The New Jerusalem

1 The mighty one, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes and does not keep silent;
before him is a devouring fire
and a mighty tempest all around him.
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge. Selah.
Psalm 50: 1-6 (NRSVue)

In Psalm 50, we witness God as a mighty judge, reigning in power. In this prophetic text, he calls his people and – even the whole earth – to stand before him. The text explains that there is a “devouring fire” before him and a “mighty tempest” all around him. 

At first glance, this vision of an all-powerful king seems foreign to the God we encounter in the Advent story. In the nativity, God arrives as a human child, born to an unmarried woman in an insignificant town. He was dependent upon his mother for life and nourishment. Only the cattle and a lone star in the sky marked his arrival. There was no devouring fire, no mighty tempest. And yet, already, he was king. 

We Christians are familiar with this tension: the already and the not-yet. Christ has already come, and Christ will come again. Christ already reigns, but he has not yet wiped away all of our tears on the final day. We can rest secure in the promise that the day depicted in Psalm 50 is coming soon. One day, Christ will gather all of his people to himself, and we will be judged as saints under the blood of the Lamb. Because Christ condescended at the nativity, died, and rose again, we will be resurrected with him on the final day. 

In the meantime, may we not despise these small beginnings. May we be planted, like Christ, as mustard seeds in the soil of our community, with the knowledge that one day we will inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Amen.