Desiring the Kingdom (): Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Cultural Liturgies Book 1)

by James K. A. Smith

work.”[13] Our gathering is an act of eschatological hope that amounts to a kind of defiance: while the faces and colors of our gathered congregation might constantly remind us that the kingdom remains to come, the Spirit also invites us to overcome, reminding us that, despite the failures internal to our gatherings, at the same time the worldwide chorus looks miraculously like this kingdom choir—prompting us to become a people that looks more and more like the “great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,” who together sing one song: “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:9–10).