Revelation 21:10, 22—22:5
And in the spirit [one of the angels] carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
We’ve talked about how the Book of Revelation was a letter written from a particular person named John to seven particular congregations located in what is now coastal Turkey. It was THEIR mail, for THEIR time. Period. No secret woo-woo codes for us. That said, we also acknowledged that reading our 70ish times great grandparent’s mail could be REALLY interesting and maybe even encourage us as we weather our own adversities in our own times.
We’ve talked about how this letter was written in a particular literary form called “Apocalyptic.” “Apocalyptic” isn’t supposed to be scary. It’s just a style of literature. To show, that we looked at The Wizard of Oz which is also a piece of literature written in the Apocalyptic style. Both have a dualistic view of good and evil. Both use symbolic language, mythical characters, and fantastical action to pull back the curtain on the cosmic battle between good and evil (spoiler alert… Good wins!) and BOTH show how the consequences of the cosmic battle between good and evil are a reflected in the struggles of regular people in the real world.
We’ve talked about how Revelation was meant, in part, to help the people in those seven churches hold onto the confession that Jesus is Lord even while the world around them was a full on dumpster fire. That confession also explicitly meant that for them, Caesar was NOT their lord.
In today’s lesson from Revelation we see that this letter is not JUST a letter telling them to hold on tight, but is ALSO a letter meant to show the people how God INTENDS the world to be. God intends, it turns out, a world with open borders and gates… a city without walls… a place that unconditionally welcomes ALL people. A place where all means ALL! It’s a place where there is no darkness. A place where the One True God is on the throne (not Caesar!) and where all of the world’s darkness… in all the forms that darkness takes… corruption, war, hunger, ignorance, nationalism, racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-semitism, transphobia and every other fear and hate fueled ugliness gets faded into oblivion in the radiant brilliance of God’s light and love.
This letter shows that God intends for the world to be a place where justice flows like crystal clear water down the middle of the city’s public streets… PUBLIC… in other words, available for ALL to drink from freely. It shows the Tree of Life, a tree always bearing fruit so that no one ever hungers, whether that be hunger for food or for justice or for equality or for dignity. In God’s vision for the world, people are not snatched off the streets by masked goons in military gear for being hungry for an abundant life or thirsty for equal justice… In God’s vision for the world, the hungers and thirsts of all of humanity are fully and forever satisfied with abundance.
When Jesus is LORD and Caesar is NOT… everyone has all that they need AND everyone has life in abundance! When Jesus is LORD and Caesar is NOT… justice, peace, healing, and wholeness are available to all of creation and can be found as freely and abundantly as leaves on an evergreen tree and as continuously as water in a stream!
Revelation was a letter of ENCOURAGEMENT sent to a people stuck in a system of chaotic fear, everyday violence, senseless oppression, and manufactured paranoia that led inevitably to anger, hatred and horrific inhumanities with no obvious way out. It was a letter sent to a people ruled by a fearful ruler in a seemingly unchangeable system, enabled by people who thought they could manipulate the Beast they had created, but who all realize too late that they too will be consumed by it as well. It was a letter telling the faithful to stay strong AND it was also a letter meant to give them a direction to walk, even when that direction meant walking through hurricane winds, and endless miles of knee deep sand toward God’s vision for the world. This letter was written to a particular people trying to walk faithfully toward God’s vision for the world even while living under the thumb of an unhinged madman.
But you know… even though it was someone else’s mail… It makes for good reading whenever people find themselves living under any sort of Caesar, President, or King who stirs up their minions of beasts and baddies to spread fear, anger, hatred and suffering into the world.
It was other people’s mail, but it makes for some good reading when anyone needs some encouragement to hold firm to the confession that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is NOT.
It was other people’s mail, but it makes for good reading when folks need a reminder that NO Caesar, President, or King nor any of their hate fueled systems will have the last word. That as Maya Angelou says, "All storms run out of rain."
It was other people’s mail, but it is other people’s mail worth reading when we need a reminder of what God intends for this world, because if God intends for the world to flow with justice, peace, healing, and wholeness as continuously as water in a stream for ALL people, then who out there is going to stop God from getting God’s way? With that in mind, let's you and I then, keep walking God's Way together. Amen.
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