Revelation 7: 9-17
We believe that we come into communion with all those saints and souls who have gone before us, with all whom we are related by Christ’s blood. The belief in the communion of Saints can give us what we need the most—an acceptance of both sides of the bereavement coin—the pain and longing for the loss and the continued connectedness with the departed In addition, this belief still shapes our identities, gives meaning to our lives, and directs our futures and our purposes that entail being enrolled in God’s story and God’s big picture that is much larger than our own story.
Today’s passage from the book of Revelation may give us one of the pictures we can imagine what it means for us to be in the communion of Saints by being a part of God’s story and God’s big picture beyond our imagination. The passage tells us about the scene in which we can imagine an enormous crowd of believers gathering together to stand before God’s throne, coming from everywhere, from every race and tribe, from every nation and language.
On Sundays, we may all arrive at worship weary and worried about wants, wishes, and needs. Some of us come here with the sense of feeling beaten down, even near death and hopelessness, and sarcastic. That is a moment we have to go back to today’s passage to see God’s vision and God’s hope for a better world for us.
And think of our Saints’ life and look at their pictures which are still smiling and speaking to us—Seemingly, God cannot do everything, and God will not do everything, but God is the first and the last, and God is the Alpha and Omega.”
We are the people who know and trust this good news, so we can keep singing for the courage to live in the present while always facing the future and the saints. We are the people who know and trust that shelter is ours already. We are the people who have ears and eyes to recognize our shepherd, who still leads us to springs of the water of life.
And we are the people who still hope for a better world—by envisioning the places where hunger and thirst are no more, where grace and mercy and forgiveness are overflowing, and where all people from everywhere, from every race, tribe, nation, and language, can sing and praise God altogether, making a joyful and peaceful noise for the world—“Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb; amen, Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever amen.”
Thanks be to God.