20/02/2022
(Sermon on Revelation 4, given at St Thomas Church, 9 am, 20/2/22)
Back in the day, I once had a summer holiday job at Gleneagles Hotel, where I worked in the kitchens. I arrived at the hotel when it was transitioning from having been the setting for the Commonwealth Conference, where it was quite common to see heads of state roaming the corridors, to being the venue for a pro-celebrity golf tournament that was being broadcast on TV.
As you looked around the hotel and its grounds there was evidence of what had happened in the past, and signs of what was about to happen in the future. And it could be quite confusing. You had visible evidence of their having been a high level political event overlapping with preparations for a big sporting occasion. Conversations among the hotel staff included memories of their interactions with the politicos, as well as reports of sighting people like James Hunt the driver and Bruce Forsyth, who were there for the tournament. Being in the hotel at the time, was to be in a place where the past and the future were making their impact on the present.
And that is where we are in Chapter 4 of Revelation, John is given a vision of the throne room of heaven; this, he is told, will be the setting in which he will receive revelations about the future; what he hears and see in this throne room also remind him and his readers of the immediate past; Chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5 describe the strange and paradoxical Easter victory of Jesus over the powers and principalities that oppose the reign of God; John hears angels speak of the ruling Lion but he sees a sacrificed Lamb and knows they are one and the same person.
And all of this is in vivid and symbolic language that can leave us wondering where on earth we are. And that’s exactly the right question: where on earth are we? More widely, when on earth are we? Because the vision of the throne room of heaven gives us a context and an explanation of what Easter has accomplished, why the world looks as it does right now, and where the world is going in the plan and the purposes of God.
Our task is both to decode and decide; to decode the message and to decide to live our lives in its light.
Of course, it will take the rest of Revelation to set out that message in its entirety, but Rev 4 sets the scene by giving us the big picture of how it is that earth and heaven currently overlap and intersect. And it’s the big picture we’re going to look at this morning. Because the big picture helps us make sense of who we are, where we are going, and what we should be doing in the meantime.
And at the heart of the vision of the big picture is ‘heaven’: what it is, where it is, and what is going on within its boundaries.
Ask the ordinary person in the street what they think is meant by heaven, and you will get a variety of answers which nevertheless will have a common thread. First, heaven is somewhere else, somewhere remote, somewhere ‘up there’. Second, as well as being far away, heaven has nothing to do with ‘here’. It is the place where everything is perfect, where everybody is happy and where this life and this world are behind us. And third, heaven is our ultimate home; it’s where we are headed. What the entrance requirements are is another question, but ‘heaven’ in definitely our final destination.
That may be the common understanding of what heaven is all about, but it’s not the picture of heaven we find in the Bible, not least in the book of Revelation. Our passage starts us off in understanding what heaven really is, and the chapters which follow flesh it out. But what is crucial to us today is that the Biblical teaching about heaven has a direct impact on what it means to follow Jesus on earth.
So the first thing to take on board is the heaven isn’t a distant, for off place that has little to do with earth. In the Bible, heaven is as much part of God’s creation as earth; heaven overlaps and intersects with earth so that what is happening in heaven is echoed on earth and what is true of heaven is also true of earth.
And what is true of heaven is that God is in charge; that God’s rule is unshakeable and absolute and nothing, in heaven or earth, can unseat him from his rightful place at the centre of all things. This is brought out in our passage in the vision of the throne surrounded by the four living beings and the twenty four elders all of whom are worshipping the living God. In the imagery of Revelation the creatures and the elders represent the human and non human creation. As the vision unfolds we will find that the one seated on the throne is called the ruling Lion and the sacrificed Lamb; in other words, Jesus. In heaven, there is no doubt that Jesus is God, that Jesus is in the centre of all things, and that the worship of all creation human and non human is made possible and is inspired by his death on the cross. So what is believed to be Jesus’ failure on earth is in fact his great victory in heaven, making possible the renewal of all Creation and the restoration of humanity’s purpose in the plan of God.
It’s not so clear on earth, but it is nonetheless the truth of the way things are. This is the first thing for us to take on board from this profoundly spectacular vision at the beginning of Revelation: that in spite of the way the world seems to us, the truth is God is in charge; that God’s plans are in play; and that they are succeeding and will be fulfilled precisely through and because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
In fact, you see this perspective throughout the rest of the NT. You find Paul, writing about God’s victory and the coming of the kingdom, even when he is in prison facing death; we find God’s people, chucked out of Jerusalem following the martyrdom of Stephen, telling people the good news of Jesus and what his death and resurrection have accomplished.
The lesson for us, as we meditate on the revelation of Revelation, is to stand firm, keep the faith, and not give in to fears. What is true of heaven is true in earth; so our faithful following and witness to Jesus is not undermined by the evil we see and experience around us. We must not allow our experience of earth to rob us of our vision of heaven; Jesus is Lord; and we can live in the light of this truth.
The second thing to grasp is that heaven is not paradise. In heaven, right now, the spiritual battle continues as the victory of Christ is implemented in all Creation. In fact, if we want to understand what’s happening on earth, we need the vision of heaven that teaches us just how the powers and principalities that oppose the rule of Christ are seeking to overturn his victory, and how and why it is that they will eventually fail.
At this point I need to return to my experience at Gleneagles hotel. While I was there, I could see evidences of both the past and the future, and in doing so, could make sense of my present. That’s how Revelation works: it helps us as believers to make sense of where we are, what’s going on and how we are to respond. It gives us an insight into our spiritual past, namely the victory of Easter, a vision of our spiritual future, where we are going and how we will get there, and in the light of our past and our future, an insight into our present reality and how we should live in it.
And our present reality is that we on earth are caught up in the spiritual battle that is being fought in heaven; and I mean in heaven; this is brought out in our present chapter by the presence of the crystal sea in front of the throne; as is clear from elsewhere in Scripture the sea represents chaos and un-order; it represents both the untamed creation that God is going to bring under his wise rule and the powers and principalities that resist his rule and are fighting back against the victory of Jesus. So it is significant that, when we fast forward to the end of Revelation and its description of the completed creation, where evil, sin and death are finally defeated, we are told, there was no more sea.
So heaven is not paradise; it is not our final destination. Our final destination is the united kingdom of heaven and earth, the renewed creation where we will be restored to our creational purpose of looking after and enjoying all that God has made.
It is the revelation of heaven as the place of celestial conflict which has its counterpart in the spiritual warfare of earth, coupled with the revelation of the completed victory of Jesus being expressed and experienced in heaven and earth joined, that requires us to engage in those issues that far too many Christians dismiss as somehow not being part of the Gospel. Climate change; social justice; feminism; child exploitation; economic reform; the mistreatment of the third world; racism and ethno-centrism. All of these issues and more are the expressions on earth of the spiritual battle in heaven, and engagement in these issues, by us in what ever ways we can, is part of the implementation of Jesus’ kingdom victory, that will have its consummation and celebration in the final and forever revelation of the united kingdom of heaven and earth, when the dwelling place of God will be amongst the human race. Here. On earth. In creation.
I find it rather ironic that Revelation is the book of the NT that most Christians avoid, because we think it too difficult to understand, and too other worldly to be of much use to day to day living. Well, yes, it is difficult to understand, especially if we simply sit down and try to read it without any guidance and support. And yes, Revelation has been hijacked by some who try to read it as if it were a crystal ball revealing specific details of the present or the future.
But if we do seek guidance and support in understanding Revelation’s imagery and if we stop treating it as a crystal ball and instead realise that it’s a compass, designed to help us chart our course through the world we currently live in, we will find Revelation immensely helpful, encouraging and comforting. Because of all the books of the Bible, it tells most clearly how it’s all going to end. And knowing the ending, we are able to live out our faith story, chart our Christian path and exercise our discipleship confidently, powerfully and fruitfully. So that the praise of heaven may be heard on earth. Amen.
