Today’s Gospel pulls no punches – our priority is clear: “Strive first for the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.”  If we do that, we need have no worry for the future because we are placing our trust in God who created us and knows us through and through.

The Kingdom of God is a phrase dear to the hearts of Jews from earliest times.  For the nation of Israel God was particularly their King, their God and the Jews looked forward to the day when His Kingdom would come on earth.  They wanted Roman rule overthrown and Judea to become an independent nation again.  They expected that nation to be one of righteousness, glory and blessings, a nation everyone would be attracted to.  In the meantime Jewish Kings, even King David, were not absolute monarchs but ‘the Lord’s anointed’.  The word ‘Messiah’ or ‘Christ’ means just that, the Lord’s anointed.  The Jews were looking for the coming of the ultimate Messiah but they were looking for a King of power who would slay their enemies and redeem Israel physically from the tyrant overpowering them at the time.  John the Baptist’s words, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand" would have pressed all the buttons for the Jews.   They had not had a prophet for 400 years and now here was one telling them that the Messiah was about to arrive. They thought they knew what to expect. But as ever, God had a surprise for them.

So what are the characteristics of this special kingdom?  First of all we have to remember that it comes in two parts – now when it is in the spiritual realms, when the Holy Spirit indwells us and teaches us from within; and at some point in the future the Kingdom will come in all its fullness.  This is what confused the Jews because they expected it to all come at once when the Messiah arrived.  The principles of the Kingdom were proclaimed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount which was at the beginning of this section of Jesus’ teaching.  And it is quite clear from the Beatitudes that God’s Kingdom does not run according to normal rules.  Those striving to follow these rules must be looking beyond the here and now as all but one of these ‘rewards’ are in the future: so the pure in heart will see God, the meek will inherit the earth, and so on.

Today’s Gospel told us not to worry because God knows what we need and can be trusted to provide what we need.  And yet, it has to be said, much of that is in the future too.  There are Christians and non-Christians who cannot be certain that they will have enough to eat today, or tomorrow, who beg for food, live in rags in shanty towns, and are at risk of many diseases caused by poor sanitation.  And yet, ironically, it is often these same people who really appreciate what they do have and give thanks to God for it.  A lesson that we, who have so much, could do with taking on board.  It is often when our comfort blanket is taken away that we become open to God.  Out of a ‘dark night of the soul’ so many of us can speak of faith renewed, of knowing that if only we had opened our eyes, we could have seen that God was there all the time, sharing with us, bearing us up.

The Epistle contrasts the life ‘according to the flesh’ with life ‘according to the Spirit.’ Paul is quite certain that the ‘sufferings of the present time’ are not ‘worth comparing with the glory that is to come.’  He is saying: “Hang on in there, it will all be worthwhile.”  At the end of chapter 8 Paul reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God.  Something to hold on to when we are struggling; something to turn us towards the one who knows us completely and utterly, loves us enough to die for us and really really understands. 

In the passage that we heard Paul is comparing a life of sin, with no redemption, to a life empowered by the Spirit of God, where we are not only redeemed but are children of God. 

And it is probably pertinent that Paul uses the word ‘children’, because children, particularly small children, are very different from adults in the way in which they cope with situations.  Later in his gospel Matthew tells us that Jesus said this:

So what is it in children that makes them our model for entering the Kingdom of heaven?  I believe there is much we can learn from them.  For instance, so often children wake up in the morning, full of wonder at the new day, excited about what may happen.  Older children often suffer from the ‘Monday morning feeling’, like the adults, but young children seem full of ‘joie de vivre’, excited to be alive!  Are we like that?  Do we show the world out there the joy that comes from within as the Holy Spirit lives in us?

Children do not have preconceived ideas about how something should be done.  They embrace it and may make us take a different route to the same end.  Many teachers find that over and over again children can surprise them with their questions and answers.  ‘Never work with children or animals!’ goes the saying, but in reality being with children certainly (and animals sometimes!) can make us look at situations in a new and exciting way.  If we listen to God, open-minded as children, we may well do the same. 

But I think the most important attribute about children is that they accept the ‘here and now’ and try to deal with it.  They generally avoid the ‘what if’ and ‘maybe’ and accept whatever it is at face value.  Seriously ill children often deal very well with their illness and support their families, rather than the other way round.  The Message translation of the Bible phrases the last verse of the Gospel reading like this:

That is what becoming part of God’s Kingdom means.  And it is hard, often it is very hard, to learn to really trust but God does equip us for the task He has chosen for us. But how do we learn to really know what He wants us to do and to trust Him to provide?

One thing children are not good at is sitting in silence.  And silence is very important when it comes to learning to trust God and live in His Kingdom.  Last Sunday I was at the licensing of Stephen Walker to the United Benefice of Theydon Bois and Theydon Garnon.  Our new Bishop of Chelmsford preached and he reminded us that to achieve anything worthwhile on our spiritual journey we must be people of prayer.  And he elaborated on this reminding us that prayer is not a shopping list of requests with which to bombard God but a listening before God, to what He has to say to us.  And Bishop Stephen very carefully made sure that there were silences within the service when there was an opportunity to listen to that still small voice, to take notice of what God wants.  Mother Teresa echoed this saying:

Malcolm Muggeridge, agnostic turned Catholic summed up the role of prayer like this:

Prayer is important for all of us and should be a daily custom.  As it draws us nearer to God so it helps us to trust Him come what may.  Being faithful in prayer does not mean that everything will turn out the way that we want but it will help us to trust that God, who knows the bigger picture, will be there with us all the way.  It is also wonderful to know that others who for various reasons are less active in the world are supporting us with prayer, often when we are in difficult and dangerous situations.

Our last hymn contains this verse:

That is what spending time with God achieves.  Prayer supports us and draws us nearer to God and as we do so we will bear much fruit that will draw others to God. Yesterday, several of us had a study day where we discussed how the Church can embrace the Kingdom more effectively. In St John’s we are at the centre of a community and there are many opportunities to share God’s love with others in our town.  One way in which we can be effective in this is to make prayer a priority.

Who knows what may happen when we achieve this?!

 Amen