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Good morning. The Kenyan bishop who founded the college
where I worked in the 1980s is called David Gitari. He has a passion for
God’s kingdom and challenged injustice in local and national life. When
the Kenyan government, in the late 1980s, replaced the secret ballot
with voting by queuing, he spoke out. Queuing behind large photos of
candidates led to awful intimidation. How could a wife join a different
queue than her husband’s? How could an employee be in a different queue
from his employer? How could the police or the army vote so openly? In
the end, Bishop Gitari and the movement to end queuing, won through.
In the Lord’s Prayer, we say: ‘Your will be done, on earth as in
heaven.’ This links closely with the phrase ‘Your kingdom come’. They
are both echoed in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: ‘Seek first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness.’ God’s will is done in heaven, but there
is still rebellion in the messiness of the world we live in. This prayer
is a longed for cry for justice and wholeness – but it is risky. We
never really know what dangerous doors we are opening when we pray. But
this is the essence of prayer – being open to God’s future.
David Gitari survived an assassination attempt on his life and I saw him
the day afterwards celebrating a confirmation service in the cathedral.
Are we willing to engage with this prayer for today?
‘Our Father, you will be done on earth as in heaven. We cry to you for
justice and wholeness, now and for ever. Amen.’
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