On earth as in heaven

All through the Easter season, we have been reading from the Book of Acts and from the Book of Revelation. Imagine that we are kind of looking both backwards and forwards. No. Scratch that. As we’ve been following the lesson, we have watching as the Church—the community Christ’s followers—has unfolded right before our eyes!

In Acts, We have been hearing about the earliest church as the news of Jesus resurrection has spread throughout the known world.

At the same time, we have been hearing about a vision in our readings from Revelation, a vision of what the Church will be like when the ascended Jesus returns everything is wrapped up and completed. Put another way, as we come close to the end of Eastertide and get ready to celebrate the Ascension, we come to the final vision inside a book of visions. 

We Episcopalians, as with many Christians, try to avoid Revelation. Because unless it quotes the Book of Common Prayer or shows up in the Hymnal, it feels like kind of a big spiritual pothole on our spiritual journey. I mean it’s jarring and unexpected. And if we see it coming, we try to drive around it.

That’s because the imagery seems frightening or strange to us. And all too often, when we do hear from Revelation, it is usually from the lips of some television preacher, a paperback book—written either by a religious author or one that is skeptical of faith in any form. When we read it, is has the vibe of special effect filled movie that tells us that when God shows up, things will probably get very ugly very fast.

I don’t know about you, but I find it very odd that the people who most often talk about Christ’s triumphant reign often use startling images of disappearing Christians or present this triumph s a survivalist scenario of post-apocalyptic Christian guerrilla warriors or some such stuff.

I am here to tell you that these folks have Revelation all wrong.

In fact, the really wondrous thing about the book is what it promises, not what it threatens. What we have here is a vision of hope and promise because God is bringing heaven to earth, and we are a part of that!

Anglican Bishop and New Testament scholar N.T. Wright, says: “in Jesus, [God] bring[s] heaven and earth together at immense cost and with immense joy…, in and for the whole cosmos at last.”  

Every day what we pray in the Lord’s Prayer is in fact coming true: That God’s will is being done on earth just as it is done is heaven. Heaven comes to earth.

So, instead of the popular image of us going up in the air to meet Jesus in the sky, we see God’s reign coming down to us, where we live.

Imagine that. A world where God’s will is being perfectly followed where we live on earth, every bit as much as God’s will is perfectly done in heaven.

Too often, we confuse the Hope of the Gospel with a kind of rosy nostalgia for how things used to be.

But the vision in Revelation is not a mere appeal to new, improved past. It is a portrait of new and renewed creation.

For one thing, when heaven comes to earth there will be no need for an ideal temple, where God resides, sequestered from creation; instead, the vision says that God is present everywhere and illumines everything.  

And instead of only special people gathered in a closed temple, the vision tells us that all the people of the earth will be united as they are focused upon God's light and everyone will have access to God who comes to dwell with us.

We in our time often experience human power and authority as corrupt with greed and a thirst for power and control. But this is a vision of the old world which has passed away.  

In the new world we see and understand differently.  Here in the new earth, where heaven makes its home, we see that God has power and authority. All the powers and authorities of the world are not gone but rather are oriented at worshiping God and reflecting his light.  Power and authority, the kings, are transformed.

This is achieved by God's grace.  We are washed clean by the healing which is God's alone.  As Bishop Wright wrote, "God's drawing of the kings and nations to God's self, to the holy city, is no threat; the uncleanness that had led to oppression, violence, and evil will stay removed forever."

This vision is a vision of hope which is visible, even dimly, now in the world around us.  We as Christians and followers of Jesus, the Lamb of God, are invited to do this now.  We are invited to see our role in the world today. To know we are made clean by Christ.  That we are to attempt to unearth this heavenly city in the midst of our families and friendship circles.  We are to see the seeds already sprouting of this kingdom come to earth. 

In our care for the poor and of each other, we see the seeds of God’s kingdom come to earth.

In our sacramental living, we see the seeds of God’s kingdom come to earth.

In our life together and our renewed relationships, we see the seeds of God’s kingdom come to earth.

In our creativity, our art and our music, we see the seeds of God’s kingdom come to earth.

Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Peace I leave with you.” His peace is not like human ideas of peace, and it is not temporary satisfaction, the numbing of feelings, or the ideal of being the winner. God’s peace, Christ’s peace, abides—it never ends and always grows. His peace comes from the Holy Spirit, who is sent from Jesus to teach us and show us Jesus’ ways.

And as we take on the gift of Christ’s peace, we cooperate with God and sow the seeds of God’s kingdom come to earth in every part of our living, every day.

The vision of the heavenly city that find its home on earth is our vision… our guide…our foundation! But it is not a mere feeling that comes and goes. It is an active change of our very being that is both a grace that comes under God’s power and life that we participate in.

The vision of the heavenly is our invitation to enter the gates of God’s reign with thanksgiving and is never ever closed.

Today, we are being nurtured and ushered into God’s court to praise and worship with all God’s people—of every race, gender, nation, and origin—in a baptized, eucharistic community gathered before our God who is not locked away in a temple, but who has in Christ has made his life in the world and through grace, faith, and baptism has made us his people.

And so, together, and every day we are given the power, the tools, and the possibility to live out the very vision that we pray every day: “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” 

Amen and Amen!

Making all things new

One of the curious things about Jesus’ new commandment he gives to the disciples is that it doesn’t really seem all that new. You can find that command, or versions of it, throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. It’s just really not that new. It sounds pretty old school and traditional.

But for some reason, it’s come to be known as a “new commandment”. Essentially, in the moments right after Judas leaves to betray him, Jesus reminds the disciples to love each other, no matter what, because that is the only way they can be identified as his disciples.

Now, we can say we love our enemies when it’s a more esoteric thing. We can say we are praying for Vladmir Putin and that God will turn his heart away from the pain that war is inflicting on the Ukraine. We can pray for a president or a governor, even if they aren’t on the same team as we are. We can love our enemies in a Christian way as long as it doesn’t hurt too much. It’s much trickier to think about how we are to love those who know where our vulnerabilities are and know how to exploit them.

Love one another. Wow; that isn’t just a groundbreaking commandment. It’s an incredibly difficult one to put into practice It’s almost as if Jesus is reminding them, “I still love Judas. Don’t forget what just happened here.” He washed Judas’ feet and broke bread with him, even though Jesus knew what Judas was going to do. He still loved Judas and welcomed him, even with all the greed and betrayal that was to come. It must have troubled Jesus deeply. It must have hurt. But he still loved Judas. Now we have to do the same. That’s how people will know we are disciples: if we love the Judas in our lives.

 All of Christianity distilled down to its essence; Love one another. 

What’s staggering about this commandment is how badly we’ve managed to botch it over the last two thousand years.  New Testament scholar D.A Carson stated, “This new command is simple enough for a toddler to memorize and appreciate, and yet it is profound enough that the most mature believers are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they put it into practice.”  We often think that being a “good” follower of Jesus is a complicated matter, full of nuance.

Yet when death comes knocking, and the Son of God has mere hours left to communicate his message, he doesn’t say, “Believe the right things.”  He doesn’t say, “Worship like this or attend a church like that.”  He doesn’t even say, “Read your Bible,” or “Pray every day,” or “Preach the Gospel to every living creature.”  He says, “Love one another.”  That’s it.

Jesus follows this new commandment with a comforting and slightly terrifying promise: “By this everyone will know.”  Meaning, love is the supreme test of a Christian.  Our love for each other is how the world will know who we are.

It’s through our love that we will embody Jesus, make Jesus relatable, possible, plausible, to this world.

I can’t speak for you, but this makes me a bit nervous. Jesus seems to be saying is that if we fail to love one another, the world won’t know what it needs to know about God, and the lack that knowledge leads to the falsehoods that break God’s heart.  You know the lines: that the whole Jesus thing is a sham.  That God is mean, angry, vindictive, determined only to shame and punish.  That the universe is a cold, meaningless place. 

That the Church is a flawed and hypocritical institution — not Christ’s living, breathing, healing body on earth.

Those deceptions make love feel inadequate in the face of all that negativity. It makes it seem that we are surrounded by Judases, when the worship of power may overcome the worship of the Creator.

But we are living in a “new creation” and we glorify God when we live into this commandment to love one another, even with all it’s challenges.

The minister and scholar James Stewart describes a painting hanging in a museum in Scotland—a picture of a king playing chess with the devil for his soul. The man, who has only a few pieces on the board, looks worried. Satan is smiling because he assumes he will soon checkmate the man. For years, it’s reported, that people came to the gallery and saw only hopelessness in that painting. Then one day a chess champion stood for hours looking at the chessboard. Finally, he announced: ‘It’s a lie. The king still has moves left.’”

God still gets to make his move. Using us, God is among mortals.

He dwells with us as our God; we are his people,

and God himself is with us;

he wipes every tear from our eyes.

How does this happen? How is God among us? When we show our love for others. Those we care about, those who challenge us, those who hate us.

And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new."

That includes us.

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A sermon by the Rev. Frances Hlavacek, Deacon (May 15, 2022 - Easter 5C)

Here is a link to the bulletin for the Fifth Sunday of Easter at St. John's Episcopal Church, Clearwater

Here is a link to a video of the sermon.

Here is a link to a video of the  liturgy.