The text this morning is from John’s Revelation, the twenty-first chapter:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Today, John sees in his revelation that there is something greater coming than this day. John sees that there is something greater coming than this time. John sees that there is something greater coming than this place, than this era, than this moment, than this life. There is the life to come.
The life to come. For the Christian, our great hope is not in that we get to go to heaven and wander around like ephemeral-type spirits. Our hope as Christians is greater than that. Our hope, and it is a sure and certain promise, is that we shall rise from the dead, in our bodies, glorified like Jesus is glorified, and we shall live forever with him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.
Our hope is that just as the crucified Christ is risen from the dead, so, too, shall we rise from our graves. Our hope is that just as Christ stayed in the tomb the prescribed period of time, so shall we stay in our tombs until the prescribed day of His return. Our hope is that in the Christ that was seen by the Apostles, seen by 500 other people post-resurrection, the Christ who created the entire world and cosmos, the Christ who uses death as a footstool. Our hope is in God in human flesh Himself. Our hope is in Jesus, for indeed, He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
John sees this. John knows this. He saw the risen Christ with his own two eyes. He heard Him with his own two ears. He hugged Him with his own two arms. And then Jesus went away for a little while. Jesus ascended into heaven, to the right hand of His Father, where He bears all power and authority and honor in the universe. He was with His friends for 40 days, and then John and His disciples watched as Jesus ascended into heaven and was bodily absent from the earth. Yet, when John is taken to heaven to see all that he was instructed to write down for our benefit, John once again saw His friend, the friend of sinners, the Lord of All Creation, Jesus Christ.
And John watched as Jesus would proclaim victory over sin, death, and the devil. John watched as torments, even from God, would be poured out upon the earth in the latter days, these days. John watched as the first heaven and the first earth, this earth, were recreated as a potter reshapes a lump of clay. John watched all of this, and today he shares it with us, so that we may know that a greater day is coming.
That is a day of security, peace, and safety. It is a day when all danger is removed from the earth. That’s what the sea represents here in our text. John, in the prior chapter to today’s reading, saw Death and Hades, literally personified, thrown into hell after the great dragon, Satan, was defeated. All of the ways that the devil worked upon this earth were taken away. The temptations of the devil were wiped out and made no more. The power of Satan was destroyed by the legions of angels through the victory of Christ.
But, what of the earth? As the devil works here and now, it is as if he leaves great scars upon the face of the earth. It’s as if the devil took a giant knife and carved into the dirt, “This is mine.” And humanity went along with him, guiding the tip of the knife down, even into our own flesh. We are marked by Satan as belonging to him, and we help Satan mark everything else. The Scriptures call the devil the prince of this world. But, he’s not a prince because he’s so great. He’s a prince because he killed the rightful heirs of this world. The earth must be remade and everything in it. The earth must be retuned to the glory that God declared over it when He said it was “good.” The scars of Satan must be removed.
And so they are. By the death and resurrection of the Christ, the devil is defeated, even in his own scheme, and is conquered for all time. But, can humanity, can those who are in Christ, truly be sure that everything is good and right and secure and peaceful and safe for all time? As we live upon the eternal earth, how is it that we know with our eyes, our senses, that we are free from all danger, wrath, and need?
God removes the sea. Now, it’s not that water is inherently bad. But, especially if you are an Israelite, water is dangerous. Water flooded the earth and destroyed everything in her path as God saved only 8 people from utter destruction. Water destroyed all of pharaoh and his hard-hearted host. Water is life-giving, yes, we can’t survive without water. But to see the great seas would strike fear into the heart of God’s people for it gave them a reminder.
The sea was for them a reminder that God’s wrath and fury remained upon the earth as a consequence of sin. It reminded them of people and animals and vegetation being wiped out. When they were ceremonially unclean, water would be used, not because water is great for getting out stains, but because it was a reminder of God wiping away sin from the person as He wiped out the evil people of the world during the flood of Noah. Water is dangerous.
But, John says that there is no sea. Whether or not he means that literally there is no sea in the new creation, John tells us that there is no danger, not from Satan, not from demons, not from the earth, and, most assuredly, not from God.
There will be no tears, no death, no mourning, no crying, no pain. Everything that happened upon the earth is past. Everything the devil threw at the people of God is redeemed in the holy, innocent, precious blood of Jesus Christ. All is made well. And all is made well in the new creation, for there God dwells with His people. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. God lives in the city which descends from the heavens, for the city is the Church and where else is God to be found?
God is found in His Church, His bride. And specifically who? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is to always be found in the midst of His Church, His bride. He is here now, He is here always, and He is with us, with His people, as long as we live, which, in the new creation, is forever.
What more safe assurance can we have? God has taken away sin, death, and the devil. He has removed all those things that cause us to suffer in this life. He then chooses to dwell with His people forever, giving to them gifts. If you don’t feel safe with all of that, then there is no making you safe at all, for there you trust more in yourself than your God.
God has proved Himself to us time and time again, not that He needed to do so. God doesn’t need to condescend to us, but He chooses to, in order that He might make Himself known to all peoples. He showed Himself in the Garden, He showed Himself in pillars of fire and cloud, He showed Himself as an angelic, spiritual being the Patriarchs worshiped, He showed Himself in the flesh, fulfilling every prophecy of the Scriptures, He showed Himself to live perfectly, to die in your place, and to raise Himself from the dead three days later. Jesus, God, has proved Himself to you, time and time again.
And if that’s not enough, He proves Himself to you by giving to you this magnificent vision we have from John, where, at the end of time and the beginning of eternity for us, all things are in His hand, under His control. And if that doesn’t give you peace, then you’re looking in the wrong place.
Perhaps you think, if I can just show my boss that I’m valuable, then my job will be secure. And maybe that then works as your god of security. Perhaps you think, if I can just show my wife I love her, then maybe we can get back to normal in our marriage. And maybe that then works as your god of peace. Perhaps you think, if I can just get the church to do what I want, then we’ll finally get going in the right (and read this: my) direction. And maybe that then works as your god of safety.
We want to elevate just about anything to the level of God so that we can feel, experience, know some measure of security, peace, or safety. Anything that promises to do that, a job performance evaluation, not being on edge at home at night, or even a direction at the church, is easy to elevate into the position of being our god. But it’s not God. It’s not Jesus. Jesus is in the midst of His Church. Thinking He’s interested in interacting with people in any other way than what the Church does in Word and Sacrament is anti-Biblical, heretical.
It’s not that Jesus doesn’t care about your job, or your marriage, or the inner workings of a congregation. He most certainly does. He cares about them because He’s given them to you to steward. He’s given everything you own, or think you own, so that you can steward it properly, which means that everything we do is supposed to be done in love and service to our neighbor. If it’s about you, if you’re so focused on yourself, you are most assuredly worshipping a false idol, and the worst false idol of all, the self, and you’re taking the knife of the devil and scarring your own flesh, numbing you away from the one true God.
God isn’t interested in sharing any worshipful glory with you. He’s not. He doesn’t need to. He does not need you. But He wants you to be where He is. So, He will indeed glorify you, not making you God, but making you like Jesus. And He will help you, not so that you’re powerful, but that you use power to help others. And He will be with you, not because you’re special, but because He chose to save you out of His love because He is love.
When we put our eyes on the things we want, the things we think we deserve, the things that make us comfy and happy and, yes, even lazy, we are sinning. Again, it’s not that God in Christ doesn’t care to give you certain things that make life bearable or fun, but when we elevate these things to the point of needing them in order to do life together, and life with Christ, then we miss the point.
The point is that Jesus is in the midst of the Church. That which He truly cares about, that which He truly wants to give you and all people are His gifts. His gifts bring Him to you. His Word, which is all about Him from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22, tells you that you have a Savior who, though you didn’t deserve it in any way, came to save you from sin. His Baptism, by which water destroys the Old Adam, the sinful flesh we carry in this life, and delivers to you the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation, is to be remembered for Christ washed you with His own hand, raising you into new life as a promise of the resurrection to come. His Supper, whereby we receive the true body and blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith unto life everlasting, is given so that we may persevere unto the end. These are the gifts of Christ, and they are only, only found in His Church. And these are the ways that God deals with you and shows you His love.
Anything else doesn’t matter. Anything else we want doesn’t matter. Anything else we’re tempted to focus our eyes on doesn’t matter. It just doesn’t matter. What matters is Jesus and where He’s promised to be found.
In Revelation, Jesus promises to dwell, bodily, so we all we see Him with our own two eyes, with His Church on this earth forever. He promises that we will all come out of our graves and never die again. He promises. And when a guy who says that He’s going to be killed and He’s raise Himself to life again in three days, and then does it, when that guy promises something, you best believe He’s going to do it.
That’s a glimpse of what’s to come. And that glimpse comes to us because He’s with us now. We may not see Him bodily here, right now, but He promised to be wherever His Word and Sacraments are. There He is. He’s here, now, and this is a mere foretaste of that feast which is to come, a feast where we never need look over our shoulder and worry about what’s coming next. Eternity is written already, and eternity looks good, for there will be no danger, no sin, no death, no devil, no tears, no mourning, no crying, no pain. There is only us and Jesus in eternity, and all that He gives us. And you can trust this, for He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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