3rd November Trinity
Revelation 7: 9-17
Next I looked and saw a great
crowd beyond anyone’s power to count, from every nation and all races and
peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the Lamb draped in
garments of white and with palm branches in their hands, and they shout with a
great voice saying, “Healing and help
[salvation] to our God who sits on the throne and through the Lamb.”
And all the angels were standing in a ring around the throne and the
elders and the four living beings, and they fell down in front of the throne
upon their faces and adored God saying,
Yea, so be it. Amen. [To our God be blessing and
glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength for an age
of ages. Amen.”]
All the blessing power of the Word, that creating permeates the world,
all the revealing might of the spirit, that enlightens the senses appearance,
all the light of wisdom that leads us to true knowledge, the secret of
transformation which gives worth to all being, that brings the world forward,
and all the strength and power of the spirit –they belong to our God from aeon
to aeon. Yea, so be it, Amen.
And one of the elders spoke up, asking me: “These people draped in
garments of white, who are they and where did they come from?”
And I said to him, “Good sir, you yourself know.”
And he said to me:
These are the ones just come from the great
Suffering. They washed their garments clean, and made them shining white in the
blood of the Lamb.
That is why they can stand here before the throne of God
And serve him day and night in his temple.
The One who sits on the throne shall settle down upon them [dwell upon
them].
They shall not hunger ever again, nor thirst again;
The sun shall not bear down too hard upon them, nor anything burn them,
Because the Lamb, in the midst of the throne, will be their shepherd
And guide them to the springs of the water of life,
And God will wipe away each teardrop from their eyes.
3rd November Trinity
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| Durer |
November 13, 2011
Revelation 7: 9-17
Once again the gospel reading speaks of those in white
garments, this time around the throne of God. One of the twenty-four elders
points to their significance by asking, ‘Who are they? Where did they come
from?’
And the answer is, not a place, but an activity.
Those draped in white garments are those who have traversed
the land of suffering, and who, through endurance, have become strong and
patient. Their soul garments have been purified, washed clean in the
sacrificial; capacity of the blood of God’s Lamb, the Christ. They have been
purified because they accepted the suffering as a necessary part of the destiny
of humanity. They took it on, but did not give up hope of eventual release.
They could do so because they knew that despite everything, they are
loved—loved by family and friends, loved most intimately by their guardian
angels, loved with great mercy and understanding by God and His Son, the Human
God.
Their suffering has given them not only purity of soul, but
also depth and breadth of soul. They will be compensated for what they have
endured. At the same time, one of the compensations is that their souls have
become clean and shining containers for God’s light; pure vessels for the
living water, tempered containers for the radiant warmth of God’s love.
“These are the ones just come from
the great Suffering. They washed their garments clean, and made them shining
white in the blood of the Lamb.
That is why they can stand here
before the throne of God
And serve him day and night in his
temple.
…
They shall not hunger ever again,
nor thirst again;
…nor anything burn them,
Because the Lamb… will…
guide them to the springs of the
water of life,
And God will wipe away each
teardrop from their eyes.” Rev. 7:14-17
