The following article is from the November 2026 MIT Monthly newsletter. If you would like to sign up to receive this newsletter from the Missional Initiatives Team, you can fill out this form.
A Different Story: From Empire to Kingdom
By Cam Roxburgh, VP of Missional Initiatives
We live in changing times. This is not new. There has always been a shifting tide within history. What may be unique, however, is the current rate and depth of the shifts. We often complain or express alarm, but we need to remember there are also opportunities in the midst of change.
As I write, it is the day of midterm elections in the States. Americans will have their attention fixed on the results, but much of the world will also be paying close attention. We live in this story of “empire,” feeling the weight and effect of its reality. But followers of Jesus live in a different story – the story of Jesus and the Kingdom of God. We are not controlled by empire but are set free to live in the Kingdom of God, regardless of the outcome of elections.
Can you see the scene?
Matthew paints a picture of the teaching on prayer, on a hillside, during the famous Sermon on the Mount. Luke gives us room to know that the disciples were challenged by watching Jesus pray. They were also likely aware that all Rabbis had a practice of prayer in which to form the
life of their followers. Why should they be any different?
To be taught a specific practice of prayer was to enter into the story in which the Rabbi was inviting the disciples to live.
Whether on a hillside or outside the Temple, when Jesus taught The Lord’s Prayer, He was inviting disciples to move from living in the story of Empire to living in God’s Kingdom. Not only were Rabbis and disciples present, but also Roman soldiers. The Romans occupied Israel, instilling a level of fear through power and control. Empire puffs its chest with power, instilling fear to keep control. Jesus was directly contrasting God’s Kingdom with the story of the Empire.
I can see Jesus squinting at the disciples, inviting them to think more deeply than they had before. He begins with just two words – “Our Father.”
Many of us memorized this prayer as kids. It is familiar to us, but familiarity can breed complacency and maybe we are less familiar than we think. We know that we can address God as Father, Abba, which portrays an intimacy. He deserves our respect but is also approachable. This is not just for us personally, but for us corporately. So far so good.
But there is more. Jesus was not just teaching His disciples a domesticated prayer to make them feel good; He was inviting them to join a revolution that triumphed over Empire. It was one not to be fought with weapons of violence but rather with love as they were formed into instruments of a new story.
Our Father? As opposed to what other Father?
Caesar insisted upon being called father. The Romans consented, believing Caesar was deity. He demanded respect and power – total control – by being called “father.” Rome, the center of the Empire, was where Caesar ruled in a story of fear, power, and control. Calling Caesar father was to pledge allegiance to the Empire.
But Jesus was inviting His followers into a different story and reality. He was inviting them to be formed in the Kingdom story. It was not Caesar who would be their Father, it was YHWH. God’s rule and reign was not limited to Rome and its Empire, but rather universe and Kingdom. He sat on a throne in Heaven in charge of the universe. He did not rule with force but with a love so great that He sent His Son to bring redemption to all things.
When a disciple of Jesus prays “Our Father,” they are recognizing their relationship with God and His people. They are also pledging their allegiance to that God as the true God and His story, as the true story. They are declaring that they will no longer live into or be controlled by the story of Empire with its false promises.
And those are just the first two words.