The Ultimate Flash Mob

It was the ultimate flash mob.  Normally a flash mob involves a bunch of very talented musicians and singers. They dress in everyday clothes and converge on somewhere like a shopping centre. Then it begins. One by one these apparently ordinary individuals start playing instruments or begin to sing. It is so unexpected. A crowd gathers. They are enthralled. The ordinary and the extraordinary converge.

This time, as usual a wonderful concert broke into an ordinary context. However, what was different for this flash mob was that the participants did not plan it before hand.It was so apparently random that they did not even know they were to be involved.

The crowd on the street when Jesus rode into Jerusalem just started cheering and clapping and waving branches and they all sang the same song together. That’s what happens when something in heaven works its way down to reaches us in the here and now on earth.

Isaiah 13:13 articulates this clearly. God shakes heaven and the earth shakes in response. It seems as though different things on earth resonate to different degrees with the vibrations of heaven.

Jesus was riding into Jerusalem which was a copy of the real Zion. We know it now as the father’s house, the home he had left some 30 years ago. In one week he would actually return home, but this was close enough to that to stir the Father’s heart. He got excited up there on his throne. Perhaps he stood and pointed out the situation to his archangels and gushed with pride for his beloved son. Twice before he had become so excited that his voice could be heard on earth – At Christ’s baptism and transfiguration. I suppose the Father and the hosts of heaven were cheering him on, and no doubt making a fuss and he rode into town. 

On earth, ordinary folks were stirred to worship. Their souls soared. Their hearts overflowed. Their bodies danced and waved branches and their voices sang. They were resonating to the tempo of heaven. In fact, if they hadn't responded, then, we are told, the rocks themselves would have. The earth must respond to the heartbeat of heaven. Incredibly, the rocks were more heavenly resonant than the Pharisees. What about me? Am I responsive to heaven’s atmosphere?

Christ sure was. I think he was eluding to this very thing when he said that he sees the father working and he works. He heard him speak and he speaks. We often think of this as very deliberate and voluntary. Maybe it was much more like the crowds on the day of the triumphal entry. It seems like an involuntary thing as the crowd were caught up in the moment. Perhaps they wondered what it was all about later in the day.

As we become more like Christ our resonance with heaven increases. We become particularly sensitive to the moods of the Father. He feels angry and so do we. He has compassion and we are also moved. He celebrates and we rejoice as well. Through us, the atmosphere of heaven can quickly and powerfully be felt on earth. His kingdom can come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

A Pharisee, a rock, a random person on the street, or a devoted ally of heaven. We all must respond to what goes on in heaven. As for me, I want to be as responsive as I can possibly be. I guess that only happens by dwelling in the Father’s house – A lot.

And it gets me thinking . . . When we are truly moved to worship, something is probably going on in heaven and we are just part of the fallout. Revival must be the same. Great movements of the Holy Spirit must be a reflection of a heavenly reality. I feel like I want to tune myself to harmonise more with what is above. I want to be more like Christ, an undiluted extension of what is happening above . . .