Skip to main content

For Those Who Grieve


 John writes the book of Revelation to people who are suffering. People who are facing the hardest trial they've ever been through. People who feel their lives have become a nightmare. And he offers them a dream. A dream of the heavenly reality. The reality against which everything else must be measured. He offers them a dream. A dream of the heavenly truth. The truth to hold on to.

In Revelation 7, John sees a large crowd worshiping God. The angels, the elders, and the mysterious creatures also worship God. Then one of the elders tells John who's in the crowd:

"These people have come out of great hardship. They have washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb's blood. This is the reason they are before God's throne. They worship him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. They won't hunger or thirst anymore. No sun or scorching heat will beat down on them, because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:14b-17, Common English Bible)

So who are these people? They are the ones who have lived through terrible suffering. They are the ones who have made it through the nightmare. And the reason why their clothes are white is NOT because they lived a perfect, holy, and pure life, but because the blood of Jesus has rescued them.

The truth is, Jesus has already won the victory and those who follow him are saved. That word saved really means rescued. N.T. Wright tells us, ". . . often in the Old Testament the word seems to mean 'the victory through which rescue is won.'"

God invites them in. He welcomes them. He shelters them with his presence. What this means is, he comforts them. He protects them. And all the blessings of heaven are theirs.

The final verse of chapter 7 is beautiful: "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." There's an intimacy in this image. It's a picture of a Christ-like God, who at his core is holy love and mercy. We see who he really is is when he steps down from the throne and personally wipes away every tear from every eye.

That's not just a dream. That's the ultimate reality.  It's the reality we're invited to hold on to. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Surprised by Mercy: Advent 2

  Matthew 3:1-12 My favorite way to start a sermon is with a song.  Let’s see if you know this one, it’s a little more recent than the one I used last Sunday. “Me and all my friends / We’re all misunderstood / They say we stand for nothing and / There’s no way we ever could / Now we see everything that’s going wrong / With the world and those who lead it / We just feel like we don’t have the means / To rise above and beat it / So we keep waiting / Waiting on the world to change.” Yes, you can add John Mayer to your Advent playlist because this season is all about waiting. John Mayer isn’t the only one waiting for the world to be different. John the Baptist says, “Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!” He’s looking forward to something that has not happened yet. He’s looking forward with anticipation and excitement to the moment when God breaks onto the scene in the coming of Jesus. I remember when Rachel was pregnant with Ella, people would ask, “Are you ready?” And I would s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Advent: The First Season of the Church Year

  “Advent begins in the dark” - Fleming Rutledge Advent means arrival. This is the time of the church year where we prepare for the arrival of Jesus. Our colors are purple for the dawn of the early morning—when it’s dark and you’re waiting for the sun to rise, for God’s new day to come. ‌ Thursday was Thanksgiving, so if you watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown that’s a beautiful illustration of Advent. Linus is out in the field waiting for the Great Pumpkin. For Advent, it’s like we, as Christians, are out in the field—and everyone else thinks we’re crazy—but we’ve been given the faith to believe and know that because our Lord came once, he will come again. So, like Linus, we wait and we watch. And, surprisingly, Jesus continues to meet us until he comes in final glory. Here is the prayer for the first Sunday of Advent from The Book of Common Prayer: Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mor...
Post a Comment
Read more

Homecoming at Mt. Zion

  On October 16, 2022, I was invited to preach the Homecoming service at Mt. Zion. Mt. Zion is the church I served at from 2004 - 2007, when I was in my early twenties and a student at VSU.  Luke 18:1-8 Bob Dylan wrote it in 1973. Eric Clapton made a cover of it two years later in 1975. Even Guns N’ Roses gave it a shot in 1990. Do you know the song? It’s the one that goes “knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door.” So why do we start with that song? Because Jesus is teaching about prayer and he says, “Keep knocking. Keep asking until you get what you want.” Or , at least, that’s what the first verse makes us think this story is about. This story is a parable. A parable is an earthly story that reveals a heavenly truth. In his parables, Jesus is teaching about himself. As we read the Bible, we want to look for the things that are surprising. And this story tells us something surprising about grace. In Luke 18 , Jesus is talking to people who, like Garth Brooks, have unanswered ...
Post a Comment
Read more