5.8.22 Revelation 7:13–17
13 One of the elders spoke to me and said, “These people dressed in white robes, who are they and where did they come from?” And I answered him, “Sir, you know.” 14 And he said to me: These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Because of this they are in front of the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 They will never be hungry or thirsty ever again. The sun will never beat upon them, nor will any scorching heat, 17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Forget About the Mud Pies. Think of the Holiday at the Sea
In preparing the sermon for this Sunday, you would think that this would be the easiest and most pleasant thing to preach on. It’s a beautiful vision of heaven. No more tears. No more sun beating down on us. No more hunger or thirst.
Yet I fear that it might meet with a yawn from many of us, because it describes the blessings of heaven with things we’ve been spoiled with throughout our entire lives here on earth. Who of us has ever really felt hunger? Who of us can’t just turn on an air conditioner when we are warm? So “no more hunger and no more thirst” might not seem all that great. It’s hard to think about “no more thirst.” We get excited about the newest drink that we’ve tried and love the many different flavors we can try out. We like thirsting for it. We go to the latest restaurant and order a wide variety of dishes. We like hunger, and then we manage to complain if the food is a little bit late in coming or the meat isn’t cooked quite right. (And isn’t that a sign of sin, that we can manage to COMPLAIN about the service or the food when we’re being served and fed meals that kings wouldn’t have imagined getting years ago?) So when we hear a text like this? What’s the temptation? “That’s nice. Next?” Think about that for a minute, to yawn at such a promise. Shame on us for the way we live in such riches on EARTH and yet still find reasons to complain in the midst of such blessings. “I was expecting more from that restaurant. The potatoes were good, but the meat was a bit dry.” Oh, how spoiled we are and unthankful!
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. We thank God for pasturing us through life and feeding and taking care of us. If you look back at the landscape of Israel, it wasn’t this green wonderland like we have in America. It is full of rocky terrain. The shepherd would have to walk the sheep around throughout the area from one spot to another in order to find just a little bit of water and vegetation, and then go to the next spot. They often didn't stay in one spot.
It may not seem like it at times, but the setting of Israel is a proper reflection of the world we live in, and this is becoming more and more evident to us as time goes on. Revelation 6 describes this world as having gone through war, famine, pestilence, and persecution.
Pestilence? We witnessed a little bit of pestilence with covid in the past years, although the Black Plague was much worse. There are rumors of more diseases that may be released in the near future which might be much worse.
Famine? You’re starting to see shelves in grocery stores become more barren and prices going up, along with gas prices as well. You also hear from farmers, how with the drought and the increased price of fertilizer, more and more of them are opting out of planting crops. Could starvation be on the horizon even for us in America?
War? You see vivid pictures of war and death in Russia. WW 3 is being rumored. And we are becoming more and more at war within ourselves over social issues. Discovery Plus now has a show called “Generation Drag” with children who cross dress. Crime is on the rise. More and more people are buying guns. It’s starting to become like the wild wild west in some aspects.
Persecution? All of our missionaries had to leave from China and Russia. Preachers who condemn homosexuality have been arrested in Canada. More Christians have been reported to have been put to death in the last 100 years than in the 2000 years combined! We just don’t hear about it as we should.
I remember seeing pictures of how dirty everything was in the 1930’s. Think of movies like Mad Max where everything devolved. It seems like life is getting more and more like that. Humanism likes to proclaim that we are getting better with all of our technologies that seem to make life easier, but it’s only getting worse. It’s a paradox of sorts. Even though we have more technological advances and have people flying in space for fun, down below here you also see drug problems, mental health, homelessness and violence getting worse and worse.
Now it’s starting to hit closer to home. One of our members was said to be left unshaved and uncared for while he had covid in a hospital even, while another one fell on the ground and was left there for hours before he was picked up from the floor. It’s hard to find genuine love and compassion in our world, the godly type of love, even in places where you pay exorbitant amounts for them to take care of you.
I hope that maybe this backdrop of living in a dark world will make you appreciate all the more this beautiful vision from John. “These people dressed in white robes, who are they and where did they come from?” And I answered him, “Sir, you know.” 14 And he said to me: These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” In the first verses of this chapter John mentions that there are people from every language and tribe and nation, all together and praising God as one. God isn’t racist. Even though He chose to come through the Jews, He didn’t only come for the Jews. Jesus died for the sins of the world. In a world that is still divided by race and stereotyped by it, this is a beautiful vision. John notices it and loves the racial diversity, but he doesn’t obsess over it.
What’s the next thing John mentions a second time in these verses? This is important. It is the white robes. Coming from a dirty world and contaminated with sin, these people aren’t all dirty and filthy. They don’t roll around in the mud and glory in it. They’re clean as can be, pure white. And how did their robes get white? In the blood of the Lamb! It’s an ironic thing, right? If you get blood on your white stained shirt, you have a hard time getting the blood out. It stains things badly. But in this case, the blood of the Lamb makes the clothing white.
Blood is constantly mentioned through the Bible. When God ratified the Old Covenant of the Law with the Israelites, He had blood from an animal sprinkled on the people. He put blood on the priests when they were consecrated into office. He told the people not to drink the blood, because the life was in the blood. The shedding of blood was necessary to placate the wrath of God over sin. Blood was precious because it was associated with the life that was shed and given to God as a sacrifice. All of that foreshadowed the blood of THE LAMB - Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, God in the flesh, who John wrote “takes away the sin of the world.” So when Jesus dies on the cross, you could envision it as if Jesus provides this huge pool of blood for people to bathe in and be cleansed through His death. Baptism then takes us into the pool and bathes us with Jesus. But instead of coming out dead, we come out alive and pure, just as Jesus came out from death alive.
And another part to the picture is that we are wearing robes. Robes tend to cover more of the body than shirts or pants. Clothing is generally used to cover up blemishes in people and hide the spots that they are ashamed of. You might wear a hat if you’re balding. You might wear looser clothing if you are ashamed of some extra weight that you have. If you had terrible scars on your back, most people wouldn’t know it here because of your clothes.
Here we wear a robe, a beautiful white robe, that covers us completely. The robe is what makes all the people from the different tribes and backgrounds look the same in John’s eyes. It’s what makes them so attractive. One isn’t wearing a nicer suit than another. One isn’t better than the next. They are all holy because they are all wearing the same robes, bathed in Jesus’ blood. That’s you too, no matter what kind of shape you’re in or how dirty you’ve been. That’s how God envisions all believers in Christ when they are in heaven. Paul describes it like this in Ephesians 5,
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Isn’t this just a wonderful thing to think about when all you see are your own blemishes and sins or when someone else wants you to wallow in your guilt? You are covered through faith in your baptism, holy and blameless in Jesus.
What are the results of this for people in heaven? John makes a list of 10 things that we receive, Because of this (the blood of the Lamb)
1. they are in front of the throne of God,
2. and they serve him day and night in his temple.
3. He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
4. They will never be hungry
5. or thirsty ever again.
6. The sun will never beat upon them,
7. nor will any scorching heat,
8. for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd.
9. He will lead them to springs of living water.
10. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Ten is the number of completeness. It means that we receive complete release from all evil and a complete fullness of joy, in endless joy that will never end day or night.
Mark Twain once made fun of the concept of heaven. He said that when he got to heaven he sat and played a song for a while and sang, but then he got sick of it after an hour or two. In other words, he said that heaven will be boring. But that’s not all that heaven involves. John says that those who are in heaven SERVE him day and night. That doesn’t only include worship, but all of our daily routines to the glory of God.
Who knows what kind of service we will be doing in heaven? But can you imagine serving right in the presence of Jesus? Most of you have probably worked for pretty bad bosses who made your life miserable. I remember working at Burger King as my first job. I was in a pretty good mood, and my boss purposely said something rude to me and even said that he did it to ruin my day. I had another job at a furniture store with the grumpiest man I think I’ve ever met who was just full of anger. I didn’t like working there because of him. You’ve probably worked for worse.
But then I think of the book of Esther, where Boaz would greet his workers every morning with “The LORD bless you,” and they would return the words. Imagine then working in Jesus’ kingdom, where it is FUN and ENJOYABLE to serve Him day and night. You’ve maybe been around people who make you feel ALIVE when you’re with them? They are full of life and vigor. They bring a smile to your face. Think of the laughter of a toddler, for instance. We have a girl in kindergarten that almost always shouts my name out and gives me a hug when she sees me. It’s a joy to be around her and makes me happy to go to school. Now imagine being around Jesus and working for Him. Imagine writing songs, building buildings, sitting in class, and doing whatever the LORD puts you to work to do. It will be nothing but pure joy in a land without thorns and thistles, and without death. If the mosquitos bite, it will feel good. If we stop for a drink, it will be out of pure enjoyment. If we eat something, it will be merely for taste. And nothing will be bad for you. It will all be perfect.
One final thing I want you to think about. It’s that last verse. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. When you cry in front of someone, you become embarrassed. You might hide your face. You wipe your tears, go in the bathroom, blow your nose, and try to compose yourself. It’s embarrassing, and we don’t like to stare. But what does Jesus do for those who have made it through this dark and sad world? He comes to us, looks us in the eye, smiles, and personally wipes the tears from our eyes. What an endearing picture of a passionate God who knows what we’ve been through and rescued us. I love it. I can look forward to that, and so can you, all because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. John’s vision wants us to look forward to this time - to yearn for it.
Family Man is an interesting movie starring Nicolas Cage, who is a successful businessman and a playboy. He thinks he has it all. But then he is given a glimpse of what life would have been like had he gotten married. He realizes with that glimpse how great life could have been, and makes him want it. John gives us a glimpse of what life will be, so that we will want it all the more.
C.S. Lewis had a quote that stuck with me, in talking about how we are too easily distracted and enamored with the beauties of this world. He wrote, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Through faith in Jesus, through your baptism, you have eternity to look forward to in heaven. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “Forget About the Mud Pies. Think of the Holiday at the Sea.”
