Sermon for Easter VI
13.5.07
Based on the second reading Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
And the omitted verses, 21:11-21

When I was a teenager I attended a Lutheran college as a boarder. I was blessed with a close friend who is still one of my best friends. We could discuss anything together. We would stay up till well after midnight talking. Often our conversation would turn to the subject of girls. We would discuss their behaviour and characteristics, their pros and cons, like judges at a fashion parade!
In the latter chapters of Revelation, John is shown two women. Both are attractive, wealthy and popular. Both wear great clothes, both wear expensive jewellery and both entertain world leaders. John is very impressed by the first, who is dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, whereas the second is wearing just the fine linen. But upon closer examination he can read on her forehead, Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of the earth’s detestable practices.

John sees that this pro is drunk, not with booze but with the blood of saints and martyrs! She is sitting on a scarlet beast and on the world leaders! They come for sex and money but end up trapped or dead. Everyone must contribute to her glory, to her fame and her power. She makes humans her possessions, her bed partners, her slaves. No wonder the leaders want to kill her!

After being shown the first woman John is told by an angel, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb’ (21:9).  So the second woman is married, and her husband is neither a beast nor a statesman but a Lamb: the Lamb of God, who was killed yet lives!

Now when I see a wedding party I always like to see the bride. Every bride is beautiful, not because she’s wearing a wedding gown, jewellery and makeup but because someone loves her. The groom loves her unconditionally and she loves him unconditionally. At least that’s what they promise.

Now we hear the text from today’s second reading: In the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. John must have been surprised to see not a woman but a city descending from God. The bride is a city! She is not a selfish individual but a shining city, wearing bright, pure linen, the deeds of the saints. She shares her glory with saints, tribes, apostles and angels. John knows this by looking at the wall that surrounds her. The 12 angels watch over 12 gates, which bear the names of the 12 tribes, and underneath are 12 foundations which bear the names of the apostles of the Lamb. The wall looks like a beautiful necklace. It shines and reflects God’s light or glory, just like jasper or crystal. Each foundation is a different jewel and each gate a pearl. The pearly gates are always open. Those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb and written in his book come and go freely.

The city and its main street are made from pure gold, which is so thin that light can shine through it. Gold is an amazing metal. It can’t be tarnished or oxidised. It won’t rust. It’s so soft and malleable that when gold leaf is made it is rolled off the machine into a ribbon 1,000th of an inch thick. Then it is hammered over 80 thousand time till it is 3 millionths of an inch thick. Just one gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet one square metre in size. For centuries this thin gold leaf has adorned the heads of Jesus Christ and the saints in icons, reflecting God’s eternal light in the halos. Like the saints themselves, gold leaf is extremely fragile but an excellent reflector of light. It has been dug up, purified by fire and beaten, yet shines like a Christian’s faith, which Peter says, is more precious than gold (I Peter 1:7). The beautiful, heavenly Jerusalem thrives on the glory, light and life of God.

On her own the Bride or Church is nothing, but in the light of the Lamb she is everything to everyone. Like the wise men who followed a star and came with gifts to see the baby Jesus in Mary’s arms, world leaders and nations come with their cultures to see the Lamb who shines in his Church. Upon entering the city John naturally looks for the temple, but none can be found. The temple is the Lord God and the Lamb, whose glory and light enlighten every corner of the city. There are no shadows, darkness or death. There is healing, water, life, light and eternal unity.

In the third part of the Creed, which is about the work of the Holy Spirit, we confess one, holy, catholic and apostolic church:
She is the one bride of Christ, surrounded by a wall or necklace of his love;
She is holy, transfigured by God’s glorious light and worshipping with angels;
She is catholic, welcoming all nationalities and peoples and
She is apostolic, built on the 12 foundations of truth.

With John we see two women, one on the knife edge of the abyss and destruction, the other shining in the Lamb’s loving light. How can this vision inspire and help us this week, in our daily life?
No doubt the volunteer, who polishes the church’s silver, the brass candlesticks and the golden crucifix, will be encouraged, knowing that the shine ultimately reflects the glorious light of God.
No doubt the young man who is seeking a partner will patiently look beyond the girl’s appearance, her bank balance and her popularity, to the character and faith within.
No doubt the Christian artist will want to remove all shadows when painting in the light of the resurrection.
No doubt the Christian businessman or woman will now endeavour to avoid deception and seek life not death when investing.
No doubt the conservationist will be encouraged when hearing about the death of destruction and the presence of the water of life and healing trees in the eternal city.

But most of all I think that humble Christians will be inspired to enter their humble church with a new vision and delight. The liturgy will become an attractive necklace, a safe, circular, containing wall; the confession a time of purification, the Old Testament readings pearly gates, the New Testament reading and Creed the foundations of the apostles, the Gospel the golden road and city. Indeed the Divine Service will assure them that they are the beautiful bride of the Lamb. Yes, you are the Lamb’s beautiful bride! The Lamb’s loving Word scans our bodies and souls, shining through them and purifying them. Holy Communion sustains our bodies and souls. Tasting an entrée of the marriage supper, we become one flesh with the crucified Lamb, the source of light.
 
 The sharper the suffering the stronger the light. The more we are stretched the more the Lamb’s love shines though our beaten bodies.
Let the church shine, for Christ is risen!
Amen!