Revelation 1:12-13, 16, 19-20 (NIVUK)
12 I turned round to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man…
16 In his right hand he held seven stars…
19 ‘Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Forget ‘he holds the whole world in his hands’, Jesus carries stars in his! Through him all things were made from subatomic particles to galaxies. But these stars are specific, they represent angels, and the golden lampstands represent the church. How do you see the church? Often it is seen as out of date, tired, irrelevant, if it is thought about at all. We know too as part of it, that it is far from perfect. Knowing this can affect the way we see it. It is good then to see how God sees it. The lampstands are golden, clearly God sees the church as precious, of great value to him. The stars remind us that God is in a relationship with us, the angels are his messengers (that’s what angel means). What’s more, we are not alone, Jesus stands among us. That the church is represented by lampstands reminds us that we are called to be light in this world, torch-bearers for his light.
Thank you Lord for your love and care for the church. Help us to become more how you see us.
Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash
Leave a Reply