A King Who Leads No Armies

Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
—John 18:33b-37

He comes, a thief in darkness,
the king who tells no lies,
as tender as we're hardened;
his truth shall fill the skies.

He comes, the sun of justice
to right our wrongful ways.
He comes, the one who loves us.
He comes to buy the slaves

and seat them over princes,
above the highest lords,
to judge and save us sinners,
and he shall be adored.

He once before came helpless 
upon the earth he moves—
almighty God defenseless,
a lamb to save the wolves.

He comes now to disarm us
of whips and nails and thorns;
a king who leads no armies
tills gardens with our swords.

He comes to heal the broken;
he comes to break the chains,
and all the world waits for him—
Come, Lord, do not delay!

St. Catherine’s Monastery, Mount Sinai, Egypt, Photo By carulmare – https://www.flickr.com/photos/8545333@N07/4124982761/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30366875

When You Return

When you return, O God,
O brighter than our sun,
to reckon all our rights and wrong,
our done and left undone,

there at the end of time
when at your feet I stand,
oh, take the oceans of my crimes
and pour them through your hands.

The words I should not say,
the swords I should not wield,
pour in and let them drain away
through mercy's wounds unhealed.

For I am sunk in them
who cannot walk their waves.
They seep out through your innocence
'til all that's left is grace.

As deep as I have drowned,
raise me and let me stand.
The millstone ropes at last unwound,
let me rest on dry land.

And see: My sins are gone
and you alone remain.
Now fill me with the light of dawn
and make me new again!

Gospel Book, Second Coming of Christ, Walters Manuscript W.540, fol. 14v. This manuscript was executed in 1475 by a scribe identified as Aristakes, for a priest named Hakob. It contains a series of 16 images on the life of Christ preceding the text of the gospels, as well as the traditional evangelist portraits, and there are marginal illustrations throughout. The style of the miniatures, which employ brilliant colors and emphasize decorative patterns, is characteristic of manuscript production in the region around Lake Van during the 15th century. By Walters Art Museum Illuminated Manuscripts – https://www.flickr.com/photos/39699193@N03/8509826031/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76790938

Cries

When justice streams from heaven, will it burn
or drown the world as in a second flood?
Will we have time to run for cover first?
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

whose truth shall spring up from the tired ground,
obliterating what we thought was safe.
Was it on rock or sand we built the house?
He comes, he comes, the reckoner of days.

For he has heard the wailing of the poor—
Weep then, you rich, at your impending doom.
He comes to give us each our sure reward,
and how can earth not quake when heaven stoops?

Yet all these things will pass and silence fall,
and every knee shall bend before his might,
but ere he judges, God will stoop still more
to mourn the passing of each blameless light.

Unshroud the dead; let him see every face,
and tremble, heaven, as he sees who died.
Roll back the stones, disturbing every grave,
and let him see their hands, their feet, their sides.

O angels, turn your faces; do not look.
O six-winged seraphs, hide your flaming eyes.
Earth would dissolve in fire if it could,
not to be there when its creator cries.

By Józef Chełmoński – http://www.pinakoteka.zascianek.pl, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=292402

Watch

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be watchful! Be alert!
You do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man traveling abroad.
He leaves home and places his servants in charge,
each with his own work,
and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”
Mark 13:33-37

Awake my heart, O Lord,

for I have been asleep,

but now the night is creeping toward

the watch that I must keep.



And touch my weary eyes:

The sun has long gone down,

and I must wait a new star's rise,

outshining even dawn.



You, sun of justice, rose,

and oh! your day was bright!

You went as every evening goes;

now we wait out the night.



For day will come again

a shining, searing blaze:

the presence of the Great Amen,

light thrown on all our ways.



A day without an end,

a night without a dawn,

where day and night abide as friends

and all our fear is gone.



Then wake my heart, O Lord;

let me not miss that light 

but keep me ever yearning toward

your glory in the night.

Il Cristo Redentore By Melozzo da Forlì (attributed) – http://www.piosodaliziodeipiceni.it/img/24sede.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43654623

The Judge

Come, O Lord; come quickly:
Tear the skies apart.
Shadows here lie thickly:
Drive away the dark.
Come in all your glory;
come ascend your throne.
Finish now the story
whose end is yours alone.

Come, O Lord, with judgment:
Come to set things right.
Bring at last your justice;
end oppression's might.
Come and show us clearly
where we must atone.
Make your wounds a mirror
of all we've done and known.

Come, O Lord, with mercy:
Let its rivers run
through our desert thristing,
gleaming as the sun.
Let our barrens blossom
as once Eden bloomed.
Come, restore your garden,
and oh, come soon!  Come soon!

Day of Judgment By Gherardo Starnina – The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2978136

Let Your Rivers Flow!

The desert and the parched land will exult;
       the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
   They will bloom with abundant flowers,
       and rejoice with joyful song.
   The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,
       the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
   They will see the glory of the LORD,
       the splendor of our God.
   Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
       make firm the knees that are weak,
   Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
       Be strong, fear not!
   Here is your God,
       he comes with vindication;
   With divine recompense
       he comes to save you.
   Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
       the ears of the deaf be cleared;
   Then will the lame leap like a stag,
       then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Isaiah 35:1-10

When old woods turn to orchards
and deserts run with springs,
the wounded drop their crutches;
the silent rise and sing.

When springs turn into fountains
and famine turns to feast,
they come to climb the mountain;
they come from west and east.

From every distant corner,
from every farflung land,
come every son and daughter
with riches in their hands.

And fountains turn to rivers,
and rivers turn to wine,
and every hope delivers,
and no one stands in line!

The table's stacked with goodness,
and there are endless seats,
and no one breaks a promise,
and everyone can eat.

So come, O Christ: We're waiting.
Just say the word: We'll go!
This world needs your remaking;
come, let your rivers flow!

Death Valley Desert Gold Super Bloom By Jerry Mclaughlin – Imported from 500px (archived version) by the Archive Team. (detail page), CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73805358

Beware!

Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
Matthew 24:37-44

Beware! The thief is coming,
though no one knows the hour
when David's key is turning
and Jesse's root shall flow'r.
Then all your strong defenses
will crumble to the ground:
He'll come with recompenses
while mountains tumble down.

Be watchful, and be ready—
Do not, dare not to sleep!
His coming, long awaited,
th'appointed time shall keep.
Prepare yourself for testing;
stand firmly in the fight:
The plow must be your weapon,
your armor made of light.

Behold, this is the moment—
shall it e'er come again?—
the thief is on your doorstep
and knocks to be let in.
Make ready to receive him;
prepare a level way.
Get up and let the thief in:
At your house he must stay.

Christ Pantocrator By Unknown author – Unknown source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5820582

Lay Your Weapons Down

This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz,
saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come,
the mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!
Isaiah 2:1-5

Come, lay your weapons down,
and plunge them in the soil.
The sword that was so sharp and proud
is humbled to our toil.
Now it shall plow the ground,
tear out the roots of war:
Prepare a place for seeds to sprout,
a harvest for our joy.

Unless the seed should fall
it would remain a seed,
but buried, it shall rise up tall,
a hundredfold to yield.
The scythe is at the stalk—
it once had been a spear—
come, now; the harvestmaster calls:
His day is drawing near!

Then let us climb at once
the mountain of the Lord,
and hand in hand declare a truce,
lay down the hungry sword.
Come, plow the fallow tombs
and let our roots take hold
to grow the grain our God shall use
to feed a hungry world!

Mosaic in the Beit Habad Gallery, Jerusalem, quoting Isaiah 2:4, with lion, spear and spade. By benito roveran from verona, Italia – IMG_4713, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36487009

Come, Thief

For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.
1 Thessalonians 5:2

I shut the doors left open,
lock them against the dark,
but locks can all be broken:
Come, thief, and wake my heart.

I thought my peace secure, then,
shut tight against the dark,
but still the doors creak open:
Come, thief, and wake my heart.

Too long has it been sleeping,
its shining lamps gone dark,
and shadows have come creeping:
Come, thief, and wake my heart.

My peace is merely silence;
my ease a blindfold dark;
my comfort numb to violence:
Come, thief, and wake my heart.

New flame in me enkindle
to pierce the heavy dark.
Your day let me remember:
Come, thief, and wake my heart.

To leave a life of hiding
and face in truth the dark;
to find a peace abiding:
Come, thief, and wake my heart.

Couvercle d’un coffret en ivoire d’éléphant portant la représentation du Christ en Majesté entre les quatre évangélistes. Cologne, première moitié du XIIIe s. Ivoire. By Anonymous – Marsyas 18:37, 6 March 2006 (UTC), CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=616980

O Lord, Will You Save Only Some?

Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.”
Luke 13:22-30

O Lord, will you save only some?
And which ones will they be
who revel in your kingdom come
while others stand and weep?

And really, what I mean to say
is, will I be there, too?
Will Ihave found the upward way
before you save the few?

Or will I still be downward bound
when you come back in might
to close the doors? Will I be out,
or there with you in light?

Let others come from east and west—
I do not grudge them grace!
But tell me, when the table's set,
will I, too, have a place?

For I have tried, Lord; I have tried,
but I have failed and failed.
So will you leave there outside
to gnash my teeth and wail?

Or will you leave the door ajar,
forget to bar the gate?
Oh, let it still be mercy's hour
if I should get there late!