“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as in heaven“

What I find intriguing is that the English translations of this prayer reverse heaven and earth. What I mean is that in the Greek, it reads, “As in heaven so also on earth.” The entire phrase reads, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done as in heaven so also on earth.”

Is there a difference between saying “on earth as in heaven” compared to “as in heaven so on earth”? I’m not sure. But I kinda like sticking with the original language. I like the idea that we start with heaven as the baseline, and all that is wrong in our world is being transformed by the power of God into becoming what God intended the world to be.

This is a restoration project. This is a revolution.

When God created the heavens and the earth, it was good. But sinned marred God’s creation. The kingdom Jesus ushers in launches the restoration project. The cross of Jesus marks the beginning of the revolution. One day, everything as in heaven will also be on earth. All that is possible because of what God does through his Son Jesus Christ.

Karl Barth said that heaven is the place where God’s will is perfectly done.

That will be reality one day.

For now, every time you and I trust and obey we establish a little more of heaven here on earth. Heaven is not something we have to wait until we die to experience. We get to experience and taste heaven each time we trust and obey. Trust and obedience lays down another brick in the kingdom establishment project.

When we pray “As in heaven so also on earth,” we are asking God to turn everything upside down and inside out, including us until this earth mirrors heaven.

That is a revolutionary prayer.

Yes, God. “As in heaven, so also on earth.”

Amen.

“It naturally follows that if God’s kingdom is in the process of coming, then it must be God’s will that is driving it. That would make sense. And since the kingdom is God’s and not ours, so is ‘the will of God.’ Of course, we wish it weren’t, because we’d rather pray, ‘My will be done.’ But that’s not what Jesus said,” writes Dr. Bill Carl.

The verb for “be done” is written in the Aorist Imperative Passive. What that means is that God is the one who is accomplishing the being done of God’s will.

There are a couple of realities we need to come to terms with when it comes to God’s will:

1. God’s will is sometimes mysterious.
2. God is good. God knows what is best for us. And, God only desires what is best for us. The scriptures tell us that God is the giver of all good gifts (James 1:17).

First, God’s will is sometimes mysterious.

I have held the hands of youth kids who’s mom is dying of cancer. And no matter how much the kid prays, the mom is dying. And the kid wants to know what God is not answering her prayers.

I wish I knew. I wish I had answers. I don’t know. I don’t know why some people live to their old age and why some die so young. I am not sure where God’s will fits into all of this.

What I do know is that it would be cruel and wrong to say to this young kid that it was God’s will to kill her mom through cancer.

Even though I cannot say that this was God’s will, I can proclaim that God is good. That even a death like this cannot separate us from God’s love. I can assert that God’s heart breaks at the loss and pain that this kid feels. And I can have the audacity to claim, because of God’s goodness, that even this loss and pain God will not waste but redeem.

You see, to pray “Thy will be done,” means to believe in our core that God is going to surprise us in ways we never imagined.

So, what does it mean practically to pray, “Thy will be done?”

First, it means to get out of the way. God is at work in our world. God has a purpose and God is actively at work to bring about God’s will. The way we join God in that plan and will is to get out of God’s way. Don’t let my will, my desires, my thoughts become obstacles.

Second, it means to trust that God is good. Not only is God at work to accomplish his will, our God is good. God knows what is best for us, and God wants what is best for us. We may not understand it at the time, but trust God anyway.

Yes, God. “Thy will be done.”

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God” (Acts 15:19).

How does a church make it difficult for today’s Gentiles from turning to God?

As the first Christians were trying to establish the church in a non-Christian majority world, today’s church finds itself in a world that is far from Christian. In the Pacific Northwest, Christians are in the minority as we only represent a single digit percentage of the population.

What is it that the church must be about that paves the way for people who are far from God to turn to God? What are the things that we must destroy and uproot in order so that the church doesn’t make it difficult for people to turn to God?

Be all about the love and the grace of Jesus Christ. When most people think about the church, one of the first things they think about are the commands, the rules of the church. But what is amazing is that less than 10% of the Bible is commands! Most of the bible is narrative. Most of the Bible is stories, poems, and illustrations of how much God loves a fallen and broken world and how this God pursues this world with absolute abandon. That’s the story of the Bible. 

How did it get to the point when 90% of the Bible is a narrative of how much God loves sinners and all that the world knows about the church is rules and commands?

The travesty is that the church somehow has taken the incredible grace and love of Jesus Christ and turned it into a bunch of rules. So much so, that when people think about the church today, they first think of rules rather than experiencing the grace and love of Jesus Christ.

Little Church and Lakewoodgrace, how can we be better about sharing the greatest love story? How can we be about letting Lakewood and beyond know that God loves them?

It will start when we get better at loving the people around us.

I thank God that you are an amazingly gracious and giving congregation. Keep it up! Let’s keep sharing God’s resources with our neighbors that they cannot help but see God at work through his church.