Dear Friends in Christ,
“Your kingdom come…” (Matthew 6:10a).
We pray the Lord’s Prayer a lot. This is the last prayer I pray at the end of my personal morning petitions. Every morning of every day. This is the prayer we pray corporately at every worship service, every week. I cannot remember not knowing or praying this prayer. And I’ll admit, there are times that I’m not praying it, but just saying it. I promise to be more mindful of those times.
I am currently reading a book by Professor Njiay Gupta on the Lord’s Prayer. It is a Biblical commentary, so the exegetical work is carefully crafted. It is also a practical commentary written to help with preaching and teaching. One feature that I really like about Dr. Gupta’s commentary is his use of multi-media. His work is peppered with snippets of literature, theatre, church history, and the visual arts.
When Professor Gupta describes what Jesus meant when He prayed, “Your kingdom come”, he describes a restored kingdom, a just kingdom, a humble kingdom, a hospitable kingdom, a generous kingdom, and a peaceable kingdom. Professor Gupta then inserts the image of an oil painting by Edward Hicks, entitled, Peaceable Kingdom (1834, see above), to give us a glimpse of how one artist sees the coming of God’s Kingdom.
As you ponder the words, “Your kingdom come”, I wonder how you might describe or “dare to dream” about the coming of God’s Kingdom?