Matthew 3:1-12
Heaven and Earth
Whenever I say the Lord’s prayer, I always get hung up on one phrase. It doesn’t seem like it should be all that meaningful, but it really strikes me every time I say it. For it’s the few words that change the entire meaning of the prayer and make me think about what I’m truly praying for. “On earth as it is in heaven….” You see, the funny thing is, when teaching the catechism, we don’t usually spend time on this phrase at all. We rather focus on the petitions themselves, “Thy will be done, Thy kingdom come, hallowed be thy name.” We understand that there’s a divide though, between God’s will being done here on earth and how it’s fulfilled in heaven. Heaven, the domain of God is perfect. We know God’s will is already done there perfectly. But now we’re saying… we want it done perfectly here too. We know that God’s name is hallowed, that is, held as holy by all in heaven… but now we want it kept holy among us too. And of course, heaven is the very domain and location of God’s kingdom. It would be silly for us to think God isn’t already reigning there. But we ask that God’s kingdom, his domain, his very reign would be extended unto us here on earth also. For what we’re reminded about during Advent is that the inbreaking of God’s kingdom has already happened and continues in the ministry of the Church. God’s kingdom or better thought of as God’s reign has come here on earth even as we pray.
For let us consider our Gospel lesson today as John proclaims again the inbreaking of God’s reign among us and everything that means. God’s kingdom draws near to us in the life and ministry of John the Baptist for which we must be prepared for our Lord’s arrival. His coming is meant to bring about a reaction or change within us, even as we hear:
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!
I.
We must remember that there’s a great difference between the two kingdoms that wage war on this turf. We can’t assume that a new kingdom may come in peacefully and assume reign over this territory without a fight. For when two kingdoms go to war, it’s very common for them to send an emissary ahead to seek peace or sometimes terms of surrender before the bloodshed. For such was the role of John the Baptist. He was sent ahead to proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom. In this way, he’s not so much like a prophet in the traditional way we think. He’s an emissary of God, an ambassador. This is what Matthew was describing, as he writes, “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” Matthew 3:1-3. God had come to wage war against the kingdom of this world, the kingdom of sin and death, the very kingdom of Satan. These great forces were about to clash right here in spectacular fashion.
God’s kingdom though doesn’t come with sword and shield upon the field of battle. For the fight isn’t over land or a fortress of some kind perse. It’s for you. Thus, we see that God’s kingdom draws near through the preaching of repentance! It’s the required reaction one must have to the news of the coming kingdom. Repentance means more than just an admittance of wrongdoing. Repentance is a turning of the mind, a turning away from sin and towards righteousness. Nor can we believe this is a one and done thing. It’s daily. For daily we sin much and would prefer even to shut our ears off to such a proclamation. But this is John’s warning to those who do shut their ears to God’s word, “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire,” Matthew 3:10. Repentance begins first with the ears. God’s kingdom comes to us first in the proclamation of his word, hearing of the horror of our own sin and turning away from it and towards the righteousness of God. For if we’re to pray for the Hallowing of God’s name, the coming of his kingdom, and the keeping of his will, we’re praying for it to be kept by us first. We’re praying that God may work in us true repentance.
II.
God’s kingdom has come. It’s here already. In the preaching of repentance, but even more so in the flesh. Remember that John the Baptist is only six months older than his cousin. In his preaching of repentance, he preached of his cousin who was to come after him, who was even greater in the spirit than he was. The inbreaking of God’s kingdom comes in the very person of Jesus Christ. God draws near to us that he may reign in us and through us, working in us godly repentance and faith, creating in us the perfection of his kingdom. Just as John explains, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,” Matthew 3:11. Jesus will bring fully the reign of God on earth, not with sword and shield, bow or battle ax. He’ll bring God’s kingdom to you through water and word, a pouring out of the Holy Spirit and a purifying fire. For you see, Jesus comes to separate wheat from the chaff… “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire,” Matthew 3:12. He separates not good people from evil people. No… you see, we’re all evil. Rather, Jesus comes to separate the evil from within you. Your sin is the chaff and you’re the wheat. He has come to separate from you all that is evil within you: greed, envy, jealousy, lust, drunkenness, gluttony, and the like! He has come to burn your sins in the unquenchable fire of God’s wrath. But you… his precious wheat, he comes to gather into his barn, purified, refined, and perfect!
Just as John proclaimed over two thousand years ago, remains true still today… “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” The kingdom of God draws near to you in the continued preaching of repentance, the very preaching of Christ’s cross. Jesus brings to you the fullness of God’s kingdom by his forgiveness won for you by his death on the cross. There, he separated from you all your sins and evil that he may take it upon himself to burn it in the unquenchable fire of God’s wrath. In this way, God’s kingdom comes even to us. He has baptized you with water and the word that he may even pour out his Holy Spirit upon you. He has nourished you that you may continue, daily… dying to sin and rising anew in holiness and righteousness. For so we should never think ourselves done with repentance because we can never be done this side of Heaven. Rather, we rejoice as God’s kingdom is brought to us by his gracious visitation in Word and Sacrament.
May God’s kingdom so come to us on earth as it is in heaven. May he work in us a true repentance, separating from us our sin and death, that in faith, we may be gathered into his eternal kingdom! In Jesus’ name! Amen!