The Kingdom: Clash of Wills Sermon 10-29-17 Matthew 6:10 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Message: The video we are about to watch comes from the movie Heaven is for Real. This is at the end of the movie. So sorry for the spoiler. This Pastor s son, Colton, had a neardeath experience and claims that he went to heaven. After he recovers, he starts to say things that he couldn t know. Like, how he saw his dad yelling at God in the chapel while the doctors were working on Colton. Or that he met his grandfather in heaven whom he never met. Or how he knows that his mother had a miscarriage before he came into existence. And so this has the whole congregation twisted up. They don t like that this child claims he went to heaven and came back. His father, the Pastor, is exploring all kinds of evidence that would explain what his son is going through. Is it a hallucination? Is he using his imagination? Should he believe this actually happened to his son or not? This messes with this pastor s head so much that his own job as the pastor is in jeopardy. The leadership is ready to part ways with him because of his obsession with explaining his son s experience. In the following video, you will discover where he lands. (Play Video) (After Video) Is heaven for real? Does it actually exist? Our scripture today comes from the middle of the Lord s prayer. We talked about this a little bit earlier in the year. But do we actually believe, Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven? We all pray this prayer, but do we actually believe it? Can it be on earth as it is in heaven? Where God has everything perfected? That the earth could one day be a perfect place for Jesus too.
That God s Kingdom would indeed reign. As the Pastor alluded to in the video, he was angry. He was heartbroken at the scare of losing his child. Before that incident, he was prideful. He wanted things his way. What you don t see in this video, but is illustrated in the rest of the movie, is that this Pastor wouldn t let other people into his life. He was struggling with finances, but wouldn t accept another s help. He was sick with kidney stones and wouldn t allow people to care for him. When his son was about to die, his wife had to ask the congregation for prayer. This will of this Pastor was strong. So strong that it hindered the work of the kingdom in his life. We pray this prayer of God s will being done on earth as it is in heaven, but often times we can t let go of our will. We have plans. We know what we want for our life. We become self-sufficient. We exercise our might and power to get things done. Even at times we think we know it all. We have all the answers. But this prayer is calling for something else entirely. This prayer is calling us to relent. This prayer is calling us to bend. This prayer is calling us to see a vision that is otherworldly. Even heavenly. To recognize, as the Pastor did in his message, that the Kingdom is here on this earth. That there are glimpses of it. And do we replicate that in our daily lives? How have we experienced the Kingdom of God on earth as it is heaven? But what exactly is God s will? How does it work? Is it so particular that even as I m speaking now, God has ordained every breath, every blinking of my eyes, every heart beat and every word that I have no control of what I say or do? I don t think so. Can God supersede my will if he wants to? Could he forcibly make me do something? I think it s within his power to do so. But I believe he chooses not to do so often times because
he allows us to exercise our own will. Similar to allowing our children to make mistakes and learn from them. God allows us to do certain things. Does God intervene at times with his will? I think so. When and why does he do that? I have no idea. There is no formula that I know of or is revealed in scripture. It is beyond my understanding. But I can tell you this, from experience, when I bend my will towards God s will. When I surrender to what he wants for my life, it always works out for my good. It might be strange at times and scary at times. But when I submit myself to Him, it somehow always seems to work in good directions. Biblical Scholar and Theologian R.C. Sproul once outlined three ways God exercises His will. The first is God s Sovereign Will. Meaning God does whatever God wants. God doesn t have to disclose to us how or why. God just simply acts in ways we may not understand until after-the-fact. This is scary to many of us because we may not understand it. We can t control it. We can t tell God what to do. It s not predictable. This can give us hope or it can be terribly frustrating to us. The second type of will of God is, Preceptive Will. Meaning that God has given us laws and/or commandments that tell us what God expects of us on this earth. These laws are not trivial, but intended to help protect us. Things like do not steal or do not murder. Obey your father and mother. Love your enemies. These laws are intended for our good. Baseline, if we obey these commandments, we will be more in line with God s will than most of humanity. The third type of will of God is His Will of Disposition. Meaning, His attitude or pleasure of His will exercised. So beyond the laws and commandments we can discern what God desires of us. What would be pleasing to God? Maybe that s going beyond not stealing TO being
generous. Maybe that s going beyond not merely avoiding killing someone, but loving them and building relationship with them. God s will is exercised when we go beyond baseline obedience and live out our faith. We embody our relationship with Jesus. We don t just merely have the head knowledge, but our lives and hearts reflect our relationship with Jesus. When we are in-tune with God s heart, we exercise things that are pleasing to Him. We exercise His will. I don t claim to always understand what God wills. Much of it is a mystery to me as well. But this relenting of pride. This relenting of my will to God s is becoming ever more relevant as I experience the sadness and helplessness of my mother s condition of breast cancer. Last week, when you all came forward to pray for me, that was very vulnerable for me. That s not something that I would ask for myself. And especially as your leader who is supposed to know the answers and be the one who is strong for everyone else, it s very vulnerable to open myself up for others to help or come along side me in this time of fear and upheaval. It s vulnerable for the Kingdom of God to come around me in all of you in this scary time. Whatever God has in store for my mother and my family is going to be whatever God wants. But isn t this scary? To relent to the Kingdom of God? To our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? To open our hearts to others? To allow God to come into our lives? I don t know about you, but when I get scared and fearful, my impulse is to control. It s like a reflex. If I almost get in a car accident because I was only using one hand on the steering wheel, my reflex is to clench with two hands the rest of the drive. Which that response to fear is a normal one. None of us likes fear. It is a response that God has brought into our
repertoire of emotions. The challenge is to choose a different response to fear. In one sense, there is nothing wrong with having fear. It s very natural. If we didn t have the fear response, we would be in a lot of trouble. But if it causes us to choose our will over God s will, it usually becomes a problem. It usually causes us to make all kinds of harmful decisions. I m making it sound really simple, but I understand how complex this is. To choose to relent to God s will is an act of strength and surrender. And it can be difficult to discern. And we may have to confess and surrender our fears over and over again to God. And as He leads us, our trust and confidence in His will will grow. So part of God s Kingdom coming to earth is relenting our will to the heavenly things. To let God s heavenly Kingdom come to earth. Children are usually a little more open to this than us adults. We know too much. In our video earlier, the little boy Colton was open to the experience of heaven. And through Colton, God brought His Kingdom. People experienced healing. People experienced love. People experienced the compassion and mercy of Jesus. How much more could happen if we were just as open as Colton to the Kingdom of God on earth? If we were more open to embracing God s good will for people? That not only would we be obedient to God s laws and commandments, but that we would embrace God s mysterious will and do things that would please the will of God. Imagine how much better this world could be if the people of God would submit to God. And I m not just talking about the people out there. I m talking to you, first and foremost. If we are not open to God s will, those of us who believe, then how are those who do not yet believe going to be open to God s will and Kingdom? Let it be that our pride is broken. That we are filled with
humility. That we become nimble and open to God s Kingdom on earth. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.