The Buckeye Faithful

Revelation 7:9-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%207%3A9-17&version=NIV;NLT

 

When we moved to Columbus in 1985, we had no idea how rabid Buckeye fans could be. However, we quickly learned when virtually every time we were introduced as moving from Lansing, Michigan, the response was invariably the same, “Well at least you’re not a Michigan fan!”

 

The center of these comments came from the rivalry between Ohio State and the University of Michigan. It was perpetuated by their coaches in the 70’s – Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler. However, since the year 2000, U of M has won only three times. This was to be the year when the tide turned, or so they thought.

 

Last Saturday, Ohio Stadium was packed with 106,588 mostly Buckeye fans. It was a sea of red screaming for their team. A friend of mine, who has season tickets, said he had never heard the crowd as loud when during the game Ohio State blocked a punt and ran the ball in for a touchdown.

 

Similar to “The Game” last Saturday, here is a different kind of victorious scene.

 

⁹ After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”            NLT

 

John draws us a picture of believers who surround the throne of God worshipping Him. Because no matter what happens in life; no matter how bad our circumstances are; no matter how painful life is; when all is said and done; God is victorious. And His victory ultimately is ours.

 

The people who John was writing to were suffering great persecution. John himself had been exiled to an island penal colony because of his faith. Through this passage, he was giving them a vision of hope; of purpose; of salvation. He was giving them a reason to not compromise, but to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

 

That reason still exists today for you and for me. We may not experience victory every minute of every day, but it is there waiting for us. That’s a promise made by the Living God who is faithful yesterday, today and forever.

 

Therefore, like the Buckeye faithful, let us “shout with a great roar”, only not for the Scarlett and Gray, but for our victorious Lord.

 

 

 

 

Pale Blue Dot

Romans 10:5-17

 

 

“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”

From the book Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan

 

Carl Sagan seems to believe that all there is to life is what is here; that there is no after life; no purpose to our lives beyond right now. But the truth of the matter is that all of us are searching for meaning in our lives.

 

We try to find it through relationships; as a spouse or as a parent. We try to find it through work; reaching that next level.

 

 

 

 

We try to find it through possessions; he who has the most toys wins. We try to find it through science and reason; not unlike Carl Sagan. We try to find it through being religious; going to church and being nice.

 

 

 

The Israelites searched for meaning through the Law and their customs. Paul addressed this in today’s passage: “For they don’t understand that Christ has died to make them right with God. Instead they are trying to make themselves good enough to gain God’s favor by keeping the Jewish laws and customs, but that is not God’s way of salvation.”

 

Instead, Paul pointed to a simpler way: ^“For salvation that comes from trusting Christ—which is what we preach—is already within easy reach of each of us; in fact, it is as near as our own hearts and mouths. For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

 

It is true that we live on a pale blue dot that seems pretty insignificant; “a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam”.

 

 

 

 

But the living God stepped into His creation in the person of His one and only son so that you and I might know Him and find purpose, not only in this life, but in our life to come. Amen.