Isaiah says that in the latter days the Lord, on a
day of His choosing, shall manifest His glory and
call all people to Himself. The passage tells us that this will be a migration of people that is greater than any one race, color, creed, ethnicity, tradition, or nation. This is what the presence of God does. It destroys division and reconciles all people to His vision of them. This past Sunday our family left the church at the usual time, around 1:00pm, and decided to head out to lunch rather than do our usual leftovers at home. As we were getting off the ramp onto Prospect Avenue to go to Chipotle (one of our favorite places), I said to Tasha at the last minute: Wait, what about chicken from Popeyes? But, you dont even like chicken, Tasha said. But, it sounds good, I replied. So we drove over to Popeyes. As I entered and ordered, I noticed a nicely dressed older African-American couple waiting in line. The husband and I looked at each other, smiled, and shared a fun exchange about needing a side order of chicken after filling up on Jesus at church. They asked where I went to church, and I told them that I pastored at CEFCM, and he shared that he is an associate lay pastor at at a predominately African-American Church in Champaign. We shared some small talk about a kids program they were attending that afternoon before I looked at him and said very plainly, Isnt it silly, that you are worshipping Jesus over here, and we are worshipping Jesus over there, and we look nothing like the gospel, and everything like the picture the media paints of us? Then I shared the passage we talked about at CEFCM that morning out of Isaiah 2: 2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3and many peoples shall come, and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. Isaiah 2:2-3
a great multitude that no one could number, from
every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7:9) I believe that as the big C church we need to be a strong voice over anything that creates division both in the church and out into culture. Thomas Brook, in his book Precious Remedies Against Satans Devices, says: Be the first to seek peace and reconciliation. You are a Christian today only because God was the first to seek peace with you. You are now called and equipped to be the first to seek after peace and to attempt to pursue and maintain unity. As you do this you have the high honor of acting as an imitator ofGod. As they called my order number my new friend and I shared contact information, and as he shook my hand he looked me in the eye and said, I dont think we met here on accident. I smiled and said to him, I agree, I dont even like chicken that much, and should be eating a burrito right now. God is good and is calling us towards truth and unity for His glory ~ Lets go.