“Thy Kingdom Come”

After celebrating Ascension, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday, we may feel like the Christian calendar is over. In our circles, we actually call this season: Ordinary. There are no major Christian holidays from now until Advent, when a new calendar begins. 

But, what if the calendar started on Easter? What if Christ’s passion, resurrection, and ascension were our starting point in understanding who Christ is and who He calls us to be. How would the reality of Pentecost and Trinity Sunday shape your calling as a son or daughter of the Almighty? Would you approach this Ordinary Season differently? 

Are you starting to see where I’m going with this? There is nothing ordinary about this season.  We may have become used to thinking about Christmas, the Incarnation of our Messiah, as an event that happened two thousand years ago. This liturgical event somehow has implications to our lives, but mostly disassociated from ourselves, without our participation. We go on to think of His baptism and ministry mostly as things God set out to do, apart from us (even though humans had crucial participation in these events). Then, many times we come to Lent with the idea that we have to present something to God. Maybe by way of depriving ourselves of something, or by doing something really special; we feel we need to bring ‘something to the table’. After that, we come to Easter, usually with gratitude for what He’s done for us. By the time Pentecost and Trinity comes along, we feel we can take a break.

If you can relate to any of that, I ask you to pay close attention to what I’m about to say. Everything Jesus ever did on Earth, from Incarnation to Death, Resurrection, and Ascension paved the way to Pentecost. It is a climactic and historical moment that marks the inauguration of the Church, the Body of believers in the Triune God. 

The order of events in which we celebrate the Liturgical Calendar does not matter, as long as we have a clear understanding of the epic story God has invited us to be a part. Jesus is the crucified and resurrected Lord from eternity to eternity. The second person of the Trinity didn’t come to exist at the birth of a baby boy in Bethlehem. The Incarnation took place in a specific time in history, but Jesus was, is, and forever will be from eternity to eternity. 

That’s why when I think of his passion I’m led to think of his invitation for us to die with him, so we can raise to life in Him. It is because of his victory over the power of sin that we can be His Body. After conquering death, his ascension releases the Holy Spirit to display His power in us. We celebrate Trinity Sunday because all these previous events allowed us to enter in fellowship with the Godhead – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Now, we come to what’s known as Ordinary Season with awe and expectation for the manifestation of His Presence in our everyday lives. Every mundane, and ordinary moment of our lives can now participate in the expansion of His Kingdom. We have been given the privilege to walk with God, letting Him display His Light wherever we go, and showing forth His Love to all those who come our way. 

We shouldn’t think of these days as ordinary, in the sense that “there’s not much happening”, rather we should celebrate how our ‘ordinary life’ becomes ‘extraordinary’ as participants in Jesus’ death and resurrection. We can live out the most mundane and ordinary events of our day in God’s Presence. 

May your Kingdom come, and your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven! 

Jesus announced that the “Kingdom of God is at hand”. Some scholars like to say that the Kingdom of God is “already and not yet”. It is a way of describing the times we live in – when we can experience some aspects of His Kingdom, like the move of the Holy Spirit in us, but are yet to experience the fullness of His redeemed creation, including ourselves. 

In the weeks to come, we will talk more about the Kingdom of God. For now, we pray you would meditate on your death and resurrection with Christ. What are some areas of your live that may be resisting to die with Him?  Have you felt the liberating power of His love and forgiveness, and the beauty of His Presence in us? 

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Gal.2:20

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. Rom.6:8

We pray we can all come daily to Him with humility to submit yourselves and participate with Him in whatever He has prepared for us. May our ordinary lives  become an extension of His Kingdom.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph.2:10

This is what happens when we no longer see his incarnation, baptism, and ministry separately from his invitation for us to participate with Him. We even begin to experience Lent as our call to repentance, submission, and surrender as we agree to go to the cross in Christ. We are no longer spectators during Eastertide, but participants. We become ready to repeat the above verses with the Apostle Paul, and receive the power of the Spirit in us daily.

In our daily prayers we will see the growth of our intimacy with the Triune God. And, we will be able to see ourselves as ‘channels’ of his grace as He answers our prayers:

May your Kingdom come, and your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven! 

Blessings and peace,

Dr. Christiane and Rev. Todd