On Earth As It Is in Heaven

Jesus preached, “The kingdom of heaven has come near” (Mark 1:15; Matt. 4:17). The kingdom has, in fact, “come to you” (Matt 12:28; Lu. 11:20). At the same time, he taught his disciples to pray “your kingdom come” (Matt 6:10; Luke 11:2). Matthew’s version of that prayer contains a parallel statement following: “your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”

Since COVID-19 kept us home and introduced us to Zoom meetings, Melinda and I have been gathering most mornings with a group of friends to pray together. We end our prayer time by praying the Lord’s Prayer together in the beautiful cacophony of everyone unmuted on Zoom. As do millions of Christians worldwide each day, we pray those simple words of Jesus. And we ask God to cause the kingdom of God to come and to cause the will of God to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

The kingdom of God is the realm in which God’s effective reign extends, and his will is done (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, p. 25).  Jesus said that the kingdom is already here. Yet, he said that we should pray for it to come and for God’s will to be done on Earth, here and now, as it is in heaven. He does not mean that we should pray for it to come into existence, but for it to “take over at all points in the personal, social, and political order where it is now excluded: ‘On earth as it is in heaven’” (Willard, p. 26)

I long understood the petition “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” as purely eschatological,  expressing a longing for that day when the kingdom is present in its fullness, and Christ reigns over all the Earth (Rev. 11:15) ––the time when the knowledge of the glory God will fill the Earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14). It is a maranatha prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus!” It is hopeful, eschatological praying. Prayed like this, it is the long prayed, faithful entreaty of the church that has been offered to God worldwide thousands of times each day as devout disciples have used Jesus’ words to pray. But it remains an unanswered prayer. 

I think I have only partially understood that petition when I have thought of it like this. I’ve come to believe that this is a prayer God is constantly answering.

What does it mean to pray that God’s kingdom would come and that God’s will would be done on Earth as it is in heaven when that kingdom is already present? What if God, who has promised to answer the faithful prayers of the people of God, responds to this petition daily as it is prayed by Christ’s followers around the world with a resounding, “Yes, I will! Amen! So be it!” What if God’s kingdom comes daily, powerfully, in response to that prayer? What if God’s will is being done on Earth as it is in Heaven had we eyes to see it?

I am sometimes a news junkie, which can be depressing. Given the limited time to report their stories, news agencies on both ends of the political spectrum consistently report the worst of human behavior, with an occasional positive “human interest story” thrown in. But is that the way the world really is? My daughter, who studied journalism, remarked that it’s only news because it is not normal. If all the violence, corruption, inhumanity, and injustices reported ever became the norm, they would cease to be news. That helps.

With a bit of holy imagination, we can see God answering that prayer daily, on Earth as it is in Heaven. More than eight billion people walk this Earth today. Many suffer from disease, poverty, war, hunger, and oppression. Yet even those are not excluded from the presence of the kingdom (Matt. 5:1–11).  What is not reported, and so must be imagined, is the evidence for the kingdom’s presence, the many billions of places where God’s will is done daily. How many acts of sacrificial obedience are offered by people of faith? How many say “yes” to God with their time, money, homes, experience, sweat, blood, and tears? How many acts of kindness are done in homes among family members, workplaces between friends, and public places for strangers? How many words of encouragement are spoken each day? How many sick ones are cared for? How many homeless are sheltered? How many prisoners find respite from their loneliness through the care of a chaplain or volunteer? How many hungry ones are fed? The list could go on and on. The will of God is being done on Earth as it is in Heaven. The kingdom of God comes. God answers this prayer.

It is still good to pray for the kingdom's coming to its fullness in God’s good time. But we do well to recall that the Lord’s Prayer focuses on the here and now. We need our daily bread here and now, this day. We need to forgive and be forgiven today. The trials and temptations from which we require deliverance will be in our path today. Why would this first petition not focus on the here and now? We pray for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done “on earth,” here and now, today. We want the effective range of God’s will to be extended to all those places where it is not currently operating: the wars and violence, the oppression and injustice, the pain and grief and disease. But we also want to express the kingdom in our lives as we live out of Christlike love, walk humbly with God, depending on the Holy Spirit, and express God’s will with our everyday, ordinary words and actions. 

Our kind words to family members or strangers today will never make the evening news. But they are answers to the prayer. Generosity with our time and knowledge, and goods will make no headlines, but the will of God will be done on Earth. Billions of times in billions of ways, God’s will is done by people each day. The world about us, despite the reports, is filled with people who do love each other. Some love strangers. Some even love their enemies. These acts of love and ten thousand others bear witness to the reality of a different kingdom, another culture––one produced by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is how it is in Heaven, and so it is being done on Earth.