Our Devotion for Thursday, March 30, 2023, is taken from: Amazing Grace Devotions for Lent by Michael Hoy.
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
IMAGINE A BIG HOME
God has a big house, big enough to welcome all home. There is not a word here of deserting any of the human family. On the contrary, God brings the human family together and abides with us. In our sinfulness, we have sought to put up barriers and restrictions on the human family. We have yearned for the status of power and privilege while others are helpless and poor.
We have oppressed people by keeping them in their place we have even slaughtered fellow human beings in violence and war. But this is no more the case in the home of God. Jesus himself lived God’s vision for his people – embracing, welcoming, befriending all as one, dwelling with those who had no place and rejecting any calls for violence with the resolve to die an innocent death for the sake of a people desperate for redemption.
Friends,
God has called us to be blessing to those around us, to assist without hope of reward or reciprocation, and to offer compassion without need of accolades. The reading from Revelation reminds us that God has a space for each of us. Christ calls us to serve others and not be served, so that the light of Christ might brighten the darkness all around us.
-Pastor Anthony
Prayer
Lord, thank you for making your home with us, and for inviting us to your home above, where all are welcome. Amen.