LBW #170, "Crown Him with Many Crowns"
Devotion
Christians agree that Christ will return. We pray for his return each time we say “thy kingdom come” in the Lord’s Prayer.
Yet Christians differ in what Christ’s return means for daily life. Some Christians have a “rapture” theology and advocate separating from the world. They seek to escape the wrath of Jesus, believing he will return with a sword in his mouth. Others have a “theology of the cross.” They believe in a nonviolent Lamb upon the throne in whom God’s power is made manifest in weakness. They seek not separation from, but mission in and with the world.
The urgency Jesus communicates about his kingdom in the Lord’s Prayer is still very much alive for Christians today. In the face of that coming kingdom, Jesus teaches his followers to love and care for the world, especially the hungry, thirsty, sojourning, naked and imprisoned. Only in this way will we be ready when Christ returns.
Prayer
Mighty Lord, help all to know and worship the Lamb upon his throne, believing that evil is defeated not by violence but by the Lamb’s suffering on the cross. Amen.