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FELLOWSHIP UNITED METHODIST CHURCH |
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SUNDAY'S SERMON
CAN YOU SEE WHAT HE SAW
Revelation 21:1-6a
November
1, 2009
Have
you had any visions lately? I am
using two of Webster's definitions: "unusual discernment or
foresight" and "direct mystical awareness of the supernatural
usually in visible form." A
few years ago every time we got together as a United Methodist church we were
“visioning.” We spent so much
time doing that there was little time left over to get the work done that we
decided to do in the meeting. That
may fit two other definitions of Webster: "a manifestation to the senses
of something immaterial" or "a lovely or charming sight." There
is sound reason for us to have a vision, to project into the future, of what
we can become. The people of God
become stagnant and ineffective when there is no laying hold to new ideas, new
programs, and new people. When we
become satisfied with who we are, what we are and what we do, we have lost our
vision. "Without a vision
the people perish." However,
there is a need to see a vision beyond our future.
There is a time to look into eternity.
There is a time to bring the "supernatural into visible
form." When we get a glimpse
of what is to come in the hereafter, it will make a difference in how we act
and react in the here and now. The
writer of the Book of Revelations had seen the trials and tribulations of the
people of God in the present world. He
had given them assurance that God would be with them through it all.
He had given them "what for" for their lack of
trustworthiness with the Gospel. At
last, he is giving them the ultimate reason for perseverance in the faith. The
church, the body of Christ, is in the midst of great persecution.
In the United States only half of us claim any religious affiliation of
any kind. What that means to me
is that we are under the greatest persecution of all – we are being ignored. Perhaps
we need to see something beyond what our eyes can see. There
are four things I want to high light from John’s vision. Can
you see what he saw? The
first thing he saw was a New Creation. There
are Old Testament writers who talked about a new heaven and a new earth.
(Isaiah
55:17 & 66:22) The
writers between the Old & New Testaments were especially vivid in their
predictions of the new heaven and earth.
However, it seems they were prophesying about a transformation of what
is already. John seems to be
having an apocalyptic vision of a new creation.
This coincided with a view that one day this earth will be consumed
with fire. In the after life
there will be something totally new. I
lean toward a new creation rather than a transformation.
As I look around at what we have done to this earth, I don't know if
even God can transform it into something worthwhile. We
have used and abused what God made us stewards of.
We have lost our understanding of what God meant when we were given the
charge in Genesis. I
was given a translation of Chief Seattle's response to the proposal of
President Franklin Pierce in 1854 to buy 2 million acres of land from the
Native Americans. Some of the
excerpts: "The
air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath...the
beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath.
The white man does not seem to notice the air that he breathes.
Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench." "This
we know: all things are connected, like the blood that unites one family.
Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.
Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." He
concludes: "...if
we sell our land, love it as we've loved it.
Care for it as we've cared for it.
Hold in your mind the memory of the lands as it is when you take it.
And preserve it for your children, and love it... as God loves us all.
One thing we know. Our God
is the same God. The earth is
precious to Him. Even the white
man cannot be exempt from the common destiny.
We may be brothers after all. We
shall see..." (Adventure West, July/August 1996 p 6) We
have mucked it up so badly, I think it will be better if God will just start
over. The
creative activity of God is yet active and will bring about a new dimension of
existence. It is notable that the
sea will be no more. The ancient
people despised the sea. It was a
barrier to transportation. Beyond
what could be seen, it presented a dark and foreboding unknown. In the new heaven and new earth there will be no barriers
that we know now. I
received a note from a person who was responding to a letter from me.
Printed on the front of the card were the words, "In my Father's
House are many mansions. I hope yours is next to mine." I
am just trying to get there. I
want to experience the vision of John in its fullness. The
second thing I will point out is that it is a Holy City. From
the time David made it the capital and Solomon built the first temple,
Jerusalem became the place where the Jews believed God resided.
It is yet the place where every devout Jew would like to live. At the
very least they want to visit at least once in a lifetime.
From the time the Babylonians conquered it in about 685 BC the Jews
have longed for a restoration of the city to the glory of the days of Solomon.
They have longed for it to be in their control.
They are yet fighting, maiming and killing others who also claim right
to the land. John's
vision transcends the common desire for restoration. How can we possibly expect a restoration of any government,
as we know it? The Democrats and
Republicans have divided us so much that most people who are of age to vote
either do not register or vote. His
vision of the new seat of government is so pure he can only compare it to the
purity of a bride coming to her husband. The
third thing is that it is the Dwelling Place of God. The
writer uses a word that was commonly used to denote the tent or tabernacle
they carried around in the wilderness to be the place where God was.
This usage takes it from being a transitory tent to a permanent home
among human kind. Because of the
limitations we place on ourselves, we experience God periodically.
John is saying that we will be eternally aware of God's presence. There
are two words they used that are different in meaning but are similar in sound
-- skene and shekinah. One word
meant "tabernacle" and the other meant the "glory of God."
Because of their similarity of sound, one could not hear one word
without thinking of the other. So
when one said "the tabernacle of God" it was automatic to think
"Glory of God." With
God's presence permanently among people, the people then will experience a
righteousness not known since the Fall away from God.
It will be then that humanity will recover the "original
righteousness" that was a part of the existence before the yielding to
temptation – as told in the story of Adam and Eve and the snake in the
grass. Death is the most profound kind of grief.
That state of existence is described by the absence of any sign of
sorrow. We will be in perfect
fellowship with God. The
fourth thing to point out is that God Speaks. Up
until now in the Book of Revelations, the order to write has come from a
messenger of God. Now God speaks.
God claims the title Alpha and Omega.
The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet became the meaning of
beginning and end. However, when we think of beginning and end we are thinking
in terms of time. Alpha is more
likely to mean the SOURCE all that is. That
is consistent with my understanding that before there was anything, God was.
Out of nothing God began to create.
Omega is more likely to mean the GOAL of all things rather than just
the end. By saying that, we are
not just looking for it to all go up in a ball of fire.
We have the vision that all that God created is moving toward its
destiny in God. Can
you see the vision John saw? If
you can you know that we are heading toward that time when we shall be a part
of that new creation. Frederick
Buechner, an author of some considerable note, writes that saints are
"men and women who are made not out of plaster and platitude and moral
perfection but out of human flesh. I
mean saints who have their rough edges and their blind spots like everyone
else, but whose lives are transparent to something so extraordinary that every
so often it stops us dead in our tracks."
("The Clown In the Belfry", pp 142-144 as
quoted in Dynamic, p 26.) We
have named the people whose lives have been a means for us to see the
extraordinary God. They are a
great cloud of witnesses urging us on, calling for us, showing us the way. If
you can get the vision of what is to come in the eternal, you will have a
clearer vision of what is to be in the present existence. RESOURCES: The
Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 12, Barclay,
The Daily Study Bible Series, Revelation, Vol. 2, revised;
Dynamic Preaching, Vol. 9, No. 11;
My Sermon "When The Saints"
11-01-92 Fellowship United Methodist Church, Johnny S. Liles, 11-02-97 and 11-01-09
LECTIONARY READINGS FOR NOVEMBER
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