Casting Crowns

Revelation 4: 1-11 (NLT)

Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God. In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal.

In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”

Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,

“You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power
For you created all things,
and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

I can’t remember her name.

I can’t remember the context.

But as we were in a group of people discussing the above passage in Revelation, she suddenly blurted out, “Oh! That’s where Casting Crowns [the band] gets its name! I thought it was just a random band name.”

The phrase itself is not found in our Bibles but appears as “…cast their crowns before the throne…” in the NKJV, NASB, ESV, etc. though other translations have “place their crowns;” “lay their crowns;” and even “throw their crowns.”

I would expect that in the splendor of heaven, being at last in the presence of God is the reward, and whatever else was part of the journey that gets us there, those acts of service pale in comparison to the time we confessed our sin and asked God to place us under the covering provided by Jesus on the cross.

…The line “casting crowns” however is not original to the band by the same name, but was taken — appropriately enough, if you look back to the text above — from the hymn Holy, Holy, Holy.

Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore Thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;

Some hymnbooks may have,

casting crowns before thy throne around the glassy sea

[Rabbit trail #1 – Note that this verse is omitted entirely in the initial Google results you see. Never trust Google as an information source. It’s a search engine, and a terrible one at that.]

[Rabbit trail #2 – Sometimes the phrase Holy, Holy, Holy is mentioned in discussions of the role that time has in eternity; the idea that we will live without time; to which the phrase, with its repetition and rhythm is used to counter that concept. I would dismiss that argument entirely, because in scripture when something is repeated three times it’s done for emphasis. I would argue that in John’s vision, he perhaps heard a continuous other-worldly singing of “Holy” and expressed that in the manner available to him in his day, and a form that is consistent with all the other word repetitions in scripture.]

We now return to our regular program.

So how did get here today?

I was posting something this morning on Facebook. I’ve included it below, removing the local references…

Last night our town held its annual civic awards ceremony and some well-deserving people were recognized for their contribution to local non-profit organizations.

Each year however, I can’t help but think of the people who serve faithfully through the churches and parachurch organizations which make up what we call our local Christian Network. I wrote about them originally in our April 9th newsletter, not by name of course, because these people serve quietly and in humility. I wrote

Think of this in terms of some of the individual organizations that make a difference in our corner of the world… But you can also think of it in terms of the volunteer community as a whole, because some of the same people who you see in one context are often back at it the very next day, helping out another organization.”

Their work is largely unrecognized by our municipal governments and perhaps even misunderstood. Ruth told me early this morning that during the winter, our Mayor said that the people who were serving the people in the homeless community encampment are “part of the problem.” (She’s thinking of getting a t-shirt that proclaims that!)

There is however an awards ceremony coming up to recognize those people. It will happen in a time and space beyond the present. And knowing what I know about them and about the foretelling of this event, those people will then take their awards and lay them at the feet of Him for whom they willingly served.

Matthew 6:1-4 NIV

[Jesus:] “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”