September 27th

Living the Kingdom

Psalm 47

Years ago, the British writer, J.B. Phillips wrote a little book entitled, Your God is too Small.  In his introduction he writes:         ‘The trouble with many people today is that they have not found a God big enough for modern needs… This is not because they are particularly wicked or selfish but because they have not found with their adult minds a God big enough to account for life, big enough to fit in with the new scientific age, big enough to command their highest admiration and respect and consequently their devotion.’  [p.7-8]

The Hebrew and Christian confession, however, is that we worship a God whose care extends far beyond what we can imagine, a God who rules over the ‘all the earth’ (v.2,7).

The psalm divides into two stanzas: vs.1-5 and vs.6-9.  Note how both stanzas begin:                                                                                       

¹Come, everyone! Clap your hands!
         Shout to God with joyful praise!

        ⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises;
         sing praises to our King, sing praises!

Vs. 7-9 provide the reasons for ‘singing praises.’                                      

God is king of all the earth.                                                            

God rules over nations.                                                                    

God sits upon His holy throne.                                                             

The princes of many peoples have gathered at the throne           

along with the people of Abraham.

This psalm is read on Ascension Day each year to affirm that God is Lord of all the earth and Jesus is enthroned at God’s right hand.  This (Jesus’ Ascension) is not an event that we often focus on: it seems embarrassing to a scientific age, a quaint relic of an earlier time.  But we should note a couple of things:

• The ascension is not Jesus sailing off somewhere beyond Mars to a mystical space called heaven.
• Heaven, I remind you, is not ‘up there.’ Rather, heaven is God’s space, God’s dimension where God’s will is perfectly realized.  Heaven and earth are two interlocking spheres of God’s reality.  The risen Christ is the first (and so far the only) one who is fully at home in both.  This anticipates the time when everything will be renewed and joined together, ‘on earth as in heaven.’
• If it helps think of this analogy: A golf ball has an outer reality (a hard indented surface), and an inner reality (a tightly packed, springy interior). If this is confusing, ignore it!   (thanks to Tom Wright for this example).

Napoleon, in a moment of candour, reportedly said, that ‘the great empires of the world depend on force.’  But empires come and go and the ones that now exist will follow in their turn. They make fear and death their weapons, and they themselves die when the fear they have generated turns into violent rebellion.                                                                                      Jesus, at his ascension, was given by the creator God an empire built on love. As we ourselves open our lives to the warmth of that love, we begin to lose our fear; and as we begin to lose our fear, we begin to become people through whom the power of that love can flow out into the world around that so badly needs it. That is an essential part of what it means to follow Jesus. And as the power of that love replaces the love of power, so in a measure, anticipating the last great day, God’s kingdom comes, and God’s will is done, on earth as it is in heaven. We will not see the work accomplished in all its fullness until the last day. But we will, in following Jesus, be both implementing his work and hastening that day.

Mountain of God

Come, let us go to a place that is pure

to learn about love and wipe away tears.

He’ll melt swords of steel and hearts made of stone;

he’ll set prisoners free and give strangers a home.

So come, come as you are;

oh, come from near and far.

Oh, come; salvation we’ll taste,

as we climb the mountain of God.

 

From each corner and end of the earth,

we’ll gather together to sing of your worth,

of blind who can see and weary who rest,

good news for the poor, freedom for oppressed.

New life awaits for all who believe,

all who love mercy, do justice, walk humbly.

With Christ as our guide, united we’ll be,

living the kingdom, secure in God’s peace

So come, come as you are;

oh, come from near and far.

Oh, come; salvation we’ll taste,

as we climb the mountain of God.

 

New life awaits for all who believe,

all who love mercy, do justice, walk humbly.

With Christ as our guide, united we’ll be,

living the kingdom, secure in God’s peace.

So come, come as you are;

oh, come from near and far.

Oh, come; salvation we’ll taste,

as we climb the mountain of God.       [VT 11]

 

 

Text: Phil Campbell-Enns (Canada), 2016.

Music: Phil Campbell-Enns (Canada), 2016; arr. Bill Derksen (Canada), 2016.