Jesus, where’er thy people meet,
There they behold thy mercy seat;
Where’er they seek thee thou art found,
And every place is hallowed ground.
~William Cowper (1731-1800)
We were out in St. Elizabeth parish last year, finishing a house to give to a mom and her kids. One guy had paid for the whole thing, and we were just along for the painting party. It seems too that many of the folks in the surrounding area thought that it was a party too. They showed up, sat in the shade, nodded, smiled and watched.
I peeled away from applying the vanilla pudding colored topcoat and moved into the presence of some of the neighbors. One of the men had a pink baseball cap on that said: I ♥ Jesus. I saw his hat, pointed at it and smiled saying, “Like your hat sir.”
And then it began.
He spoke something back in friendly southern Jamaican patois. I did not catch the syntax, but I fully caught the meaning. It was a clear declaration that this man was not wearing his hat by mistake. And he – in no way – seemed to care that it was pink. This man loved the Lover of our souls. And the language that communicated this truth went beyond the need for any words. We were brothers in Christ, and we knew it.
My spirit heard the Spirit having me speak of our blessed Hope; to speak the words of That Day. That day when the physical poverty, heat, want and language barriers will all be gone. I spoke His words from the latter portion of the following passage to the assembled group:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
~ Revelation 21:1-4
~ Revelation 21:1-4
As i finished, one of the old women, sitting nearby started to hum a few notes from some hymn of hope, as the rest of our spirits resonated to the sound. For just a moment, we were in church. And it was a very good church service at that. Hope and joy and peace in the presence of the One who is the Author of all these things winded through that semicircle of now-brothers and sisters. Just for a moment…
Oh but, surely beloved, worship has little to do with the length of the service. Eternity will be but one ever-expanding, ever-unfolding moment with Him. And if it is only as good as that minute with these neighbors, then it is a moment for which it is surely worth the wait.
Worship is a way of living, a way of seeing the world in the light of God… to rise to a higher level of existence, to see the world from the point of view of God.
~Abraham J. Heschel (1907-1972)
