Alright, friends, happy Friday!
Today, I want to tackle an encouraging passage of scripture. But it’s also in the book of Revelation. And sometimes, thanks to deeply unscriptural books like Left Behind and others, Revelation has been wildly taken out of context.
But let’s take a stab at it, here goes:
So, let’s dive into something wild, something truly massive. Do you ever feel like the world’s just… small? Like your problems, your worries, they’re the whole show? Yeah, me too. But then you crack open Revelation, and BOOM!
It’s like someone ripped the roof off of reality and showed you the backstage of the universe, and it’s so much more than you could have imagined.
We’re landing in Revelation 7, verses 9 and 10. John’s having this vision, right? And it’s not some quiet, little prayer meeting. Forget that. It’s like a whole trip. He sees “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”
Think about that for a second. No one could count. That’s a lot of people. Like, a lot, a lot. And the beauty is – they’re not all the same. They’re from everywhere. Every culture, every skin color, every accent you can imagine. It’s like the ultimate potluck, but instead of bringing casseroles, they’re bringing their unique stories; they’re bringing this truly diverse selection of culture; and their unique ways of praising God.
And what are they doing? They’re shouting, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Now, here’s the thing that gets me. They’re not whispering. They’re not politely raising their hands. They’re shouting. They’re declaring it with everything they’ve got. They aren’t holding back. It’s a full-throated, heart-pounding, soul-shaking declaration.
Why? Because they get it. They understand the sheer, overwhelming, mind-blowing grace of God. They’ve seen the Lamb, Jesus, and they know that salvation isn’t about how good you are, how many rules you follow, or how much you donate to the church. It’s about God’s love, God’s relentless pursuit of us, God’s willingness to make things right.
And that’s incredible news. It’s news that makes you want to shout. It’s news that makes you want to dance. It’s news that makes you leave it all at the altar and live, truly live this transformed life because of His grace.
See, sometimes we get so caught up in the small stuff, the day-to-day grind, our worry about our finances, the fear of losing a job, the anxiety that keeps you up at night…we get so caught up in that small stuff that we forget the big picture.
We forget that God’s plan is bigger than our problems, bigger than our fears, bigger than anything we can imagine.
This vision in Revelation? It’s a reminder that we’re part of something huge. We’re part of a movement that spans the globe, spans time itself, it’s a movement that’s been going on for centuries, a movement that will continue until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord.
So, what does this mean for us today? Well, maybe it means taking a moment to step back and remember the bigness of God. Maybe it means finding our voice and joining the chorus, declaring our own “Salvation belongs to our God!” Maybe it means looking around and seeing the beauty of God’s diverse creation, the beauty of all those different faces, all those different stories. Maybe it means we stop taking it all for granted, and say thank you!
Maybe it means realizing that we’re not alone. We’re part of a massive, glorious, unstoppable movement of love and grace. And that, my friends, is something worth shouting about. So take a few minutes, hours, days, and just appreciate this big, beautiful movement of love and give your praise to God.
Don’t just read it. Feel it. Let the sheer scale of God’s love and the diversity of His people soak into your soul.
And then, maybe, just maybe, let out a shout of your own. You’re in good company.
Grace & Peace!
-Pastor Scott.
Pastor's Ponderings 