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Monday, February 07, 2005
Last night, on The Simpsons, Homer pulled his car in front of the First Springfield Church. The church sign out front said, "First Springfield Church. Rapture alert level: ORANGE." Funny moment...and at least there was an eschatalogical reference.
And it seems that there's very little true understanding of Christ's Kingdom...that in dealing with the end times (that's "eschatology" for you looking for SAT words) you either get some silly joke or have a pop culture understanding of the end times (i.e., the "Left Behind" series of books). Good jokes or stories but not really taken as coming true.
But why would Jesus tell us to pray for God's Kingdom to be ushered in?
See, it's really a history review:
God created mankind.
Man sinned, by intent and omission.
A sinful man and a holy God can't have fellowship.
God provided a way to redeem man.
It involves a Messiah.
This Messiah will come to rule and reign and establish his Kingdom.
Mankind and God will live happily ever after in this Kingdom (which, by the way, will involve a new heaven and a new earth).
And, don't we all want to live with everything being set back as it was before the Fall of mankind? A perfect world, with God as King?
So, would it be wrong to pray for that to happen quickly?
Of course not, and here's why: Right now we are separated from our King, and to want Him to come back expresses a longing for a fulfillment of our relationship with Him.
Let me explain.
See, I've taken communion in church ever since my confirmation classes I took when I was a young boy. It was really neat in my old church, too. Dark setting, hard pews, silver chalices, real wine, a blessing from the priest, white linens...the whole deal.
Today, our large church has a lot of natural light in our auditorium, soft chairs, plastic cups, grape juice, distributed in brass trays...it's designed for a lot of people to take it in a short period of time. It's effective and still meaningful.
And we take communion together because of something that Jesus said and did in Matthew 26: 26--29, "And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He brotke it and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins; but I say to you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."
Think about that for a second.
We are to symbolize the unity we have as believers by repeating this ritual...and partake of it as a remembrance of the person and work of Christ. Sure, we get that.
But the idea that our King is waiting for them...
...waiting for us...
to be with Him in His Father's Kingdom...
That means that the Kingdom will come one day.
That means that we will celebrate with Christ in that Kingdom one day.
That means our relationship with Christ will be what it was created to be.
So you see, it's a prayer of hope.
And we should never be afraid to pray for that moment. The one where we'll be sitting with our King, at His table, sharing that moment with Him. The sooner the better, if you ask me.
The application today is to live our life as if we really believed that when we prayed that prayer that we truly expected it to come true.
Brent 4:59 AM
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