“Your Kingdom Come!” LBW 376
1. Your kingdom come! O Father, hear our prayer;
shine through the clouds that threaten ev'rywhere;
light from above, our only life and joy,
show us the hope that nothing can destroy;
show us the hope that nothing can destroy.
2. Stumbling and blind, we strive to do your will,
trusting the word you surely will fulfill,
that all are yours, however far they roam,
that love shall triumph, and your kingdom come;
that love shall triumph, and your kingdom come.
3. Come through the faith whereby the church must live;
come through the word and sacraments you give;
come through your teaching, and your healing too;
come through the work enlightened hearts can do;
come through the work enlightened hearts can do.
4. Your kingdom come; come too, God's glorious Son!
Oh, may our task for you be nobly done!
Faithful let all your servants be, and true,
until they bring all nations home to you;
until they bring all nations home to you.
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In the wake of continued racism, sexism and violence towards those different from us, along with severe political polarities that threaten to push us deeper into a world of measured hatred, we continue to pray for God's kingdom, God's reign on earth. The prayer our Lord taught us to pray, included in this hymn, is the framework we need to remember. That God's kind of reign would be the one we long for and work for. That kingdom is one that can overcome our own blindness and can break through our fragmented, polarized and vengeance-seeking kingdoms. As God's kingdom comes among us, and even through us, we are changed; we hear words differently, we understand people in new ways. We even get new eyes to see that "all are yours," the scandal of all scandals to the tribalism that so often frames our kingdoms.
May your kingdom grow in us and in the world, dear Lord, and may we be a part of that growth. Amen.
Bishop Tom Aitken, '85
Bishop of Northeastern Minnesota Synod, ELCA
The Luther Seminary
2481 Como Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota 55108, United States
Telephone: (651)641-3456-
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