The deeds of the saints

Till we cast our crowns before thee,

Lost in wonder, love and praise. Charles Wesley.

 

Read Revelation 19:6—10

Of the rich pictures in this reading one in particular addresses me. I see a bride clothed. I think she would be the church, so I see myself somehow in this picture. Dressed in these finest clothes. The bride is in fine linen. That is the righteous deeds of the saints. I imagine myself now, in a market, handling cloth after beautiful cloth, all the colours, the textures, the patterns. Rich cloths. Sumptuous. And that is how I am to see what the people of God have done in faithfulness, generation by generation. These acts of faith and love have all come from their life in Christ. It has all added up to an offering of great beauty. Something about its origin in Christ, something about its destiny in God says to me, ‘Don’t stint on the righteous deeds. Don’t hold back. Let your deeds themselves be lavish! Lavish deeds of the Lord himself!’ All that has passed has not been lost. It has beautified his faithful people. God is glorified in what his people have done in faith. And, somehow, they have been glorified too.

 

How I want to worship you, Lord, when I see into heaven. How I want to be part of the beauty you hold out before me. How I want to be faithful now, a reflection of the glory that is to be revealed. I thank you for those who have been faithful before me and who are faithful around me, who by their faith show me a taste, a suspicion of your beauty in their lives. Even as I live day to day, clothe me now with deeds that look away from themselves to you.