God: Right Here, Right Now!

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,  ‘See, the home of God is among mortals.  He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples,  and God himself will be with them.’” 
(Revelation 21:3, NRSV)

Do you ever read the last pages of a book to see how the story is going to end before actually starting to read the book proper?  This one verse (above) from the last part of our Christian Bible, Revelation, is among the most hope filled God inspired words of Scripture.  It is not uncommon for us to hear these words at services of Baptism and Holy Communion, as well as funerals and the occasional wedding.  They lead to the gripping description of how existence will look upon the fulfillment of creation as intended and designed by God.  In six verses, this Scripture captures the most foundational essence of life from start to completion, “the beginning and the end” (6a).   I encourage you find a quiet moment and dwell on those verses of Revelation 21:1-6a to see what I mean.

But as is the case with all of humanity, we find ourselves living, interacting, searching, and dwelling somewhere in the middle of that start and completion.  I find it striking that the very middle verses of this six-verse passage speak directly to the human, or people part of that total fulfillment process.  Verse 3 in particular proclaims from the very throne of God, that God seeks to make “home” the very places that God’s people reside.  Not just at the beginning, not just at the end, but throughout that whole fulfillment process, i.e., in the middle too.  In other words, right now, and right here.  That’s where the hope comes in … our hope.  It is that hope that God calls Christ’s Church to reflect, and we are called to be that reflection right now and right here.    

May all who look upon our “home” of faith see that it is a place where God’s people reside.  May its doors be open to all God’s people as their home with God.  And may all the places we reside in all the aspects of our lives, be the same places that God dwells and calls home.

Peace and blessings to you, and in all the places you call home …  Pastor Bob