Sometimes a phrase can take on a completely different meaning depending on how it’s said. That’s certainly true of the phrase “thy will be done,” words I fear we often say like a sigh of resignation, with an attitude of apathy. Confronted with a situation of seemingly certain tragedy – a loved one dying of cancer, a typhoon smashing the Philippines – we hollowly mumble a request for deliverance and amend it by saying, “But if now, well, then just let your will be done.” I’ve heard that said at a few prayer meetings.
Let me hasten to add that there are situations where pain is so immense and God so seemingly absent that all we can really do is hope against hope that God’s ends are somehow still going to be served. There are times when all explanations fall flat. And there is something to be said for having faith, even peace, in spite of circumstances and setbacks. There is also something to be said for opening ourselves to the possibility that God’s idea of what needs to happen is different than our own. These things being said, I don’t think we should think of the will of God as being only or even mostly equivalent to the strange ups and downs of life.
Jesus taught us to pray “Thy will be done” as part of the Lord’s Prayer. But it’s part of a series of requests: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” These two requests feed off each other. In fact, one might say that are three requests all helping define on another, because (if you’ll forgive me for being a theology geek) in Greek “hallowed be thy name” is also an imperative (let thy name be hallowed), and it actually rhymes with the lines about kingdom coming and will doing. This is totally different than a sigh of resignation. This is saying that God’s will is something, and that something is not anything. God’s will is for his kingdom to come. God’s will is for his name to be honored. God’s will is for these things to happen so perfectly that earth is transformed into a new heaven.
The trouble with saying “Let your will be done” in apathy is that it let’s us baptize any state of affairs as God’s will. It lets us give up on trying to change things and pretend that God is OK with that. But if we really believe in the gospel of a Christ who healed the sick, who preached the sermon on the mount, who rebelliously kicked over the tables of the money changers, who promised us abundant life, who transgressed against every kind of barrier in the name of love, and who did many other wonderful things besides, then we must believe that God’s will is something specific and that much of what goes on in this world is not it. God’s will is life. God’s will is justice. God’s will is love. God’s will is healing. God’s will is peace. But pain, despair, brokenness, alienation, exploitation, dehumanization, want? By what ridiculous logic could these ever be called God’s will?
I believe that if we could have even the tiniest part of God’s burning desire for the redemption of this world, “Thy will be done” would become in our mouths of slogan of protest. To be kingdom people is to step in wherever evil is happening and say, “Instead of this, let God’s will be done.” It is to get fully behind the project of seeing his kingdom come until earth is as much like heaven as possible. God’s will; nothing less. Let that be our battle cry.
sermonscraps 