Matthew 6:5-10 - Thy Kingdom Come

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

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Good morning. It is an honor and privilege for me to be here representing Mission to the World.

And before we hear God's Word, I just want to offer a heartfelt thank you to Southwood

for supporting Mission to the World missionaries and for your prayers and our joint commitment in seeing the Great Commission go forth to all the world.

Our scripture passage today comes from the book of Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

I'm sorry, chapter 6.

It's a very familiar passage and I'll be reading from verses 5 through 10,

really focusing on the last two verses of the Lord's Prayer.

I'm describing the first three petitions of the Lord's Prayer, but I wanted to read some of the context as well.

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Matthew 6, verses 5 through 10, or you can see it up on the screen.

Matthew 6:5–10

This is God's very own Word.

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners,

that they may be seen by others.

Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do,

for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Do not be like them.

For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Pray then like this.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

May God add His blessings to the reading of His Word.

Please join me in a quick prayer before we hear the message.

Lord, we just pray for Your Holy Spirit

to come and to fill our time now,

that You would help us to understand Your Word.

And help me, Father, please, to speak faithfully from Your Word.

In Jesus' name, amen.

We were doing our family devotions one night, as we often do,

and it was my turn to pray the Lord's Prayer,

which we do each time we do our devotions.

And this particular night, I said to myself,

tonight I am going to pray so intentionally every phrase in the Lord's Prayer.

I'm not going to just run through it from memory like I normally do.

I want to think about each word

so that my kids can kind of see a model of this prayer.

Well, I got to about the third phrase, and there was a pause.

I forgot the next line.

The kids started giggling.

I must have been really tired, I think, that night.

And my kids had a field day with me.

Good job, pastor, missionary, coordinator.

Don't even know the Lord's Prayer.

I've always thought it was ironic

how Jesus teaches His disciples not to pray repetitiously.

But almost every week, we pray this prayer He's taught us

very repetitiously, almost mindlessly, religiously.

Well, the passage that we examined, that we read,

comes in the context of Jesus' disciples asking Him how to pray.

And after teaching His disciples how not to pray,

Jesus gives this model prayer.

But what is presupposed in this prayer

is a completely different way of looking at life

and our relationship with God.

You see, Jesus doesn't want us simply to utter this prayer mindlessly,

repetitiously,

but to adopt the worldview,

the set of values,

the kingdom perspective that this prayer assumes.

And you see, it's this perspective

that's almost behind this prayer

that helps shape,

I'm sorry,

helps shape our sense of purpose

and our direction in life.

And it also informs our collective call to world missions.

And so today,

we're going to be looking at

the first three phrases in this prayer,

the opening address,

Our Father.

And then second,

Hallowed be Your name.

And finally,

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done on earth

as it is in heaven.

Well, what is the first thing that we pray?

Our Father in heaven.

And what is presupposed is that we have

a relationship with God

as Father.

You see, earlier in this chapter,

Jesus speaks against the hypocrites

who prayed in order to be what?

He'd be seen by men.

You see, their problem was

they didn't have a genuine relationship

with God as Father.

And even though they were religious,

their religion didn't go beyond

their culture.

They were just acting as if they knew God.

And so what we must recognize

before anything else

is the fact that we cannot engage

in any meaningful way

with mission.

Or for that matter,

have any lasting peace or joy

in our hearts

unless

we have a relationship with God

as our Father.

You see, much of the striving

that we experience in life,

whether we are conscious of it or not,

is really a striving to reconnect

with the One who has made us,

the One who has created us.

And so this prayer assumes

that we have a relationship

with God as our Father.

But maybe there are some

here today

who do not yet know God

as their Father.

And I'm speaking particularly

to the young people

here in the church

because you see,

having a genuine relationship

with God as Father

is different from

just growing up in the church.

It's different from just

knowing the right answers

to your Sunday school questions

or even saying

the sinner's prayer.

Having a genuine relationship

with God as your Father

is only possible

by the Holy Spirit

changing us

from the inside out.

It's a spirit

that convicts you

of your sins,

leads us to repentance

and faith,

helps make sense

of the Bible.

And it fills us

with the fruit

of the Spirit,

with love,

with joy,

with peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness,

and self-control.

It is the Spirit

that guides us

and comforts us

in life

and adopts us

as the children of God

and enables us

to cry out to God,

what?

Abba.

Father.

Father.

So do you know

the Father?

One of Ernest Hemingway's

short stories

tells of this

Spanish father

who decided

to reconcile

with his son.

Son had run away

to the big city

of Madrid

and the father

wanting to reconcile

with his son,

remorseful,

took out an ad

in the El Liberal

newspaper

hoping that his son

who had run away

to Madrid

would read the paper

and understand

his heart.

And so he took out

this ad

in this paper

and he wrote

Paco,

that was his son's name,

meet me at

Hotel Montagna

noon Tuesday.

Paco is a common name

in Spain

and so when the father

went to the square

he found 800 young men

named Paco

waiting to be reconciled

with their father.

Hemingway strikes

a chord in our hearts

with this story.

What child doesn't

want to be reconciled

with his father?

What child does not

want to be in good

fellowship

with his father?

Now if this is true

with our earthly fathers,

how much more

is it true

with our heavenly father?

The Gospel of John

tells us

that all who receive Jesus,

those who believe

in his name,

call upon his name,

will be given

the right to be called

the children of God.

You see,

all of our prayers,

all of our religion

is worthless

if we do not have

a genuine relationship

with God.

And so if you have

not yet received

Jesus

or called upon

his name

for the forgiveness

of your sins,

do not wait

another day,

don't wait

another minute.

Turn to him

in faith

and repentance.

Our father

calls to us

to come to him

and he writes

to us in the Gospel,

all is forgiven.

Love, Papa.

Now the second phrase

assumes that our life purpose

is not to hallow

our name

but to hallow

God's name.

It's not about

our reputation,

it's about

his reputation.

It's not about

our glory,

it's about

his glory.

You see,

the Pharisees

and scribes

prayed in order

to be what?

to be seen

by men.

What does this mean?

It means that

they were more

concerned about

their own

reputation,

their own name.

They wanted others

to speak well

of them

or to

hallow

their name.

Jesus tells us

that our orientation

in life

as the children

of God

is not to

hallow our name

but to hallow

his.

And so we exist

to honor,

to glorify,

to build up

the name

of our God

rather than

our own.

But you see,

it's much harder

than it sounds.

This past January

there was a

Mission to the World

mission conference

on the west coast

in the sunny city

of San Diego.

It was a very special,

it still is,

very special city

to me

and to my wife.

We used to live

in San Diego

for several years.

It's where I went

to seminary,

where I served

in the presbytery,

where my wife

went to medical school,

where we had friends.

And so I thought

finally I get to go

to a place

where people

will know my

name.

I was one of the

speakers in the conference

and so I go

to register

and I

come to the desk

and they say,

well,

what's your name?

I said,

well,

my name's Lloyd Kim.

Surely expecting

they would recognize

at least that I was

a speaker

and they said,

oh,

okay,

here,

here's your packet.

I was so offended.

During that conference,

the worship,

guest worship leader

came down

and he did a great job

and I said,

you know what,

I just really wanted

to thank you.

Just did an amazing job.

And he said,

well,

thank you

and tell me again,

what's your role

around here?

I said,

well,

I'm kind of a speaker

and,

you know,

coordinate things

with missions of the world.

Needless to say,

I was also again humbled

by that.

Finally,

the last day

of the conference,

I was rushing in.

I was a little bit late.

I didn't have my

conference tag on

and as I was going

through the doors,

someone stopped me

and said,

did you register?

They thought I was

trying to freeload.

Needless to say,

God was telling me

something about

my own preoccupation

with my name.

Jesus teaches us

to pray,

hallowed be your name.

But how often

do we live out the prayer,

hallowed be my name.

But you see,

this phrase also has

a missions thrust.

For we are asking God

that He would make

His name hallowed.

The reason that we go,

the reason that we send

people to the nations

is because the nations

are not yet

hallowing

the name of our God.

And so,

we pray that those

who do not yet know

the name of our God

from every tribe,

from every tongue,

from every nation,

would come to know Him

as Father

and would also

hallow His name.

The final phrase

we'll discuss today

is,

your kingdom come.

Your will be done

on earth

as it is in heaven.

Now,

what would be the opposite?

My kingdom come,

right?

My will be done.

This is what Jesus

was speaking against

when He criticized

those who would pray

repetitiously,

thinking that they would

be heard

for their many words.

What were these people

trying to do?

They're trying

to manipulate God

to give them

what they want,

to accomplish

their will

above all else,

thinking they would

be heard

for their many words.

But you see,

our Lord wants us

to orient our life

away from our own

personal agenda,

our own kingdom,

towards His agenda

and kingdom.

wisdom.

This is what it means

to be a follower

of Jesus,

a disciple of Christ.

People have often

asked me,

Lloyd,

what is your vision?

What is your vision

for mission

to the world?

And I often respond,

pretty simple for me,

my vision is

Jesus' vision.

What did Jesus

want to see?

What did He preach?

preach, repent for the what?

The kingdom of God

is at hand.

How is He teaching us

to pray?

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done

on earth

as it is in heaven.

Jesus' vision was

to see God's rule

and reign

fill the earth.

He wants to see

the heavenly kingdom

come

to the earth.

This isn't just

a prayer for the

second coming,

which we certainly

desire,

but a prayer for the

power and the presence

of God

to be known

even today

here on earth

as it is in heaven.

And we ask,

well, what does

this kingdom look like?

In any kingdom

you need citizens.

And so when a person

repents and believes

in the gospel,

submits himself

to the king,

the kingdom advances.

And when the church

lives out the ethics

of the kingdom,

an ethic of radical

self-sacrifice,

surrender,

and submission

to the king,

when the church

lives out this ethic,

the kingdom of God

is here.

And when those

from every tribe

and every tongue

and every nation

worship the Father,

the kingdom of God

has come.

This is the vision

of our Lord

Jesus Christ.

Is this our vision?

Is this Southwood's vision?

After a speaking event,

a young college student

came up to me

and she thanked me

for the message

and then she went on

to share how

how her mother

had passed away

just a month before.

She started crying.

She said it was

an accident,

something that could

have been prevented.

And she simply

couldn't understand

why God would

take her mother away.

She had,

this young woman

had just given

her life to Jesus

several months

before this.

And then she looked

at me and she said,

but now,

Pastor,

I realize

he wants everything,

even my mother.

And I'm okay with it.

I looked at her

and I said,

your faith

and your submission

demonstrates God's

rule and reign

in your life.

It's a picture

of the kingdom of God.

You have encouraged

and strengthened

my faith

more than you know.

You see,

our Lord teaches

us to pray

that God's

will be done

on earth

as it is

in heaven.

Because in heaven

there are no tears.

There is no sorrow,

no sickness,

no injustice,

no corruption,

no abuse,

no brokenness,

no sin,

and no death.

And so when we pray

this prayer,

we are praying

that Satan's kingdom

would be destroyed

and that the gospel

would go throughout

the world

and that the church

would grow

in grace

and in holiness

and that Christ's reign

would indeed extend

to the ends of the earth

and that He would return

in glory.

We pray

that people

lost in hopelessness

would find hope,

that marriages

that are broken

would be mended

by grace,

and that the glory

of God

would indeed

fill the earth.

Beloved,

Jesus teaches us

to pray this way

because

that's how He prayed.

He says,

Our Father.

He considers us

His brothers

and His sisters.

He prays,

Hallowed be

Thy name

when His own name

is mocked

and ridiculed.

He prays,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

and then establishes

the very kingdom

by submitting

to the Father's will.

Remember how He asked

the Father

to take

the bitter cup

from Him

in the garden

of Gethsemane,

but then prayed

with resolution,

not

My will be done,

but Thine.

What did it mean

for Jesus

to pray this prayer?

It meant that

He would willingly give,

willingly sacrifice,

and submit

to the suffering

and pain

of the cross.

Jesus gave up

everything

for the kingdom,

and He calls us

to do the same.

What are the implications

of this kingdom prayer?

The implications

are that we would live

wholeheartedly

for the kingdom,

submitting to our King,

seeking to advance

His will,

and His name

above all else.

And you see,

this is where missions

comes in.

Our great commission

mandate to go

and make disciples

of all the nations

is the means

by which the kingdom

of God advances.

And so,

if we want to see

this vision of our Lord

come about,

we need to take seriously

our mission

in sending

and supporting

and going

to the nations

with the good news

of the kingdom

of God.

Every dollar given,

every prayer

lifted up,

every person sent

or project supported

for missions

testifies

that the kingdom

of God

is real.

It declares

to the world

that we submit

to a living King

who rules the heavens

and the earth,

and it bears witness

that the kingdom

of God

has come

and that we seek

its advancement

here on earth.

Can I suggest

maybe some practical

ways in which

Southwood might consider

being involved

in missions?

It was wonderful

last night

to talk

with Sarah

about what the church

is doing

in the community.

And I would say

amen to that.

those who are engaged

in mission here

will be the best

missionaries

overseas tomorrow.

But one thing

that has been

in my mind

in terms of how

I might encourage

the churches

is to consider

tithing your members.

Oftentimes,

churches give a tithe

to missions,

but very infrequently

would they think

of actually tithing

their members.

And what I mean

by that is

to have as a goal

as a church

to send

10%

of your congregation

to long-term

foreign missions.

If you have

500 adults,

consider sending

50,

25 unit,

25 families.

What does this mean

practically?

Instead of waiting

for the one

or two odd members

who feel a personal

call to missions,

the church actually

encourages,

challenges,

and prepares members

to go.

If the mission field

says we need

three families

to start a new

church planting work

in Myanmar,

then the church

begins asking people

in the congregation

to prepare.

For those of you

who are parents,

if you have three kids,

you know,

send one of them.

And don't send

the one you don't like.

That goes for the

church leadership too.

Don't send us

the troublemakers.

Send your best.

Send your elders,

your deacons,

your pastors,

your best evangelists,

your best disciples.

Send them and see

how God will bless

this church.

Maybe you're thinking,

we can't afford

to give away

our people to missions.

We need every soul

to make this church

healthy and strong.

Here's the thing,

beloved.

You can't out-give God.

I've seen it again

and again.

I have a friend

who's a church planter

in Northern California.

He was struggling.

The church was barely

able to support him.

But one of his members

says,

I want to go.

And he wrestled

with it for over a year

but finally he said,

I can't keep you back

and let that family go.

And guess what God

did right after that?

Flooded that church

with new people.

Another church

in Southern California

sent their pastor

to missions.

After he left,

the church grew even more.

It wasn't because

he was a bad pastor.

Afterward,

the church sent an elder

and the church

grew even more.

And finally,

they sent another elder

and the church

grew even still

and then people

didn't want to become

elders at the church

because they thought

if they became an elder

they would have to go

to missions.

missions.

But of course

there is another way

to participate

and that is to go.

Have you ever asked

if the Lord

is calling you

and your family

to go

and invest your life

in making disciples

among the nations?

You see,

Jesus,

he's entrusted us

with the gospel.

And he gives us

authority and power

to proclaim

the good news

of the kingdom.

It's not about us.

And he gives us

his spirit

which enables us

to go forward

with confidence

and if you are afraid,

beloved,

his perfect love

casts out all fear.

Your life

will never be the same.

And so let me ask you,

Southwood,

what is your vision?

may our collective vision

be that the nations

would call upon God

as their father

and that the nations

would hallow

his name

and that indeed

his kingdom

will come

and his will

be done

here on earth

as it is in heaven.

Amen?

Let's pray.

Father,

as we pray

this prayer

week in

and week out,

remind us

of the kingdom

perspective

that this prayer

assumes.

Help us,

Father,

be a people,

your people,

your citizens

living in the kingdom

here on earth,

testifying to the kingdom

in our decisions,

our relationships,

all that we do

and say.

May Southwood

be a church

that truly seeks

your kingdom first.

Amen.

Amen.