Jesus’ Grammar

Why did Jesus use the passive voice in the Lord’s prayer? “Thy will be done ...”  (Matthew 6:10) [Scripture 4 All Linear transliteration:  Let it being become the will of You.... ]

In using the passive voice, Jesus left open to interpretation who is the actor. 

• We might interpret this as ‘Let me know and do Your will,’ or ‘Help me to do Your will’. 
• Maybe He meant we should pray that others do the Father’s will, other believers or even the Godless heathen unbelievers. Praying to the Father to make them do His will or want to do His will and then do it? 
• Or are we praying that the Father bring His will to pass, even if He needs to overrule nature and the rebellion of people against Him? 
• Doesn’t God’s sovereignty mean that that ultimately everything and everyone in the universe will conform to His will anyway? The Bible shows this to be the culmination of human history.  (Daniel 7:9-14; Revelation 20:11-15) Are we to pray for the end times, the return of Christ, and the final judgment? 

Since Jesus did not elaborate further on this topic in His prayer, we can only infer that the answer is yes to all of the above. Properly understood, His command to us is to pray, ‘Father, bring it on!’

But Jesus did say something related. “For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory...” (Matthew 6:13) God’s glory is unconditional. Everything that He does is perfect, holy, and loving. The manifestation of His power will therefore bring glory. If we pray for God to display His glory in responding to a prayer or petition of ours, or in a certain situation, what are we really asking for? 

In “The Weight of Glory”, C. S. Lewis defines glory as the approval of God. It seems circular to ask God to approve of Himself by intervening miraculously or providentially in some situation. Is His glory the approval by men of Him and His actions? In a different context, C.S. Lewis made the following speculation.

I know very well that in logic God is a ‘substance’. Yet my thirst for quality is authorised even here: ‘We give thanks to thee for thy great glory.’ He is this glory. What He is (the quality) is no abstraction from Him. A personal God, to be sure; but so much more than personal. To speak more soberly, our whole distinction between ‘things’ and ‘qualities’, ‘substances’ and ‘attitudes’, has no application to Him. Perhaps it has much less than we suppose even to the created universe. Perhaps it is only part of the stage set. 

— C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm, XVI.

This suggests that we are trying to split hairs. From Jesus’ eternal perspective, His glory is inseparable from His existence and presence. Our Lord’s instruction to pray for The Father’s will to come about is that we proactively align ourself with His eternal plan, regardless of grammatical construction.

Addressing the Root Cause of the Flood Tide of Immigration

A tidal wave of immigration, both legal and illegal, continues to flood the developed and western world. Why? Why do people leave their homes to flee to this country, and the West? Two major causes are usually cited: persecution and poverty. Refugees’ countries can almost be defined by broken governance and/or economic failure.

Political dysfunction takes several forms, usually authoritarian regimes such as tribal dictatorship or small but ruthless political cliques, but also tribal conflict, and so forth. In western democracies, the basis for a functioning political system includes: cooperation between people who disagree, within an agreed framework; respect for all who are created equal before God; and protection of civil and human rights. Everyone has a share and a stake in governance.

Third world countries are most often defined economically, as exploited or ”developing”. Almost everyone lives in poverty, with no jobs or starvation wages. Why does this happen? There seem to be a few driving causes: class structure of wealthy and poor, with no middle class; command driven economies distorted by politics (government policies, laws, etc.); graft and corruption awarding business to the person paying the highest bribe with no relationship to economic or business realities; exploitation of workers by wealthy countries. How can free markets flourish when multinational corporations distort local economies to their own advantage and exploit indigenous workers? Shades of the Boston Tea Party! No wonder those with intelligence or initiative heads to the developed world!

What can we do to improve the conditions in refugees’ countries of origin that caused them to leave? How can anyone establish the fabric of a civil society and political process in failed states? What can our national strategy do to encourage and sustain a functioning culture? Is it cultural imperialism to try to turn people from tribal warfare and political thuggery to civic engagement and civil discourse? Is that even possible?  Logical questions for our nation would be: What foreign policy would promote stable democracies and economic growth in the third world? If we seriously try to export values, which ones? Wouldn’t this constitute cultural imperialism, and would that be good or bad? Which actions would impact other nations most positively?

Debating this at the foreign policy level will never eliminate the real root cause; spiritual strongholds can only be brought down through prayer and fasting. Immigrants may perceive less demonic influence on society here than their homeland, but that distinction is rapidly disappearing. And emigrating won’t help them at all if they bring their demons with them. [We can’t possibly screen applicants for this, but to achieve the goal of a better life, they must renounce broken life choices with their spiritual attendants.] The only approach to immigration with hope of long term success would be a national strategy and foreign policy that results from fasting, prayer, and seeking God; a strategy to build the kingdom of God. Man’s government cannot do this. Outcomes with value can only be wrought through spiritual labor and sacrifice.