A gathering of the nations
I hope you will permit me one more reflection on the Olympics. After all, I won’t be writing about it again for a while (probably!). One of the delights has been to see sports we didn’t know existed. Surely another has been to welcome nations we’d hardly heard of – and which we would struggle to locate on a map! That for me was one of the highlights of the opening ceremony.
Later, we were fortunate enough to be watching the men’s triathlon in Hyde Park. One report said the crowd numbered 350,000! There was certainly something enriching about seeing fans from countries like Germany, Australia, Spain and New Zealand as well as Great Britain. Their faces were painted in the team’s colours; they were waving their nation’s flag and shouting the name of their athletes. It was tremendous fun.
When will so many people from so many countries next be gathered with a single purpose? This may not be the next such gathering, but I can tell you it will be the greatest: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another” (Matthew 25:31-32, NIV). Not a few nations, but every nation. Not their representatives, but every individual. Not for sport, but for judgment. Is anything bigger than the Olympics? Yes, Someone is.