First Presbyterian Church
What's A Presbyterian to Do with Revelation? Part 22
Sermon for August 14, 2005
by Pastor Susan Barnes

This is my last sermon on Revelation. Some of us thought we'd never see the day. It has been a long road for you, and for me too. I wanted to do this series because I needed to know what was in Revelation. I needed to know what was not in Revelation. It is a book designed to show us God knows how evil is evil; that even when believers are being horribly killed and persecuted, hope still exists. God's back is not turned. Evil will not have the last say. Rescue and salvation are coming soon.

And Revelation is a book that draws on the Old Testament, comments on it, and recasts the imagery. Revelation is part of a long prophetic and apocalyptic tradition.

Our reading today draws on Ezekiel. Listen to these verses from chapter 47:

Ezekiel 47:1 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there, water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 7 As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 He said to me, … 12 On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing."

Listen for the word of God as it is found in Revelation, chapter 22.

He showed me a river of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, down to the center of the main street of the city. On each side of the river, there were trees of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, each yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And “the curse of war” will no longer exist. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will no longer be any night, and people will have no need for lamp light or sunlight, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign for ever and ever.

Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true, and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to reveal to his servants what must soon happen. Indeed, I will come soon. Blessed is the one who obeys the message of this prophetic book.

It was I, John, who heard and saw these visions. And when I heard and saw them, I fell to worship before the feet of the angel who revealed them to me. But he said to me, “Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters the prophets and those who obey the commands in this book. Worship God!

He said to me, “Do not seal the words of this prophetic book, for the time is near. Let the person who is unjust continue to act unjustly, and let the person who is morally depraved continue to be depraved, and let the person who is righteous act righteously, and let the person who is holy continue to be holy.”

“Indeed, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay to each in proportion to his or her behavior. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

“Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they will have access to the tree of life and so that they might enter into the city by the gates. Outside are the male prostitutes and the magicians and the fornicators and murderers and idolaters and everyone who is fond of lying.

“I, Jesus, sent my angel to attest this message to you for the benefit of the church. I am David's descendant, the bright morning star.”

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”

Let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires receive the gift of the water of life.

I myself testify to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away any part of the message of this prophetic book, God will take away that person's share of the tree of life and the holy city described in this book. He who testifies to this says, “Surely, I am coming soon. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! 1

This ends our reading from God's word.

The song that we sang, “Shall we Gather at the River” is based on Revelation 22. Robert Lowry wrote it in 1864. He was a Baptist pastor. He wrote it on a hot, sultry day in Brooklyn , and he was exhausted. He wondered why there were so few hymns written about the gathering of the saints at the river, and so he wrote one for the Sunday school. 2

The song captures the joy in Revelation. It took a long time for us to get to that joy. Twenty-two chapters and 21 sermons. And a lot of words about judgment and violence and blood. But the joy is here. A beautiful city, so full of light that it doesn't need the sun, moon or stars. So full of worship of God that it doesn't even need a temple.

Being without a temple was on my mind this last week, up in McCall, where we had about sixty-five youth from the Snake River Mission Area come to a convocation called “at the water's edge with Jesus.” I was in charge of organizing worship. We involved as many kids as we could, acting out Bible stories.

We had worship at three different places. The first night, we worshiped right on the lake, in a little amphitheater there. We prayed in the dark, and acted out the scripture by the light of flashlights.

The second night we sat in an actual amphitheater with twenty foot sides. Youth from Boise told the story of Jesus walking on the water, narrated by Sponge Bob Squarepants and Patrick the starfish, who apparently witnessed the whole thing. Actually, it was Sponge Rob and Patty.

The third night, we worshiped in the lodge with the band. We turned out all the lights for the invocation. That prayer came from a workshop I led. I talked to the youth about the importance of being able to pray in public, and we talked about prayer do's and don'ts. We critiqued the silly prayer I shared with you before, by the member of parliament who wanted God to protect his ship the Mermaid since he hadn't insured it and keep County Essex from drought (although God could do what he liked with the other counties), and make all his debtors good men.

And then I gave them a long list of names for God, and invited them to choose one for their prayers. None of the youth thought their prayers were particularly good, but I knew they were, because they were so honest. I put all their prayers together, and that was our invocation for the communion service. It was a beautiful prayer, so beautiful, two people wondered why I hadn't read their prayers. I overheard one conversation: “They left my prayer out.” “No they didn't! I remember hearing it.” One of the girls in my cabin said I hadn't read her prayer. I asked her how it began. She told me she called God her anchor. I said, “Oh yeah, didn't you also call God a beacon for you?” I showed her the typed paper we had read from. She was surprised. She didn't recognize her own words as eloquent and inspiring. But they were. During the sharing time, one of the youth said that after hearing all our prayers, she realized that even though we were each unique, we all belonged. Our prayers fit together.

Our Book of Order tells us “Because the identifying reality of Christian worship was neither the place nor the space but the presence of God, the early Christians could worship in the Temple, in synagogues, in homes, in catacombs, and in prisons. ….To this day, when the Church gathers, it is not the particular place, but the presence of the risen Lord in the midst of the community which marks the reality of worship.” (W-1.3023-4.)

And so today, as we worship on this deck, and prepare for our picnic, we affirm that God is not limited to a sanctuary. It is good to worship God outside, to feel the breeze and the sun.

We come from the reformed tradition, where we recognize that Christians may worship in any place, and no place is necessarily holier than another. That became a lively topic of discussion at a workshop at summer conference, where our speaker discussed the spiritual discipline of pilgrimage. Do Presbyterians need to travel to shrines? Should they?

We planned to go on a mini pilgrimage, really just a long walk with stops for prayer, around the Linfield college campus, and wanted to walk to a place that mattered. My friend Karen suggested we go to a place where a miracle occurred. It turned out to be a sewer grate. Several years earlier, Pastor Karen came to the conference when her daughter was two and her son a newborn. As she struggled to get both children out of their car seats, she gave her daughter her car keys to jingle. Her daughter promptly dropped them in the sewer grate. Filled with leaves, water, and what have you.

She called the conference dean, who called the maintenance crew. Sure enough, a young man showed up with a gizmo for lifting up the grate. He took off his shoes, stepped into three feet or so of slimy water, and felt all around, and found her keys. That was the miracle to this young mother, trying to cope with two young children. So we all took a pilgrimage to the grate and said a prayer thanking God for the people who know how to take things apart, find what's lost, and put things together.

We can pray anyplace. A sanctuary is helpful and convenient, but not essential.

In our scripture lesson, we see that in this heavenly city without a temple the gates are open, the nations come in, and the leaves of the tree of life can heal the nations. The saints will no longer be persecuted. Justice will happen.

And yet, because this is Revelation, we still have the odd verse about condemnation. There are people who are left outside; the male prostitutes and the magicians and the fornicators and murderers and idolaters and everyone who is fond of lying. This list of sinners includes the people who were accomplices in the murder of the martyrs. We aren't talking about children who are forced into prostitution; we aren't talking about entertainers who perform magic tricks; these are people who cooperated with Babylon, worshiped the beast, and did not turn to God. They do not get to come into the city; I think it's because the city is intended to be a safe place for those who have been persecuted. The perpetrators are not going to be there.

And then there's the text “Let the person who is unjust continue to act unjustly, and let the person who is morally depraved continue to be depraved." What is that about? The verb tense there doesn't mean “permit or allow the sinners to sin.” It's more fatalistic. It means that the sinners will keep on sinning, despite the message of repentance is all through Revelation. By the last chapter, the time for repentance and teaching is done.

And then, at the end of the book, why curse the readers, and warn them away from tampering with the message? “I myself testify to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away any part of the message of this prophetic book, God will take away that person's share of the tree of life and the holy city described in this book.” It was a way of saying this book is incapable of improvement; leave it alone. Before copyright law, it was one way of safeguarding the text. Let the fear of God prevent you from messing with this manuscript. It was just a common literary convention found at the end of treaties or sacred texts. There is nothing unique about these words; it's almost like ending a letter with sincerely yours.

The book does end with “Come Lord Jesus.” That is a positive note for all of us. Salvation is coming. It might seem a long way off for those who are suffering, but it's coming soon. It will be here before you know it. Look forward to it, repent, celebrate, and remember. Amen.

1 translation by David Aune, Word Biblical Commentary, Revelation 17-22, p. 1136, 1197. Used by permission of D.E.Aune.

2the Chalice Hymnal Worship Leader's Companion , p. 701.