Our #LentenDaily2025 Theme - The Kingdom of God Drawn Near
Thursday Before Ash Wednesday
My mother took her job as a homemaker very seriously. There was rarely anything out of place, at least not for long. My brother and I had a few toys in our bedroom that we played with, but they were to be put away as soon as we were finished playing. As a matter of fact, my mom much preferred that we play outside, so as not to dirty up the house. I can trace my preference for my floors to be clean and all pillows placed correctly on the beds and sofas back to my childhood. It gave my mom great satisfaction to always be photo shoot and unexpected guest-ready and I must admit, a beautifully appointed and well-kept home gives me more than a small semblance of peace.
My dad tells a story of when I was young and we had my mom’s best friend since elementary school, Carolyn May, and her two boys over for lunch. Ms. Carolyn loved to shop for antiques and asked my mom to join her for a quick trip to the local antique store. They had to go quickly, so they placed the dirty lunch dishes in the sink, packed us kids in the station wagon and took off. I can imagine my mom looking at the stack of dishes that needed to be cleaned and then looking at her dear friend and choosing the more important thing - her friendship. While we were shopping, my dad came home, saw the dishes unclean and linens and toys still out and concluded that the rapture must have taken place and he was left behind!! That was how sure he was that my mom would never leave the house undone!
For those who joined me for my 2024 Advent devotional, The Dawn From on High, you will remember that we found this theme in Zechariah’s prophecy spoken after he was unmuted at Baby John’s circumcision. Luke's gospel underscores the idea that the Dawn from on High, the Messiah, Jesus, embodied the Kingdom of God, but was also bringing God’s Kingdom to earth. This Kingdom would challenge everyone’s assumptions of who God is and what His plan of redemption looks like. Beginning with Zechariah’s prophetic words and continuing with his son John’s warnings and exhortations to repent and be baptized, preparations were being made to ready a people for the Lord and to see His salvation. John the Baptist knew the Messiah was drawing near; the proverbial clock was ticking. People, and especially God’s chosen people, the Jews, needed to stop following the ways of the world and turn back to God—or be left behind. John the Baptist was pleading with people to change their course from a way that leads only to death to a way that leads to eternal life with God the Father. They must turn from living sinfully and open their hearts to the promised Messiah who was finally coming among them, The Kingdom of God Drawn Near.
John’s baptism of water in the Jordan River was for everyone, whether a humble fisherman, a mother of four or a pharisee, to come to a leveling place where they could all acknowledge their equal tendencies towards rebellion and unbelief, confess their sin and demonstrate that they were ready to receive the Kingdom of God when it came. In other words, “Get those dishes washed and put away and be on the lookout! Don’t let God’s Kingdom drawing near take you by surprise.”
And then suddenly, Jesus comes to the shores of the Jordan River to be baptized and inaugurate His ministry, His kingdom. The kingdom of God drawn near, a perfect tense of the verb ēngiken, appears in the active voice, indicating that the kingdom is on the cusp of dawning - indeed in some sense is already here. Everyone who saw and heard Jesus for the next three years would witness, live and in person, God’s kingdom. Equally important, they would each have an opportunity to respond, as a response is expected when the king comes to reign. They would either turn away from their old way of life through confession and repentance to embrace the reign and rule of King Jesus or continue in their old ways of living, needing control and doubting that God is really a good King who was coming to rescue them.
And the same is true for us today. Jesus is not physically walking among His people anymore. It often feels as though He took His kingdom back to heaven when He ascended. Christians have traditionally focused on the future promise of Jesus’ return as the full message of God’s kingdom. But again, the Greek verb translated “has drawn near” is perfect tense, denoting an action that has already taken place but with effects that continue to be felt. And so we find ourselves in this period of time described as “the already…and not yet.”
In his Together For the Gospel article, “The Already and Not-Yet Kingdom,” David Shaw concludes that “the kingdom of God is not something entirely invisible ‘out there’, but is actually something we can see at work in the everydayness of our lives. It might not look spectacular; it is faithfulness in the ordinariness of life. And that is good news because most of life is, well, ordinary.” In the ordinariness of our lives, we can be people shaped by the gospel, sharing in one another’s lives so that our neighbors, our co-workers, our families might see the kingdom of God advancing personally in and through us, following King Jesus and His plan for His kingdom in every way.
Big Picture Questions for Today:
How are you embracing and submitting to the Kingdom of God in your life?
Do you find yourself uncomfortable sitting in “the already…and not yet” period of history where we live? (I know I do!) Can you take some time today to sit in that uncomfortable space and be comforted by the fact that the King is fully aware of everything going on and is manifesting His kingdom in you bit by bit, degree by degree?
Pray this confession from the Book of Common Prayer:
Most merciful God,
We confess that we have sinned against you
In thought, word and deed,
By what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
Have mercy on us and forgive us;
That we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways,
To the glory of your Name. Amen.