Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“They sing a new song:
‘You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;
you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God,
and they will reign on earth.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, August 13, 2025
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
“You ransomed saints from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Sounds a bit universalist to me. Which is a good thing. An important thing. Just as the blood of the Passover lambs saved the Israelite people from the devastation of the plagues on Egypt, so the blood of this lamb, Jesus, saves the faithful from the devastation that God is about to unleash upon the earth.
Of course, this idea has been twisted into our modern “us vs. them” mindset, especially among many evangelical Christian communities. Some Christians are obsessively concerned with other people’s salvation status—if you haven’t accepted Jesus as your personal lord and savior according to their definition and practices, then you’re not really a Christian and you are destined for eternal damnation. To them, converting you to their mindset is probably the greatest act of love they can do for you, so you won’t have to suffer eternally. But this is not the way of Jesus. In Jesus there is no Jew nor Greek, no slave nor free, no male nor female, and I would say no Christian or non-Christian. We don’t get to make distinctions between ourselves and our “in” group and anyone else who disagrees with us. We are all one. Full stop.
Where do I see “saints from every nation” in my day to day life? How do I show love for them?
