God's Kingdom has come. Advent, Day 2

 

In all these readings, when I read them together, I sense a thread, a theme, and a word of encouragement.  All of these gather around a big idea of identity that is declared by God, shaped by God, flavored by our influences, and resistant to anything anyone else can say about it.

 

It is unrestricted and guided by an unseen hand.

 

It cannot be stifled or extinguished by external forces.

 

Trees are planted by rivers and deeply rooted.

 

Those who are rooted by God, take refuge in God and are undisturbed by the raging of nations.

 

Adversaries do not matter. They cannot change our essential identity in God, for, in God we rest.

 

When external forces challenge our calling and seek to oppress, as they did in Amos' day, the people of God stand fast and firm.

 

We respond, as Peter admonished us, by working on our inner lives and allowing what is spiritually real to be worked out in our lifestyles. We are assured of God's peace and our place in God's Kingdom in Christ.

 

And through it all, as an overriding vision, we still see the Messiah, riding through the streets of the City of God, on a donkey.

 

And we know that  God's Kingdom has come.

 

 

Psalm 1

Beatus vir qui non abiit

 

Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, *

nor lingered in the way of sinners,

nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

 

Their delight is in the law of the Lord, *

and they meditate on his law day and night.

 

They are like trees planted by streams of water,

bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; *

everything they do shall prosper.

 

It is not so with the wicked; *

they are like chaff which the wind blows away.

 

Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes, *

nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.

 

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, *

but the way of the wicked is doomed.

 

Psalm 2

Quare fremuerunt gentes?

 

Why are the nations in an uproar? *

Why do the peoples mutter empty threats?

 

Why do the kings of the earth rise up in revolt,

and the princes plot together, *

against the Lord and against his Anointed?

 

“Let us break their yoke,” they say; *

“let us cast off their bonds from us.”

 

He whose throne is in heaven is laughing; *

the Lord has them in derision.

 

Then he speaks to them in his wrath, *

and his rage fills them with terror.

 

“I myself have set my king *

upon my holy hill of Zion.”

 

Let me announce the decree of the Lord: *

he said to me, “You are my Son;

this day have I begotten you.

 

Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance *

and the ends of the earth for your possession.

 

You shall crush them with an iron rod *

and shatter them like a piece of pottery.”

 

And now, you kings, be wise; *

be warned, you rulers of the earth.

 

Submit to the Lord with fear, *

and with trembling bow before him;

 

Lest he be angry and you perish; *

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

 

Happy are they all *

who take refuge in him!

 

Psalm 3

Domine, quid multiplicati

 

Lord, how many adversaries I have! *

how many there are who rise up against me!

 

How many there are who say of me, *

“There is no help for him in his God.”

 

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me; *

you are my glory, the one who lifts up my head.

 

I call aloud upon the Lord, *

and he answers me from his holy hill;

 

I lie down and go to sleep; *

I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

 

I do not fear the multitudes of people *

who set themselves against me all around.

 

Rise up, O Lord; set me free, O my God; *

surely, you will strike all my enemies across the face,

you will break the teeth of the wicked.

 

Deliverance belongs to the Lord. *

Your blessing be upon your people!

 

Amos 2:6-16

Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals-- they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, and push the afflicted out of the way; father and son go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink wine bought with fines they imposed. Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of cedars, and who was as strong as oaks; I destroyed his fruit above, and his roots beneath. Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up some of your children to be prophets and some of your youths to be nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel? says the Lord. But you made the nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, "You shall not prophesy." So, I will press you down in your place, just as a cart presses down when it is full of sheaves. Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not retain their strength, nor shall the mighty save their lives; those who handle the bow shall not stand, and those who are swift of foot shall not save themselves, nor shall those who ride horses save their lives; and those who are stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, says the Lord.

 

2 Peter 1:1-11

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone who lacks these things is nearsighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

 

Matthew  21:1-11

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, 'The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately. " This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, "Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."