Episode 1540: Springs of Living Water

In today’s Spiritual Foundation Episode, I talk about Revelation 7: 9-17. I share how the message of justice isn’t just about the future but about now. I also share how this includes recognizing our own privilege and place.

 

Show Notes and Resources.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Thanks for joining me on episode 1540 of the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast. I'm Leo Marte.
I challenge you to invest in yourself,
invest in others,
develop your influence,
and impact the world by using your time,
your talent and your treasures to live out your calling.
Having the ability to work to transfer more than just money,

(00:24):
but values is key and one way to be inspired to
do that is is to listen to this the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast with my friend Scott Mater.
It's about setting up an us versus them instead of a

(00:46):
We're all in this together and we don't deserve the grace
that God is giving us.
How can we find ways to work together to make the
world better rather than tear it down?
Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship

(01:06):
Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God
wants you to be,
then you must learn to use your time,
your talent and your treasures for your true calling.
In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast,
you will learn to invest in yourself,
invest in others,
and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

(01:36):
In today's spiritual Foundation Episode I Talk About Revelation,
chapter 7,
verses 9 through 17 I share how the message of justice
isn't about the future,
but also about now.
Also share how this includes recognizing our own privilege and place.
Revelation, chapter 7,
verses 9 through 17 says,

(01:58):
after this 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,
cried out in a loud voice saying,
salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb.
And all the angels stood around the throne and around the

(02:20):
elders of the four living creatures,
and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped
God singing Amen.
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power,
and might be to our God forever and ever.
Amen. Then one of the elders addressed me,
saying, who are these robed in white and where have they
come from?

(02:41):
And I said to him,
sir, you are the one who knows.
Then he said to me,
these are they who have come out of the great ordeal.
They have washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are before the throne of God and
worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter
them. They will hunger no more and thirst no more.

(03:03):
The sun will not strike them nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the Throne will be
their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of water and life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
I've been involved over the years in a lot of travel
to different places internationally and different mission trips and things like

(03:27):
that. I've supported other missionaries and other projects in the developing
nations as well as here in the United States with things
that are happening around here.
I've seen things like climate change as a real,
actual thing that is happening in the world and how the

(03:49):
work that we do and the behaviors that we have in
the places that we live and the ways that we live
contribute to that change and how yet it affects parts of
the world that often are much poorer and are not directly
contributing, at least in the same amounts to the same problem.
I've seen how women and men are affected by by war

(04:13):
and disaster and how oftentimes there's a great struggle to survive
after a natural disaster like a cyclone or a hurricane or
a monsoon.
And all of these things I'm reminded of when I read
this passage from Revelation.

(04:33):
How this passage talks about a message of hope and redemption
in the future,
not just of justice,
but in this case even that of being protected from the
environment, from hunger,
from thirst,
from heat.
All of these things that create stress and strain on us

(04:56):
living in the world,
the harsh environment that we're surrounded with.
But I'm also reminded that this passage about never again will
they hunger,
never again will they thirst.
I don't think it's just about what should happen in some
sort of far off future world,
some sort of idealized afterlife,

(05:16):
but instead I think it's also a call to action today
for us that have privilege and place to recognize that we
have privilege and place,
that we have things that we have access to that others
do not,
and that we begin to look for ways to bring justice
and equality and lift people up.

(05:40):
How diversity and community is not a weakness,
but rather is a sign of inclusivity and unity.
That the white robes in this passage are about purity and
victory over adversity.
This seems to be about racial inequality and ecological inequality and

(06:03):
justice that comes after that,
that these disparities where affluent nations contrib to climate change while
impoverished nations suffer from.
It is not fair to look at these and recognize that
we are called to work together,
not to lower what happens to everyone else,

(06:24):
not to raise everyone else up to the same exact thing,
but to find a way that we can live in peace
and harmony with each other and with the world.
That's the kingdom of God that we're being called to.
And so all too often I see what happens today in

(06:44):
the news is instead this lashing out at difference is bad,
diversity is bad,
that inclusivity is bad,
that somehow that's a weak message.
I see a pushback against.
What I see is the message of Christ for peace and

(07:05):
justice and grace.
And instead I see anger and hatred and fear and pain.
And out of those things,
those are not fruits of the Spirit,
those are not things that God is calling for us to
live in.
And it makes me wonder how we can see the world

(07:27):
the way it is.
And instead of being called to action to change it for
the better,
we seem to be called to hold on tightly to the
privilege that we have and fight and make sure that no
one else gets anything because we're the only ones that should
benefit. Instead of aligning ourselves with the promise of restoration and

(07:51):
justice described here,
we seem to fight against it and say that there is
no justice,
there is no restoration.
Instead, it's about tearing down others and pushing people away.
It's about setting up an us versus them instead of a
we're all in this together and we don't deserve the grace

(08:15):
that God is giving us.
How can we find ways to work together to make the
world better rather than tear it down?
Thanks for Listening thanks so much for listening to the Inspired

(08:37):
Stewardship Podcast.
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we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen,
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(08:58):
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(09:18):
Until next time,
invest your time,
your talent,
and your treasures.
Develop your influence and impact the world.