Torch, Summer 2000

10 Torch for thou wast slain, and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation...’” Worthy is the Lamb! The Lamb is worthy because of His sacrifice, as verse 9 says, “for thou wast slain.” There is no sacrifice that has been made like the one made by the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason He’s worthy of my attention, the reason He’s worthy of my service, is that He, being the Son of God, took upon Himself the form of man. He came and lived some 33 years, He died on the cross, He was buried, He rose again, and my sins have been forgiven. Nobody else can do that for me. People say, “Why are you talking about Jesus so much?” I tell them, “Nobody loves me like Jesus. Ain’t nothing you can do for me that Jesus hasn’t done. You couldn’t even begin to compare.” Read the text again. It says, “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God.” Do you know what redemption means? It means that we’ve been bought. I ask some ball players, “How much do you make? They pay out a million for you? You got a $2 million, $10 million dollar contract? What is it? A hundred million? What is it?” That’s chump change! I tell them, “I’ve been redeemed with things not like corruptible silver and gold, I’ve been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb. If you have $50 billion dollars you couldn’t buy my salvation. And you know what? I won’t get traded either!” That’s why I say, “Worthy is the Lamb!” He is worthy because He died for me and therefore there is no good thing I can withhold from Him. He’s worthy because He’s redeemed me. He paid a precious price for my salvation. I speak a lot on racial reconciliation. I’ve even written a book on prejudice and the people of God. May I be direct? As Christians, we are too segregated. Why can’t we worship together? People say we can’t worship together because our services are longer than your services. We can’t worship together because you make more noise than we make. In fact, I once had a white brother come in and tell me, “Brother Ware, I love black people. They worship! You guys can say ‘Amen,’ and ‘Hallelujah,’ and ‘Praise the Lord.’ You really get into it. We white folk,” he said, “we just sit still like a bump on a log.” “You know what,” he continued, “I went with some of those same folks to a basketball game. They would scream and yell like idiots. How come we can’t get excited about Jesus?” I believe there is something wrong with that illustration. One way that the illustration is wrong concerns the game. If I were a betting man, I’d bet that 80 percent of the people attending a basketball game don’t understand the game. Sure, they understand it’s a good thing for the offense when the ball goes through the hoop. But, if we brought them out of the stands and put them on the floor and said, “You’re in position 1, 2, 3, or 4. We’re going to run a back door play,” their reaction would be, “I don’t know all that stuff, I’m just a fan.” Even worse, of the 20 percent in the stands who understand the game, most still couldn’t play because they’re out of shape. You don’t have to understand the game or be in shape to be a fan. Just scream a little, maybe even sweat a little. You don’t need to be in shape. That’s the problem with the church. We see ourselves as spectators when God wants us to be players. And yes, if you’re playing the game you can express your joy like ballplayers do to celebrate, but you’d better come straight on with the game. Many in the family of God don’t know how to play the game. We don’t understand who God is, what He’s done for us, or what He expects from us. Worse, even if we catch a glimpse of our mission, we are so far out of shape that we contribute little to the outcome. Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples.” Was He referring to the cross you put around your neck? By the fish you put on your car? By the tag you put on your shirt? Of course not! “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples,” he said, “by your love one for another.” I just want to love all of God’s people and be used in His service. We have been redeemed. Listen, I worship with all kinds of people. It doesn’t really matter. Sometimes people ask me, “Brother Ware, you’re the only black person in our service this morning. How do you feel?” “I feel safe,” I tell them. “How do you feel?” I’m part of the family. I may be the black sheep, but I’m part of the family. This is the family of God. And I like black people, I like red people, I like yellow people. If they are the people of God, if they’re under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, if the Word of God has guarded their life, they’re my kind of people. Jesus made it so at the cross of Calvary. Revelation 5:10-14 continues, “And hast made us unto our God (continued on page 13)