Wednesday, June 24, 2026

“Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.” (Revelation 21: 1 -2, New Living Translation)

           I am not much of a soccer fan usually. I find it rather boring most of the time which is saying something coming from a baseball fan like myself.  But when the World Cup rolls around every four years, I become quite engrossed by the games. It is fascinating to witness a gathering of the world’s nations.

There are 48 nations this year. Games are being played in Canada, USA and Mexico. There are nations which I am unfamiliar with – Cabo Verde, an island nation off the coast of Africa or Curacao, an island in the Caribbean or DR Congo in Africa. Nations have to qualify to get into the tournament. There are many nations which are left out. But still, it is quite the gathering of nations from throughout the world. Political differences and hostilities are largely put aside and the game itself is the thing that matters the most. In a world full of political divisions, conflicts and wars, it is a respite and a small reminder of what the world could look like if only our nations’ powers and principalities believed more in peace and reconciliation.

I am reminded of the story in Genesis about the Tower of Babel. “At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words.” (Genesis 11:1) This is the theological story about how the world broke apart into different languages and diverse nations when people began to become arrogant and overreached their human limitations. They chose to built a tower to reach the heavens. Their  desire was to build a defence against God at a loss of their humanity and affinity, a loss of innocence and a striving for exclusive power instead, far beyond their reach.” So, "the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.” (11:8) Nationhood was born. The world hasn’t been the same since.

Psalm 2 asks a very simple question: “Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans?” (v.1) Perhaps, the Epistle of James answers, in part, that question. “Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.” (James 4: 1 ;2, The Message Bible)

Biblically speaking, God seems to always have had a troubled relationship with nationalism and the vain ambitions of rulers and national powers. The Psalms provide a conflicted picture of God’s relationship with the nations of the Middle East at that time, from severe judgment to gracious blessing.  We are given the hope that God rules over all the nations. “God reigns above the nations, sitting on his holy throne.” (Psalm 47:8) We are told that “He watches every movement of the nations; let no rebel rise in defiance.” ((Psalm 66:7) Some of the words have their own spirit of national bravado, asking God to strike down and punish the enemies of the Israelites.

                But there is also a spirit of hope and awakening among the nations of the world. “Let the whole world sing for joy, because you govern the nations with justice and guide the people of the whole world.” (Psalm 67:4) There is still hope that the world can set aside its differences and come together under the gracious and beneficial Love of God. “All the nations you made will come and bow before you, Lord; they will praise your holy name.” (Psalm 86:9) The hope is that the world’s nations will come to acknowledge the one God who created our world and come to accept his principles of Peace, Justice, Compassion, Truth and Love. “The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4)

                For Christians, though, we place our hope for the world in Jesus Christ, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2: 10 11 I read this as expressing the hope that the principles and standards of Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God’s Love and Grace, become the overriding, guiding, leading embodiment of world peace and the ancient, universal principle of “brotherhood” or the mutual humane and humanitarian implementation of respect, love, justice and peace which God has always wanted for his Creation.  Christ exemplifies this. It doesn’t mean that we all have to be exactly alike, go to the same church, synagogue, temple, speak the same language, have the same skin colour, nor matters what gender we are, but it does mean that we become far more than our boundaries, borders, languages and differences which are currently destroying our messy world. “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” (Colossians 3:11)

                Our text from Revelation is as far from the Tower of Babel as it can get.  God provides a new harvest of Peace for his world, a flowing river of his Love and medicine to heal the nations. In the meanwhile, this needs to be our prayer, our hope, our resolve, our responsibility until the day the Lord comes again.

                “My mercy and justice are coming soon. My salvation is on the way. My strong arm will bring justice to the nations. All distant lands will look to me and wait in hope for my powerful arm.” (Isaiah 51:5)

 Prayer:

             Our Creator God, we confess that we despair over the state of our world, often forgetting that it is, first, your world. We are dismayed at the deep divisions between nations that spark wars, violence, racism, hatred and acts if inhumanity against one another. So, we throw ourselves into your Loving and hopeful promises. We pray for leaders who will champion peace, justice, compassion, respect and benevolence.  May Christ reveal himself in the brokenness and divisiveness of the world’s nations. Bring healing to the nations, O Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.