.
The
Mighty One,
God the Lord,
speaks and
summons the
earth
from the
rising of the
sun to its
setting.
Out of Zion,
the perfection
of beauty,
God shines
forth.
Our God comes,
he does not
keep silence,
before him is
a devouring
fire,
round about
him a mighty
tempest.
He calls to
the heavens
above
and to the
earth, that he
may judge his
people:
“Gather to me
my faithful
ones,
who made a
covenant with
me by
sacrifice!”
–
Psalm
50:1–5
“The
mighty One,
God, the Lord,
speaks and
summons the
earth” –
as
on the first
day of
creation he
called it into
being.
Incessantly,
he commands
his creation.
Thus, he loves
his work by
his word and
his command.
But who can
recognize him
amidst the
awesome
splendor of
nature? Where
will you read
his name? You
must simply
confess your
faith: the
creation
remains dumb.
God certainly
speaks to the
world, but not
to you. He
comes to you
from a
different
direction:
from Zion! It
is here only
that he allows
you to see his
friendliness
and his glory.
Here he shines
upon you like
the morning
light after
the darkness
of the night.
In Zion, the
chosen place
of his
dwelling, the
place of his
promise and
his
faithfulness.
It is here
that the
Creator
manifests
himself. Grace
and compassion
are his glory,
friendliness
his beautiful
radiance.
In
his radiance,
the creator
God is our
God. He
who summons
the world,
comes out of
Zion as our
God. He is our
God in that he
does not keep
silent, but
speaks to us.
He does not
speak to us in
the same way
as he speaks
to nature. The
radiance that
shines forth
at Bethlehem
is the way God
speaks to us.
As he places a
flaming sword
in front of
paradise
(Genesis
3:24), as
Jacob must
wrestle with
the angry God
at Jabbok
(Genesis
32:25–27), so
the devouring
fire goes
before him. In
the same way
the Baptist
goes before
Christ. Thus
he comes to
his saints and
summons them
to judgment.
The message of
Advent and of
Christmas also
is a terrible
message: “May
Jesus Christ
be praised...
Kyrie eleison!
[Lord have
mercy]”
Does he come
to his saints,
then, in
judgment? Yes!
You alone have
I known! “It
is time for
judgment to
begin with the
family of God”
(1 Peter
4:17).
Lightening
strikes the
highest trees
first. For
God’s saints
become holy by
judgment and
the kindness
of the Lord.
It is only by
way of the
flaming sword
of the angel
that one comes
into the
Promised Land.
It is only
through
judgment that
the grace, the
radiance of
forgiveness,
and the
kindness of
God shines.
“Gather
to me my
consecrated
ones, who made
a covenant
with me
through
sacrifice.” The
saints are
consecrated by
the sacrifice
of the cross.
In the
background of
Advent stands
the cross of
judgment. Here
in this
sacrifice
judgment and
kindness are
made one.
As at
Christmas the
heavens opened
and on Good
Friday those
same heavens
darkened, so
also in this
Psalm, all
creation must
serve “his
people.” That
is the
purpose. All
other words of
creation must
serve the Word
from Zion.
Once God has
come into the
midst of his
people, then
the judgment
of God over
all creation
will be openly
declared. Then
it will be
clear that
this judgment,
which began in
Bethlehem, was
fulfilled in
Golgotha.
Heaven and
earth bows
down before
him. Christ is
then the judge
of all the
earth.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a
German
Lutheran
pastor and a
founding
member of the
Confessing
Church. He was
the first of
the German
theologians to
speak out
clearly
against the
persecution of
the Jews and
the evils of
the Nazi
ideology. In
spring of 1935
Dietrich
Bonhoeffer was
called by the
Confessing
Church in
Germany to
take charge of
an “illegal,”
underground
seminary at
Finkenwalde,
Germany (now
Poland). He
served as
pastor,
administrator,
and teacher
there until
the seminary
was closed
down by
Hitler's
Gestapo in
September,1937.
In the
seminary at
Finkenwalde
Bonhoeffer
taught the
importance of
shared life
together as
disciples of
Christ. He was
convinced that
the renewal of
the church
would depend
upon
recovering the
biblical
understanding
of the
communal
practices of
Christian
obedience and
shared life.
This is where
true formation
of
discipleship
could best
flourish and
mature.
Bonhoeffer’s
teaching led
to the
formation of a
community
house for the
seminarians to
help them
enter into and
learn the
practical
disciplines of
the Christian
faith in
community. In
1937
Bonhoeffer
completed two
books, Life
Together and
The Cost of
Discipleship.
They were
first
published in
German in
1939. Both
books
encompass
Bonhoeffer’s
theological
understanding
of what it
means to live
as a Christian
community in
the Body of
Christ.
He was
arrested and
imprisoned by
the Gestapo in
April 1943. On
April 8, 1945
he was hanged
as a traitor
in the
Flossenburg
concentration
camp. As he
left his cell
on his way to
execution he
said to his
companion,
"This is the
end – but for
me, the
beginning of
life."
credit: top
illustration
of manger and
cloud of
consuming fire
by (c) Kevin
Carden
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