I don’t know if you have done so, but a few years ago I opened an ancestry.com account and patiently waited for my DNA results to come back. My ancestors are 48% Eastern European and Baltics (this means they were from Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Romania, and Serbia. Thirty-four percent of my ancestors come from Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, England, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland. I’m also a touch of Scottish and Welsh. Let’s face it. I’m a mutt. We all are here in the United States. Except for Native Americans, we are a nation of immigrants. Different customs, colors, and traditions. I love variety. I am a smorgasbord kind of guy. Must be the Scandinavian in me. I think it would be boring to live in a homogeneous society where everyone looked basically the same.
Apparently, God loves variety too. Look at the world. We are all shapes, sizes, and colors, and we are all made in the image of God. This is one reason why I love pastoring here at South Church. When you look out on Sunday morning you see old, young, teen, toddler, white, black, Asian, Hispanic, Polish, Swedish, and everything in-between.
In Revelation, the apostle John receives a vision of heaven, and he records it for us. “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a mighty shout, ‘Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb’” (Revelation 7:9-10)!
Yeah, when I look out on Sunday mornings, I too get a peek at heaven. We come from different places. Trace ancestors to different countries all over the world but we have one thing in common – our faith in Jesus Christ. And that’s what matters.
That’s what Jesus Himself said. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus is teaching when His family came to see Him. Mark records like this, “Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them. There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and someone said, ‘Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.’ Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ Then he looked at those around him and said, ‘Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother’” (Mark 3:31-35).
That’s right. Those who do God’s will. Those who are believers are His true family. Likewise, no matter what the color our skin may be or where we come from – Slovenia or Wales – we call each other brothers and sisters-in-Christ because we are family. And on Sunday mornings we look like worship in heaven. “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen” (Revelation 7:12).
If you want to get a peak at heaven, join us this Sunday at 10:00 am. In-person or Facebook live.
—————————————————–
Remember you can email praise reports and prayer requests to southchurchprayer@gmail.com. I lift them up every Wednesday at 4:00 pm on Facebook Live.