"Thy will be done on earth"


It may simply be because I am spending a lot of time lately thinking about Christian unity and how to achieve it. Thinking so much about it may color my understanding of other things. As that may be, lately this passage of the Lord's Prayer seems to me to speak of unity:

Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

How are things done in heaven? I would suppose it is by unanimous efforts of everyone involved in this or that purpose of God. I have not seen heaven so I can't be sure. On earth, though, we do our best work for Christ's kingdom when we have complimentary insights and talents to bring to a task, whatever it is, and work together, without self-promotion and with a generous spirit.

Jesus prayed that all Christians would be one, as he and the Father are one, which suggests something about the order of things Christ desires on earth. He wants the world to see our unity so that it will believe. Can we draw a parallel between that passage (John 17:21) and the Lord's Prayer?

I suppose the answer to that depends on the nature of the trinity's self-unity, and on that score, I only know what I hear in the creeds. I could be surer about what the Lord's Prayer means if I could observe the interactions of the created beings who are in heaven, but I can't. So, in all, there is substantial guesswork involved when I understand "on earth as it is in heaven" as another prayer for unity. My guess, though, does not seem an unreasonable one. Of course it wouldn't, to me...

While I'm at it, the unity angle seems to me also to tie into Jesus' new commandment, that we love one another:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34,35)

This passage has to do with our visible unity as a sign to the world, like the John 17 passage. All the same teaching, taught from different slants? And what of this?

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. (1 John 4:30)

Wow, I'd better take a break from this stuff. If I don't I'll soon be seeing the whole New Testament as a call to unity and love.

Oh, wait.

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