Matt 6:33
But seek first [God's] kingdom and [God's] righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matt 6:9-10
'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed by your name,
your Kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
When we say the Lord's prayer we probably are not aware of the politics involved. 'Your kingdom come, Your will be done...' is a very dangerous political statement for Jesus to be making. What Jesus is claiming is the ultimate authority of God as ruler, over Herod, over High Priest, even over Caesar. the purpose of this section of the Lord's prayer is meant to remind us of where our ultimate allegiance lies, with God as sovereign over all other leaders. And the line, 'Your will be done...' gives us guidance in traversing the complicated waters of our own current political allegiances. When our own nation's policies and actions are in accord with the Kingdom, it deserves and has earned our support. When that is not true, when God's will is not done, our allegiance lies with God first and God alone. I'm not talking about armed resistance or the overthrow of democracy. Jesus was against that very idea. I am however suggesting that when our beloved country's priorities are not in keeping with God's that we continue to value the things God values and abstain from action in the name of the nation, which violate the values and ethics of God's Kingdom. One of the reasons that JEsus was crucified was that as much as he loved his nation and his people Israel, he spoke openly and honestly about the ways that Israel' leadership (the Herodians and Temple priests) fell short of God's kingdom. I believe that it was not only his allegiance to the Kingdom of God, but allegiance to what Israel was intended to be and had the potential to become that he held it's leadership to the higher standard of the Kingdom of God. Does our own nation deserve less of a standard than the Kingdom of God?
2 comments:
dang, you have way to many posts and are making me look bad as a blogger. Don't you have a job to do?
You are certainly reaching back to our Anabaptist roots (however you may claim them). This is close to what Hauerwas argues when he says that we are not of this world. Check out Tertullian's work: "the crown" - it deals with many of the same issues. Good thoughts.
I write devotional/reflections that are printed and inserted in the bulletin every sunday. I've just started posting them to see if anybody is paying attention. So far, just you. I keep waiting for another posting on your sight, waiting, hoping, sighing, for a nugget of wisdom
Post a Comment