Blessed: God's Last Word to Us ~ Revelation 21:22 - 22:7

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

26 People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.

27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.

4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

6 The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."

7 "See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."

Bob’s New Song

We’ve come to the end of our preaching series on Revelation. We heard from the outset that the book of Revelation is meant to inspire us with a sense of awe and mystery about our faith. This past week we had our Confirmation Family night and each parent shared with the students one piece of advice about the Christian life. Telford’s advice is worth repeating: He talked about the difference between a puzzle and a mystery. Christianity is not a puzzle like sodoku that you can solve and be done with. It’s a mystery and the best mysteries are never solved, fully explained, utterly understood. That’s a good way to understand the Christian life as well as Revelation. And Revelation mysteriously reveals something important – God is mysterious. We’ve seen how this daring little book is also not the Mad Hatter’s day planner but a vivid and poetic book of worship. We’ve discovered how it’s a retelling of the Biblical story and a revamping of images from the Exodus and the Nativity to remind us that understanding God’s victory and its final consummation is not located in better charts but better Biblical literacy. And we learned that we don’t need to fear this book, or the future but live in the present with a blessed confidence. That’s why it has so many songs in it – 14 total. This is not a book to flee from, John tells us, but a book to be blessed by and sing. And I’ve listened to you on the patio – many of you have been blessed. As we finish this series I want you to know that “blessed” is God’s last word to you.

           1.      God’s last word to us is a blessed “no more.”

It’s a play on words – not “no longer blessed” but a “blessed because, ‘No more!’” There simply can’t be a heaven on earth, a new creation without the blessing of “no more.” There are 9 “noes” in our passage – and many more that appear just prior to our text. A heavenly earth is a place where some things simply can’t exist. Women kidnapped, held hostage for 10 years in a residential neighborhood, will not be part of the city of God.

There’s no more unclean, no more curse or falsehood, no more night, no more lamps, no more waiting, no more crying or pain, no more absence, no more abuse, no more devil, dragon or beast. To these things God’s heavenly earth gives a resounding “no more.” 

What’s so interesting, however, is that it’s not simply the bad that can’t exists in the heavenly city but also the good that’s not good enough, that’s not big enough, bright enough, joyful enough. No more temple, sun, light. There can’t be a temple because in that place the universe has unfettered access to God. You don’t need a flashlight when the daylight is upon you. It’s not bad or harmful just silly. It also means that maybe throwing your flashlight away now would be a mistake but hold it lightly. Don’t get attached. John’s vision matches well with the understanding of another spiritual poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit around it and pluck blackberries.” Moses was told take his shoes off because the place he was standing was holy ground – the heavenly city is barefoot world. There is no secular space, no divide, everywhere one walks is holy ground. The absence of sin and the Devil is not a fluffy, harp driven, halo wearing church service. It’s a wide open city with God at the center filled with people where anything that we do is worship. In this new world, there is no secular and sacred because everything is centered around God. It’s God visible in the world. 

“No more BUT . . . the throne of God and the Lamb will be in their midst, his servants will worship, and they will see His face. See His face? 1 Cor. 13:12. We will know and be known – It means that our prayers will be as normal speech and no longer dead in the water, lifeless, or lonely! Illus. Butterflies and Chickens (go to mcchurc.org if you want to hear this story). Has that been your reality of prayer? Well in the heavenly city we will not be prey for the tragic. God’s Word is “no more.”

Notice, however, it is NOT “no more earth.” It’s heaven and earth together that create the context for “no more.” It’s not even “no more need” for that would truly be a sterile place where a river and fruit are superfluous. To be human, a creature, will always mean that we have needs. Heaven means there will be no more lack. It’s not more hunger but no more famine. It’s not more work but no more toil, sweat and boredom. In the heavenly earth we don’t cease to be human, we finally become fully human.

           2.      God’s last word to us is a blessed openness and plurality.

There is this odd use of the third person plural in our passage. It’s “nations,” “kings,” “servants,” and “people” in this heavenly city. It’s about the “they” and the “their.” Why not a more personal grouping like an “us,” or “our”? Why aren’t their more “I-s,” “me-s,” or “mine-s”? It’s a bit jarring to be reminded that God’s plan, God’s vision, God’s geography, is bigger than my life, my view of the world, my nation, even my face.

Our “no more” fits well here. No more small salvation, no more small vision. John’s beleaguered band must have often felt that the enormous tide of Rome was against them. But to be honest, I think the same way today – in ways that are fearful, closed, and guarded.  But John’s poetic rendering of the heavenly city is this high walled, safe place that is open from all sides with people streaming in. What does a world without sin look like? Open space. When I read John vision of God’s apocalyptic salvation it convicted me of how small my vision truly is. I so often think salvation like a black cat firework. It’s loud but hardly impressive or fierce. When I was a kid one went off in my hand – it hurt but I have all my fingers. John’s Revelation of final salvation is no firecracker it’s an atom bomb, no small gathering of scared saints but nations joyously entering open gates. I so often think of salvation as an ego trip or anxiety about myself– John writes about salvation and sees a seemingly endless stream of plurality and diversity.

There is also, I believe, a deeper, more subtle, truth implied here. What do we make of vs. 27 and the “nothing unclean” or the “anyone” who will not enter. That wording seems very intentional – it doesn’t say “can’t” but implies “won’t.” It doesn’t stress the plurality of those who won’t enter but the singular is used for sin which is kept out and the “anyones” who practice them. I resonate with John’s revelation of sin and its consequences.  It’s an odd juxtaposition of images. Here are the lonely who refuse to enter the place where the gates are never shut, who refuse to join the throng. Why? Sin wants radical autonomy, self-mastery, and fear of the other. When I am the center of my world, my world is so small, so dangerous, I feel surrounded, threatened, claustrophobic. It’s not the experience of singleness or being alone but revealed in the deep ache of loneliness when we feel cut off from God and one another. John’s vision reminds us at sin is its own prison, its own distorting reality which can only see a closed gate, manifests a closed mind, express itself with closed fists, and demonstrates itself in a closed heart. I wonder, in other words, if it’s not that sin simply can’t enter, it won’t enter to be healed, to be refreshed, to be with others. They aren’t so much kept out of the Lamb’s book but refuse to sign their names. My daughter told me something that further clarifies this experience. She said she learned that of the people who struggle with chronic depression only 1/3 ever get help. This means that the other 2/3 are caught in a cycle of pain because we can’t heal ourselves, can’t climb out of the pit on our own, we need intervention. 

John stresses that God’s work of intervention is for the “healing of the nations.” A reminder of God’s election – it’s always been about nations, the whole, the group, the gathered, while sin is always about the singular, the solitary, the life turned inward, the “anyone’s” who cannot enter, refuse to enter, fearful of being in relationship with others, of being dependent. Sin wants you singular. God always wants you plural it’s what you were made for. God loves you personally but never solitarily. John believes a very large number of people will be saved, from all walks of life, from all nations, and from all social classes. It reveals the depth of God’s amazing work and one of its true mysteries. It means that the heavenly earth will be a community of surprises and they will sound something like this – “Wow, I never knew he would be in here.” Hallelujah, I’m surprised to see her here.” “Amen,” someone will say, “I never expected I’d find you in here. I never knew you were blessed!”

We end where we begin or is it the end that’s our beginning? Vs. 7 is Jesus’ final beatitude, Blessed is the one who “keeps” the words of the prophecy in this book.

The word for “keep” is very colorful in Revelation. It means to guard (Rev. 16:15 – be alert), to protect (Rev. 3:10), to preserve but also to practice (Rev. 3:8, 12:17) and even to celebrate. 

Okay quiz time you students of Revelation: What does it mean to guard, to celebrate, to practice this book?

It means to worship. If you missed it, don’t worry. So did John. After all these visions, and all these new songs, in vs. 8 John has the honesty and courage to tell us that he failed his first theological exam – he dropped down and worshipped the angel who brought this message. The angels response is both funny and stark – You idiot, don’t worship me – I am a fellow servant with you and the prophets and “with those who keep the words of this book.” And then he offers a two word tutorial, “Worship God!”

Friends, that’s our end, that’s the command, that’s the intent – that means worship simply can’t be the banal thing we’ve often turned it into. It means that worship is how we are to live. Worship is how we are blessed.