Meditations from Zion

It’s a song, a litany sung by the over-comers of this world, who fight the good fight, who stay the course, who keep the faith. And what is the essence of the song? God is holy. If we could understand the full meaning of holiness, we might also prevail.

Revelation 15:4
Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.

Sacred and pure. Perfect. Incorruptible. Transcendent and immortal.

Only One is all of these things.

On the earth, we are sustained by a single sun and yet there are many suns and stars in the Universe. We know so little and yet claim so much. Humans can be so prideful. And yet, in the big (and I mean really big) picture, we are tiny, even miniscule.

And yet, we are given an opportunity to connect with and be part of Holy.

Even John, who had been given some of the most amazing access to all things holy: friendship with Jesus, witness of the transfiguration, caregiver for Jesus’s human mother, prophecy and miracle, leadership and humility, and finally, visions of a space outside of time. This John, in the presence of Holy, fell down as though dead [Revelation 1:17], so overwhelmed.

Holy is not something we can take lightly. Holy is the essence of God. And when we praise and sing and lift our hands crying out, “holy, holy, holy,” it is not God who needs to hear us, it is we who need to embrace the truth of it.