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Sermon - The New Jerusalem: The Holy City - 13th May 2007
St Aidan’s 8.30 am St Alban’s 10 am
Readings: Acts 16:9-15, Psalm 67, Revelation 21:10-14, 21:22-22:5 John 14:23-2
Chapter twenty-one of the Book of Revelation marks the climax of the whole book. In it we find the conclusion of the process that began in chapter two with the promises made to the angels representing various cities and in chapter five, where the Lamb receives the sealed scroll. The vision of God residing with humanity marks the climax in the metaphorical drama of the end of time. In the fourth chapter, John is granted a glimpse into heaven. There God is hidden behind a closed door. The contrast between heaven and earth disappears in the new creation. Now the dwelling place of God is with men and women and they shall be God's people. God’s dwelling is not to be found above the cherubim in heaven. The throne of God is set right in the midst of the New Jerusalem, where the living waters "stream from the throne of God” and God's servants are marked with the divine name and they will see God face to face. God is no longer far off but immediate and manifest, very much part of that world of perfection and as evident in it as God was in the Garden of Eden of which we read in Genesis. However, that new creation is not merely something to look forward to. In Christ there is already the possibility, in the power of God's Spirit, to bring about that new creation in our individual lives, though with the clear recognition of the struggle of the birth pangs of the whole of creation must undergo before paradise can be revealed. The new Creation and the new Jerusalem started with the Resurrection and we are a part of it now.
In the new Jerusalem the apostles, the fickle faint-hearts of the Gospels, turn out to be founding members and contribute to the building of the new Jerusalem. This is a task not confined to the apostles only, but to all the faithful who like follow will have the right to become pillars in the temple. Just as frail Peter was a pillar so will we be. We are not and we need not be perfect to be full citizens. We cannot say that we are not good enough. We have been made perfect in God’s sight by Jesus’ death and resurrection.
There has been much debate over the extent to which human endeavor can contribute to the new Jerusalem. Can human effort help in any way with bringing about the coming of the reign of God, or should one just leave it in God's hands? In Revelation 21, the fact that the names of the apostles are written on the foundations of the wall and that the kings of the earth bring their glory into the city suggest that humans do contribute to its distinctive character. The city may be from heaven, but we can be the means of channeling God's grace into it. So we have a role in "building the kingdom." It is not all left to some end of time miracle. Women and men, you and me, filled with the Spirit of the new creation can contribute to that future reign of God here and now in the midst of the debris of the old world.
There will be no temple in the new Jerusalem because the glory of God and of the Lamb will infuse the whole city. The continuing establishment of holiness will be and is now in the midst of the world and in the lives of people. There was ambivalence, even hostility, toward the Temple in early Christianity. Like the Pharisees, from whom Christianity derived so much, the first Christians had a view of holiness rooted in practical living in the midst of the variety of human community.
Revelation uses suggestive language about structure and space. Yes, there is a need to set apart holy spaces like this one we are in now, but we must not forget that worship at its heart is about the face-to-face relationship between God and humanity. The building is superfluous in the new Jerusalem. Often buildings for worship take precedence over the promotion and development of human relationships. Our need to create holy spaces often betrays our failure to understand that the true holy space is the body of Christ comprising a group of people who identify with him.
With certain qualifications Revelation's is not an exclusive vision of who will be the citizens of the new Jerusalem. The light of God's glory is a light for the nations and the glory of the old age is to be brought in. Only those who have ignored God by turning material things into little gods and placed their own self-interest above seeking to help bring God's justice to bear, are barred from entering the city. Likewise, those whose names are not written in the book of life, who have compromised and collaborated with the old order, are excluded as well. In a verse earlier than our reading we are told that at the head of the list of those who will be excluded from the new Jerusalem are cowards, who have refused to stand up and be counted when protest against injustice was needed. Religion and politics must interact.
Life in the heavenly city is run as a communal society, a society where all of life centers on our relationship with God and with one another. Christianity has in its history focused so often on hope for the individual that it sometimes has lost sight of the central place community plays in past, present, and future expressions of human destiny. Personal salvation must be held in tension with community salvation. We are not saved in a vacuum. As we grow ever more fearful about life in our cities, and as people seek escape in some suburban or rural idyll, or gated community, it is important to be reminded that the fulfillment of God's purposes is centered on a city, a community that reflects God's paradise.
The climax of the description of the new Jerusalem has the inhabitants sharing God's character by having God’s name symbolically printed upon our foreheads and seeing God face to face. Moses was unable to see God, for no one can see God and live he was told. As Christians we however believe that as we have seen Jesus in faith we have therefore seen God. This wonderful gift is now offered to all, because God will be all in all. We will all share in the reign of God on earth, fulfilling the role of kingdom priests, having unfettered access to God’s presence. This beautiful vision marks the climax of life in the new Jerusalem. Yet it is not merely something to be looked forward to in this life and experienced only after death. Jesus reminded his disciples that the one who sits on the throne of glory is present in the midst of the injustice of the old order. God is with those who wash their robes and make them white, the non-conformists who resolutely refuse to bow down to the beast. As Jesus refused to bend to the powers of this world so too should we be prepared to standup and to help bring into existence the establishment of the justice and love of the new Jerusalem.
Contained in this chapter are words that are very often used to give comfort concerning the new creation as a place devoid of suffering, but to reduce the meaning of Revelation to only a message of comfort feels like an escape and a betrayal of the prophecy of the whole of the book which is not there to console but to challenge and warn. The vision confronts us not so much with relief that everything will turn out well in the end but with the reality that things, here and now, are profoundly unwell and that repentance and change of life are required from all of us and our world. Disease and hunger is rampant in a world where there is so much plenty. The promise of a new heaven and a new earth is a vision of judgment on Babylon and its culture of death, where money and privilege can buy success, health and care, and the dignity and well-being of people, young and old, are subordinated to the demands of economic accounting and ability to pay.
Let us pray that we might, with the Holy Spirit’s support, help to bring into existence more completely the new Jerusalem, the Holy City, where 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 for ever and ever, and justice, love and mercy will be the rule of law.
1. This sermon prepared using the New Interpreter’s bible, Vol XII. Abingdon Press. Nashville 1998.