has come! And He has won! Bow before Him. Give yourself to His Kingdom. Before it’s too late. But before that, we have to long for His reign. And express that in our prayers.
Longing for His Ways
Let’s move on. The second thing Jesus tells us is that we should long for God’s ways. That comes from the second clause in verse 10 - “your will be done.” That desire should be in our heart and on our mind and coming out through our lips.
But what, first, do we mean about His will? We like to talk about the “will of God.” But we can easily get confused. When the Bible talks about the subject, it can mean a couple of things. Sometimes the will of God can refer to God’s plans. This is what some call His “will of decree.” This is what God decides will happen. And it always does happen.
We may not understand it. We’re not meant to. But an example here is that it is God’s will that our current president is in office. We could say the same thing for the previous guy. It was God’s plan. He is the true King. He reigns over the earth. The real President.
Sometimes the will of God can also refer to God’s commands. This can be called God’s “will of desire.” An example can be found in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, where it reads, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” Obviously, this is often disobeyed. God’s plans are never violated. His commands are - all the time. That’s just one example. The Ten Commandments are another obvious one. But the New Testament is full of things God says He desires. Things He commands. For His glory, but also for our good.
Now there is a sense in which I think this prayer can apply to the first type of “God’s will.” We plead with God for His plan for His creation and history to come to fruition. We cry out, “Father, bring about your will for this broken world.” So in this way, this isn’t that far from asking what we just talked about - for His kingdom to come.
But I think this fits better with the second understanding. More God’s commands than His plans. Where we long that more and more people would hear God’s word and heed it. Not just listen but obey. That people God has made would welcome His reign and follow in His ways. We should long for that - and plead for that.
But again, second, when will that transformation come? Much like the last clause, there are two answers to the question. We ask for His will to be done - by His creatures - perfectly, eternally - beginning with Christ’s return. One day, as Philippians 2 puts it, every knee will bow. We ask God to hasten that day. When His will won’t be violated. And all will be good and right.
But we’re also asking Him to bring it about here and now. That more and more would confess His name - before it’s too late. That people would do what God asks - and demands - today. And that would be seen all around the world. That those He’s made would heed His orders. Starting with the church. And flourishing would result.
Now, as a bit of an aside… Thing about it for a minute. These two prayers - for His kingdom to come, and His will to be done. What are they? They encompass a lot, if you’ve not noticed. But aren’t they in big part a cry for justice? Where we give God our pain and beg God to act? Pastor Bryan Key says this is a prayer of lament. Where we give God our sorrows. And our longing for healing. And Key says “lament cultivates longing in us for the hope that awaits us.” Maybe you’ve never thought of this prayer in this way. But you can be sure oppressed people have - like our black brothers and sisters that are a part of us. We should pray for the day when peace and justice reign. When all things are as they should be. When people do God’s good and perfect will.
Well, third again, what stands in the way of us longing for God’s will? Other wills, first of all. We can submit to kings of this world. Instead of the Lord of Lords. I won’t go off the rails and talk more about how messed up we are politically in America.
But I’ll go a different way. I think we give into something more subtle. We think that we are far more free and independent than we really are. Most of us are born in America. Probably most are middle-class. Most of us are white, although - praise God - that’s changing. Most of us in Karis are pretty young. Generally, we think like young, middle-class, white Americans think. We’ve been shaped by our culture in certain ways. And that’s continually happening.
Somewhere you have some bizarre kitchen gadget tucked away in a drawer or a really weird pillow stacked in a closet. Things Instagram told you just had to have, and you just couldn’t resist. Advertisers are telling us what we should believe. And what we should purchase. Bots on the internet are feeding us articles - that either rile us up or reassure us that we’ve got everything figured out. You and I are always being discipled. We’re obeying orders. All the time. The risk is that it’s not in God’s ways, but the world’s.
But, of course, what gets in the way most is our own will. What happened in the garden? That messed up that Kingdom? Subjects not listening to the King. Adam and Eve asserting their will. And that’s been our problem ever since. I love the way Paul Miller puts it,
“The great struggle of my life is not trying to discern God’s will; it is trying to discern and disown my own.” (Paul Miller)
Put another way, God’s will isn’t something to be found. It hasn’t been lost. It’s in His word. And not hard to find. It’s something to be obeyed. And that, my friends, is the hard part. So much of the time, I just don’t want to.
And you know, I think it’s as hard as it’s ever been today. Why’s that? Because our culture has drunk up and tweeted out this idea that we can and should do whatever we want. You be you. You do you. Follow your heart. Religious relativism. Choose your path. Be authentic. Don’t judge others. That’s the new rule of gold.
We just write our own rules. And that can be just as dogmatic and judgmental. But friends, don’t go be a Christian nationalist, but also don’t be a Christian relativist either. You can’t say you’re following Christ - the Messiah, the King - and not obey what He says. We have to resist our own will most of all. As Cole Brown puts it, “Anytime we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we are praying for ours to fall.”
Well, how do we proceed fourth in seeing His will be done? Obviously here, most importantly, we pray. For our world. For our nation. For our city. For our leaders, our schools. It all starts there. This is a prayer. We ask God to move. We long for this. We beg for this.
But we don’t just pray for them. We pray for us. Because how can we pray about God’s will being done if we won’t even seek to do it ourselves? We don’t just pray about it, but in His strength, we seek to obey His will. And how do we go about knowing God’s will in the first place? It’s not a tough question. We’ve already talked about it. The Bible, right? That’s where we learn of His ways.
And it’s also where we form and develop a relationship. And that’s the Bible’s point. Say you’re married or dating someone. You both realize your communication isn’t really strong. You’re not talking to one another much at all. So you look at the other and you say, “Here’s how we’re going to do this. I’ll start talking and you starting listening.” It’s not going to go well. It’s got to go both ways. But here’s the difference. God’s allowed to tell us that. And that’s the way this relationship starts. With us listening. Where again? In His word. We listen. And how do we respond? How does the relationship end up going two ways? We pray. He talks through His word. We talk in our prayers.
And let me say: that’s the best way to approach prayer. Read God’s word. Respond to what you read in prayer. In the Psalms. In all the Bible. I’m excited that God timed it so that we have all these free copies of the book Praying the Bible out on the resource table today. Do you want to learn how to pray? Use the Bible. And read that book. It’ll help you in that. Let us be people who long for God’s will to be done, church. For His ways to be honored and obeyed.
Longing for Heaven on Earth
My last point. The third thing Jesus tells us is that we should long for heaven on earth. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Now when I tell you to long for heaven on earth, that might make you kinda jumpy. Your heresy detector might be going off. Yes, there’s a bad way this can happen. We can fall in love with the things of this fallen world. We can give ourselves to this earth and miss out on heaven.
But do you know how the Bible ends? You might not have heard this. It’s not with us jumping like Bruce Willis from a burning building. We don’t go flying up into the sky, looking back on an exploding earth. No, it ends this way. With heaven coming to earth! Hear Revelation 21:
Rev. 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
Rev. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev. 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Rev. 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Rev. 21:5 ¶ And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Heaven comes down. The earth is renewed. And justice and peace will reign. Mark Sayers says that “heaven is where God’s will happens in fullness.” One day, the Kingdom will come. And He will reign. And His will will happen in fullness here. Sin and sorrow will cease. And there will be joy forever.
But again, we are asking God to bring it into the here and now. To see glimpses of heaven all around us. Yes, as people embrace the kingdom and bow to His will. But also as His reign and ways begin to impact and transform our world. Giving us signposts and foretastes of the coming kingdom.
And how does that come? Through prayer. That’s the obvious thing that must grip us here. Our power here on earth come from our Father in heaven. People like to say, “You’re so heavenly minded. You’re no earthly good.” But if we really want to do good. And make a difference here. We need to lift our hearts to heaven. And ask. And I think this clause refers to all that’s come before. Oh, Father, as things are in heaven, make them like that on earth - Your name hallowed, Your kingdom reigning, Your will being done. Karis, let’s make that our prayer. Let’s make that our passion.
His Glory and Our Good
Now there’s a shift in this prayer that happens in verse 11, where God tells us to call out for “our daily bread” - for Him to meet all our needs. For the rest of the prayer, the requests are petitions we make to God about us. For provision, for forgiveness, for strength.
But these first three prayers - that He’d be hallowed, that His kingdom would come, and that His will would be done - those are so much what we need, too. They’re what’s best for us. They’re what we need.
Go back to that original dialogue I started things off with.
“Lord, I don’t know why I’m always the one remembering the laundry. But this isn’t about me. It’s about Your kingdom, not mine. It’s Your will that I care about. If you want me to do this for the rest of my life, to love and serve my wife, I’m in.”
“Father, I want that position. I know you want me to tell you how I feel. But I know I’ll only be happy with what you want for me. Not my will, but yours, Father. I trust you. Put me where You want.”
“Oh, God, I can’t imagine why I have to have this condition. It doesn’t make sense. It seems wrong. But I know you’re in control. You’re good. You’re with me, too. Even if I have to suffer, I want your Kingdom. I want your will. Let me show Your glory as I go through this trial.”
“Father in heaven, that girl seems perfect. I want to be married. I think that’s what you’ve called me to. But I know when I try to act like king and get my way apart from You, things don’t go well. I’m your subject, your servant, oh King. I’ll do what you ask. I’ll rest in your care. Help me, Dad.”
“Lord God, I can’t believe that conversation I just overheard. I trust You. But I’m sick of this world of sin. Please bring Your reign here and now. Please let your ways be honored even today. Bring justice, Father. Make all things new.”
There, we’re thinking, we’re talking, we’re processing our longings before our Father. And that’s prayer, church. And a key prayer we should have ruminating through our heads and hearts is this one. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Brothers and sisters, this is the hardest thing for us to learn, to live. It’s not about us. It’s about Him. God gives us here a different priority list. He gives us a model prayer. What should shape our longings as His people. We should be a people who long for God’s reign and His ways to break through and make all things new, even here and now. Let’s pray.