02-18-2024– I lost my bout with Covid. That delayed this episode for a week. This is the second in a series on the political, social, religious, and economic realities of the Lord’s Prayer. Knowing some of the dynamics of the world Jesus lived in helps us understand why he taught his disciples to pray as he did. Plus, we understand how praying the Lord’s Prayer has power today—it’s not just a rote part of liturgies. This episode focuses on two phrases, “Your kingdom come, your will be done.”
Your kingdom come
Currently, MAGA Republicans want to turn U.S. democracy into a kingdom they rule. Lots of self-professing, conservative Christians—mostly white— pray and work for the Republican plans to win in November. In their minds, America needs to return to being a Christian nation (though it can’t return to what it was designed never to be), and promote white dominance over all others. How do they see this happening? By anointing Trump king. MAGA Republicans plan to jettison all barriers that prevent him from being a dictator.
But Jesus urged us to pray for the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom inclusive of all life. Never before have I prayed “Your kingdom come” and felt its strength like I do praying those words today.
In addition to praying for the kingdom of God to become reality in his here and now, Jesus committed to that kingdom’s enactment through all his teaching, healing, and daily activities. His life put flesh on the idea of “your kingdom.” That kingdom, Jesus showed, is radically (1) inclusive and (2) receives its authority from Creation.
(1) The radically inclusive kingdom of God—Jesus explicitly included non-Jews from the Greek and Roman culture. He intentionally related with women as peers. People excluded by the economy—ones that today many Republicans call “losers”— received high regard from Jesus.
A graphic story in Matthew’s Gospel (chapter 25) tells us what Jesus taught about “losers.” Jesus pictured an apocalyptic judgement of nations which disclosed what makes a nation Great and what makes it Weak.
“When the Son of Man [the Truly Human One] comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ (He goes on to say that all who ignore these “sheep” bring upon themselves the curse of non-human behavior.)
Seldom do nations extol these as signs of their greatness. Today right wing conservatives globally rail against immigrants as weakening a nation. Despite the known benefits of free food and preschool education for children, conservatives call it generating welfare dependency; yet, they remain quiet about huge subsidies to fossil fuel companies. No, “your kingdom come” doesn’t work as the prayer of right-wing agendas. What Jesus says makes a nation and a people great is broadly rejected. Christian nationalists do not leap to defend Jesus on this.
(2) The kingdom of heaven is based in the authority of Creation—The Bible, other sacred texts and constitutions are important, but all are preceded by, and evolve from, Creation. When actions receive their authority from Creation, we counter them at our own peril. Countering them reveals major weaknesses in the workings of Wall Street, the Kremlin, the papacy, Christian nationalism, and others.
I wish to profess my belief that the kingdom of heaven’s worldview lives by the powers and authority of Creation. Core to my profession lie the discoveries of science that Creation has evolved life primarily by cooperation and interconnection, only secondarily through competition. It is this interdependence that is key to the kingdom of heaven and to a peaceable world today. But it is not the way of the marketplace nor lots of national relationships. Israel and Gaza could be in interdependent relationship if Creation were the authority guiding them.
We want to keenly note that Jesus did not orient the kingdom of heaven around the Torah which, at the time, had become mired in interpretations that oppressed women, maintained strict purity laws that excluded many Jews as well as non-Jews and immigrants. Nor did he understand the kingdom of heaven to be based in Roman law or power. Creation, the powers continuing since the beginning of time, provided the basis for his thought and action. In this he was aligned with the worldview of Indigenous peoples of all times and cultures.
Today a battle underway in the U.S. and internationally pits authoritarian rule against democracy. Which one, we need to ask, aligns most closely with Creation. Democracy, though far from a perfect fit, aligns best. Authoritarian rule exploits and murders Creation by holding that humans, positioned above nature, can do with nature as their worldview requires. To be sure, democracy merely tilts toward nature, leaving a long way to go before she embraces the authority of Creation. Notably, democracy advocates for interdependency with all people, species, and Earth herself. In today’s pressing battle between authoritarian rule with oligarchs or democratic rule with emphasis on all people, democracy is closer to Creation’s patterns. The Christian nationalist version of authoritarianism completely counters Creation, thus leaving empty the words, “Your kingdom come.”
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
On a recent morning when I finished reading some media and other news outlets, I felt overwhelmed. So great was the impact on me of the powers intending to both end democracy and destroy our planet’s ecosystems. The wills of these powers conspire nonstop to destroy. My own will to resist faltered, and I felt too weak to be part of any meaningful resistance. In that moment came the prayer from deep inside, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It felt so empowering to pray those words. No longer was my will pitted against the wills of the world’s great powers. No longer was I caught in a battle of wills. Instead, I was urging the will and powers of the Mighty One to assert themselves. Identifying my will with the powers involved in 4.5 billion years of Creation restored me. To pray your will be done is not weak resignation, but realigning ourselves with the will that matters most—the will of the One who continues to explode darkness with light and brood over chaos to birth life for all. The will that continues in the mysteries of the galaxies is the will I urge to be in charge of this planet. The will that through robust cooperation and interconnection evolved life to where Homo sapiens came to be. It’s a strong prayer today for what is done in the kingdom of heaven to be one with what is done on earth.
This is such a clear, instructive and helpful read. Thank you!