Today is the 2nd of 5 Lenten Dinners and Classes that will be taking a look at the Lord's Prayer. I want to thank all of you who came out for the first one and enjoyed the fantastic Mexican feast. Today our menu is a Baked Potato Bar & Chili + Pie. As for the class we will be taking a look at what has often been called the Disciple's Prayer: "your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
But first a short REVIEW...
Last week we began our discussion with the nature of our use of the prayer. The Lord's Prayer is the most translated piece of "Christianity" in the world but it is also one of the most abused. Why? It is because we memorize it and then recall it when necessary and rarely do we ever pray it with the same intentionality as we do other non-memorized prayers. While memorization is a fantastic tool for learning scripture it is a poor substitute for a prayer life. Our hope is that we might begin the process of moving the prayer from the head to the heart by taking a look into what it is that we are praying for and the richness of this prayer. To begin this process we started by looking at the "Our Father who art in heaven" section of the prayer which gives us a strong indication that our connection to God should be like the relationship between a child and their parent. God is our Father and Jesus is God's son which makes Jesus and all those who pray to God our brothers and sisters. We are people of faith in a great family which God as our loving parent and the world around us as our siblings. Pretty amazing stuff!
As we jump into our section for today let's start with HEAVEN...
The "second" section of the Lord's Prayer begins with "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" but to really get at what we are praying for here I believe that it is best we start at heaven.
What happens in heaven? Pearly gates, streets of Gold, around the clock Mexican buffet and baseball season last all year long? Maybe but I doubt it. There have been many attempts to describe heaven or figure out what it will be like (click here for a great moment from the Simpsons about heaven) but as far as I am concerned the one thing that we can say with certainty is that in heaven God's will reigns. Nothing happens in heaven that is counter to the will of God and so there will be no oppression, no injustice, nothing that God does not desire. This is the wonderful news and as the faithful Body of Christ we can await communion with God the day we are all called home.
Given the state of heaven and the state of earth it doesn't take too long to realize that God's will is not on earth as it is in heaven. If heaven is where in fact there is no difference between what happens and God's will then we can be confident that God's will is not going unabated here on terra firma. There is oppression, there is injustice, there is hunger and violence, and suffering of all kinds and all these things appear to be contrary to the will of God as we know in through our Scriptures and therefore these things ought to be changed! It is this stark reality that I think it is healthy to understand this aspect of our prayer as one of complaint.
Praying for God's will to reign on earth as it is in heaven is a complaint about the state of the world. We pray to God saying there is so much evil in this world and we are powerless to transcend any system that feeds off of coruption and sin becasue we ourselves are sinful people so we come to you O Holy God to make things right. Even as I right this sentance I am kind of yelling in my mind. I want God to end injustice, I want God to make sure all people are fed, and know the love that grows out of peace but even in the zeal of my complaint I have to be cautious...how much really do I want God's will to reign here as I know it does in heaven?
I know heaven will be awesome. To be in constant community with God is what we were all created for but I am not sure anyone is ready for that lived out just yet. When I was in Africa I saw first hand what true poverty and opression looked like. I prayed everyday I woke up in that little town in Kenya for God to act mightly in these peoples lives bringing justice but I never took into account what God's justice would look like for my own life. What sacrifices would I have to make? What would I have to do, or say, or where would I have to go if God would indeed bring justice to Africa? My life, your life, the whole world would change and for the better to be sure but WOW it would be a major life change. It is for this reason that I think of God's will with two words: Wonderful, Scary.
Wonderful ___ Scary
God's will on Earth like it is in heaven would be wonderful.
God's will on Earth like it is in heaven would be scary.
It seems to me that what you but in that blank space between Wonderful and Scary can say alot when we talk about God's will. Is it Wonderful and Scary, Wonderful not Scary, Wonderful vs. Scary, Wonderful > Scary...the truth is that for us it is going to be all of the above.
The manifestation of God's will is scary for it will bring changes beyond anything we could ever imagine but at the same time it is something the entire church has made a cornerstone of our prayer life since inception. God's will is wonderful and we desire it but if we could ever get to a place to accept it and welcome it we need to begin that process with prayer.
Hope to see you tonight!
Peace,
Brett
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