Lynne Baab

Praying about the flow of time: The joy of the kingdom of God

Lynne Baab • Tuesday November 19 2024

Numerous praise songs call God our king. The creative Hillsong musicians have given us King of Kings, with this refrain:

“Praise the Father, praise the Son,
Praise the Spirit, three in one,
God of glory, Majesty,
Praise forever to the King of Kings.”

A traditional hymn that evokes God as king begins like this: “Come, Thou Almighty King, help us Thy name to sing; help us to praise.” This focus on praise, visible in both the Hillsong song and the hymn, is common in praise songs and traditional hymns that name God as King.

In contrast, a popular Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” ends with a verse about Jesus as King and asks him to do something. This request is relevant for our time: “O come, O King of nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind.”

I’m thinking about kings because Sunday, November 24, is Christ the King Sunday. For the past century or so, as Christians in many denominations wrap up Ordinary Time, we acknowledge that Christ is the ruler of everything. He is king over all the aspects of the ordinary life of discipleship we have been focusing on for half a year. Advent begins on December 1 this year. Advent kicks off a six-month period of the church year focused on Jesus’s life from birth to death to resurrection to the sending of the Holy Spirit.

The idea of the triune God, or Jesus, as king has never resonated with me. Is this because I am an American through and through? I have ancestors on my father’s and mother’s sides who arrived in North America in the 1600s. Their descendants fought in the Revolutionary War to throw off the rule of kings.

Last year, I wrote a major devotional for Westminster John Knox Press about the kingdom of God. Spending many weeks poring over biblical passages about God as king and Jesus’s teaching about the kingdom of God helped me explore my thoughts about kings and kingdoms. My resistance melted away as I pondered Jesus’s rich, deep, thought-provoking, and sometimes enigmatic teaching on the kingdom of God. Jesus invites us into a kingdom where his loving values are honored and demonstrated in action. As the Taizé song says, “The kingdom of God is justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Come, Lord, and open in us the gates of your kingdom.”

This week I scanned through the 67 times “kingdom of God” is used in the New Testament and the 31 times Matthew uses “kingdom of heaven” to mean the same thing. I could probably generate dozens of prayers based on these rich passages. I want to propose six prayers related to the kingdom of God that resonate for me right now.

Jesus, help me center my life on what is most precious and valuable. Matthew 13:44-46 describes the kingdom of heaven as a treasure hidden in a field and as precious pearls. Any wise person would do what is necessary to pursue these treasures.

Holy Spirit, help me believe that small things can grow bigger with your aid. Help me facilitate their growth. In Matthew 13:1-23 and Matthew 13:31-32, Jesus uses seeds to explain the kingdom of God. Matthew 13:33 refers to the kingdom of Heaven as yeast in a batch of bread.

God, expand my heart so I can be generous and hospitable like you are. Luke 13:29 mentions a banquet in the kingdom of God, and Luke 14:15 describes the blessing of eating bread in God’s kingdom.

Jesus, source of all life, help me embrace my utter and complete dependence on you. In John 3:3-5, Jesus says that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above, and no one can enter the kingdom without being born of water and Spirit. The Apostle Paul echoes that idea in 1 Corinthians 15:50.

Holy Spirit, build persistence and commitment in me as I seek to reflect your values in my words and actions. In Romans 14:17, the Apostle Paul links righteousness — as well as peace and joy — with the kingdom of God. He describes actions inconsistent with the kingdom in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Galatians 5:19-21.

Triune God, Three in One, you are beyond space and time. Give me peace as I trust that you understand things I cannot comprehend. Some of Jesus’s teachings about the kingdom are unclear to me. Tearing out an eye (Mark 9:47)? The difficulty for wealthy people to enter the kingdom, when I am wealthy by the standards of many on our earth (Luke 18-24-25)? What exactly does Jesus mean by saying we must enter the kingdom as a child (Mark 10:13-16)?

I invite you to scan through the New Testament passages where “kingdom of God” or "kingdom of heaven" are mentioned. (You can do that here and here.) See what prayers come to mind as you read these rich, challenging, and sometimes mysterious verses.

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Next week: Advent is a bit confusing! Illustration by Dave Baab: Jesus among the lampstands (Revelation 1:12-16).

Some previous posts that discuss the kingdom of God or Jesus as King:

• Sojourners and homemakers on a journey
• Holy Spirit disruptions: Wait
• Grief and thankfulness in the Christmas story

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Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is an author and adjunct professor. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christians spiritual practices. Read more »

Lynne is pleased to announce the release of her two 2024 books, both of them illustrated with her talented husband Dave's watercolors. She is thrilled at how good the watercolors look in the printed books, and in the kindle versions, if read on a phone, the watercolors glow. Friendship, Listening and Empathy: A Prayer Guide guides the reader into new ways to pray about the topics in the title. Draw Near: A Lenten Devotional guides the reader to a psalm for each day of Lent and offers insightful reflection/discussion questions that can be used alone or in groups. 

Another recent book is Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian  Life, available in paperback, audiobook, and for kindle. Lynne's 2018 book is Nurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care for the Twenty-First Century, and her most popular book is Sabbath-Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest (now available as an audiobook as well as paperback and kindle). You can see her many other book titles here, along with her Bible study guides.

You can listen to Lynne talk about these topics: empathy, bringing spiritual practices to life. Sabbath keeping for recent grads., and Sabbath keeping for families and children.

Lynne was interviewed for the podcast "As the Crow Flies". The first episode focuses on why listening matters and the second one on listening skills. 

Here are two talks Lynne gave on listening (recorded in audio form on YouTube): Listening for Mission and Ministry and Why Listening Matters for Mission and Ministry.

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"Dear Dr. Baab, You changed my life. It is only through God’s gift of the sabbath that I feel in my heart and soul that God loves me apart from anything I do."
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