From Fortress to Kingdom - Mike
This week begins our new Common Ground series "Pray Like Jesus" based on Matthew 6:5-14. It's pretty cool that we are transitioning from the story of Nehemiah to the Lord's Prayer. As we have seen over the past eight weeks or so, the story of Nehemiah was one of return from exile, of rebuilding, and of rededication to God. All of these things were aimed at restoring Jerusalem as the holy city of David. More importantly a safe and secure Jerusalem was reestablished as home to God's people. So there has been a lot of discussion about building a wall for protection, of swords in one hand and a trowel in the other. In short we have seen a lot about preservation and defensive action.
In our final week we saw Nehemiah return a second time from Persia to cleanse the temple of sin and corruption. The book of Nehemiah ends with the author seemingly alone after completing his difficult work saying, "Remember me, O my God, for good." We are left with a strange mix of despair and hope; despair that sin and corruption is ever present in humanity - even God's chosen people, Israel - and yet we are mysteriously hopeful because the temple has been cleansed, the people protected and seemingly back on track again. Chronologically though, Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall was more or less the end of the history recorded in the old testament. After Nehemiah's work was completed scripture went silent, but history tells us that it still didn't go so well for Israel.
Then some 400 years later in Matthew's gospel Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, burst onto the scene. Within four chapters Matthew recounts Jesus as He threw open all the doors and windows proclaiming "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Mt 4:17) Through His life and teaching Jesus began to break down the theological wall that kept God's righteousness and peace bricked in behind piety and law. The fortress that kept Israel safe also kept it separate and God's promise was inaccessible to the world. Ultimately through His death and resurrection Jesus completely dismantled that barrier. The good news of grace heralded the coming of a new kingdom - and this time all who believed would be welcome.
Located squarely in the "sermon on the mount" of Matthew 5 through 7 the Lord's prayer gives us insight and guidance into how Jesus wants us to pray as we live as His kingdom people. As we immerse ourselves for 6 weeks in one paragraph of scripture (!) we are sure to gain new insights into what Jesus' kingdom priorities are and what our priorities should be. And together we will gain hands-on experience in how we are to interact with our God and King through prayer.