‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’
(Revelation 3:22)
What might Jesus be saying, church of Abertawe?
Might it sound something like this?
The words of Him who calls you when you’re deserted and grieved in spirit, who gathers you when you’re cast off and afraid. The One who sees you – really sees you – with eyes of healing compassion and burning affection. The words of the Bridegroom …
Yours is a precious heritage, Abertawe. We have a special history together. On your shores I have raised up prayer warriors and justice pioneers. In your chapels I have birthed songs of hope and sermons of heaven. From your villages I have heard nighttime intercessions and poured out world-shaping favour. I remember it all so well – lodged in your history, part of heaven’s tapestry, bearing fruit for eternity.
You have known great days, Swansea. But you have also known days of decline and difficulty. You have watched on as emblems of previous moves of My Spirit have become forgotten ruins. You have suffered the heartbreak of prodigals wandering away from My family. You have borne the heartache of poverty in communities.
I want you to know, Swansea, that I see you. If I could, I would place My hand under your drooping chin and lift your tired eyes to meet Mine. And in those eyes you would find both compassion and passion: compassion which says that ‘I am proud of those of you who have held on’; passion that says ‘I am not done with you, Swansea’. Not done by a long way.
I am here among you, churches in Swansea, as the Restorer of lost heritages and the Resurrector of dormant dreams. I am here to breathe life into the heart of Abertawe – a breaking and aching heart, yes, but a heart that in many ways has always been called to be the plumb-line of the nation.
May your heart beat again. May it pump again. May it overflow with song again. A singing Swansea energises a sorrowful Cymru – it always has. I have entrusted to you a major share in the spiritual life of the nation.
So it is time to lift up your heads, Abertawe. Take your place. Find your song. Your restoration is on the horizon.
Lift up your heads because you are beloved. I have not forgotten you in your distress. I am here to meet you with love that runs stronger than your deepest wounds and with love that speaks truer than your agonised disappointments. Dreams can live again. My cross still stands over Swansea.
Lift up your heads because a new generation is emerging. I have always had a special place for the young of Swansea. And I am calling them to rise again. With them I call also for the rising of spiritual mothers and spiritual fathers. So lay aside your differences. I want you all to be part of what I am doing in your day. O that the strong among you would lend your strength to the weak. O that the weak among you would lean upon the strong. Do not be selfish with what you have to give. Do not be ashamed of what you have to receive.
And lift up your heads because you have beauty to bring to the nation. The way you preach the gospel, the way you love your poor, the way you sing and soar with vision – Cymru is so much richer for a united Swansea. So, Abertawe, ‘remember what you received and heard; keep it and repent’ (Revelation 3:3). And as you do, My promise is sure, ‘you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more’ (Isaiah 54:4).