Wipe Away Tears

At my CCO Staff Seminar this week, our speaker referenced a passage from Revelation that really stuck out to me.  He was talking about multiculturalism, and actually used a much longer portion of Revelation 7 to talk about why we should be engaging in multi-ethnic relationships and ministries now (the reason:  because Heaven will be one big multi-ethnic party!).  

But this is what John learns about what happens to those who come out of the great tribulation:  

They are before the throne of God

and serve him day and night in his temple;

and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.

Never again will they hunger;

never again will they thirst.

The sun will not beat upon them,

nor any scorching heat.

For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; 

he will lead them to springs of living water.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

(Revelation 7:15-17)

There are lots of different ways to describe the work of a campus minister, or to describe people in ministry in general.  These are some that we use at the CCO:  transforming college students to transform the world.  the CCO partners with churches, colleges, and other organizations to develop men and women who live out their Christian faith in every area of life.  our core values:  all things belong to God; Jesus changes people's lives; we love college students; faithfulness is pursued together; we celebrate life.  

As our speaker was reading through the Revelation passage, he paused when he got to the last line.  "You know," he said, "that would be a pretty good job description for a campus minister.  'What do you do?'  I wipe away tears."  

As I have reflected on his words the past few days, I've decided that I wholeheartedly agree with that statement.  We see so many broken, hurting people in the world every day.  We could choose to become depressed about it, or become cynical about our fellow mankind.  We could embrace the darkness.  We could wear ourselves ragged trying to heal all the broken people.  Or, as John learns in Revelation, we could partner with God and begin wiping away people's tears.  We do not have all the answers, and we cannot fix all the problems.  The world will remain a broken place until Jesus Christ returns to earth.  But little by little, one cheek at a time, we can begin to offer God's peace to the broken hearts all around us, and wipe the tears from their eyes.