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Revelation 20:12 NRSV And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books.

Revelation 21:1-7 NRSV 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, the 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, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then 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 water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Revelation 22:1-5 NRSV 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.

Today we come to the end of this series of messages on the book of Revelation.

A major point that we’ve been trying to make on this journey is that this last challenging book of the Bible can be understood in a way that is different from how it is popularly understood. We all know that there are a lot of people who see Revelation as strictly “predictive prophesy,” foretelling events that will happen at the end of days. They are enamored with all of the numbers and the signs and the symbols and they engage in all kinds of speculation about how the end of days and the future will unfold.

But our hope has been that you have seen that there is another way for you to understand this beautiful and powerful book...a way of understanding it as describing events that had unfolded and were unfolding and would unfold in the world of that day. And it’s only at the very end of the book, which we explore today, that points to things that are going to happen at the end of time.

Today we are going to be talking about things that you’ve heard about even if you’ve never read the book of Revelation...things like the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment and a New Heaven and a New Earth. So, we’ve got a lot to cover in a very short time, so before we make the plunge, we really should pray:

Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove; descend on us, reveal your love. Word of God and inward light, wake our spirits; clear our sight. Surround us now with all your glory; speak through me that sacred story. Take my lips and make them bold. Take hearts and minds and make them whole. Stir in us that sacred flame; then send us forth to spread your name. Amen

Now, I hope that by now that we’ve made it clear that an important principle in understanding the words of the Revelation is to ask the question: “What was John expecting his readers to understand when they read or heard his words?” Here is where, in my estimation, a lot of what’s written about Revelation gets off track...because people don’t ask that question or don’t stay with the answer that we get.

John was a brilliant poet who wrote in code, but wrote in a kind of code language that the people of his day would clearly understand. They knew that the Roman Empire was the Beast (after all, if you’d felt it’s brutality, how could you think of it as anything else?) and the common nickname for the city of Rome was “Babylon.” It was a kind of put-down of Rome. Yet, if we wrench these and other poetic images away from their historical context…we end up engaging in something that is strangely confusing.

Let me give you an example from sports history of how that can happen. The year was 1998 and Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman were part of the Chicago Bulls and the Bulls ruled in the NBA. They’d just won their third consecutive NBA title and their sixth in eight seasons. But then, in 1998, Jordan, Pippen and Rodman all left the Bulls. And I want you to imagine that after they left, you read words like this in Sports Illustrated: The glory of the Great three-horned Bull has departed from the city of the strong wind. The Great three-horned Bull dominates no more. And the first horn, whose number was 23, has departed. The second horn numbered 33 has also departed. And the third horn, which was pierced in many places and dresses like a woman, has also departed, and the Great Bull has fallen, and Timber Wolves and Hornets and Kings from the West devour its flesh.

Now, you understand that, don’t you? But if you rip those words from their context and put them in another century or even in another country, we would open to all kinds of speculation about what in the world those words mean. It’s the same with the poetry of Revelation.

What we’ve learned so far is that for John and his immediate audience, most of Revelation was describing events that had already taken place or would take place in the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was indeed the “Beast.”

And John’s challenge to those who had been under the domination of the Beast was: don’t compromise your faith. Oh, yes, there might be a cost to remaining faithful, but, John says, do not fear; be strong; in the end, the Beast (the Roman Empire) will fall. God will be victorious and God’s Kingdom will reign forever and ever and if you persevere, you’ll reign with Him. John’s message is a message of hope and encouragement: have courage for today; have hope for tomorrow!

But let’s consider the Second Coming of Christ.

There are some very sincere believers who are obsessed with speculating about the end times and trying to determine when the Second Coming will occur. A book came out in 1988, called 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Could Happen in 1988. The author said that we may not know the day or the hour of Christ’s coming, but we can know the month or the year. So he said it was going to happen in 1988. But, it didn’t happen. So the next year, he wrote another book called Why the Rapture Could Happen in 1989. For several years, those books just kept coming.

In the 70’s, there was a best-selling book that said that the key to dating the time when Christ will come again was the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. So, the writer figured that in two generations, 40 years from then, Jesus had to come back. Well, 40 years came and went and Jesus didn’t come back. But, this guy sold a lot of books.

And one writer, during that period, wrote (I’m not making this up!) that the building blocks for the new temple in Jerusalem have already been constructed and numbered and are being stored in the basements of K-Mart stores all over the United States.

As I’ve said all through this series, I think it is always helpful to go back to Jesus’ words because Jesus is quite clear. Mark records Jesus saying: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be aware! Keep alert! You do not know when that time will come. (Mark 13:32-33)

When is Jesus coming back? We just don’t know. And while Jesus says, “I will come again,” he doesn’t say, “Therefore, speculate about when it is going to happen.” What he does say is be about His work. That’s what really matters.

Then, Revelation tells us that when Christ comes, there will be a Day of Judgment and those found faithful will enter into God’s new heaven and earth.

With vivid poetic imagery, John tells us that on Judgment Day, “a book” will be opened. He calls it the “Book of Life.” And the question is: “Will your name be written in the Book of Life?” The imagery is powerful and is meant to cause us to engage in serious self-examination. As I read this, it’s important for me to remember that in a very real way, how I look at the idea of a Day of Judgment depends on what I understand of the nature and character of the Judge. That’s how it is with so many things…our perspective changes depending on our circumstances or our point of view.

I love when it snows in Memphis. A few years ago, I had a Mustang convertible. For the most part I loved my Mustang convertible. But I didn’t love my Mustang convertible in the snow. A couple of winters ago, it was snowing! I was going east on Poplar Avenue in my rear wheel drive Mustang convertible…with the top up, of course! It was a heavy wet snow; traffic was slow. I was slipping and sliding; I just wanted to get home. I did fine as long as the traffic was moving…but if I stopped, the rear wheels would spin…and it was tough to get traction. I was coming east on Poplar toward the light at West Street…you go uphill there…and that hill had me worried. I kept saying to myself: “Please don’t stop; please don’t stop, because if you do, I can’t get up the hill.” But someone stopped. There I was, trying to go uphill…all I was doing was spinning…then, I started sliding sideways. I realized that the only thing to do was stop and do nothing. So I stopped, but couldn’t go forward. A couple of guys who were behind me -- probably former Mustang owners -- saw my plight, and got out and pushed me up over the crest of the hill. I couldn’t wait to get home. All the way home I was grumbling: “I hate this snow; I hate this Mustang in the snow.” I certainly wasn’t singing Jingle Bells. When I got home, I calmed down, started a fire in the fireplace, and made myself some hot chocolate. I sat down, looked outside and thought: “Wow, the snow is so beautiful!” You see, my perspective on “snow” depended on where I sat.

From where I sit, when I think of the Judgment, the thing that gives me hope, as flawed as I am, is knowing that the One who judges us most finally is also the One who loves us most fully. (Buechner)

But lest I get too comfortable, I always have to remember that in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the works I’ve given you to do.”

Then, Jesus tells a parable of the Last Judgment in which he says that some people will be real surprised by God’s judgment. He said, “I was hungry and you did not give me anything to eat. I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink. I was sick and in prison and you didn’t visit me. I was naked and you did not clothe me.” His surprised hearers ask, “Lord, when did that happen to you?” Jesus says: “When you did not do it to the least of these, you did not do it to me.”

So, the Book of Revelation asks us to examine our lives again and again; it challenges us never to become self-satisfied or self-righteous and to always be about the work of Christ in the world.

There’s much more that I could say about that, but I want to turn to the final scenes of Revelation, that brilliant picture of the New Heaven and the New Earth. Listen to how beautifully John describes it:

“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, the 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, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’”

Then, in the rest of Revelation, chapters 21 and 22, with powerful poetry, John tells what he sees. And he sees “a beautiful Garden.” At the center of the Garden is “a tree” called the “Tree of Life.” And there’s a glistening river that flows through the New Jerusalem bringing life. And the trees on either side of the river have “leaves for the healing of all of the nations.” God is in the midst of this Garden. And there’s no more suffering or pain. Everything is made new!

It is a scene that Carolyn has sought to re-create for us…in front of our communion table. And when I hear this image, I say, “I think I recognize that place. I’ve heard of it before.” For we’ve come full circle and we’re back to Paradise. We end up where we began.

Our faith story began in Eden, in Paradise, where God walked with man in the cool of the afternoon. But then came disobedience and the rest of history has been the story of continuing disobedience and humans running from God and God seeking to woo us and redeem us and bring us back to Paradise where there would be no more suffering, no more death and God would again walk with us in the cool of the afternoon.

Knowing that this is how the story ends, we’re meant to live in a certain way, in response to this great Good News. So, as we close our look at Revelation, I want to offer two ways that we might live in response to this magnificent vision.

First, don’t waste your time on speculation. While some people become enamored with all of the numbers, signs and symbols of Revelation and are constantly speculating about God’s calendar and how the future will unfold, I don’t believe we are meant to waste our time on such things!

Revelation gives us a vision of the world that God has in mind. It looks forward to a time when God’s rule will come and God’s will is done on earth as in heaven. But we’re not to wonder and speculate and wait. Our task is to live that vision into being, to live it now. We know God’s plan...God’s dream. It’s a world where there’s no more hunger, no more injustice, no more suffering and people won’t be doing evil to each other...and our calling is to live like that today.

We’re to live today in such a way that helps to bring God’s dream into reality.

I thought of that last Thursday at Tear Down the Walls, when Reverend Stacey Spencer of New Directions Church recalled how 40 years ago, in 1968, at the Lorraine Hotel, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Stacey said that it seems that since then, there has been a curse on the city of Memphis. Then, he challenges us…saying: “It is time now for the people of God to reverse the curse!” And it is time! Time for us to be about the task of ministry that will reverse the curse!

I think about God’s plan for the world -- where the curse, if reversed in our larger community, would be a world where there’s no more hunger, no more injustice, no war, no more suffering and people won’t be doing evil to each other…and I think of the words of George Bernard Shaw, “Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” This is what the Book of Revelation does. It paints a vision of things that never were and says, “Why not?” Why not? This is the vision that compels us.

But the second implication is this: Revelation gives us a hope that sustains us. I hear people speak of Revelation as a scary and frightening book, but I read it as a hope-filled book.

It says that in the end, evil will be destroyed. In the end, death will be no more. In the end, God triumphs and we have an opportunity to live and reign with him. All that our hearts have ever longed for will finally be fulfilled.

And part of this vision of the end of days, is a vision of heaven.

C.S. Lewis once observed, "We are very shy nowadays of even mentioning heaven. We are afraid of jeer about ‘pie in the sky,’ and of being told that we are trying to ‘escape’ from the duty of making (a better) world here and now into dreams of a happy world elsewhere. But (Lewis goes on to say) either there is ‘pie in the sky’ or there is not. If there is not, then Christianity is false, for this doctrine is woven into its whole fabric. If there is, then this truth, like any other, must be faced…” and embraced (Problem of Pain: 145) and we begin to live in the present in the light of this future.

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of children’s books in which C.S. Lewis portrays the Kingdom of God and many of the things we read about in Revelation.

In his last book, called The Last Battle, there’s a great battle and the battle is won. But after a time, Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Digory and Polly all perish in a train accident and they enter into Narnia’s heaven. Listen to how C.S. Lewis describes their journey from this life into a new life in the next:

“The things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us, this is the end of all the stories and we can most truly say that they all (did live) happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page. Now, at last, they were beginning chapter one of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before.” (C.S. Lewis, p. 182)

This is the promise we’re given at the end of the Revelation.

And so…until that day that we become a part of the Great Story that God has in store for us…until the day when the last chorus is sung and the final curtain falls; until that day when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; until the day when He will reign forever and ever, all glory and honor to the One who Was and Is and Is To Come!

Let us pray. O God, we give you our thanks for the great Good News of the greatest of stories. We thank you for your promise to us and your promise to all your people in all places. Open our hearts. Examine us for who we are. Judge us and redeem us and lead us forward. For we pray in the name of the Risen Christ, our judge and our hope. Amen.


Endnotes: This sermon is based, in part, upon material from the following sources:

1. Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking
2. Justo Gonzalez, Three Months with Revelation
3. Adam Hamilton, “Paradise Found”
4. John Killinger, You are What you Believe
5. C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle
6. John Ortberg, “Last Things”
7. Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder