“HOW GOD'S KINGDOM COMES AND GROWS”
Mark 4:26-34

God's Kingdom does not come to people in the manner in which common sense would expect. Common sense and human reason would tell us that we must work hard to establish something as glorious as the Kingdom of God ; that God's Kingdom depends upon our strenuous efforts, upon our compassion for lost souls, and upon our own ardent prayers.

But such is not the case. For, God alone grows His Kingdom. He is the only one responsible for establishing it and making it flourish. So much so, that the success and growth of God's Kingdom is not dependent upon our efforts, nor even upon our prayers. As we learned in the Small Catechism, concerning the Second Petition of the Lord's Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come,” “To be sure, the kingdom of God comes of itself, even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come among us also.”

This, then, is where prayer does come into the picture. Not that others are saved by our prayers, but that, in our prayers for the salvation of others, we ask that God would bring them to a knowledge of faith. In other words, we pray in recognition of what God alone is able to do. It is as if to say, “God, I have no power to keep myself in the faith. You alone must do it. Therefore, I pray that, by Your mercy, Thy Kingdom come. Likewise, I realize that I cannot bring anyone else to faith either. This, too, You Yourself must do. And so I pray that Your Word may be sown into the hearts of those who do not yet know You. And that You would make that seed come to life and flourish. And, if it is Your will that that Word come from my lips to another's ear, I pray that I may speak that Word faithfully. For only through Your pure Gospel can the Holy Spirit lead others to a knowledge of salvation.”

It is the greatest privilege we have, to ask God the most magnificent petition that could ever be spoken: “Thy Kingdom come.” For in making that request, we are asking nothing less than that all God possesses might be our own. Think of that! We are asking that He would bestow upon us His own Kingdom! Not just His Kingdom of grace in this world, but also His complete Kingdom of glory in the next!

What could possibly make us so bold as to ask something so incredible– especially when that petition comes from people who are so undeserving as we are? It is only for the sake of Jesus Christ that we can speak as we do. The writer to the Hebrews put it this way, “During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission... Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need,” (Heb 5:7; 4:16 ).

Jesus paved the way for us. He prayed that His Father's will might be done and that will was that the Son suffer hell and death on the cross for us. And because He was perfect in His submission to the Father's will, we are able to come to the same Father, in the name of Jesus, and be sure to receive mercy and find the grace that we need– for ourselves and for one another.

What a terrible sin it would be, then, for us to ignore this privilege. It would be like a beggar who was summoned before a king and was invited to ask anything that his heart desires, only to have the beggar request a mere crust of bread. It would be an insult, not only of the king's majesty but also of the king's mercy.

But this is precisely how it is when we do not avail ourselves to the same personal audience with God through prayer. We insult God. We mock His generosity. And, most of all, we belittle the price that such a privilege cost Him; namely, the life of His only begotten Son.

But, since this is God's gracious desire for us, let us be sure that we recognize the manner in which He does, in fact, answer these prayers of ours; for, it can be very easy to overlook the miracle which is taking place right under our noses. As was illustrated in the Lord's parables today.

The farmer, for instance, who goes out to sow the seed. “He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.” He does not know how. In the same way, how can we possibly explain the miracle which takes place in the manner in which God is able to take a lifeless heart, one encased in those who are spiritually dead, enemies of God, and turn that heart into a faithful, living thing?

The danger comes in when we try to attribute the result to some good intentioned disposition on our parts. How is it that you came to faith? Was it because you were more naturally inclined to God than anyone else around you? God dispels that thought in the Old Testament reading for today. Listen again to what He said through the prophet Ezekiel:

“I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it." (Ezekiel 17:22-24)

Over and over again, God attributes this gracious work to Himself: “ I will do it,” He says. And yet there is nothing there about us contributing anything in the process. And for good reason. For, if our salvation was, in any amount, dependent upon our cooperation, then it would never be for certain. For even at our so-called best, we are still weak and inconsistent. God must do it all. Otherwise, it will never get done.

And how does He do it? Once again, the simple wording of the Catechism offers the answer so clearly: “When the heavenly Father gives us his Holy Spirit so that by his grace we may believe his holy Word and live a godly life, both here in time and hereafter forever.” That is how God's Kingdom comes. The Holy Spirit's gift of faith, combined together with the saving Gospel of the Word, unite to create a godly life both now and forever. And, once again, the reason we can call it a godly life is not because we are such godly people. Rather, it is because, through faith, God gives us Jesus' own life in place of own.

And this is so vitally important because, once again, appearances can be so deceiving-- like the mustard seed. Jesus uses the illustration of the smallest known seed in the Palestinian area which, nevertheless, produces a plant of enormous proportions. Who would have ever expected that something so small could yield something so great?

There is a lesson to be learned here when it comes to our prayers for those who, as of yet, do not know Christ as Savior. Just because it seems, from a worldly point of view, that nothing has changed as far as another's disposition or conduct, it is no reason to believe that the Gospel is not a work within their hearts. All we need to do is to consider our own lives as proof positive. Are you a better person today than you were yesterday? Are you any less susceptible to sinful temptations now than you were before? Are you any less reliant upon the mercy of God at this point in your life than when you were first brought to faith?

The indication that God has brought another into His Kingdom is not shown in good conduct, but in faith... the kind of faith which was exhibited by the publican in the temple, who stood off by himself in the shadows, and did not raise his eyes or his voice to heaven, but almost imperceptibly uttered the confession, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Dearly beloved, in the lives of those who are nearest and dearest to us, we may only see the very hint of such a faith– a mere mustard seed of belief. But God's Word is more powerful than human discernment. “The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart,” (Heb. 4:12 ).

As Jesus once said to the apostle Peter, so also He assures each one of us, “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail,” (Luke 22:32 ). True, Christ spoke those words in full knowledge that Peter would deny His Lord. But, listen carefully to what He added, “And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Yes, Peter did turn back again. He repented. How?

God did it all. He called Peter into His Kingdom. He kept Peter in His Kingdom. And, by the grace of God, Peter inherited the eternal Kingdom of Glory .

So it is with you, brothers and sisters. This is how God calls you into His Kingdom and keeps you there unto life everlasting. In the words of today's Epistle, “It is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” If God does it all, the outcome is for certain. And so we are bold to pray, “Thy Kingdom come!”

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