As king he shall reign and govern wisely,
he shall do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah shall be saved,
Israel shall dwell in security.
This is the name they give him:
"The LORD our justice."
The scriptures equate justice and salvation. In God's mind they are the same thing. Unfortunately, we humans can never quite imagine what that city, state, or nation might look like. We're happy enough to dream of our particular salvation as a place of prosperity and security with a fair amount of pleasure. Some people might also want some challenging adventures; they would serve like spices to an otherwise bland existence, provided the outcome is always a return to healthy stasis.
But a state where everyone is satisfied, safe, prosperous, and pleased, where everyone is blessed and honored as God's image, with the dignity of God's people? I might imagine such an Eden but it will bear little resemblance to another's Edenic place. C.S. Lewis, in The Great Divorce, imagined such a place as Hell, where everyone lives in pristine solitude, satisfied and content to be undisturbed by others. Many Americans have tried to create that retirement home for themselves, a space occupied by one aging adult and one or more pets.
In that kind of hell, every person would be a king, and would have no need for One to "reign and govern wisely" over them. However, in the real world where many of us live, despite our marvelous technology, advanced education, and sophisticated government with its highly efficient bureaucracies, we have not been able to "bring forth" justice, mercy, or salvation for ourselves. To use Isaiah's bleak expression:
We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth only to wind;
Salvation we have not achieved for the earth,
no inhabitants for the world were born.
(In such a world, the unborn are aborted.)
I recently attended a lecture about the ecological disaster Americans (among others) are making of the world. The lecturer, an engineer, concluded her presentation with a dozen or more new technologies which offer hope. None is a "silver bullet," she said, but these and other great ideas might serve as effective "silver bbs." Economical and exciting, they might reduce our carbon footprint and provide sufficient relief to the atmosphere.
I was not persuaded. In my personal experience, and after hearing many stories of many people, I believe we need a "Savior who is Christ the Lord." No matter how charming the technology, we'll find a way to turn it to evil if we are not governed wisely by One blessed with the Wisdom and Spirit of God.
Welcome Christmas! Welcome a Savior who reigns over me and my impulses, ideas, fears, and ambitions. Welcome a Savior who is willing to suffer with us the defeat of our best ideas and most hopeful enterprises, who goes down with us and raises us up again by the Authority he has received from God.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.