Work, Providence and the Kingdom – Part I

Our Father in heaven
May your name be hallowed
May your righteous rule be fully revealed
May your will be done on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us
Save us from the time of trial and rescue us from the evil one
For yours are the kingdom and the power and the glory through all time
Amen.[1]

Matthew 6:9-13

From Jesus’ model prayer we learn a great deal about not only how to pray, but also what kind of world we live and work in, how we are to view that world, and what God expects of us as we work our way through it. It speaks of who God is and how we are to acknowledge his transcendence and Fatherly care. It says to pray for his kingdom, his rule, to come – to be made complete in the soon-future, but also to be manifested in tangible ways in our lives, our work, and world today. Then the prayer expresses this profound hope again, but in different words this time, by seeking the realization of God’s loving will in our everyday experience. And, lest we grow proud and callous towards God’s providential care, we are expected every day to ask anew for his provision over our most basic needs. Do we ever stop to think how God answers that request? Because in his providence he does, every day.

Since we are in community with our neighbors, this prayer forces us to recognize that in our work and other aspects of our life we often offend and poison others through sins of commission and omission. We must bring those large and small debts to God, and deal with them so they do not accrue on our balance sheets and poison our relationship with our loving Father. But we humans are not the only active agents in this world; there are principalities and powers that are set against us and the purposes of God. We need protection and deliverance from them. We need strength to stand. We are to resist the forces of darkness that seek to destroy our potential and our future, that work to create “structures of sin” in human organizations – corporate, political and otherwise – and encourage the development of work environments that seem designed to destroy our humanity: our body, and our spirit.

Our modern world is organized around work. This may seem obvious, but try to imagine a world without work. Is that even possible? Maybe you can, but then try to think carefully about how such a world could be a meaningful one for human beings. It is by no means an easy task.[2] Part of the reason for this is that God has designed us to work, to fill his creation with the “fruits of our labors” as we shape it and tend it.

Work may be viewed as little more than a means of providing for our needs and wants. Or maybe we find it – at least some of the time – to be an incredibly fulfilling and rewarding activity in itself. For many, work is a dehumanizing drudgery that eviscerates and enervates the worker even as it provides the means to live another day. Working is part of what we are intended to do as God’s creatures, and yet this very statement seems difficult to accept because of the many struggles and frustrations we encounter in our work, and what we can observe about the alienating nature of work for much of the world’s population.

The final line of the prayer reminds us that this present world - as it is now with all its often dehumanizing and alienating work - is not the end. The story has not yet reached the final chapter. God is still in control and active in the renewal and redemption of all things in his good creation in Christ; his kingdom will come, and is coming. His power will accomplish this, and He will be glorified. He will be glorified in our work. He will restore his creation and transform the fruits of our work into things fitting for life and ministry after heaven and earth have joined and the Lamb is the light of the eternal city.

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[1] Author’s translation.

[2] Kory Schaff, ed., Philosophy and the Problems of Work: A Reader (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001), 1.

Image sourced from http://hr.ucsb.edu/icons/work_life.jpg.

The Imitation of Christ By Thomas A. Kempis

Jesus has many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His cross. He has many seekers of consolation, but few of tribulation. He finds many companions at His feasting, but few at His fasting. All desire to rejoice in Him; Few are willing to endure anything for Him. Many follow Jesus as far as the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of His passion. Many reverence His miracles, but few will follow the shame of His cross. Many love Jesus as long as no adversaries befall them. Many praise and bless Him so long as they receive some consolation from Him. But if Jesus hide Himself and leave them but for a brief time, they begin to complain or become overly despondent in mind.

Thomas à Kempis

Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace each of us may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your  justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.†

From The Divine Hours.