Onesimus stood in the shadows cast by the building corner, just in view as he peeped from his place of safety was home - well the house he used to live in - in servitude, bondage, misery, despair, as one who was useless and made to feel useless in every moment of existence - the house from which he had run - never to return  - and now he stood across the way, building up the courage to return.

Would a return bring life or bring death? In his pocket was a letter from Paul to his master encouraging Philemon to welcome Onesimus home, no longer useless, now useful and a brother in Christ - yet still a runaway slave and to knock on that door is to invite death. But then is this life as a runaway really life? - always the fear, watching your back, peering around corners, running scared - it is certainly not life in all its fullness, it's not life as Paul had expressed it and Onesimus had imagined it as he learned about the freedom to follow Christ - but surely it is better than no life at all - Yet to be accepted back, to be welcomed in as brother in Christ, to have a useful role, a real purpose in life would be real freedom, that would be life as he imagined, desired, and so he stood across the way - watching, fretting, quaking with fear and with excitement.

Imagine yourself in Onesimus' shoes, imagine yourself in that doorway - what scares you?, from who or from what do you run? How are you denied life in all its fullness? what are the things you must confront in your own life if you are to choose life?

or to put it into Jesus' terms. what is the cross that you need to pick up to follow the way of Jesus? and what do you need to put down or give up or be released from? - what is the cost? To choose life has a cost and to be a disciple is to choose life.

and that is good news! For it is Christ who comes to the lost and the fearful, read on in Luke's gospel and you will see that we are in the preamble for stories about a lost sheep and a lost  coin and two lost sons and their Father who is full of grace and love however lost they may be - and it is the God of grace and love and mercy who is looking out from the other side of the street, waiting to welcome lost ones home.

Onesimus moved out from his hiding place, and moved across the street. There was a guard at the gate who he did not know - "I have a letter for the Master, for Philemon and I am to wait on his response" - the guard indicated that he should wait, a boy emerged to take the letter, a slave boy - his useless, pathetic servitude ousing out of every resentful movement, Onesimus prepared to run, but could not - he wanted life and this was the cost and so he waited, when the boy returned it was to take him inside the house, into the private entrance, into the Masters presence - Onesimus hardly dared look, but when he did it was to see a smile that could only mean welcome, he was home and now life could begin.

Hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come.

hallowed = 1. To make or set apart as holy. 2. To respect or honour greatly; revere.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Jesus Christ and the Life-giving Hallows  

Harry Potter fever has been upon us - the must read book - battle good and evil at the centre The Deathly Hallows - 3 objects made sacred by story and use, 7 objects or people who hold one persons soul but bring death to others - they could be used to bring life - but they have been used as Deathly Hallows

to keep God’s name holy, sacred is to make God the centre of our lives - to continue your lives in Christ Jesus - rooted and built up - gives life - the the whole community - the purpose is to live out the prayer “Your kingdom come”

Is this the Jesus we see in John 6? - Jesus walks away when the people want to make him King- when Jesus talks about the kingdom it is with mustard seeds and children, and the poor and the persecuted - the powerless, the unmajestic, the unexalted - his only throne is a cross, his palace is the grave.

Kate commented:-
About kingdom - the way we sometimes speak of it at St. Marks URC is 'the kind of community God is working out' or 'the kind of ways God is involved in which are about good news'. This is not always easy since we have learnt to sing songs of power & majesty with more empire-like gusto than war songs.... Our experience in the last 18 months is that when we step away from our comfortable church spaces then 'kingdom' things happen - risk-taking and relationships are different because the context of church is different. The kingdom of God exists without the church but the church cannot exist without the kingdom; although it is not the fullness of it.

Look further on in the gospel passage this kingdom is inclusive - hospitable- life-giving - and that is going to involve risk-taking, vulnerability, openness, - which is where the church gets uncomfortable - we like the idea of power and authority - control and certainty yet it has been our downfall

Reflect again on the statement:-

When we pray hallowed be your name - we place ourselves before God ready for God’s holiness to flow into our lives.

When we pray Your kingdom come - we open ourselves to being part of the community that God is working out - a community of the vulnerable, the uncertain, the poor in spirit, the persecuted, the mournful, the childlike, the unwanted, the unclean, 

we open ourselves to be part of community that knows God’s life-giving, all-inclusive good news - and celebrates 

Sing for God's glory 

that colours the dawn of creation, 

 Sing for God's power 

that shatters the chains that would bind us, 

 Sing for God's justice 

disturbing each easy illusion, 

 Sing for God's saints who have 

travelled faith's journey before us, 

(Kathy Galloway)

It's strange to be asked this at this time - because my text for this coming Sunday is one such example - and so it seemed right to take up the challenge.

The text for this Sunday is Luke 11:2b "Your kingdom come" - though it could have been any reference to the Kingdom of God. My fascination starts with the idea of kingdom and continues with the way in which it has been used to assert power and then wonders at it's meaning in a world in which Kings (& Queens) no longer reign with the power of their ancestors.

Before I ever imagined myself as any kind of theologian, I was an historian - and so Kings were people who wrestled power and authority from one another on the basis that might is right. Their stories are fascinating, their ambition far reaching but it was always far removed from the lives of ordinary people whose histories I particularly like to explore. So how can Jesus be King? 

He can of course be an alternative King - one who is far removed from the ways of earthly kings - and indeed the image of Jesus in the gospels is totally removed from the way of Kings - but more than that in John 6 when the people want to declare him King - he walks away. Yet the Church has declared Jesus as King, dressed him in finery, sat him on a golden throne high above ordinary folk, written hymns proclaiming his Majesty, Power, Authority. What's more the church has then used that as an excuse to claim temporal power for itself, set itself up to reign in God's stead and made an almighty mess of doing so.

So I get uncomfortable with Kingdom language, yet I believe in the kingdom of God where a beatitudinal people are salt and light to the world. I was particularly encouraged when I learnt that the Greek word translated Kingdom could also be translated Reign - suddenly it felt better to talk about the reign of God - no longer were we dealing in male language, or territorial language, or power and authority language but we could talk about the way in which God's reign runs counter to the power structures of Kings and Presidents and Powerbrokers and Financiers and Multinationals.

And so it seems that it is in accepting God's reign in our lives that we belong to the kingdom of God (lower case is deliberate) - and that kingdom is not be confused with the Kingdom's of the world. It is to be found wherever God reigns and when we talk of the kingdom we need to move away from the language of Majesty, Power, Authority - hence my attempt at a hymn to be sung to the majestic tune 

work to see the church change the world.”—Howard Snyder Liberating the Church.