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"This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." (Matthew 6: 9-13)
Jesus described the Kingdom of God as a radical place. In seminary we referred to it as “the upside down kingdom.” It’s a place where “I” don’t come first, but “You” come first. It’s a place where poor people get the front row seats and wealthy people sit in the nosebleed section. It’s a place where being “well off” means that you’re humble and meek and submissive and loving. Jesus said it’s a place that exists, not in a world elsewhere, but within us, around us, and among us. We see glimpses of it every time that we love our neighbor as ourselves.
“And who is our neighbor?” The down and out, the poor, the oppressed, the orphan, the widow, the minority, & the prostitute. And how does God’s kingdom come? Jesus often refers to the kingdom of God as a secret. It’s something one has to search for. One might not notice it. It may start small, but over time it has the potential to explode into this world and to spread like a wildfire.
I believe the story of the Upland Holistic Development Project is a parable for the kingdom of God.
On December 2nd we celebrated the 10 year anniversary of UHDP. It is pretty amazing to compare what UHDP looked like when it began to what is happening right now. Recently I was co-leading a student group with a Thai agriculturalist names Toe. Through his broken English, Toe told the students something that caught my attention:
“This land was once dead. Don’t make the land dead students, because when you make the land dead, it is very, very difficult to make it alive again.”
10 years ago the land at UHDP was dry, desolate, and dead. There was nothing there; just an open piece of rocky soil.
Just before I left for the States this Christmas, I visited a Palaung village. Towards the end of my visit a group of students showed up to explore the area. We all hiked up into the village's agro forest. It was truly amazing. I felt like I was beginning to understand what the Garden of Eden might have looked like. However, in the midst of our trek I discovered that several years ago, when UHDP first started working in this area, it too was somewhat desolate. The leaders described to me the “before” pictures that they had seen. I became more and more amazed. And then, as I was marveling at the beauty of God’s creation in this place, one of the older men, who has a PhD in agriculture, leaned over and whispered something into my ear:
“Jason, this is amazing. This doesn’t just happen. This takes hard work, lots of patience, and a great love of the land.”
Right there, in that moment, I began to understand the kingdom of God a little better. UHDP was a dry, desolate piece of land until a man came along with a vision to see God’s kingdom come among the marginalized hill tribes of Northern Thailand. With hard work, great patience, lots of prayer, and a love of the land, UHDP began to produce and to grow, and as it did, the people didn’t just focus on themselves, but they were always going out, spending time in the villages; not just teaching, but mainly learning, asking questions, helping villages trade secrets, and through time, with love and patience and prayer, they began to see things happen like I was seeing this day. A people who were struggling for life, were beginning to have it, AND to have it abundantly. That, my friends, is what Jesus was talking about. That is what WE are called to be a part of. We are called to pray the prayer that Jesus taught us, yes, but we are also called to live it out, in our communities and beyond.
"Your kingdom Come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
May God grant that prayer in your midst, with you and beyond you.
For more information on UHDP, go to www.uhdp.org or www.atthetable.wordpress.com.
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