Thy Will Be Done on Earth
November 23, 2008
Fr. George Smiga
Matthew 25:31-46
Today we conclude our liturgical year with the feast of Christ the King. Of course this feast is about Christ. But it’s not simply about who Christ is but also about what Christ does. We believe that through Christ, God brings about God’s Kingdom. So today’s feast is not simply about the King; it’s also about the Kingdom.
What is the Kingdom? What is the Kingdom of God? We are always talking about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God describes that time when God’s power and God’s will extend to everything, when, as Paul says in today’s second reading, “God is all in all.” When the Kingdom comes, everything that is will be as God wants it to be. Everything will be good and just and perfect. That is the Kingdom of God.
There are two things to remember about the Kingdom of God. The first is this: the Kingdom of God is not the same as heaven. We believe in heaven. We believe that our beloved dead are with Christ in heaven. We believe that when we die we will join them in heaven. But the Kingdom of God is not the same as heaven. The Kingdom of God is a step beyond heaven. We believe that when the Kingdom of God comes, the perfection of heaven will extend to this world. We believe that when the Kingdom of God comes, God’s will, which is perfectly followed in heaven, will be perfectly followed on earth. When Christ comes on that last day, all of creation, all that is, including our physical body, will share in the glory of God. So it is very important for us not to spiritualize the Kingdom, not to imagine that it only pertains to spiritual things. The precise meaning of the Kingdom is that when God’s Kingdom comes, all that exists, both spiritual and material, both our souls and our bodies, will be caught up in the perfection of God. Now this truth is at the center of what we believe, but we often forget it. Yet we pray for it every day. We pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Each time we say the Lord’s Prayer, we pray that the perfection of heaven would come to earth, that God’s reign and God’s glory would now characterize all of creation. That is why I say that the Kingdom is a step beyond heaven. We believe that heaven will eventually come to earth. That is the first thing to remember about the Kingdom.
The second is this: the Kingdom is already but not yet. The Kingdom of God is already begun but not yet complete. We believe that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has already begun to establish the Kingdom in our world. But we also admit that that work of establishing the Kingdom is not yet complete. It will not be complete until Christ returns in glory. So the Kingdom is already begun but not yet completed.
It is important for us to claim both of these truths. Every time something good happens in our world, we believe that it is a sign of God already at work to establish the Kingdom. Every time that science conquers a new disease, every time nations move towards peace, every time hope emerges out of chaos, or reconciliation happens in our families, or our children take a step toward maturity and wisdom, we as believers do not simply imagine these are some random good things happening. We believe that these good things are part of God’s action through Christ the King, to move history towards that day when heaven comes to earth, when God’s Kingdom will be established. We believe that already God is working in our world in that way, but we also admit that that work of establishing the Kingdom is not yet complete. We admit how much of our world still stands in rebellion against God’s will, how much of our world is still characterized by violence and greed, prejudice and injustice. We know that these evils that are present among us are not a sign that God has forgotten us but the simple truth that the Kingdom of God is not yet finished. God’s kingdom remains incomplete.
That incompleteness is our calling, our invitation. For if we follow Christ the King, we are called to participate in building God’s Kingdom, to work against the incompleteness of God’s will in our midst. Following Jesus involves working to see that peace and justice occur in our world. This is our calling, and this is what it means to follow Christ.
Today’s feast is about the Kingdom of God and about the King who brings that kingdom to us. The Kingdom is not the same as heaven. The Kingdom extends the perfection of heaven to the world in which we live. We claim that that work of Christ has already begun in every good event that occurs in our midst. We are not discouraged when we still see evil remaining because we know that we are not alone. We know that Christ our King is working in us and through us to bring us to that day when God is all in all.
This is a startling vision, a revelation of what God is about. But people of faith are not afraid to claim it. We, as believers, continue to pray for that time when God’s will, will characterize all that is. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
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