Majesty in the Upside-down Kingdom


 

Psalm 93: 1-4

The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty; 
          the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength. 
     He has established the world; it shall never be moved; 
2        your throne is established from of old; 
          you are from everlasting.

3   The floods have lifted up, O LORD, 
          the floods have lifted up their voice; 
          the floods lift up their roaring. 
4   More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, 
          more majestic than the waves of the sea, 
          majestic on high is the LORD!

 

Majestic is defined as having or exhibiting sovereign power, dignity, or splendor.

 

This Psalm this a proclamation of God’s majesty.  We read it in the lectionary this Easter Sunday.  But “majestic” is not the word that I think of when I think of Jesus’ death on the cross.  That type of death was undignified, dirty, violent, and demeaning.  Was that a death fit for a majestic King?  Yet, Pilate wrote on the inscription on the cross, “The King of the Jews.”  

 

Jesus is our King in the Kingdom of Heaven.  We call Him our Lord.  We dedicate our lives to His service.  We bow our hearts before him in prayer.  The cross shows us that our King reigns in an upside down Kingdom; a Kingdom where the King serves and sacrifices for his people.  Where the last is first and the first is last.  Our King humbles himself to die on the cross and in rising from the dead, He conquered death for humankind.  It makes me think of a King going in to battle to defeat an enemy of the Kingdom, and going in alone.  His death and resurrection give us hope of new life forever more, starting today.  

 

We live in this Kingdom here on earth as ambassadors, waiting for the fulfillment of the hope we have.  Let us share the good news, as the women at the tomb did.  Our King is alive.  The Kingdom of God is at hand.  It is there for all who would choose to look for it and it is majestic.

 

Our God and King, may your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  Help us to live like members of your Kingdom and show others your majesty.  Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't Fall Asleep

Image
Be quiet!  No I'm not mad at you.  I'm actually looking out for you, trying to help.  Lord knows I need to be quiet more.  This isn't about being more ears than mouth - although that is a good idea too!   It is really hard for us to quiet our minds.  We are so used to the stimulation all around us and nowadays the powerful computers we all carry around, occasionally to make phone calls, makes it even more difficult to stop... and.... just... listen...  I wonder if that moment of silence in church is treasured by some and is torture for others?  I treasure it and wish it was longer.  Probably because I have trouble doing it by myself. I just read an article that a friend of ours wrote about going through radiation treatment.   Her nurse told her to "lay heavy" in the machine that rotated her around and applied the radiation.  Each of the 30 days she did this became special to her in a strange way.  She was finally able to lay down, forget her to-do list, and be
Read more

The Cry of Our Souls

Image
Psalm 42:1-2,5-8,11   As the deer pants for flowing streams,      so my soul longs for you, O God.   We know what thirst for water feels like. It is an unmistakable sensation. When we experience thirst, it may be because we missed earlier cues to hydrate. Now our body, already becoming dehydrated, has sent us a more obvious signal, an uncomfortable cue, one we will certainly recognize and act on.   But do we recognize when our soul thirsts for God?   My soul thirsts for God,      for the living God. Parenting manuals will tell us that when a baby cries it is important to consider the sound of the cry. They tell us that careful observation will help us to distinguish between a cry of hunger and a cry of pain, between the cry of a sleepy baby and the cry of a baby who is merely bored and in need of stimulation. For if we offer our infants milk every time they fuss, we are in danger of training them to seek food every time they feel discomfort; we risk confusing them, comp
Read more

Dinner Conversations

Image
Every night at the dinner table, our family takes turns telling each other what we’re thankful for from the day. It never fails that one of our kids shares that they’re thankful for a good dinner, even if they struggled to get all of it down. While the practice can seem mundane and routine, our hope is that one day, the practice of gratitude that we’ve engrained in them (and ourselves) will help us on the days where it seems the world has nothing in it for which to be grateful. Maybe we can consider it practice for those coming moments of despair-that there is still some blessing that deserves our gratitude. Isn’t that what Jesus calls us to do? We are called in so many ways to reflect on the abundant blessings of God. Consider this passage from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:     Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances,  for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.   This directive is strong-no matter what is happening-be joyful, pray, give thanks. I think we
Read more