Sermon Devotional: How God Shapes His People
Sermon Title: How God Shapes His People
Scripture: Revelation 6:9-11; 7:9-17 (ESV)
Who are those who John sees in white robes, nearest the throne in Revelation 7, the ones nearest the throne, with the angels and the four living creatures? John tells us these are the one’s “who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (7:14). Surely we all want to be robed in these white robes, to stand out even in the glorious, brilliance of the gathered throngs from every tribe and nation and tongue around the Father’s eternal throne. But do we also desire the purification that will obtain for us these garments? For these have not obtained these robes with power or money or influence, with their wit or charm or intelligence. No, they have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (7:14). Paul writes of this washing in Philippians 3:10-11, “My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
But what does this look like, this kind of union, to have one’s robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb? Not as an idea, but in practice.
The church father, Ignatius, as he was being taken to Rome to be martyred, wrote to the church there and begged them not to rescue him from the beasts. “I am God’s wheat,” he said, “and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found pure bread of Christ” (Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Romans 4.1). Here, in this single terrible and beautiful image, we see what it means to be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Ignatius does not seek suffering for its own sake, as though pain itself were holy. Rather, he desires to be so joined to Christ that even his death might become an offering, that even the tearing of his body might be taken up into the life of the one whose body was broken for the life of the world. He sees himself as wheat because he sees Christ as bread. He sees the lions as teeth because he sees the cross as the mill by which the old man is ground down and made new. And so, for Ignatius, martyrdom is not simply an end; it is a participation. It is the final surrender of the self into the hands of the Lamb, that by sharing in his sufferings and becoming like him in his death, he might somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead.
When we take the body and blood in the eucharistic feast, we are joined spiritually to Christ. May our whole lives be transformed by this same grace so that we may one day be those John sees, wearing the robes white and washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Consider –
╬ John sees the saints robed in white before the throne, those who have come through the great tribulation. When you imagine the life of faith, do you imagine only comfort and blessing, or do you also imagine being conformed to Christ in his suffering?
╬ Paul says that his aim is to know Christ, to experience the power of his resurrection, and to share in his sufferings. Where might Christ be inviting you not merely to think about him, but to be joined to him in patience, forgiveness, endurance, repentance, or costly love?
╬ Ignatius called himself “God’s wheat,” ground by the teeth of beasts that he might become “pure bread of Christ.” What in you still needs to be ground down by grace — not destroyed, but transformed — so that your life might become an offering to God?
╬ Our Lord and our God, we are frightened people who know suffering that is only a glimpse of what you endured. Thank you for comforting us and defending us in the suffering that we do experience here and now. And Lord, you triumphed so that we could follow in your steps. Show us the way to full union with our Christ and Savior. Give us courage and faith to keep our eyes focused on you and not on the distractions around us and within us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Scripture: Revelation 6:9-11; 7:9-17 (ESV)
“they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” Revelation 7:14
Who are those who John sees in white robes, nearest the throne in Revelation 7, the ones nearest the throne, with the angels and the four living creatures? John tells us these are the one’s “who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (7:14). Surely we all want to be robed in these white robes, to stand out even in the glorious, brilliance of the gathered throngs from every tribe and nation and tongue around the Father’s eternal throne. But do we also desire the purification that will obtain for us these garments? For these have not obtained these robes with power or money or influence, with their wit or charm or intelligence. No, they have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (7:14). Paul writes of this washing in Philippians 3:10-11, “My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
But what does this look like, this kind of union, to have one’s robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb? Not as an idea, but in practice.
The church father, Ignatius, as he was being taken to Rome to be martyred, wrote to the church there and begged them not to rescue him from the beasts. “I am God’s wheat,” he said, “and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found pure bread of Christ” (Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Romans 4.1). Here, in this single terrible and beautiful image, we see what it means to be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Ignatius does not seek suffering for its own sake, as though pain itself were holy. Rather, he desires to be so joined to Christ that even his death might become an offering, that even the tearing of his body might be taken up into the life of the one whose body was broken for the life of the world. He sees himself as wheat because he sees Christ as bread. He sees the lions as teeth because he sees the cross as the mill by which the old man is ground down and made new. And so, for Ignatius, martyrdom is not simply an end; it is a participation. It is the final surrender of the self into the hands of the Lamb, that by sharing in his sufferings and becoming like him in his death, he might somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead.
When we take the body and blood in the eucharistic feast, we are joined spiritually to Christ. May our whole lives be transformed by this same grace so that we may one day be those John sees, wearing the robes white and washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Consider –
╬ John sees the saints robed in white before the throne, those who have come through the great tribulation. When you imagine the life of faith, do you imagine only comfort and blessing, or do you also imagine being conformed to Christ in his suffering?
╬ Paul says that his aim is to know Christ, to experience the power of his resurrection, and to share in his sufferings. Where might Christ be inviting you not merely to think about him, but to be joined to him in patience, forgiveness, endurance, repentance, or costly love?
╬ Ignatius called himself “God’s wheat,” ground by the teeth of beasts that he might become “pure bread of Christ.” What in you still needs to be ground down by grace — not destroyed, but transformed — so that your life might become an offering to God?
╬ Our Lord and our God, we are frightened people who know suffering that is only a glimpse of what you endured. Thank you for comforting us and defending us in the suffering that we do experience here and now. And Lord, you triumphed so that we could follow in your steps. Show us the way to full union with our Christ and Savior. Give us courage and faith to keep our eyes focused on you and not on the distractions around us and within us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.