Thy Kingdom Come
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19 NASB
He has sent me – What does it mean to actively contribute to God’s kingdom here on earth? Yeshua’s instructions on prayer certainly make it clear that bringing about God’s kingdom is of utmost importance. The Lord’s Prayer specifically endorses the installment of this kingdom on earth, here and now. Followers of the Messiah are not idle bystanders waiting for the last day to enter into a kingdom found only in heaven. We are called to promote kingdom values here. We are called to radically alter the existing patterns of this world so that the world will reflect the glory due its Creator. But what specifically does this mean? Is this effort limited to the “sacred” arena? Are Kingdom activities confined to the religious world? Yeshua’s words give us a different picture.
Yeshua announced the mission of the Kingdom in his first public address. The best leadership always begins with a clear mission based in core ideology. Yeshua’s announcement combines a deliberate foundation from the past with a commanding call to future action.
“And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
By quoting the prophet Isaiah, Yeshua establishes the historical continuity of the values of his mission. The God at work in the past is the same God who is now revealing a new chapter in human intervention. An important development is occurring in the presence of those listening; a development that fulfills the first part of Isaiah’s vision. But this development is not radically new. It has eternal continuity.
Yeshua says that the kingdom of God-drawing-close is intimately involved with these four actions: to preach the good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to heal the blind and to set free the oppressed.
The relationship between these tangible activities and the core values of the Kingdom receives further emphasis in Yeshua’s discussion of success. In Matthew’s gospel, Yeshua points toward those actions that are consistent with the core values of the Kingdom. He describes the day when the king judges the success of his servants. Those who receive the blessing, “Come and inherit the kingdom prepared for you” are the ones whose actions are described as follows:
“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.”
When we pray, “Thy Kingdom come on earth”, we are asserting that we are in concert with Kingdom values and actions. We are proclaiming that our lives are contributing to the mission announced by Yeshua. In fact, we are saying that hallowing God’s name, honoring Who He is, means at the very least that we are deliberately attempting to fulfill the same objectives of the Kingdom: to preach the good news, to proclaim release, to heal and to free. This proclamation gives us a specific target audience: the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed, the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned.
The sovereign God places us in precisely the intersection of events and people that He requires. That intersection may not always be directly related to the target audience of the Kingdom activities. It may be difficult to imagine how operating a machine lathe or working at a Dairy Queen can align our actions with Yeshua’s call to Kingdom values. We may see no immediate relationship between our roles as CFO or Division Manager and the hungry, thirsty and naked. But our lack of understanding and vision does not mean that there is no relationship. God’s Kingdom values are intended to be a deliberate and distinguishable choice of every Kingdom follower. The fact that your present work is not directly related does not exempt you from fulfilling the tasks of the Kingdom. It only means that you must make the connection to these core values by indirect means.
Insofar as you are not participating in Kingdom value activities, you are not bringing the Kingdom close at hand. You are failing to complete the petition of the Lord’s Prayer. You are simply not glorifying God in the manner that Yeshua requires. There is absolutely no excuse for ignoring this requirement. Work is not an end; it is a means to the end. Profit is not an end; it is a means to the end. Yeshua tells us what the end is. It is the coming of the Kingdom. If we live and work in a manner that makes no direct or indirect contribution to Kingdom actions, we are being disobedient. It does not require a personal answer to the prayer, “Lord, what would you have me do?” to determine God’s will when it comes to the people described in these Kingdom activities. God’s will could not be clearer. We are to be engaged, one way or the other, with “the least of these.”
These actions are not necessarily confined to the arena of religion. In many respects, these kingdom-producing activities cannot occur within the walls of a religious assembly. The poor must hear the good news where they are. The imprisoned must be visited where they are. The sick are to be visited where they are. The blind healed where they are. This work is the action of the community of the redeemed outside the walls, in the world. This is not a proposal for building and inviting. This is a project of equipping and delivering. The core ideology of God’s Kingdom values demands that we move beyond the edges of our group and into the world at large, transforming it by injection, not by invitation.
We often overlook the implication that this pattern is equally applicable for every organizational structure. God’s plan is dispersion. The church, the company, the community, the constituency – it makes no difference – those on the inside are commanded to reach outside. Therefore, if your workplace is going to be aligned with God’s plan for the Kingdom, it must be engaged in outside work. Your manufacturing business must be involved in some form of God’s four target markets. Your sales staff must be involved in something beyond President’s Club success and next year’s products. You are expected to make a different among the poor, the sick, the imprisoned and the oppressed.
And you know what? When you align yourself with His direction, you find a flow with the universe.
There is a lot of talk in the business world today about values. Most of the discussion is myopic. It is centered on the internal values of the organization: How can we foster honesty? How do we promote individual respect? How are we engaged in client service? Kingdom values include issues internal to the group but Kingdom values do not focus on success. They focus on significance. And significance is always external. God’s plan intentionally moves us out of our group into action beyond our artificial borders.
The choice is digital. Either you are intentionally pursuing Kingdom work or you are working against God’s direction. There is no gray area. If you are interested in honoring God in all that you do, if you are concerned about significance from God’s perspective, then you must be about the Father’s business, and that business embraces the poor, the sick, the imprisoned and the oppressed.
The requirement is clear enough. Perhaps it is worth commenting on the rationale. Why does God make the outcasts a priority? Why does God assign Kingdom activities to the cross-sections of humanity who are the least likely choices for association? The answer exposes our arrogance and self-sufficiency. God assigns us tasks that engage us with the world’s left-behinds because He knows that confrontation with desperation is the only way that we can ensure our faith stays scrubbed of self-righteousness. This is why it is totally inadequate to give money but not give myself to Kingdom activities. God expects me to embrace those who are in need, directly, tangibly, with compassion, in order that my own desperate need will be refreshed. It is simply impossible for me to visit a man condemned to life in prison and not be moved by my own freedom. It is inconceivable for me to hold the hand of the dying and not be aware of my own living. I cannot feed the starving and not be thankful for my own provision. I cannot read to the blind and not praise God for my sight.
I do not engage myself with the audience of God’s Kingdom for their sakes. I engage for my sake. I engage because otherwise I might begin to believe that I am different, that I have merit or favor, that I deserve my reward. I engage with the downtrodden and the sick and the poor and the imprisoned in order that God can remind me of my own frail dependence on Him. I am an outcast too. These are my brothers and sisters.
Do not give God your silver and gold as a substitute for your compassion. Do you think He needs your money? No! He needs your heart, fully engaged and open to the flow of His love. He needs your business actively mentoring people whose lives are shattered, who need compassion and work. He needs your society directly involved in the cancer center. He needs your club communicating love in the soup kitchen. God’s answer to significance always means relationships.
America has reduced compassion to a tax-deductible handout. We have sterilized giving. We have successfully altered Kingdom activities so that we no longer stain our clothes or dirty our hands. We are the righteous givers whose “sacrifice” does not interfere with our need for cable TV and a Lexus. We stink.
If you want the fragrance of compassion to permeate your life, your company and your assembly, keep your money and give your time. Put your soul into it. You will discover what it means to be a cheerful giver. You will find that you cannot keep your money. And you will know something about honoring God.
What would happen to the internal values of your business if a requirement of employment was commitment to one of God’s Kingdom-building external values? How would the CEO be different if she spent an hour a week at the homeless center? What attitudes would change if the VP of Sales worked one afternoon (on company time) at the county jail or the pregnancy crisis clinic? What would happen to the Chairman if he led a group of fatherless boys on a weekend retreat? Kingdom values change lives. It was designed that way.
Topical Index: Kingdom, Luke 4:18-19
