The disciple of Jesus has to refrain from worry, and pursue as a priority the kingdom of God. In other words, as Bonhoeffer puts it:
The Christian lives from the times of God, and not from his own idea of life.
This was the lesson of Abraham too. And it is the same attitude that Jesus himself taught his disciples, in the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer itself is an articulation of a subjectivity experienced in media res but also in the hope of eschatological deliverance. It is distinguished from the verbose Gentile prayers who try to demand divine notice by sheer volume of words (6:7). This prayer is a very different kind of speech-act. First, it addresses the one in heaven (6:9); which is to say, it addresses the ruler of all things as he sits on his throne. This is a prayer from one who has a limited view of things to a being who has a superior vantage point indeed. It is a prayer to a known rather than to an unknown divinity, it should be noted: this prayer proceeds on the basis of the prior revelation of God’s identity, on the basis of promises he has already spoken. He is can be addressed by his name because he is known. Second, the primary request of the prayer is that the Father would hallow his own name, and carry out his will ‘as in heaven also on earth’ ( 6:10). Clearly the (earthly) perspective of the prayer is one which observes that the divine will is not yet fulfilled, and the divine name not yet hallowed. The experience of the pray-er is that of not being able to see that God’s rule is everywhere enforced; but yet, there is a drilling down into the character of God as he has revealed himself that can only be named ‘faith’.
8 comments:
- 'The primary request of the prayer is that the Father would hallow his own name ... Clearly the (earthly) perspective of the prayer is one which observes that the divine will is not yet fulfilled, and the divine name not yet hallowed.' Could you say more about what you mean by this Michael? Thanks...
Oh, all I mean is that when we pray this prayer we pray it in the midst of a world where it appears that God is mocked. There are many parallels in the Psalms of course. Is there a hidden note of complaint or impatience here?
Michael, I was just wondering how then you might understand Jesus' cross-work as a hallowing activity among blasphemers, and so what human hallowing might mean today. That's all...
oh, well, witnessing to the Christ perhaps would action that would hallow the Father. What else?
I was thinking of how Christ's work actually hallows God's name from humanity's side (a vicarious act if you like) and how then human activity is a participation in that hallowing event. The cross, then, is how Jesus answers the first petition of the very prayer he invites us to pray.
By the way, have you read the answer I posted to your question re violence and Girard?
Not only is God not hallowed, but his will is not-yet-done - at least here. It is a picture of sovereignty-in-the-making, not just a rule-yet-to-be-revealed. This is what I find very interesting. Often I get the feeling that we happy to say that God's goodness is hidden while affirming his will is being done (even in the midst of disaster). This prayer seems to open the possibility that we can affirm his goodness now while holding back on affirming that everything that happens is presently in conformity with his will. Unless this is a prayer for us to be able to see that his will is already being done on earth - but that would seem to be playing with the text a little...
Yeah Jason, thanks for that. I am in a reading group doing violence and the sacred at present. Girard is himself quite likeable to read... but he is put to use by people whose theology I must say I don't much like (though I do like Volf...)
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