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Thy Kingdom Come—to Boston, to the World

Thy Kingdom Come—to Boston, to the World

Yesterday we were again reminded of the horrific and real threat of senseless violence. Today’s bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon are disturbing reminders of the brokenness in our fallen world.

Today is another sad day– another tragedy. It will likely not be the last, regrettably. On days like these, commentators will ask “where was God in this?” or “why would God let something like this happen?” There are no easy answers to those questions. And while we may not be offered answers, we are offered hope and a promise in the midst of the brokenness.

Look around. Our world is broken. I’m not talking about the “world” in terms of nature (although creation, too, bears the marks of sin’s blemish and decay). I’m talking about the “world” comprised of the people, structures, and systems that make up society– the moral patterns, beliefs, and behaviors that result in things like unfair business practices, racism, extreme poverty, dishonest government, dirty politics, family breakdown, cheating, stealing, oppression of the weak, and so many other distressors and defilers.

Of course, tragedy is daily living in much of the world. Churches are bombed regularly in Nigeria; sexual violence trafficking is real and growing, and poverty is deep and pervasive. The world is stunningly broken. Sinfulness impacts everything.

Days like this, when things seem darker than ever, we are reminded why we need hope in a new Kingdom.

A Kingdom reigned by a returning King.

A Kingdom with no more terrorist threats or bombings. No more thoughts of death to keep us up at night.

How could there be, since there won’t be any more “night” to experience– absolutely nothing to make us think back on a life that was so regularly troubled by fear, anger, bitterness, anxiety and lingering doubts? They’re all gone. All the time.

Keep all of this in mind.

Read about it and meditate on it often.

The Kingdom has come because the King has come, but it is not yet fully here. That is why we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Because the kingdom is not yet fully here and complete– and the world is not yet, well, right.

So, we remember the “not yet” reality we are here to model and live. We live as agents of God’s kingdom, perhaps some ministering today in Boston, and certainly praying where we are.

The current state of life on this planet sure has a lot of brokenness. You’re right to be dissatisfied with it. But it’s not enough for Christians merely to recognize that the world isn’t what it ought to be and that people are suffering in ways they shouldn’t have to suffer. Our sorrow and indignation must lead us into action that subverts the brokenness that is real and present right now. We work to make this world more as God would intend it to be– with justice, peace, and more.

So we pray for His Kingdom to come, “on earth as it is in heaven.” Yet, it does not fully come until Jesus returns to set all things right. We pray for that day to come soon, particularly on days of tragedy.

There is just one use in the New Testament of the Aramaic word phrase, Marana tha. Paul writes, “Marana tha that is, Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22). Most translate it as a cry for King Jesus to come soon. Yet, that one word has become a cry for Christians in pain and persecution—when the world is so dark we don’t know how much more we can take.

This marathon tragedy drives us again to our Maranatha cry—”Come quickly, Lord”—and set things right.

In the meantime, may we live as agents of your Kingdom—showing and sharing the love of Jesus to a broken and lost world. Running toward the blast, toward the suffering in order to help, instead of away from it—like the first responders did in the incredible video of bomb blast at the finish line.

But, days like these make us long for that Day, where the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of our God and King.

We pray “maranatha” today—and rightly so.

This article was originally posted here on Ed Stetzer’s blog, used with permission.

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