Psalm22│Jeremiah 24│Hebrews 13.1-16│John 12.20-36a
Psaumes 22|Jérémie 24|Hébreux 13.1-16|Jean 12.20-36a
The
perfect city
What
should a perfect city look like?
Perhaps
our first thought is of the architecture, of grand boulevards, elegant
buildings. This may be the image evoked earlier in Hebrews 12 where the city of
God is described as “the heavenly Jerusalem”. Somewhere grand where everyone is
splendidly dressed and celebrating.
But in the last chapter we are cautioned against identifying the kingdom of
heaven too closely with any city – or community – we know here and now.
'The Trinity Adored by All Saints', Spanish painter, c. 1400
From The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Fletcher Fund, 1939, www.metmuseum.org
“We
are looking for the city that is to come”
What
will that city look like? Perhaps it will have the grand architecture and the
celebration – but surely it will also be the place filled with “brotherly”
love, where there is no stranger and where we have remembered the prisoner and
the oppressed.
How
can we be citizens of the city that is to come?
Philip
Milton
Every
time I read or hear them, I’m thrilled by these words, and I’m not surprised
that the awesome sight of the Lord on His throne, high and exalted, affected
Isaiah so deeply. But in all honesty, I can’t create any mental picture.
I believe it happened, but it is far beyond my capacity to grasp or imagine
what this experience of God in His glory was like. What I can relate to
however, is the angel’s words: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the
whole earth is full of His glory.”
Taking
part in the annual Natagora garden bird count, I marvel at the iridescent
purple and emerald flashes when the magpies catch the sun, at how well
camouflaged bright bluetits can be in a leafless tangle of branches, and
delight in the antics and colours of the variety of birds visiting the garden.
All unique, all created, all loved and watched over by our great and gracious
God, who knows and cares when any sparrow falls. Here I see God’s glory,
displayed throughout creation, from the majesty of sunrise and sunset
stretching across the heavens, to the intricate pattern of a spider’s web or
the way a snail moves. Truly the earth is full of His glory.
What
speaks to you of God’s glory, and where have you seen it today?
Zélie
Peppiette
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