The Roar of the Crowd
Greetings fellow worshippers!
Yesterday was Superbowl Sunday. It is the one time per year where I like to watch a whole sports event in its entirety. So, after church yesterday afternoon, I turned on the television, and there was a golf game on. Watching golf is relaxing; a quiet time after a day of church activity. Yesterday’s game was the WM Phoenix Open played at TPC Scottsdale in Phoenix, Arizona. It is a beautiful course, famous for its 16th hole called “the Coliseum”, which is totally contained within an amphitheatre with thousands of cheering and booing fans. I’ve never seen fans boo before at a golf tournament! The hole is surreal… Look it up online! I could not imagine the fear one feels stepping up to the tee in front of all these fans, hoping and praying you hit a nice shot. So, yesterday, the leader hit his shot near the hole, and the fans cheered loudly…but the ball kept rolling right off the green, and the cheers instantly turned to boos. They say the sound of tens of thousands of cheering fans is deafening, because the noise funnels around the amphitheatre right back to the players on the tee.
Half an hour after the golf ended, the Super Bowl started. Ironically it was held 1/2 an hour from the golf game I just finished watching. In another stadium, just down the road a greater event took place with some 65 thousand fans in attendance and millions watching around the world. Another deafening sound of the cheering multitudes - so loud at times that the players could not hear the calls the quarterback was calling.
I am not rich enough to be able to afford tickets and all the expenses to go to one of these incredible events. There is however a ginormous event I am not going to miss, where my ticket was priceless, paid for by my Father with the blood of His own Son. It is found in Revelation 19, called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, where the Bride (that’s us) and the Groom (that’s Jesus) celebrate their union. The chorus of the multitude in attendance will not be cheers but, “Hallelujah!”. John describes it like this, “I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.” (Rev. 19:6)
Can you imagine that day! What will it be like? John says, “like the roar of rushing waters”. Immediately I think of the Niagara river which I have navigated by boat, flowing through the fjords, swirling and twisting, culminating in the majestic falls - The deafening sound as millions of gallons of water descend onto the rocks below. I’m sure you have heard it for yourself! And if you can’t imagine that, then imagine a series of consecutive thunder boomers echoing through the sky, like bombs falling in the desert, one after another! This sound is made by the voices of the redeemed, praising God for their salvation in Christ!
John has seen this before with maybe even more voices.
“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Rev. 5:11-14)
Imagine millions and millions of angels, millions and millions of people gathered in the throne room praising God. John heard this often in his heavenly visions (7:9-12; 11:15-17; 15:3-4).
Is there within every human heart a desire to worship something - To gather with other people around a common purpose, celebrate and cheer that upon which we have set our affection? I believe we have been created to worship God. If we don’t know Him, we will let our worship come out in other venues, like rock concerts and sports arenas. I believe as followers and worshippers of God and His lamb, we should be the loudest, most exuberant, enthusiastic worshippers on the planet. Our “worship” services should resemble that which we read about in the Bible, as we stand in the presence of Almighty God and the glory of His Son. Let’s kick it up a notch – let us shout to the Lord – and lend our voices to the roar of heaven!
“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.” (Psa. 95:1)
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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