In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructs us to pray,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.”
What does life look like in heaven?
John gives us a glimpse of what heaven looks like in Revelation 7:9;
“I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
God’s desire is for the church to be a foretaste of heaven. We are called by God to witness to the world the heavenly life.
One aspect of the heavenly life is that all national, tribal, racial, and language barriers are transcended by the presence of Christ.
This is the witness the church is called to give to the world and it has always been difficult.
One of the first internal struggles the church faced is described in Acts 6:1-7 and is directly related to the challenge the church faces as they become increasingly multicultural.
The Hellenist (Greek speakers) complained against the Hebrews (Aramaic speakers) saying that their widows were being discriminated against and neglected in the distribution of food.
The Twelve Apostles call the whole community together and direct them to name seven men full of the Holy Spirit and place them in charge of this ministry.
What is interesting is that all seven of the men that were chosen have Greek names.
This seems to imply that the majority (Hebrews) placed people from the minority (Hellenist) in positions of authority as a way of ensuring the community is mindful of and is meeting the needs of the minority group.
Guided by the Holy Spirit, the apostles helped the church transcend the challenge facing them.
And in so doing, the reality of heaven was reflected on earth.
