Revelation 21:1-5
The book of Revelation is the account of a vision attributed to John, a disciple of Jesus. It is a testament to the promises of God, at once political and spiritual, written for people living in Roman occupation and for everyone who knows the human condition. The 22 chapters of Revelation are largely allegorical, with dragons representing evil powers and intense battles for good. It culminates in this glorious vision of restoration, a heavenly promise that all will be well. We shall know peace, peoples will be gathered together, grief, pain, and sorrow will be no more, and death will be swallowed up forever. These promises are by no means unique to the Book of Revelation. They were spoken by the prophets, like Isaiah. They are found in the words of the psalms. And they are written in the gospels.
Here is how the writer of Psalm 46 imagines the heavenly city: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within the city, it will not fall; God will help the city at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; God lifts God’s voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. God makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. God breaks the bow and shatters the spear; God burns the shields with fire.”
The powers of empire which seek to exploit and oppress are rendered useless. The human impulse towards war is finally stifled. While we are at war with one another, God is at war with war itself. For God, there is no better option than destroying the very tools of war– bows, spears, shields– bombs, guns, drones, walls. God loves us enough to say no to our efforts to destroy ourselves and one another. In the new creation, we will receive our inheritance as children of God– a world established in peace where our tears and past pains will be acknowledged and healed, and never again shall we suffer. What an impossibly beautiful world.
Plenty of people throughout the ages have imagined the possibility of world renewal. Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement here in America, such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, and Shirley Chisholm, each had their own liberatory vision of justice and an end to racist and sexist systems. In the 19th century, Karl Marx wrote his famous manifesto, rejecting the capitalist machine which preys on poor workers and envisioning another way of living equally. In part, John’s revelation was an indictment of the Roman Empire, but Christians throughout the centuries have found themselves in this book and their own Roman Empires– economic exploitation, slavery, sexual abuse, racism, homophobia. These powers reject the sacred truth that each one of us is created in the image of God and are truly God’s beloved child.
Into the midst of empire comes this vision of God’s restoration of creation. And this vision comes from the very heart of God. It is a word, a promise, for all people. It is the hope of salvation. What makes Revelation different from political ideologies and moral commitments is simply the fact the promises come from God. “These words”, Revelation reads, “Are trustworthy and true”. God renews us, God is with us, and God comforts us.
This is the hope that we share. That as we enter into each new year, we are reminded of the power of the Holy Spirit to make all things new.
Parkview is a member of the Presbyterian Church USA.
Last Updated: January 24, 2019 by Aart
Reflection December 30, 2018, New Year’s Service
by Veronica Gould
Revelation 21:1-5
The book of Revelation is the account of a vision attributed to John, a disciple of Jesus. It is a testament to the promises of God, at once political and spiritual, written for people living in Roman occupation and for everyone who knows the human condition. The 22 chapters of Revelation are largely allegorical, with dragons representing evil powers and intense battles for good. It culminates in this glorious vision of restoration, a heavenly promise that all will be well. We shall know peace, peoples will be gathered together, grief, pain, and sorrow will be no more, and death will be swallowed up forever. These promises are by no means unique to the Book of Revelation. They were spoken by the prophets, like Isaiah. They are found in the words of the psalms. And they are written in the gospels.
Here is how the writer of Psalm 46 imagines the heavenly city: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within the city, it will not fall; God will help the city at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; God lifts God’s voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. God makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. God breaks the bow and shatters the spear; God burns the shields with fire.”
The powers of empire which seek to exploit and oppress are rendered useless. The human impulse towards war is finally stifled. While we are at war with one another, God is at war with war itself. For God, there is no better option than destroying the very tools of war– bows, spears, shields– bombs, guns, drones, walls. God loves us enough to say no to our efforts to destroy ourselves and one another. In the new creation, we will receive our inheritance as children of God– a world established in peace where our tears and past pains will be acknowledged and healed, and never again shall we suffer. What an impossibly beautiful world.
Plenty of people throughout the ages have imagined the possibility of world renewal. Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement here in America, such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, and Shirley Chisholm, each had their own liberatory vision of justice and an end to racist and sexist systems. In the 19th century, Karl Marx wrote his famous manifesto, rejecting the capitalist machine which preys on poor workers and envisioning another way of living equally. In part, John’s revelation was an indictment of the Roman Empire, but Christians throughout the centuries have found themselves in this book and their own Roman Empires– economic exploitation, slavery, sexual abuse, racism, homophobia. These powers reject the sacred truth that each one of us is created in the image of God and are truly God’s beloved child.
Into the midst of empire comes this vision of God’s restoration of creation. And this vision comes from the very heart of God. It is a word, a promise, for all people. It is the hope of salvation. What makes Revelation different from political ideologies and moral commitments is simply the fact the promises come from God. “These words”, Revelation reads, “Are trustworthy and true”. God renews us, God is with us, and God comforts us.
This is the hope that we share. That as we enter into each new year, we are reminded of the power of the Holy Spirit to make all things new.
All Christians believe that the Bible is the written word of God. Some however think of the Bible as a collection of God’s own words. For some others, the Bible carries in human words, the word of God or the good news of God’s salvation. That is how I choose to read the Bible and the promises contained in it, including the passage from Revelation chosen for today.
Many read this passage literally and believe that the earth and the sky will be abolished and God will literally create a new universe. Astronomers tell us that, within living memory, several starry worlds have burnt out, and vanished out of sight, so, scientifically that isn’t impossible. However, I choose to read this passage theologically rather than literally. The verse: “And God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away,” captures the essence of this whole passage if not also of the entire book of Revelation. Here, there is a wishful longing and a desire to get rid of all the pain and mourning and crying and the worst enemy of all: death. If the book of Revelation is a book of crisis, these verses we are reflecting on and that occur at the end of the book, are life a fresh downpour after a drought.
In this verse, there is hope that one day, when we will be fully God’s and fully with God, all earthly misfortunes will perish altogether with this perishable earth. This hope of a better future is what we all try to envision every new year and at every new beginning. Last year I arrived into Sacramento, leaving behind all my loved ones, a job many dream of and decided to answer God’s call to service in a town I’ve never even heard of before. I had fear of the unknown but I also had great hopes. There is something about new things that makes them so exciting just for being new. There is an innate feeling in each of us that wants us to be sure tomorrow is going to be better and brighter.
We all want to think that in this new year, God will wipe every tear from our eyes, but we know it is against nature. And most importantly we know that as long as we exist pain will continue to exist, for humans are the number one reason for pain.
With this realization, we ought to read this verse differently: Hope will still be there, but it is a hope that you and I will wipe all tears of our sibling’s eyes, and that although death will be there but you and I will also be there to comfort the mourners and give hope to those who cry.
Yes, let us have hope that tomorrow is a better day. Let us have high hopes for this new year, but let those be realistic hopes which drive us into action so they may come true through us, not forgetting our role in being God’s hands and feet on this earth.
I said earlier that humans are the number one reason for pain, I add to it: but we are also the number one reason for happiness and restoration and hope.
We have been given a super power, and it is turning mourning -in due time- into joy. Let us use this superpower.
Verse 3 of this same passage reads: See, the home of God is among mortals. The Lord will dwell with them as their God; they will be God’s peoples, and God will be with them. At the verge of this new year, these words are a reminder that God lives and dwells with and in us in the oldness and in the newness of life’s circumstances. Thanks be to God.
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