When I was in grade 7 I was chosen with one other student to read a passage from the Bible in front of the school for an assembly we were having. Why I was chosen and what the assembly was about I can't for the life of me remember but I have never forgotten the verse that was chosen for me. It was Revelation 7:9-10 and it reads, "After this I looked, and behold, 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, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
There are a lot of fun things about travelling. It's fun to meet new people, it's fun to eat new things (sometimes), it's fun to see your passport fill up, it's fun to, afterwards, have conversations that start with, "when we were in Mongolia," it's fun to see new horizons, new houses, new ways of living, new trees, new animals, hear new stories, and play new games. All of those things are fun and frustrating in their own right but if you want to know the truth, all of those things are second to what really fuels my wanderlust; worshipping with other cultures. Some of the most amazing worship experiences I've ever had have been in a country not my own, in a language I don't understand.
For those of you that have never worshipped in other culture or in another language there's no real way of describing it until you experience it. Odds are you don't speak the language, can't understand the words, don't know the dance moves, and feel pretty much 100% out of place and conspicuous. But then you just feel the Holy Spirit there and suddenly it doesn't matter. You can sing in your heart language and they can sing in theirs and it doesn't matter that you don't understand each other because God understands both. You can join in the dancing and look like an uncoordinated white person because nobody there is looking at you they're focussed on God. You can sit quietly at the back pouring your heart out to God or just close your eyes and imagine the throne room of God as music and words swirl around you. There's such a sense of unity because you may be separated by language, culture, race, preference, whatever, all these barriers we erect between us and Jesus smashes every single one of them. There's no black, white, African, Canadian, male, female, there are only lovers of God and that makes us family.
But then the worship stops. The music stops playing, the barriers are there again. You can't communicate, you misunderstand. It's like you got a glimpse of perfection and now are suddenly hugely aware of the brokenness of the world around you. But in heaven it will be forever. The music won't stop, the barriers won't exist, the brokenness will be destroyed forever! And every nation will be there worshipping in their own way. The Fijians will be there dancing in their sarongs, the Zulu will be there singing so passionately you could cry just listening to it, the Mozambicans will be there drumming for all they're worth. And the languages! The Cambodians will be there calling Jesus "Brey-Yesus" and the Muslim background believers will be there calling Him "Isa al Masih." The Native Americans will be there throat singing and chanting and a thousand other cultures I have had no contact with will be there worshipping around the throne. And I can't wait.
There are a lot of fun things about travelling. It's fun to meet new people, it's fun to eat new things (sometimes), it's fun to see your passport fill up, it's fun to, afterwards, have conversations that start with, "when we were in Mongolia," it's fun to see new horizons, new houses, new ways of living, new trees, new animals, hear new stories, and play new games. All of those things are fun and frustrating in their own right but if you want to know the truth, all of those things are second to what really fuels my wanderlust; worshipping with other cultures. Some of the most amazing worship experiences I've ever had have been in a country not my own, in a language I don't understand.
For those of you that have never worshipped in other culture or in another language there's no real way of describing it until you experience it. Odds are you don't speak the language, can't understand the words, don't know the dance moves, and feel pretty much 100% out of place and conspicuous. But then you just feel the Holy Spirit there and suddenly it doesn't matter. You can sing in your heart language and they can sing in theirs and it doesn't matter that you don't understand each other because God understands both. You can join in the dancing and look like an uncoordinated white person because nobody there is looking at you they're focussed on God. You can sit quietly at the back pouring your heart out to God or just close your eyes and imagine the throne room of God as music and words swirl around you. There's such a sense of unity because you may be separated by language, culture, race, preference, whatever, all these barriers we erect between us and Jesus smashes every single one of them. There's no black, white, African, Canadian, male, female, there are only lovers of God and that makes us family.
But then the worship stops. The music stops playing, the barriers are there again. You can't communicate, you misunderstand. It's like you got a glimpse of perfection and now are suddenly hugely aware of the brokenness of the world around you. But in heaven it will be forever. The music won't stop, the barriers won't exist, the brokenness will be destroyed forever! And every nation will be there worshipping in their own way. The Fijians will be there dancing in their sarongs, the Zulu will be there singing so passionately you could cry just listening to it, the Mozambicans will be there drumming for all they're worth. And the languages! The Cambodians will be there calling Jesus "Brey-Yesus" and the Muslim background believers will be there calling Him "Isa al Masih." The Native Americans will be there throat singing and chanting and a thousand other cultures I have had no contact with will be there worshipping around the throne. And I can't wait.