[Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered,] "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, "Look, here it is!' or "There it is!' For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you."
This quotation from the gospel is often better known as "... the kingdom of God is within you" and individualised as a result. It is a possible translation, but "among you" is better. Jesus is probably pointing to the fact that he is among them and has been showing with signs that the kingdom of God is breaking in on them in his ministry. So this passage picks up a thought from previous passages about the centrality of Christ. What I tend to do with it in my own praying of the Lord's prayer in rosary style, is to take it to be a situation which is continued through the ministry of the church. The church is meant to be a body of people among whom God's agenda and action is demonstrated; The kingdom is among us by the Spirit. The ministry of Christ is supposed to be continued by the church.
So that's what I pray for; the demonstration of God's will in and through the church; that the church and churches will show Christ in the way they act among themselves and in our action in the world; that we will be the good news.
Clearly sometimes this means I pray for particular churches, sometimes groups of churches or denominations or the worldwide scene, eg Christian-Muslim relations or consumerism or aid.
As I read or hear in my mind the words of this passage, I let them call out in me situations relating to the calling of the church to demonstrate Christlikeness and the will of God and hold them in my heart as I pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven."
Next bit...
Last bit...
Crosswalk.com - Luke 17:20-21: On Del.icio.us: Christian, prayer, paternoster, prayerbeads, Anglican, Praying_the_Pattern
No comments:
Post a Comment