"Then I saw a new
heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed
away..."
I want to draw your
attention to two verses from the Book of Revelation - "I saw a new heaven
and a new earth" and "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and
true" - and one verse from the gospel reading - "I give you a new
commandment."
One of the most
provocative interpretations of the Book of Revelation is that it was the first
work of science fiction, but I don't buy
it. The last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation or Apocalypse
("apocalypse" is a word derived from Greek that means
"revelation") is part of the canon of scripture. It is part of God's
word or God's way of communicating with us, so I don't think for a minute that
it is fictional. But there is no doubt that it is thick with symbols and
metaphors, and that all too often these symbols and metaphors are
over-interpreted and misinterpreted.
But my NT teacher said
that "few writings in all of literature have been so obsessively read with
such generally disastrous results as the Book of Revelation" (Luke T.
Johnson, The Writings of the New Testament, p. 512)
On the other hand, there
is an interesting correlation between Revelation and science fiction. Revelation
is about a journey from this world to another world. It is not a physical
journey through outer space, but it is a spiritual journey through inner space.
Also, much of science fiction has to do the future. What if this world passes
away? What becomes of us?
I want you to think for a
moment about how strange the Book of Revelation is. In chapter 21, the author
has a vision of a "new heaven and a new earth." The idea of new
worlds comes easily to us, but that was a completely new idea in the first
century.
A resident of the Roman
Empire in the first century knew one world - the world of the Mediterranean
basin. That was the world. of the first century. A few centuries earlier, the
Greek philosopher Plato said, "Like frogs around a pond we have settled
down upon the shores of this sea."
But all that began to
change in the 15th and 16th c when European explorers began to venture out to
the edges of Africa and Asia and finally crossed the Atlantic to North and
South America. Suddenly, Europeans began to think and speak in terms of
"new worlds."
In Shakespeare's play The
Tempest the character Miranda exclaims, "O brave new world that hath
such people in't." She was reflecting the wonder that people of that age
felt at the discovery of new worlds. But already in the first century, John the
Seer imagined a new heaven and a new earth.
But a new heaven and a new
earth mean that this earth will come to an end, and that is a fearful idea.
Well, one person's fear is
another person's opportunity to make money, and popular culture loves to play
on our fears of world-ending scenarios.
Have you noticed the
number of movies and TV shows that deal with so-called
"post-apocalyptic" scenarios? What happens if the world comes to an
end? The movie Oblivion that just came out deals with this. Forgive me,
but I hope that Tom Cruise is not the only representative of the human race to
survive the apocalypse! But from zombies to nuclear annihilation to plague,
popular culture seems to be fixated on apocalyptic scenarios.
Of course, that is
precisely what the Book of Revelation is about. This world that seems so
permanent is actually passing away. It is finite. It has a sell by date. So
what happens after the worst thing that can happen has happened? What happens
AFTER the end?
This is where the Book of
Revelation has good news for us. It tells us that the world in which we live
will indeed come to an end, but it tells us that this is part of God's plan,
that God is in charge, and that although there will be wars and plagues and all
kinds of disturbances, God will protect his people, God will bring us through.
Make no mistake: God loves
this world, finite and fractured though it is. God created it and declared it
to be good and never changed his mind about it. And God gave it into our care
and one day will demand an accounting of how well we have taken care of it. And
I fear that we will be judged and found wanting for our care, our stewardship,
of the earth.
But this world is not
permanent. The Book of Revelation tells us that a new earth is coming. It's a
bit like a new product roll out: "Coming soon - Earth 2.0 - new and
improved!"
This world, we are told,
is a "vale of tears." But a new world is coming in which "death
and mourning and crying and pain will be no more."
Now, think for a minute
about another verse in ch. 21 of Revelation: "Write these, for these words
are trustworthy and true."
"...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."
"Write this"
was a very odd thing to say in the first century because very few people could
write. Furthermore, paper or papyrus and ink were very expensive. If you could
write, you would write only the most important things.
Presumably, you would
only write down something of the highest importance. And perhaps John was
commanded to write because it would be easier to believe something written
rather than something spoken.
One of the sad tasks of
every minister is to write down the names and dates of those who have died in
the church register. In doing research for my doctoral dissertation I carefully
studied the parish records of a small village in seventeenth century
Buckinghamshire. Such records documents life’s joys, to be sure, such as
weddings and baptisms, but they also chronicle so much sadness—women who died
in childbirth and children who died in infancy.
Richard Holloway, former
Episcopal bishop of Edinburgh, Scotland, wrote this of his feeling in going
through the records of a parish in that city: “I often think of . . . all those glad lives and dancing
feet, all gone down into the grave . . . I grieve for all those lives which are
unrecalled . . . As one contemplates the teeming prodigality of human history,
one is tempted to meaninglessness at the thought of all that being born and
going down into death.” (Holloway, A New Heaven, Mowbrays (London,
1978), p. 61)
Any minister writing down
another death in his or her parish register might be tempted to feel as I did
searching through 300 year old parish records or as Holloway did in his
Edinburgh parish, but in the Book of Revelation, John was instructed to write
something different. “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true . .
. I am the Alpha and the Omega . . . to the thirsty I will give water as a gift
from the spring of the water of life.” (Rev. 21.6)
Finally, consider this
verse from today's gospel reading: "I give you a new commandment."
The strange
thing about this new commandment is that it was really a very old commandment.
Leviticus 19.18 says, "... you
shall love your neighbor as yourself." (19.18)
So what was new about Jesus' "new
commandment"? I believe that what was new was the one issuing it and also
the way he modified it - "as I have loved you."
In Revelation, the author
speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. In John, Jesus gives his disciples a
"new commandment." The theme of the Celebration of New Ministry that
we will have next weekend is "a new beginning for Christ Church."
I want to be as clear
about this as possible: I believe that Christ Church is a healthy parish with a
bright future. I would not have come here if I did not believe that. But as I
said in the Epilog, there are some troubling signs, and one of them is the fact
that we have so few young families with children.
But I also believe that
we can grow and be healthy by attracting new members who are middle aged or
even older.
I believe, though, that
we need younger families with children not just for the long term health and
stability of this church, but because we have an obligation to pass on our
wisdom, our values, our faith to a new generation. To be perfectly frank, we
are part of the world that is coming to an end, passing away. The young are
part of the world that is coming into being.
When I speak of a
"new beginning for Christ Church" I do not for a minute believe that
all that has come before needs to be changed. I love this church's tradition,
its way of worshiping God, and its music. But I do believe that from time to
time, we need a fresh start, a new beginning.
And I believe that part of the message of the Book
of Revelation is that we need not fear the new. We need not fear a new
beginning. We need not fear letting go of the past and reaching out toward the
new because God is the one who is bringing the new world into being.
I believe that the new world that God is bringing
into being will be characterized by the "new commandment" that Jesus
gave his disciples: " I give you a new commandment, that you love one
another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this
everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another."
To love as Jesus loved is to forget self, to give
one's self for others, it is to let go of all that is familiar and be open to
the new.
Change is frightening. The older I get, the less I
like change. But I took a chance on Christ Church and uprooted myself and moved
here to become your pastor, your rector.
I took a chance on Christ Church because I believe
in a God who does new things. And I invite you to take a chance on God as we
work together for a new beginning for this great old church.
Like the European explorers of the 15th and 16th c.
we are on a journey, but our journey is very different from theirs. They
traveled from their homes to distant, exotic places. We are journeying from a
place of exile to our true home in God.
For in this world, death and sorrow are at home and
God is a stranger. But we journey toward a world in which death and sorrow will
be no more and God will make his home in our midst.
