Dear First Pres,
As we approach the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it seems appropriate to remind us of the vision that the Apostle John described in Revelation 7:9-10. John writes, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” Despite all the divisions that exist among God’s people today, the heavenly vision is of God’s people, from every ethnic and cultural background, worshiping together in perfect unity. What a beautiful vision! As Psalm 133:1 says, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!”
Of course, we’ll never experience the fullness of this vision until Christ returns to right all that is wrong in our world, but we believe that the heavenly vision defines our earthly vision. Jesus instructed us to pray for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done and His name to be hallowed on earth as it is in heaven. So, our church’s vision – the picture of the future that inspires and forms our actions today – is “in Fresno as it is in heaven.”
One piece of that is to remember that we are one local church amongst many in our city. We’re not in a competition or rivalry for market share, we’re working together for the mission of God in Christ Jesus. As I always remind folks in our Exploring Membership class, being Presbyterian is one way of being the church; it’s a really good way to be the church, but it’s not the only way of being the church. That’s why we’re a church who loves to participate in these 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. We’re a church who values transformational partnership with other ministries. We gladly join with Jesus in praying that the Father would make us one, “so that the world may believe that you [Father] have sent me [Jesus]” (John 17:21).
Another piece, perhaps even more difficult, is for us to work together towards demonstrating that Revelation 7:9 vision in our own congregation. By God’s grace, we live in a city with tremendous and wonderful ethnic and cultural diversity; and yet, there are many unreconciled divides among us. This is the primary mission field that God has given us as First Presbyterian Church of Fresno. How wonderful would it be for us to demonstrate the beauty of God’s Kingdom and reconciliation and unity by more and more becoming a congregation that overcomes those divides in Christ Jesus. By God’s grace we have grown much in this area, and we still have much room to grow. There are still hundreds of thousands of neighbors in our city who don’t know the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
So, as we move into this weekend, remembering and honoring the good work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., let us ask the Lord to refresh in us the heavenly vision of Revelation 7:9. Let us look to the Lord with prayerful expectancy for the fruit of the Spirit that we will need to be agents of His reconciliation in the world. And, by God’s grace, may the Spirit give us wisdom to know how we can love God, love our neighbors, make disciples and pursue shalom (our mission) for that heavenly vision to be more and more in Fresno as it is in heaven.
Blessings,
Jeremy
Posted by
