The Final Score..
Rev 21:1-6a
Today, I want to think about the reading from Revelation. This isn't something we get to do that often when we follow the Revised Common Lectionary. And no, we are not going to name the day that the world will end! Nor are we going to reflect on the current troubles in the Middle East. Let's look at the last line of our reading…I am the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End.
What are we to make of this? We read all sorts of things in the book of Revelation. Of dragon's and lamb's, of mighty warriors, and of common folk. Of Satan and of Saints.
We read of epic battles and of the end of the world. We read of the beauty of heaven, those pearly gates, and the radiance of God as that of a rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. We read of lakes of fire and sulfur, of plagues, and locusts.
We read of life, and of death.
Today, we read of the beginning and the end. Our God is the beginning and the end. This is good news. From the very beginning, from before everything, God was there. And breathed life. And he is there in the end, in control at the end, in fact he is the end.
It's hard to understand though, isn't it. That's the problem with Revelation, and with Genesis for that mater, isn't it. We are talking about things that we can barely conceive. And this means that we can't try to map out the when and where and what is going to happen, from reading Revelation very, VERY carefully.
As CS Lewis suggested to those who advocated an extreamely literal approach to Scripture, we "...might as well think that when Christ told us to be like doves, He meant that we were to lay eggs."
But that doesn't mean that we are not to be like doves. We are called to try to understand what Christ was saying we should be like, and then working and praying to be like a dove in the way that Jesus was talking about.
So we can learn many things from John's Revelation as we observe All Saints day. We see that our God, is way bigger than any thing that we can imagine, and that in the beginning, in the end, and at all times in between, God is in control. God reaches out to each of us, and allows each of us the opportunity to be with him forever.
Sometimes we have trouble seeing the big picture though don't we. We get bogged down in the nitty gritty, the day to day, and we lose sight of the fact that our God is the victor. That the ultimate fate for all of God's people, is to be with him forever. That he will wipe away every tear, that mourning will be no more. That there will be no more pain.
In this life, pain can sometimes be our friend. It's dangerous to not have any feeling - if we don't feel pain, we will put ourselves in all sorts of dangerous places and situations. But in the coming Kingdom, we will be alive in a new way. Imagine, in a way that we don't need to feel pain to stop ourselves from burning our hands, and to make us stop before we wear ourselves out. We will be so alive, that all of this will have passed. That pain isn't needed, ever. Think of that, no Pain.
Revelation isn't the only place we hear this promise either is it. We hear it all through the pages of the bible, as God promises to save and bless his people. We hear it in the reading from Isaiah where it says, "The Lord God will wipe away tears from all peoples", and we see it acted out in Jesus raising Lazarus from death. No tears and no death.
We hear more even, than that there will be no pain and death though don't we. We hear that we will be with God. As it says, "The Home of God is among mortals, he will dwell with; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them.". When we come to church, and worship, or when we pray, when we sing his praises, we can sometimes feel close to God. But this is nothing compared to the kingdom of God. We will be in his presence forever. I don't know what that will be like, what it will feel like, or look like, but it will be what we were meant for. It will be right, good, and we will finally truly be at peace.
Think of the time that you felt closest to God. When you were most aware of his presence, the most aware of his leading in your life.
That time is but a shadow of what it will be like…I'm not trying to say that all is lost here and now, no of course not. Jesus sent his Spirit so that we could be empowered to do his work in the world. And the Spirit came, so that we could be comforted, so that we could know at times a little of heaven right here on earth. The Spirit is often called the Comforter. But The Kingdom will be better. We will know fully then. Life will be more real, more alive than anything we have ever experienced.
Let us look back to all the saints, and forward to the time when we will be with God forever. And let us go out today, and live in the power of the Spirit, looking forward to, and living in the promise today, of the time when the Kingdom comes, when death will be no more, when there will be no pain, no tears, and when we can be with God forever.
Amen
©2003 Steve E. Timpson
(613) 272-2360
P.O. Box 69
2764 Highway 15, Portland, Ontario
stimpson@ontario.anglican.ca