Easter 4
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
... the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
-- Revelation 7:17
One of the questions that continues to haunt the faithful over the centuries is if Christ has come, why is the world not a better place? Earlier in Revelation 6:10, "They cried out with a loud voice, 'Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood....' " In chapter 7 it is made clear that God was deliberately holding back a final judgment in order for God to accomplish the divine purpose. "Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads" (7:3). True to the promise to Abram in Genesis 12:3b, "... there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation...."
While the delay was divinely intended, the vision of heaven declared that the sacrifices of the believers had not been in vain. "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." The message to believers was that no faithful act was ever lost. Each act of faithfulness, even when it appeared to be futile in its effect, was in reality an act of praise.
It is easy to become discouraged when one measures the worth of an act in terms of its measurable results. What provides Christians with the courage to continue making their witness even in seemingly hopeless situations is the confidence that what they are doing is truly an act of worship. If liturgy is the work of the people lifted in praise to God, then what happens in gathered worship is a focusing of what has been happening all week long. Like the angels in heaven, the gathered congregation reflects back on its past week and looks forward to the coming week and sings, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
-- Revelation 7:17
One of the questions that continues to haunt the faithful over the centuries is if Christ has come, why is the world not a better place? Earlier in Revelation 6:10, "They cried out with a loud voice, 'Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood....' " In chapter 7 it is made clear that God was deliberately holding back a final judgment in order for God to accomplish the divine purpose. "Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads" (7:3). True to the promise to Abram in Genesis 12:3b, "... there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation...."
While the delay was divinely intended, the vision of heaven declared that the sacrifices of the believers had not been in vain. "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." The message to believers was that no faithful act was ever lost. Each act of faithfulness, even when it appeared to be futile in its effect, was in reality an act of praise.
It is easy to become discouraged when one measures the worth of an act in terms of its measurable results. What provides Christians with the courage to continue making their witness even in seemingly hopeless situations is the confidence that what they are doing is truly an act of worship. If liturgy is the work of the people lifted in praise to God, then what happens in gathered worship is a focusing of what has been happening all week long. Like the angels in heaven, the gathered congregation reflects back on its past week and looks forward to the coming week and sings, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
