"No More Sea"
Revelation 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-5
He was just a little fellow.
His mother died when he was just a child.
His father, in trying to be both mommy and daddy, had planned a picnic.
The little boy had never been on a picnic, so they made their plans, fixed the lunch, and packed the car.
Then it was time to go to bed, because the picnic was the next day.
The little boy just couldn't sleep.
He tossed and he turned, but the excitement got to him.
Finally, he got out of bed, ran into the room where his father had already fallen asleep, and shook him.
His father woke up and saw his son.
He said to him, "What are you doing up?
What's the matter?'
The boy said, 'I can't sleep.'
The father asked, 'Why can't you sleep?'
In answering, the boy said, 'Daddy, I'm excited about tomorrow.'
His father replied, 'Well, son, I'm sure you are, and it's going to be a great day, but it won't be great if we don't get some sleep.
So why don't you just run down the hall, get back in bed, and get a good night's rest.'"
So the boy trudged off down the hall to his room and got in bed.
It wasn't long, though, before the boy was back pushing and nudging his father.
The father asked, 'What's the matter now?'
The boy said, 'Daddy, I just want to thank you for tomorrow.'"
Our Scripture Lesson for this morning, from Revelation, gives us reason and opportunity to thank God for "tomorrow" or "what is to come," and to especially thank God for our place in God's Kingdom which comes to us by grace through faith in the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Because at the center of these passages and at the center of the Bible is Jesus Christ--His life, suffering, death and resurrection, and promised return in glory.
Everything points to this.
This is what makes the destiny of the entire universe turn!!!
Just think, if it weren't for God's gracious Word and God's self-giving love, we could never know these things on our own--since our minds are so deeply entrenched and colored by the world's heart-breaking news.
Is there news that is especially bothering you this morning?
What are you going through?
Is there pain in your heart that is nearly unmanageable?
Has someone hurt you deeply?
Are you suffering from an illness, a disease?
Do you have a daily battle with depression and anxiety?
Are you so disgusted by the continuing occurrences of hate-filled acts that you are feeling a bit hopeless?
Does life seem so chaotic and dangerous that you can hardly stand?
We know all too well the reality of tears, pain, sadness, darkness, suffering, and death.
But wait, the vision given us in today's lesson reveals the true end or goal of life, the destiny of creation that has been taken up in the life of Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord.
As we get to the end of Revelation, we find that the opposition to the Lamb has been crushed.
The dragon, along with the beast and the false prophet, have been cast into the lake of fire.
And, as John proclaims, "God's dwelling is here with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples."
This is the first and most important detail of what is to come.
Heaven is the place where God is and where we humans are fully united with God.
John goes on to describe a holy city.
And he describes this particular city by noting what is not in it.
Notice in verse 1 of Chapter 21: "the sea was no more."
Now, what in the world is that supposed to mean?
We love the sea.
The ocean or the beach is where many of us vacation--with the sun and the surf...
...but there is also something else about the sea...
The sea is a powerful biblical symbol for chaos.
The sea also represents what separates humans from one another.
In Genesis and other places in the Old Testament, the sea is a place of primordial danger, out of which evil continually threatens to undo the goodness of God's creation.
And all of us have been witnesses to terrible danger, terrible chaos across our nation and our world.
From tsunamis to earthquakes to hurricanes and terrorist attacks--we live in the midst of dark, dangerous and choppy waters.
Before Chapter 21, the "sea" in Revelation has been a place of the intense struggle between God and Satan.
It is, for example, the place where the beasts of Chapter 13 emerge.
But God is not a God of Chaos.
God is a God of peace, beauty and love.
We are told in Genesis Chapter 1: "When God began to create the heavens and the earth--the earth was without shape or form, it was dark over the deep sea..."
But we are also told that "the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."
God was there the whole time; God is the beginning.
And God will not allow chaos to run rampant forever.
And "God said, 'Let there be light.'"
And God created the world, humans, the heavens and the earth--and God looked and saw that it was all "good."
It has been said, "it is common for us to assume that the beginning was good, and we agree that the conclusion will be good.
And this would seem to seem to say that everything in between the beginning and the end is also good, but we know this is not the case."
Again, there is sin, tears, death, mourning, pain, chaos--the sea!!!
But this is not the final word!!!
Through and because of the atonement brought about by the death of Jesus Christ for our sins, and our new lives that flow from believing in Christ and allowing Him to be the Lord of our lives we see the vision of the new creation unfold in Revelation as the distinction between heaven and earth just simply falls away.
Heaven quit literally descends to earth--radically making all things new!!!
And all life is restored to God's original plan.
We are told in Chapter 21:4 that once Creation is restored, "Death will be no more."
And this reminds us that death is something that was never intended by God.
It is, rather, a result of our sin, our rebellion--the introduction of evil which has broken up, disturbed and blurred the otherwise good Creation of God.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:26 that "Death is the last enemy to be brought to an end."
And so Jesus declares in Revelation 21:6, "All is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end."
And then John tells us that an angel said, "I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God."
And John tells us that he was shown the middle of the city's main street, and that "On each side of the river is the tree of life..."
...and "there will no longer be any curse."
Recall, in Genesis, that after Adam and Eve ate from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were no longer able to "stretch out" their hands and "take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever."
And Adam and Eve and the rest of Creation were sent out of the garden of Eden...
...but first, God "made the man and his wife leather clothes and dressed them."
Which was a foreshadowing of God's continual love for sinful humankind, His provision to cover our shame, which points to the Ultimate culmination and covering found in Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior, Sacrificial Lamb!!!
"While we were still sinners Christ died for us."
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
There is no better reason to celebrate; there is no better reason to worship, and there is no better reason to share this greatest of all good news!!!
That's right we; meaning you and me play an important role in the process of God bringing about the New Heaven and the New Earth.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul tells us, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
And as those who have been reconciled to God, God has given us, you and me, "the ministry of reconciliation...And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
We are therefore, Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."
Have you ever thought of yourself as an ambassador?
An ambassador is an accredited diplomat who is sent as an official representative.
God is sending you and I as representatives of Him and His Kingdom--out into a world of chaos, darkness, sin, pain and unbelief.
And the message Paul tells us to put forward is this: "We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
People in this world need hope and salvation from sin, death and hell.
Our neighbors are starving for the love of God.
An idea and desire put forth by some of you is that, beginning in September, we try having a spaghetti dinner at least one evening out of each month where we invite those in our neighborhood to come and share in a meal with us.
After the meal we would have, of course, Adult Bible study and also Christ centered activities for children.
Is this something you could see yourself involved in?
Would you say this is the work of an ambassador?
Every Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. we come together in the Joy Classroom to discuss these ideas.
Perhaps you would like to join us in the future for these Servant Evangelism Meetings.
If you don't feel that you would like to teach, certainly you can help cook, or shop, clean up or get the word out--inviting folks to come and see that the Lord is good; and thus be "imploring folks on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God."
This is the only hope for this world, and the only hope for the people God loves.
Once, we were all lost and headed to hell.
Those of us who have been saved by such amazing grace have a great responsibility and privilege to share the Good News of Christ's salvation with all.
The Bible informs us that the pain which comes with this life is shared by God Who was mortally wounded for our transgressions.
And Revelation also reminds us that when God's Word is spoken over this deeply troubled and chaotic creation evil is banished, hope is restored, and all things are made new.
You and I have a part to play in this speaking of God's Word both through what we say and what we do.
Our Scripture Lesson for this morning promises that no matter what trouble and turmoil we face there will be a new day when we live face to face with God as, none other than the Bride of Christ.
God will dwell with us, and we will be God's people.
God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
Death will be no more.
There will be no more crying, or pain anymore...
...There will no longer be "any curse..."
And about the city in which we shall live: "The throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads."
Like the young boy in the story, I want to thank God for tomorrow.
And I want all people to share in this excitement, anticipation and joy!!!
