CREATION lll

Scripture: Then I saw a new heaven and earth; for the first earth had passed away. and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband:  and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men.  He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, for the former things have passed away.

And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."  Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."  And he said to me. "It is done!  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment.  He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. Revelation 21:1-7

"All good things must come to an end." This phrase, attributed to the great 14th century English poet and storyteller Geoffrey Chaucer aptly describes where we find ourselves in scripture today. Today, we are at the end of the circle of life, and Scripture is finding a way to wrap up the story, to find an appropriate ending.

The Book of Revelation used to intimidate me. I think it's because I didn't really understand it, and I didn't want to. I was in college when the first book in the Left Behind series was published, and being at a Christian College, I had friends who were reading it. I'm not sure my own Christian formation had ever included this book at the end of the Bible. All I knew was that it was the end of the Bible, I believed it was the foretelling of things to come, and I was intimidated and scared of it. Since that time, I've come to understand it more, through study and prayer and classroom. John's vision, or Revelation, on the Island of Patmos was the focus of the 2010-2011 Presbyterian Women's Study Book.

It's a vision of the end times.

The circle of life.

"All good things must come to an end."

Believe it or not, John's vision is a vision of hope to the Christian community in diaspora. It is a vision written and sent to seven churches in seven communities. Seven communities who are uncertain about how this will all end - when will Jesus return? Their faith is challenged to believe he will return at all, as time marches on, and they become more and more comfortable in their new communities. As they encounter different religions, different Gods, including money, materialism, and consumerism. And so, yes, Revelation is a message of hope to those who are growing hopeless, as well as a challenge to our complacency with the world as it is.

God created the world and called it good. This is how the Bible begins. God brings order out of chaos, breathes "ruach," life", into the world, desires to be in relationship with us, and we have messed it up. Sin, evil, selfishness, pride, call it what you want, but there are forces that have kept the world from being as God originally created it. Even Psalm 104, the beautiful and vivid retelling of creation, a Psalm of praise for all that God made, includes a few verses to remind us that creation is not as intended. In our country, conversations about racism, immigration, the economy, health care, education, and mental health bring about rhetoric that is inflammatory. I'm sorry to say that this election year has left all of us unsettled with its unsatisfactory solutions to our problems. In 1970, Joni Mitchell drew our attention to what happened when we paved paradise and put up a parking lot. But we still do it! Progress is domination! New is always better! Isn't it?

Unfortunately, many of us believe that is true. Our society tells us that the end of this circle of life means admitting defeat, admitting death. And so we strive to be like God. Underneath all of this is the fear that German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was right when he asserted that God is dead, and we have killed him. We have chosen to live in desperation instead of hope; chaos instead of faithfulness.

Dear friends, this message from Revelation is for us! We are the church in diaspora! This message challenges us to see the world the way it should be, the way it was created to be. It challenges us to see the good in others and in nature. It challenges us to be a people that cries out against injustice and oppression. It calls us to be a people that points to the presence of God among us. This passage challenges us.

And it gives us hope. "Christians are not called to escape into this new world but rather to partner with God in ways that will allow the power of God and the Lamb be experienced in this world. That is the reason why God comes down into the world to dwell with his people and that coming down is basically the New Jerusalem that comes out of heaven. In other words, Revelation does not rely on the notion of eternal life and John does not deny it either but what he believes is that this New Jerusalem begins in the present moment and every human being must experience its joy and goodness in the present moment.... It is a world where zip codes do not divide people but that all God's people have access to every area, including access to health care, education, transportation, housing, worship, and authentic life (Genesis 1-2)."

We end, then, at the beginning. I've never really thought about it that way before, not until I was reading and preparing for this sermon. But it's a thought and an insight that has changed the way I understand God, and God's relationship with me, and my relationship with you. In the beginning, God created the world, and declared it good. In the end, God re-creates the world, and it will be only good. Evil, uncertainly, violence, pride, sin, faithlessness, desperation, unbelief, it will all come to an end. In the beginning, God brought order out of the chaos. In the end, God will bring life out of the chaos.

I'd like to close this with a poem from Rick Fry, Lutheran Pastor and blogger:

It ends where it all began.

There will be a time when we make it through the darkest valleys

of cooking appliance bombs, bubble-bursting economies, bone-chilling diagnoses,

our own personal failures, dead-ends, loneliness and fears.

We will make our way through the shadows towards the shimmering river of life,

leading to the primordial garden,

where we will be healed by the leaves

and the sweet grainy fruit of the tree of life.

We will no longer turn our faces towards the wall in order to hide our shame.

Rather the Lamb will lead us to the New Jerusalem.

The gates will be open wide.

In thanksgiving we will enter.

No more hatred, envy, or fear.

God will be present among all the wandering people of the nations.

We will find ourselves streaming into this strange city

along with the peoples of different cultures,

peoples of times past and future.

We walk by a faint glimmer of light now,

yet it grows more defined as the glory of God halos the city skyline,

welcoming us home.

Creation III; September 25, 2016; Eastridge Presbyterian Church; Rev. Melodie Jones Pointon