Edgework

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10).

Borders are front and center these days. We are told that a country without strong borders is not a country at all.

It could be argued that borders are necessary in order to make governing manageable. Lines drawn in the sand, or on maps, delineate the territory that a particular government is responsible to rule. Of course to make governing manageable, more borders need to be drawn within that domain; provincial borders, municipal borders, watershed borders, and property ownership borders. And then, in order to administer these regions effectively we need a set of laws defining obligations and privileges for its citizens, including no trespassing decrees.

Backing up a step, it is fair to ask the question how borders get established. Sometimes it is done by way of an orderly process of consultation and/or pragmatic considerations. On a national level, borders are usually drawn by the more powerful nations; the ones who have won a war or feel they can get away with it without severe repercussions. In some cases treaties are made favorable to both sides.

As I was pondering the idea of borders the other day, I asked my wife, Ruth, whether she expected to find borders in heaven. “No, of course not!” she replied in a tone of voice that implied that that was an odd question. “Really,” I responded, “what then does it mean for Christ-followers who pray the Lord’s Prayer regularly? Does it mean that we should at least work to minimize the presence of borders in our world? What about eliminating them entirely? After all we keep praying that the way of heaven should increasingly become the way on earth.”

Now before you stop reading and write me off as a fool, I want to remind you that according to the Bible, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalms 24:1). If nothing else, that reminds us that any claim to earthly territory is temporary. Ultimately it all belongs to God. And then I am reminded of the vision John sees in Revelation 7:9: “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.” Combine such texts with the Lord’s prayer, and it seems there is a good case to be made for fewer and thinner borders on earth.

I lived abroad for nearly five years during which time I related regularly to Jesus-followers who spoke mostly Spanish. I know from experience that the more you enter the heart space of such brothers and sisters, the less important political borders become. The realization that our common and primary citizenship is in heaven comes with an overwhelming sense that political borders are really quite insignificant. In fact, they become somewhat annoying and even bothersome – requiring all kinds of paper work just to allow us to be together. We know we belong together in deeper ways than those defined by ethnicity and nationality. Indeed, ultimately we aspire to dwell together in heaven where, according to my wife, borders do not exist.

To illustrate how minimizing borders can be helpful one need only think about what has happened in Europe. During the Middle Ages, Europe was divided into an endless array of fiefdoms each claiming sovereignty to its territory and maintaining a warrior class of knights trained to protect its borders. To wander ten or twenty kilometers from home would have entailed crossing a border and risking your life. No wonder there was almost continual warfare throughout the whole region for centuries. Now most European countries are part of the European Union which means that people and goods can flow unrestricted and almost unnoticed across national borders. I am told this hasn’t create utopia but is it not preferable to perpetual warfare?

For the sake of argument, let us imagine that this concept could be expanded. What if the G7 countries, to start with, would agree to a similar pact? Then maybe the G20 countries? Would there be enough commonality among them to allow for a freer movement of people and goods, like in the EU? Now push it even farther to embrace developing countries, including places where people survive on one or two dollars a day. In other words, what if people and goods could flow freely in all directions all around the world, somewhat like in heaven?

I know this is visionary beyond the pale. Impossible! Insane! Improbable! After I have had a cold shower I will likely need to climb down from such a lofty perch.

And yet…

As a Jesus-follower, I know that

• God loves every one of the 60 million refugees who have no place to call home in our world today just as much as me, my family and my neighbors living comfortably in a cocoon of privilege.
• If I want to pray the Lord’s Prayer with integrity, I have to acknowledge this truth and be open to the possibility that I may need to work to minimize the negative effects of borders in the world.
• To have the mind of Christ is ultimately to envision the whole world in the embrace of equal opportunity and well-being. And I suspect that means a reduced emphasis on protecting our precious borders.

Recently I heard a stirring rendition of Handel’s “Messiah.” I was mesmerized by the lyrics at one point in the masterpiece that say, “The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.” Right, I thought; it is right and good for us to believe that the Lord’s prayer will one day be fully answered. One day our Lord’s kingdom will reign in this world – and I suspect it will be a kingdom without borders!