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Kingdom Purpose 3
We’re continuing to think about the Kingdom of God. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve begun to talk to about our Kingdom Purpose.
The Kingdom of God is simply where ever God rules – when God is in charge, that is the Kingdom of God. Sadly it is not so much that God is not in charge everywhere, but rather that God’s rule is not recognised or accepted everywhere. So people, we, need to enter the Kingdom by choosing to obey God as our King. We have to move from one Kingdom to another – giving up all the ways of the old Kingdom. And we do that through Jesus who opens the way for us to be forgiven of the things that we have done wrong, gives us our citizenship in the Kingdom, and leads us in the way of the Kingdom.
But it isn’t just that we become citizens of this Kingdom, subjects of the King if you like, rather we get to become members of the royal household – daughters and sons of the King, with all the privileges and responsibilities that that entails. And just as Jesus the Son brings us into the family of Father God, so the Spirit of God is given to us as a mark of our Sonship. By the Holy Spirit we are known as children and heirs of God; it is the Spirit who enables us to live as obedient children – in the Kingdom of God, with God in charge - and it is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to do the work of God, to bring his rule on earth. We get to have a part in the family business – of declaring the Kingdom of God in word and in action.
And so we have said that there is a price (we need to give up all that is of the old way – Jesus called it dieing to self) and there is a promise or many promises (Jesus called it many things: life in all its fullness, eternal life, salvation, peace) and there is a purpose – to be part of the family business: and Jesus sent his followers, his brothers and sisters, to continue his work of declaring and revealing the Kingdom of God.
So, today we’re going to continue to look at what it means to be part of the family business. We’re going to leave Jesus, for a while, and look at one of his ancestors to try to get a better grasp of how we can discover, or take our place in the family business.
Please turn to 1 Samuel 17vese 32. This is a story about David. Now David is possibly Jesus’ most important ancestor: indeed Jesus is called Son of David. David is the great King of Israel – everyone else is compared to him. And of course Israel are God’s people, they are the ones amongst whom God is supposed to reign and rule and they are meant to show the rest of creation what God’s rule is all about. So David has a big part in the family business.
We’re going to join him while he is still quite young, just before he fights Goliath. Now the story is that Israel is at war with the Philistines. As was often the case the challenge had been sent out, let’s have a one on one fight and whoever loses, their side loses the war. The trouble is that the Philistines have a big guy on their side – a really big guy, - so no-one wants to fight him – far too scary.
David is the youngest of a bunch of brothers who are all in the army – apart from him – too small, too young, too needed at home. But David has been sent with food to his brothers and hears that everyone is scared of this big guy and he’s indignant, so he goes to King Saul. We’ll pick up the story at v32.
Now you probably know that David defeats Goliath with a sling and a stone and Israel is saved – yeah!
But let’s take a step back, because this victory doesn’t just come out of nowhere. David has been being prepared for this moment and his preparation has taken place out on the hillside looking after sheep. Let’s see if we can think what lessons might David have learnt whilst looking after his father’s sheep that served him in good stead here, and indeed in the rest of his life.
o Courage
o How to fight
o Trust in God
o That God is his shepherd
o Patience
OK, these were important lessons that David learnt whilst working as a shepherd which not only helped him defeat Goliath but helped him rule as King – and not just rule as King, but rule as a Godly King, a King under God’s authority.
David learnt these lessons. But not every shepherd goes on to beat giants and lead nations. David could have learnt other lessons out there, or he could have turned out differently. What do you think might have stopped David learning these lessons?
o Giving in to fear
o Self pity
o Pride
o Not taking the work seriously
o Laziness
o Neglecting his relationship with God – getting God’s perspective
So this young man, in the midst of pretty mundane and ordinary stuff, learns lessons and is shaped by God for a Kingdom Purpose, for his part in the family business, not just by the circumstances that he is placed in but by the way that he reacts to them.
Now when David kills Goliath he is beginning to step into the fulfilment of his Kingdom Purpose. Notice it is not just that he saves Israel – it is that he shows them, he leads them, into trusting God. He’s not just doing God’s work, he’s establishing God’s Kingdom. You see this is really important folks. Our place in the family business is not just about doing God’s work – it is about establishing God’s Kingdom. We’re not just servants of God, we’re princes and princesses in his family. There are lots of giant killers, I mean honestly God could have dealt with Goliath pretty easily, but that’s not what God is looking for – he’s looking for people who will help establish his Kingdom – who will trust and obey him because he’s their good Father.
Are there lots of giants in our world – things that scare us, threaten us, could destroy us? Of course there are – I’ve got enough in my life without even having to look at economic crisis and global warming. Do you think God isn’t big enough to deal with the giants? Of course he is! But what would be the point of killing all the giants and leaving us fatherless, lost, outside of his Kingdom. God’s not looking to make us giant killers – he’s looking for sons and daughters who will take their part in establishing his Kingdom, by trusting and obeying him.
Now for some of us that might mean slaying some of the giants in our world, for others of us that will mean serving the poor, for others walking with the lonely, for others comforting the grief-stricken, for others feeding the hungry: a thousand, hundred thousand things. But it’s not just a purpose you have – it is a Kingdom Purpose – it’s not just doing good stuff, it’s establishing God’s rule and reign, by obediently doing the good work he has prepared in advance for you to do.
You have a part in the family business, you’ve probably, like the young David, even begun to fulfil it, but God is preparing and shaping you for your Kingdom Purpose – right now, where you are, whatever age you are, whatever is going on in your life, this is the place where courage, trust, obedience, faithfulness, patience, whatever it is you need for the fulfilment of your Kingdom Purpose, can be put into you
What you need to do is recongnise that God is at work and you need to live obediently and faithfully. You see you could miss all that God is doing in your life if, for example, you think you are above what God is doing in your life: ‘I’m not going to be just a shepherd’; or if you think that you’re not worthy of what God is doing in your life, ‘oh, I’m just a shepherd’.
You could miss all that God is doing in your life if you think too much of yourself, ‘I’m worth more than this’; or you are caught in self pity, ‘nobody thinks I’m worth anything’.
Laziness, not realising that this is God’s work you’re doing, not taking the little things seriously, neglecting your relationship with God. Don’t do that.
Don’t miss your opportunity to faithfully do what God puts at hand for you to do for Jesus said whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. Where you are right now; what’s going on with you right now – none of that is little – it can all be part of your Kingdom Purpose – your part of the family business – if you will live faithfully and obediently and fully for the Kingdom of God.
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