On Saturday night I was at the Foo Fighters concert in Adelaide. I know it’s probably not the best way to prepare for leading worship the next day, but there are a few reasons why I love the Foo Fighters and go to their concerts when they play in the city where I live.
For example, I really enjoy gathering at a venue with nearly twenty-five thousand other people to hear a live band. I was looking at the crowd before they started playing and it was obvious that everyone person there was different. We all came from different places around Adelaide and probably even further. We have all lived different lives, experienced different joys, and struggles, and have different stories to tell. However, with all our differences, we gathered at the same time in the same place to be part of something together. When the band started to play, we sang the same songs and moved to the same beat. While we were all different, there was a degree of harmony among us for a few hours.
While I was at the concert, I was thinking about this message and wondered what it will be like when the angels gather all of God’s people together when Jesus returns on the last day. Listen to the way Jesus describes it:
Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world – from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven. (Mark 13:26,27 NLT)
I couldn’t help thinking that, in some ways, Jesus and his angels gathering his chosen people when he returns will be sort of like gathering for a concert, but on a much larger scale. Jesus tells us that his angels will gather people from the four corners of the earth, not just all over Adelaide. Can you imagine the diversity, colour and excitement that will be in that crowd? And it won’t just be all of God’s people who are alive today. Jesus includes everyone, ‘from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven’ (v27)! As we confess in the ancient Creeds of the church, Jesus will gather all his people of every age, both the living and those who have already passed on to eternity with him. He will gather all his chosen people together in one place at the end of time, where we will be in perfect harmony with him and each other.
When the angels gather us on the last day, we will find deep and lasting joy as we celebrate in the presence of our God, and we see Jesus’ full glory with our own eyes. It will be sort of like gathering for a concert, but in a deeper and longer-lasting way. The hurts, struggles, pain, and grief of the past will be forgotten as the angels gather as one. The differences which divide us will be overcome and forgotten. This is the same gathering which John describes in Revelation 7:9, a crowd too vast to number, dressed in white and holding the palms of victory as we praise God for his victorious grace and love for us in Jesus.
As I sat in the crowd on Saturday evening, these were some of the similarities I thought about between gathering at a stadium for a concert and when the angels gather God’s people on the last day. However, some significant differences mean that what we have to look forward to will be so much better than a concert. These are my top three reasons why being gathered on the last day will be so much better than for a concert:
Firstly, being gathered as God’s chosen people will be free. I remember paying $50 to see Dire Straits at Football Park in 1986, and I thought that was a lot of money. Today we are looking at tickets starting at almost $200 to see an overseas band. When you add merch, food, fuel, and parking, it’s a lot of money for a night out! When Jesus returns, we won’t have to pay a cover charge or ticket price to get in. Jesus has paid for our entry in full through his life, death, and resurrection for us. We don’t have to spend our lives wondering if we have done enough or whether we have been good enough to get in. Instead, we are given a place freely because of what Jesus has done for us. He has paid our entry fee. All he asks us to do is to trust him by getting ready, turning up at the gates, and entering in faith.
Secondly, this gathering will be forever. I enjoy hearing my favourite songs played live, but they finish too quickly. I look forward to the concert for so long, but all too soon it’s finished and becomes just a memory with another tour t-shirt in my collection. I really wish those moments would last. That’s where Jesus’ gathering will be different. It will be eternal, so the joy and harmony that we will experience will never end. As a child I thought that eternity would probably get boring after a while, but then I wondered what eternity would be like to last for ever and never get boring. It’s kind of like our favourite song being played for ever and never getting boring because it is so good.
Thirdly, being gathered by Jesus’ angels will be better than going to a concert because Jesus knows me. Seeing the Foo Fighters was brilliant, but Dave Grohl doesn’t know me, let alone care about me or help me when I need it. Jesus does. He knows me and what’s happening in my life better than anyone. He cares about me, loves me, and helps me when I need it. These are his promises to all of us in his death and resurrection for us. When the angels gather us, it won’t just be to entertain us or distract us for a short time before we return to the harsh realities of life when the lights come up and the roadies start packing up the stage. Because Jesus knows us and loves us, his will be a gathering that will satisfy the deepest parts of our souls, give us what our hearts most desperately need, and fill us with God’s infinite goodness. That is what we will receive and celebrate when Jesus and his angels gather us together with all his chosen people of every time and place: perfect harmony with God and each other through Jesus who knows us and loves us perfectly.
In the weeks and days leading up to Saturday’s concert, I prepared and got ready. I got my ticket, kept the night free, picked the ideal band t-shirt to wear, and travelled to the venue. As we wait for Jesus and his angels to gather us with all his chosen people of every time and place, Jesus urges us to get ready and prepare as well. We do this by looking forward to his return, trusting in what he has done for us, continuing to gather with is people, and learning to live in harmony with our sisters and brothers in Christ. As Jesus says, we don’t know when he will return to gather us with all his people of every place and time. What’s important is that we are ready for him when he does.
More to think about or discuss:
- Has there been a time when you have experienced harmony or unity in a large gathering of people, such as a concert, sporting event, or something similar? What was it like for you?
- What do you imagine it will be like when you think about Jesus and his angels gathering you with all of God’s chosen people of every time and place? How might it be similar for you to the times you have gathered with others? How might it be different or better?
- How can you prepare to be ready for Jesus’ return? How might gathering with others help? How might looking for a greater harmony with others help?
Pastor Eugene Online 
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