Heaven?
Stop.
Close your eyes and quiet your mind. What do you think heaven is like? Reflect on this vision for a while. Let your breath center you in God’s gift of life now and in the life to come.
Listen.
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” – Revelation 7:9-10
Reflect.
While many think of the book of Revelation as something scary, threatening, mysterious, and impossible to read, Revelation mostly contains a promise of hope and protection from God through difficult times. Revelation bears a promise of a life to come where we can be in God’s presence and free from any sorrow or suffering. Yes, it uses some frightening and sometimes confusing imagery to do it. Still, the message remains: through anything we might endure, God will be present and call us home.
Better yet, Revelation gets that the promise of life and hope isn’t for just one kind of people or a single nation. The final vision of joy in God’s presence requires the fullness of humanity. In fact, in this passage from chapter 7, there’s no mention of everyone suddenly looking the same or acting the same or even speaking the same language (even if they are all wearing white robes). All people are fully who God made them to be after living a life authentic to their culture or society. In the end, this diversity doesn’t disappear. It is part of the fullness of heaven.
Why does this vision have to wait for the life to come? Churches are among the most segregated groups in America, sorted out by skin color, cultural background, socioeconomic status, and political stance. While we often want to feel most comfortable and understood in our places of worship, we must also understand that it’s not representative of all that God is up to in the world. We miss out on the fullness of God’s action when we only worship with people just like us.
Perhaps we’ll never really realize this vision of a diverse worshiping body. It’s still worth it to reach out, build bridges, share stories, and continue to cry out together with a loud voice that salvation belongs to our God – no matter what language we cry out in.
Pray.
Bring us together with all your people, God. Join us with all races, cultures, languages, and nations. Make us partners with those who don’t look, act, speak, and believe like us. May our diversity bear witness to the fullness of your goodness here on earth and in heaven. Amen.
Carry On.
Consider again that image of heaven. What do you find most life-giving and beautiful about it? How can you make that possible in some small way right now? Today, commit yourself to one act this week that will live into this vision for the joy of heaven.