The Book of Revelation records this beautiful tidbit of the vision St. John was granted of God's forever kingdom (the next period in cosmic history after this one):
"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and the Lamb (aka Jesus)...They shall hunger no more neither thirst anymore... for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Revelation 7:9, 16, 17
Part of the Christian life is to live as an anticipatory foretaste of the coming Kingdom of God in full. We do so by living according to the beliefs and behaviors of Jesus, which are the character and future of God put on full display in a human life. This calling isn't just for individual followers of Jesus, but for the church as well.
Last weekend, I experienced a foretaste of the Kingdom as I witnessed our denomination becoming a bit more like God's kingdom 'from ALL tribes and peoples.'
As Moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian denomination this year (EPC), I was honored to preach Sunday at the reception of the first Puerto Rican church to join our family of churches. My sermon was on Luke 15, the mission statement of Jesus, and my story about once visiting a chicken-less Kentucky Fried Chicken. Iglesia Presbiteriana WestMinster EPC kept expanding my expectations all weekend.
They are very high liturgical Presbyterian (I've never been asked to preach in my robe In a Spanish speaking church, nor for a 20 minute sermon)
and they are flippin' fun (after the service there was a big luncheon with live music - at the end a salsa band made up of elders and pastors played - the senior pastor Juan Rivera is lead guitar on right - and we all got up and danced to La Bamba and more).
Reportedly Sunday's service was the largest Spanish speaking Presbyterian church gathering in the Americas. Angie and I travel a bit, and found Puerto Ricans in general to be the friendliest people we've yet encountered. This church is bursting with leadership - I met a senator, a judge, a state representative. head of a hospital, head of a school, doctors, the mayor, and more.
The caliber of leaders IN the church is attributable to the caliber of leaders OF the church. Iglesia Presbiteriana Westminster EPC has been growing in reach and depth for a few decades. First under the leadership of (now Emeritus) Pastor Juan Pérez (here he his welcoming me and Angie on Sunday).
Today they thrive with Senior Pastor Juan Rivera and capable, joyful elders and deacons (they have male and female elders, here they are taking vows Sunday). I just LIKE these pastors and hope we are friends for a long time.
They were led to leave their former denomination earlier this year over matters of biblical faithfulness (a denomination in which one of their ordained ministers wrote a blog post 'I Don't Believe in God' and is still a pastor of one of their churches, hmmm). Their former denomination did not take well to their pending decision to leave, and seized the church's 12 year old sanctuary, mission-outreach buildings, and bank account (which is not legally possible in our denomination).
After their former denomination announced the seizure of their property should the congregation vote to leave, they voted to leave anyway, and sang a hymn while walking to a nearby parking lot to continue their vibrant worship. Westminster now meets at The American School in the town of Bayamon. About ten people meet in their former building weekly for worship.
There were a few events leading up to Sunday. They held a seminar on the Infallibility of Scripture Saturday morning, to emphasize that their new affiliation is mostly about being in a family of churches that joyfully submits to the authority of the Bible as God's infallible Word to humanity. I adapted two Lake Forest sermons for that lecture. Saturday evening, myself and an EPC pastor and an EPC elder from Florida were interviewed on Christian radio about the EPC (sounds scintillating, I know; that's EPC Pastor Don Mason on left).
We highlighted the four identity words of the EPC: EVANGELICAL (=gospel-focused around Jesus), REFORMED (=in theology), PRESBYTERIAN (=elder led in church government), and MISSIONAL (=outward not inward-focused, loving the world in the name of Jesus).
But what made me most happy is the original theme of today's blog post. At Lake Forest, we seek to increasingly anticipate God's Kingdom by being in partnership with churches of different races and nationalities, even while the LORD has brought a bit more diversity to our own congregation. Our greatest move in this direction is to make our next church plant one that serves the growing Latino immigrant population in north Charlotte (I can't wait for this sister church to teach us to read the Bible through their eyes).
A few lines of the introduction to my sermon this Sunday went something like this: "In two short days I have become one of your church's biggest fans... The EPC is delighted that our denomination looks more like the future Kingdom of God today, because a Puerto Rican church is now in our family. Jesus said 'In my Father's mansion in heaven there are many rooms,' and I heard it on good authority that the most fun room will be the Puerto Rican one. So I'm just hoping the rest of the EPC will now be invited to your room for the eternal fiestas."
