BY TREVOR WRIGHT

We were in a hotel room 21 floors up, and from here we could see wondrous things. The harbour spread out before us like a waking animal, having a stretch, each bay and inlet not marked by hair or fur, but with little yachts in full sail, or large container ships slinking into the centre of town to further constipate the traffic, as the goods came and went.

Opposite, there was another new-ish building. “How could it be,” I wondered, “that of all those 16 or so floors, only one was in use?” The rest were empty caverns of glass. How could a financial world allow such a thing to be empty and un-used?

 

Here we were in the City of Sails, on the quay side, where the buildings were predominantly proudly owned by banks, insurance companies, and financial advisers, in a place that, I had been told, some residents considered was the only town in New Zealand where God lived! Perhaps they were right? Is this what was meant in John 14:2? “There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you?“

Is the place that Jesus has gone to prepare for us a place of over-the-top waste, a place where His grace is so overpowering that nothing, including the spilling of His innocent blood, is not a comparison for the love He has for us, a place where He is so unbelievably kind and understanding that even the wasteful grandeur of Auckland can in no way prepare us for?

Yes, I think so. I recall dear old Frank England, so many years ago, shocking people by saying, “What, all this and Heaven too?”

I have decided in the affirmative. So great is God’s love for us!