Today the sounds of praise, prayer, and worship will be heard in churches around the world. Here on earth, we are invited to gather like the elders around God’s throne, singing, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and ­honor and power. . . .”

We are also invited to hear the apostle John weeping in the throne room of heaven. John, an apostle and faithful follower of Jesus, saw no shame in letting it be known that he “wept and wept.” He let his tears flow like a river when he learned that no one in all creation was worthy to break the scroll’s seals and open God’s story.

We are reminded that worship includes weeping and lament. Each of us needs to recognize that none of us worthy to open the story of our salvation. We need the one and only Savior—God’s Son, Jesus. He is worthy to break the seals and to open up the story because he is the Lamb of God who takes away our sin and its damaging ­effects on the whole creation.

When Jesus, the Lion and the Lamb of God, steps into our lives, our tears of weeping turn to tears of joy and thanksgiving. Though we weep in the midst of our misery in sin, we are also called to rejoice in all that Jesus has done for us!

Thank you, Lord, for this prolonged and important moment of coming to grips with the depths of our brokenness. Let us weep in longing for your coming, and let us worship in boundless praise for being saved to new life in Jesus! Amen.