A God of All the Nations

Scripture

Revelation 7:9-14

 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ They cried out in a loud voice, saying,

“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

¹¹ And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² singing,

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (NRSV)

Devotion

I struggle with how to best celebrate patriotic holidays.  I love my country and pray that God will shower blessings upon us.  I believe that it pleases God when people are courageous and dedicated enough to help us live into our stated ideals of freedom, equality, etc. At the same time, I am keenly aware that God exists beyond our understanding of nation.   Scripture proclaims that Christ's followers are citizens of the Kingdom of God....a kingdom in which all God's children are equally loved.  That kingdom transcends all human-established boundaries. 

Christians around the world face some uncomfortable questions as we deal with our "dual citizenship."  How do we thank God for the ways the Holy Spirit moves in our specific nations while acknowledging that the same spirit can be found moving in places around the globe?  How do we ethically pray for the Holy One to give us special blessings when our faith teaches us that we also should seek the good of our friends and rivals?

The apostles faced a similar dilemma.  Throughout history, the Children of Israel had been taught to see themselves as unique.  Out of the people on earth, they had been chosen to have a special relationship with God...one that blessed their nation and made them an example to others.  Even as the people rejoiced in that special relationship, the prophets spoke of a day when the Kingdom of God would come to earth and people of every nation  would receive God's blessings.  That long-awaited day came in the form of Jesus Christ.  This was good news, but it was also tough for the observant Jews like the apostles to take.  After all, who would want to give up their special relationship with God?  Maybe they weren't so special after all.

Revelation acknowledges some of this discomfort.  John's vision includes angels setting God's seal on people from the 12 Tribes of Israel.  The seal marks the Children of Israel as special and shows that they have been saved.  But then an ever greater number of people arrive.  These people come from every nation on the Earth, and they don't carry Gods' special seal...but their white robes show that Christ has saved them as well.     

Here is a God whose power is so great and whose Kingdom is vast that is more than enough room for both groups...more than enough blessings to go around.  God does have a special relationship with the Jews, but God also has special relationships with others nations.  Each of these groups have been their own unique path to salvation. And at the end of history, each group would arrive at God's throne.  The angels witnessing this event rejoice, because God hadn't limited his blessings to a single group.  In Christ, God has saved Jew and Gentile alike.

Our modern day world is very different from that of John's, but his vision continues to challenge people.  God does love us in our particularity.  God sets a seal of sorts on each of us and bands us together into communities, states, nations, etc. At the same time, God blesses people that we have less in common with  These people may live in different places, be blessed with unique gifts, or face challenges we do not understand.   And because they have dissimilar contexts, we and those other groups may have a very different perspectives on how to live and move in the world.  But at the end of the day, God will bless all of us.  We will all be robe in white.

As people across the USA celebrate another Independence Day, it is right to thank God for the blessings we have received.  It's right to remember those who have made sacrifices on our behalf.  And it is good for us to ask for God's help as we strive to live into our God-given potential.  But even as we celebrate some of what makes us unique, it is important to remember that God's blessings are not just for citizens of the United Sates.  They are for people of every time and place.  And though we may be on different paths to glory, we will find ourselves standing alongside one another in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

When we pray for the good of our nation, let us take a moment to pray for other nations as well.  When we ask God to make us a light to the world, let us ask that God help us see and rejoice in the lights that shine from other places. And let us never forget that though we  may love our earthly nation, we are also citizens of the Kingdom of God.  The day is surely coming when our Savior will gather the faithful of every nation into one Beloved Community.  On that day, we will join with the angels and one another as we sing God's praises.  Let us pray for that day to come soon. 

Prayer

Today's prayer is"This is My Song, O God of All the Nations" as presented by members of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Project.  The members of this choir hail from around the globe.  Together, they pray for a day when the people of every nation will come to know true peace.