“The Kingdom of God Is Within You”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is from today’s Gospel Reading in the seventeenth chapter of Luke: “Having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The kingdom of God does not come visibly, nor will people say, “Here it is,” or “There it is,” for the kingdom of God is within you.’” There is a story by Mark Twain called “The Prince and the Pauper.”
Two little boys look exactly alike. But one is a wealthy prince and the
other very poor—a pauper. One day these two boys meet face to face.
They realize they look exactly alike, so they decide to change clothes and
switch places. The wealthy prince becomes a poor pauper and the pauper
becomes a prince. Suddenly the pauper has everything he wants: plenty of
food, fancy clothes, a big palace. But the prince is now living out on the
streets in filthy rags without even enough food to eat. Which do you feel more like? The prince who always gets
everything he wants, or the pauper? Because of our sins, all of us deserve
to be like the pauper, cast out in the filthy rags of our sins. For we are
poor, miserable sinners, not deserving of any blessings, either in this life or
in the world to come. But, just as the prince and the pauper in the story
exchanged their clothes and the pauper became a prince, the Good News is that
you have been clothed in the royal robe of Christ’s righteousness. Paul says in Galatians: “You are all sons of God through faith in
Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed
with Christ.” Revelation says, “They have washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb.” Just as the prince and the pauper
exchanged their clothes and the pauper became a prince, in Holy Baptism Christ
exchanged the filthy rags of your sinfulness for the royal robe of his own
righteousness, and granted you a place in the kingdom of God. Paul puts it this way in Colossians: “The Father has qualified you to
share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has
rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the
Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Peter
says: “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can
never perish, spoil or fade—kept for you in heaven.” The filthy rags of your sins are gone forever, replaced in God’s sight
with the royal robe of Christ’s righteousness. The King of Kings has made
you born again as his own child. You are like a prince who will inherit
the royal riches of the kingdom of God. But, if we are princes, why don’t we get everything we want? If
we are princes, why don’t all of us have right now great wealth and power and
prestige? If we are princes in the kingdom of God, why do we still have to
struggle every day, with all sorts of problems in our lives? If we are
princes, why do we so often still feel like paupers? That’s the question the Pharisees were asking Jesus in our text: “We’re
supposed to be the chosen people! Why do the Romans rule our country?
Why do we live in this desert wasteland? Why are we so poor and all the
heathen nations around us so rich? Why does God let everyone despise us
and mistreat us? When will the kingdom of God come?” The Pharisees expected the Messiah to set up a powerful earthly
kingdom: overthrowing the Romans who were occupying their country, ushering in a
wonderful new age, miraculously transforming the desert into a land of plenty,
conquering and subduing all the heathen nations, making the earthly kingdom of
Israel the most glorious, wealthy and mighty on earth. “When will all this
happen?” they ask Jesus. “When will the kingdom of God come?” Jesus’ reply wasn’t what they expected to hear. It was because of
this disappointing reply that they could never accept him as their Messiah: “The
kingdom of God does not come visibly, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or
‘There it is,’ for the kingdom of God is within you.” Jesus Christ did not come to earth to establish a worldly kingdom.
He came to be crowned not with a crown of gold, but with a crown of thorns.
He came to be enthroned upon a cross. He came not to conquer the kingdoms
of this world with military might, but to defeat kingdom of Satan, sin and
death, by his own suffering, dying and rising again. He came not to
establish an earthly kingdom of worldly power and prestige, but a spiritual
kingdom of mercy and grace. The only territory Christ the King desires to rule over is right here:
your heart. “For the kingdom of God is within you.” Christ brings
the kingdom of God to you in his Word and Sacraments, through which he proclaims
to you the Good News: “You were like a pauper, but I have made you a prince.”
Revelation puts it this way: “He loved us and has freed us from our sins by his
blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father.” Maybe in this world you don’t feel like a prince or look like a prince.
“The kingdom of God does not come visibly, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or
‘There it is.’” Being a Christian doesn’t mean instant success, fame or
fortune. Being a Christian doesn’t mean all your problems go away. Being a Christian does mean that WITHIN you is territory Christ the
King claims as his very own. “For the kingdom of God is within you.”
Your heart belongs to him. He gives you faith to trust in him and his
promises. As James says: “God has chosen those who are poor in the eyes of
the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he has promised those
who love him.” Being a Christian does mean that God cares about your problems and
promises to help and comfort you. Being a Christian does mean that your
heavenly Father hears and answers your prayers. Being a Christian does
mean that in the midst of the worst problems of this life you look forward in
hope to the bliss of the life to come. Being a Christian does mean that no
matter what the world may throw at you, you can have peace, “For the kingdom of
God is within you.” In the story of the “The Prince and the Pauper” the two boys end up
trading back places, and the prince is once again seen for what he really is.
When Christ returns he will bring his kingdom of glory. Then the hidden,
invisible kingdom that now resides only in our hearts will become glorious and
visible in the splendor of heaven. We may be like paupers in this life,
but in the eternal kingdom of heavenly glory you will be seen for what you
really are: like a prince in the kingdom of God. In this life you may not always feel it, you may not always see it.
“The kingdom of God does not come visibly.” But you are clothed in the
royal robe of Christ’s righteousness, in God’s eyes you are already like a
prince in the kingdom of God. “For the kingdom of God is within you.” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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