Revelation 21 TODAY

Fifth Easter
Acts 11:1-18   Revelation 21:1-6   Psalm 148  John 13:31-35

The Book of Revelation is like a "cut and paste" construction from myriad texts in the Jewish Bible. To read and understand one must be familiar with the Jewish texts to which it is related.

Around 500 BC, a generation after the Babylonians leveled their Temple and drove them into exile, the Jews returned to the promised land by order of the Persian King. The book of Isaiah contains many prophecies of hope and joy from this time period. The reality of return, however, did not match their expectations. Other prophetic writings indicate that the people still fell short in their relationship with God. As a result, God was with them, but always in a veiled way. The power of Sin continued to be a barrier to Kingdom Shalom.

The exile in Babylon, like slavery in Egypt and the expulsion from Garden of Eden, is a primary Biblical metaphor for alienation from God. The loss and restoration motif echoes the ultimate salvation found in death and resurrection. The last of the writers in the Isaiah tradition, addresses Israel with God's complaint that they were a people to whom He stretched out His hands and they did not respond, who turned to other gods before His face (Is 65). Yet, in spite of their infidelity YHWH the Lord declares salvation (Is 66-67).  He promises a glorious future with a new heaven and a new earth. One must read Isaiah to hear this vision of John we read in the Apocalypse today

Babylon is a code word for Rome in the Apocalypse. The revelation centers on the destruction of Jerusalem. However, the biblical revelation must also be read as spiritual metaphor. In every age, the Book of Revelation and the prophets are contemporary! Today at our own border we see people in exile from their homes. Nations continue to fail. Churches disappear. More deeply, there are exiled hearts, spiritually cut off from God. This spiritual decay within us often leads to the chaos around us. Those who are cut off from God have no protection from the demonic forces in our world.

The new heaven and new earth are the transforming life of salvation. Some day God will definitively redeem and heal the fallen world, but in the meantime, He does it here and now each day.

Salvation is not a one time event. The Kingdom is among us and within us. It works in our hearts now and impacts communities today. God dwells among us. Today tears are being wiped away and broken lives are healed. Jesus' ministry continues in the Church--wherever His Spirit encounters true faith.  We are being united with God through theosis and made into the holy Body of Christ. Our godly work is a first fruit of the new heaven and new earth. Our love for one another, today, is the "return" of Jesus manifested already, even as we wait for the Final Return. 

Salvation is not going to heaven when we die. It is a new mind and heart--the new heaven and earth at work within each of us right now! Until we go forth and bring the Kingdom life to others, we are not fully people of faith. When we pray with faith and act with trust-- every tear, every illness and all brokenness and sin are wiped away by His love through us.

The Book of Revelation announces to us "Have courage! Be steadfast! Do not waver in faith!" It invites us to open our hearts in love and faith so that God would reign within us more and more. It is a word of hope: 
Do not be discouraged if there is still suffering and pain--respond to it. 
Do not lose heart if there are still illness, loss and tears--heal it. 
Do not lose faith if God seems slow in coming--open in faith so He can work through you. 
His promise is true, and we must stop distancing ourselves from Him.

We must long for His reign and enthusiastically pray "Thy Kingdom Come!" Our words and deeds as members of Christ's own Body, must continually open the world to new life in His salvation.

Perhaps it is God who is in exile, not us. Perhaps He awaits our invitation with new heaven and new earth in hand. Maybe when enough of us turn to Him and say "Come Lord!" He will arrive. Until that Day, we must be open to His power to begin that work on this day.

Take a Lap

Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)     Revelation to John 5:11-14       John 21:1-19

Each of us is born into a world impacted by Original Sin. There is a distance separating us from God--a cloud of darkness shields His light. Saul thought he served God as he arrested Christians, until Jesus came to him. After the encounter, Saul is left physically blind, an outward sign of his spiritual blindness. A sincere error is still an error, and Paul was wrong. Union with God, theosis, requires a new mind. Union with God means that we must return to Him. The Hebrew for conversion is sub which means “to turn around.” Sin is primarily not a moral state, it is missing a target or wandering off the path. Sin is relational--being further from God and repentance is drawing near. The Greek word metanoia means a changed mind. Remember, the Mind, encompasses what we mean by “personality”—how we perceive, think, feel, understand and judge. We are born in a world that is separated from God. This condition is described as “darkness.” The Light, Who is Jesus Christ, heals our misperception of reality. Folks, we are just struggling to make it, doing our best to negotiate life. We have been wounded, we are haunted by doubts and fears, and we wander off. Even the saints struggle with the darkened mind and sinful desires, as we see in today’s readings.

Ananias fails to trust Jesus. In response to the Lord's command he explains its a bad idea. We all judge God’s word as unreasonable or impractical. This has been the case since Eve looked at the tree and said, maybe God is wrong about things. It is foolish, but we do it.

We also, like Peter,  overestimate ourselves. At the Last Supper, Jesus told Peter "you will deny me." Peter is defensive, declaring "I would die for you!" His bravado is neither trust nor humility. Peter was a brave guy, he drew a sword to face down the large crowd. However, the courage waned and soon he quaked before a single woman denying he knew Jesus. You and I, how many times have we denied Jesus?

The Lord is not harsh with either, He tells Ananias that Saul has been chosen and he will suffer greatly. Ananias gets a “new mind” and gets back on the “right path,” doing as Jesus commanded. He even greets Paul as a brother, seeing him with the eyes of Jesus.

Jesus heals Peter’s sin by asking "Do you love me?" three times. In Morning Prayer today in the first letter of Peter we read "love covers a multitude of sins." Peter knew this truth first hand as his "you know that I love you’' covered the denials. But loving Jesus can never be disconnected from the church. Jesus tells Peter, and us, care for the flock, tend each lamb. His church is His body, as He made clear to Saul on the road. Loving Jesus always includes loving and serving the church. What you do to the church, you do to Jesus.

Trust is the open door for healing and union with God. We must become humble and trusting if we would ever know the abundance of Life in our Lord. So care for the church, care for the needy and pray. I conclude with this prayer, based on Psalm 131.

Lord I am not great or important. I have no answers to the mysteries of life. I will not busy myself with such things. Instead, I am just going to sit in Your lap, like a small child. I sit here and let you love me, because I trust You, not myself.