Past, Present, Future See, I am making all things new.

Transcription

1 Sermon Response to Scripture proclaimed for Year C, Easter 5: Revelation 21:1-6 At Zion Episcopal Church By The Reverend Sarah E. Saxe on April 24, 2016 Past, Present, Future See, I am making all things new. Well, the Holy Spirit has done it again. I had this great plan to share a beautiful 230 year old sermon with you today. I even put it in the bulletin. A sermon in which, unlike what I talked about a couple of weeks ago when I shared my dream with you, Wesley doesn t claim to have had a dream or vision. Rather using Scripture, he describes the end times, focusing on one sentence from today s reading: See, I am making all things new. Wesley starts on a grand scale with the heavens and then he methodically works his way down from the vast and infinite to the elements of fire, water and land to the flora, fauna and human inhabitants of earth. So I thought that s where I was going today, - with this beautiful Scripturallybased description of the end times - but as I said, the Holy Spirit slapped down that plan. I learned that I m not meant to offer you Wesley s description of the end times but rather to address his assertion that Revelation is only about a future time rather than being applicable only to the present time in the past when this book was written. You see, in that same sermon, Wesley criticizes those who argue that Revelation is only pertinent to the churches and disciples of that time in history when it was written and its situation of persecution during that time. It s only pertinent to the nations and people of that time in history and their situation of war and sin and suffering. Wesley argues that it is not about that past time in history but about the future - the consummation when heaven and earth pass away (however they do), when Jesus returns (however he does) and when God makes a whole new Creation (however that is).

2 (left hand) So you have one school of thought that says that Revelation isn t pertinent to us today. It was a message of judgment and hope for churches and nations of the past. (right hand) Then you have another school of thought represented by Wesley that asserts it s not about that but about a future time for all of Creation. But isn t there a third choice here? The present time? And couldn t it be all three? Past, future and present? (both hands together) Big In our church year the Scripture choices of the Lectionary determine where we sit so to speak as we re-live Jesus life, ministry, passion and resurrection; as we relive the birthing of the Church. But at the same time our present reality within God s salvation history is that we are indeed waiting for Christ to return and make all things new. Particularly during Easter season, the Scripture we hear proclaimed asserts that we sit in a time of both visions of the future and our present reality, both of which are rooted in our past. For example, readings from the Acts of the Apostles take the place of our usual Old Testament readings. They are concrete they are history they show us how the early church began and how the first Christians the first disciples - bore witness to the risen Lord. But then we also have readings from the Revelation to John. Unlike Acts, this book is saturated with symbolism a dream-world so to speak. But it is a dreamworld set in history. John had his vision at a time when the early Church was going through some serious stuff when the world was going through some serious stuff. In our Lectionary, it is only during Easter season that verses from Revelation are proclaimed only 6 Sundays and only 43 verses.

3 Does that give us a hint about the meaning of Revelation for us today? Whether it s just a message for the churches of the past or a vision of the future which can also be applied to our present? In the midst of pondering that question, my AARP magazine arrived and I absentmindedly thumbed through it. Then I came upon this article. (hold up magazine) It talks about significant battles in wars from World War II to present, in which the United States has been involved. For each of those battles, a veteran describes one first-hand experience. The article starts with World War II because there are no veterans alive to talk about World War I or the Civil War or the War of 1812 and so forth. As I read these deeply moving words, I heard the voice from the throne say, See, I am making all things new. There were none alive who could tell of the wars King David fought or the Jewish rebellions just prior to Jesus time, but John heard the voice from the throne say, See, I am making all things new. So while we Christians live in the present, whenever the present time is today, next week, last year - we do so with an eye on both the past and on the future the soon of God. The Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end, whose clock is so very different from our clock. And so is it really only in the past that those early churches and the disciples who comprised them needed to hear this message of judgment and hope in a world where oppression, persecution and war surrounded them? Or do the churches now and the disciples who comprise them now us - also need to hear this message?

4 Well, I think it is indeed appropriate to hear it, especially at this time of year in our Lectionary Easter season. The time after Lent when we had travelled with Jesus through persecution, torture, and a gruesome death. When we had descended into Hell along with him. And then on Easter Day when we travelled with Jesus as he was raised to life when he conquered death and promised eternal life to those first disciples. Isn t it appropriate at this time of God s year when we travel with Jesus as he is publicly executed for all the world to see on YouTube; as he is blasted to oblivion by terrorist bombs; isn t it appropriate to proclaim verses from Revelation?! Verses of judgment and hope when the voice from the throne promises that soon, very soon God will make all things new. So both at this time in the church year and at this time in history the words of Revelation are pertinent and meaningful. As disciples whose names have been written in the book, we press onward toward the prize promised to us in Revelation. That God will wipe our tears away. That death will be dead. That crying and pain will be gone forever. That we will drink the water of eternal life. Big But you may be thinking, What do we do in the meantime in the time when soon for us is very different from soon for God? When it seems more and more difficult to believe these words as our Christian past grows older and older. Well, very few of Revelation s 404 verses are directly addressed to us individual disciples and what we should be doing now. They focus more on what we will do in the future and what will be done to us in the future. But, thanks to our Lectionary, we hear another message today that is firmly grounded in both the past and the present while also looking to the future. We hear Jesus speak to us in John s Gospel: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

5 Everyone will know - including the one who sits on the throne everyone will know that if you love one another you are disciples of Christ. This is what you do while you wait for the promise to be fulfilled.