God's Will be Done

Seine River in Paris

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer

Louis of France, August 25, 2020

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

It is a prayer we pray daily, perhaps even multiple times a day (especially if you have discovered that it is just the right length for handwashing during a pandemic), “Our Father  . . . thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” Like so many elements that are nearly habits in our faith lives, we run the risk of having them become rote or even devoid of meaning. Today we commemorate the remarkable life of Louis of France, a secular ruler who used his power to further God’s will in the world. 

Louis reformed the justice system and ensured that the nobility were accountable for how they treated their vassals. He established hospitals. He promoted learning. He sought to build systems and structures in society that cared for the most vulnerable. He was not without his faults, as he also promoted and participated in two Crusades. But we should not let those choices blind us to all the good he did. 

History is full of plenty of stories of monarchs and rulers who have used their power for self-aggrandizement. Our reading from Samuel is a good example - a king who takes from his subjects to enrich himself and his courtiers. The Lord and Samuel try to offer a different way, but the people of Israel insist on having a king. And of course, we know how the story goes. They get a King in Saul, then David, then Solomon, etc. They also get a long series of prophets who keep having to tell the King and the people that their manner of living was not what God was calling them too. Think of Nathan chastising David for his killing of Uriah or Amos calling out the wealthy for ignoring the needs of the poor. Or Micah reminding the people that God desires us to be kind, to be just and merciful, not to just be lavish with material sacrifices at the Temple.

What we have in Louis of France is someone who sought to live out the message of those prophets, who sought to align his will with God’s will. We have someone who sought to use his power for the benefit of all people, especially the poor and the vulnerable. If you know anything about Liberation Theology (the belief that Jesus is solidly on the side of the poor and marginalized), you might even say he was a liberation theologian about 700 years before it was popular. 

It seems there is an invitation in our Scriptures and in our commemoration of Louis today. It is an invitation to be attentive to God’s will in our lives and an invitation for us to be deeply thoughtful about how we use our power. We pray daily that God’s will be done. What do we mean by that? How do we know what God’s will is? I think there are some things that can help us with this discernment.

If we are sitting with a question of what to do in a given situation or we are wrestling with some important life question or dilemma, we can think of those Old Testament prophets. What might Amos or Micah or Nathan say? How does this align with those values? Or we can use the language of our Presiding Bishop in helping us think about what Jesus might do in a similar situation - what is the most loving, life-giving, liberating way forward? 

Those questions can be very helpful. I also find I often need to get out of my own head. I need a conversation partner (or sometimes even more than one) to help me think something through. I often hear God best through the wisdom of a friend or family member. Those beloved people who know me well, who offer a different perspective, and invite me to be my best self. They always help me to see the big picture and to figure out the best way out of whatever dilemma I am facing. And if the challenge is the kind we cannot easily solve, then they help me figure out how to live into the complexity. The journey is so much richer and more meaningful when we do not try to figure it all out on our own. I am reminded of this beautiful truth again and again. 

The other thing that we must keep in mind when we are making decisions and choosing a path is our power and how we can use it for good. We may rarely feel powerful. Years of feeling as thought we are the only or one of the only ____ (name your category: age, race, gender, sexual orientation, class, etc.) can leave us focusing on where we feel powerless. But we often have more power than we think. Rarely does a decision we make only impact our own selves. We can have an impact on others. Especially for those of us who are in positions of power and privilege because of our race or our role in the Church, we have an obligation as people of faith to use that power as Louis did, as the prophets did, as Jesus did. We have an obligation to use our power for the building up, for the thriving of all God’s people. 

I hope that as we pray “Thy will be done” in the days ahead, it invites us to think of how we can follow in Louis’ footsteps and how we might listen more deeply to the ways God is calling us to join in building a kingdom where all people can flourish. Amen.