"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly" (Heb. 12:22–23a).
We have seen in our study of the church that the early pastors and theologians described the body of believers as “catholic.” This word does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church, but means “universal.” The church is not bound by national borders, for it comprises people of every nation, tongue, culture, and socio-economic status. The church of Christ is not exclusive, as man-made institutions inevitably are. This universality was the glorious message of Christ concerning the ingrafting of the Gentiles. God’s covenant people would branch out beyond the nation of the Jews. They would include Romans, Egyptians, and Samaritans. This was quite a shock to the Jewish people who believed that they alone were the children of God. But even their own prophets spoke of the day when sheep from other sheepfolds would be brought into the kingdom of God. They spoke of a day when people from every nation would become a part of Christ’s glorious kingdom of grace.
Though we might be little like believers from the other side of the world, we share a common faith in Jesus Christ. This has the power to pull us together with even stronger ties than blood and mutual experiences. Many of us can testify that we feel more comfortable with strangers who share a common faith than we do with our own family members who are not Christians. Differences mean little when two people love the Lord, but all the similarities in the world don’t amount to much when there is no oneness in Christ.
In our studies of Exodus, we have learned how God dwelt among a particular people, of how He came to speak with His people from the thunderings of Mount Sinai, of how only the high priest could step behind the veil and commune with God while everyone else remained outside. Now, under the new covenant, we are invited into heaven itself where Christ has gone as our High Priest once and for all. He has ripped apart the veil of separation, and we have been given access to heaven itself. And this access is given not only to the Jewish people, but to the Gentiles. When we go to worship, we join with the universal church in the sacred duty of giving God glory. When we worship, we join believers in both heaven and earth, and our offerings of praise rise together before the throne of God.
When you go to worship this week, consider that you are joining believers on earth and in heaven, in your own country and in other countries throughout the world. What does that unity mean to you? What does it say to the world? What does your church’s treatment of other races and classes of people say to the world?