My Redeemer Lives
Sermon
Living In Hope
Cycle C Sermons for Lent and Easter Based on the Second Lessons
We continue in our Easter season to celebrate and reflect on John’s vision of heaven. As we mentioned last week, John was exiled on Patmos, having a vision of the throne of God and the eschatological and apocalyptic battles yet to come. Eschatology focuses on death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and human beings. Apocalyptic visions are those of the complete destruction and end of the world. Much of the book of Revelation is difficult to understand and interpret, but there is wonder in this text.
Let us provide some context for this morning’s reading. Imagine the vision John is having of the throne of God. The door to heaven is opened to John and he can see the magnificence of the throne of God. But there is even more to be revealed. Surrounding this throne are 24 other thrones on which are seated 24 elders, dressed as priests. Rather than quiet reverence, John experienced lightning and thunder. Everything quiverered and shook in the presence of the throne of God. John’s vision continued to expand to see even more. There were four living creatures, each with six wings and covered with eyes. They mostly resembled a lion, a human, an eagle, and a human. They were continuously praising God. As they sang, the elders bowed before the throne. All bowed in honor of God simultaneously. John’s vision expanded even further to include the right hand of God, which held a scroll with seven seals. Then there appeared the figure of the lamb, clearly having been slaughtered with seven eyes and seven horns. Those in the court paid the lamb homage as they had previously paid homage to God. They sang of their confidence in the lamb and the lamb’s ability to open the seals of the scroll. At this point we begin our text for the day.
The heavenly court, those whom John has already seen, sang their praise to the lamb who had been slain. Yet, the chorus of their voices was joined by still more voices. Every voice in heaven and on earth sang its praise and honor to the lamb. All were centering their attention and praise on the lamb. They knew, as John and we soon would, that the lamb can and will break open the seven seals (chapter 6).
I do not know about you, but this imagery overwhelms me. The vastness of this vision, the oddity of the creatures, the ever-widening circle of those singing praise, these are beyond imagining. I am not sure where I would look first, what I would see and hear.
Have you ever seen something so beautiful that it almost hurt to look at it ― the vision brought tears to your eyes? This has happened to me a few times. Of course, I have not had a vision of God enthroned in heaven, but I have seen some wonderful natural sights. Standing at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, my breath caught in my throat. Even though I hate heights and could not convince myself to hike down the trail, I looked out and down into the canyon and the most wonderful rock formations and rapids in the Colorado River. The sheer breadth and depth of the canyon was amazing to me. Tears came to my eyes as I looked at this wonder of nature.
When I was in India in 2020, I was able to see the Taj Mahal, truly a wonder of the world. The marble, the individual placement of gems and stones, the dome, all these were breathtaking. My breath caught as I walked into this ancient structure, begun in 1632 and completed in 1653, built to honor and immortalize Shah Jahan’s third wife. The structure clearly is wonderful and awe-inspiring.
Yet, nothing in my human experience is at all like the spiritual experience John is describing, the experience of seeing God, Jesus, the elders, the creatures in the heavenly realm. Why this reading on this Sunday in this Easter season? Perhaps it is because it aligns well with the gospel from John.
In the gospel lesson, the disciples, after seeing the risen Christ, have gone back to fishing. It is as if they have not really seen the risen Christ, as if they do not understand the magnificence of the resurrection. John’s vision of heaven surely provides a counterpoint to their lack of enthusiasm or understanding of what they have seen and experienced.
We take Easter for granted as well. For many of us, Easter is just a day, surely it is a day to celebrate in worship, to receive communion, to shout the praise that Christ is risen! Yet, by Easter Monday most of us have gone back to our routines, just as the disciples do. Has the resurrection meant so little to us? Or is it that the concept is so excessively big that we cannot begin to comprehend it?
Easter is a season, my friends. Resurrection is a promise that continues to live on throughout the hours, days, years, millennia since that first Easter morning. We, the faithful, those who carry the love of God and the light of Christ within us, live into that resurrection, that hope of resurrection every single day ― or, we should.
Sustaining awe and wonder is difficult. It is hard for us to know and feel the joy of the resurrection moment every single day. Awe is challenging for us to cling to. Maybe it is less important to hang on to awe, than it is to live in the hope that we have been given through the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Maybe the hope is enough.
Do you live in hope? Where do you find hope? The Easter season sets Christians apart from other faith communities. We truly are Easter people. It is Easter that is the foundation of our faith. The resurrection of Jesus is foundational not just to our theology, but to celebration of the life we live and look forward to. How often do you think about our resurrection faith, the hope of that resurrection guaranteed by the sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus?
I do not know about you, but I do not think about resurrection every day. Surely, I know it is my hope and my future at the end of my human existence. Yet, I do not meditate on it, pray about it, think about it very often. It is like the warranty on my car. I know if something on the car stops working, I can take it in to get it fixed and the warranty or the extended warranty will cover the expense. My belief in the resurrection is a little like that. I know that Jesus lives in me. I know I put my faith in God through Christ at the center of my life. I know I try to live a life worthy of God’s love, living in God’s righteousness every day. I know it so well that I count on it. I do not have to think about it every moment or even every day. I can go about living my life and count on God to be with me.
Yet, occasionally, it is good to stop and reflect on the gift and the sacrifice that gave that gift. That is what the season of Lent was all about ― a time to reflect on the ministry of Jesus, to focus on how Jesus lived and calls us to live, how Jesus sacrificed and calls us to sacrifice, how Jesus died, was raised, and ultimately how I too will die and be resurrected. The Easter season is the time to remember and to celebrate the resurrection.
When I visited Israel & Palestine, I traveled to many of the places mentioned in scripture. There is some disagreement about where, the exact location where Jesus was crucified and where he was entombed. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is said to be one of the possible locations for the tomb of Jesus. You can reach down through the foundation and touch the stones of the possible tomb. The other possible site is managed by the Episcopal Church and is called the Garden Tomb. Having toured both, I do not know which is more likely the site. And that is less important. As the docent at the Garden Tomb told us after we had been able to walk into the tomb and look around, “There is some disagreement as to which location is the actual tomb of Jesus, but it doesn’t really matter. The tomb is empty. My redeemer lives.”
Yes, friends, our redeemer lives. John’s vision of heaven includes God enthroned, priestly elders, creatures, and the lamb who was slain ― the Christ, Jesus. It is Jesus who opened the gates of heaven for us. It is our task to live in the hope of that redemption and to offer the gift of that redemption, through our faith, to others. Live in awe if you can, but certainly live in faith, live in hope, live in love, live in celebration of the Easter gift we have been given. Amen.
Let us provide some context for this morning’s reading. Imagine the vision John is having of the throne of God. The door to heaven is opened to John and he can see the magnificence of the throne of God. But there is even more to be revealed. Surrounding this throne are 24 other thrones on which are seated 24 elders, dressed as priests. Rather than quiet reverence, John experienced lightning and thunder. Everything quiverered and shook in the presence of the throne of God. John’s vision continued to expand to see even more. There were four living creatures, each with six wings and covered with eyes. They mostly resembled a lion, a human, an eagle, and a human. They were continuously praising God. As they sang, the elders bowed before the throne. All bowed in honor of God simultaneously. John’s vision expanded even further to include the right hand of God, which held a scroll with seven seals. Then there appeared the figure of the lamb, clearly having been slaughtered with seven eyes and seven horns. Those in the court paid the lamb homage as they had previously paid homage to God. They sang of their confidence in the lamb and the lamb’s ability to open the seals of the scroll. At this point we begin our text for the day.
The heavenly court, those whom John has already seen, sang their praise to the lamb who had been slain. Yet, the chorus of their voices was joined by still more voices. Every voice in heaven and on earth sang its praise and honor to the lamb. All were centering their attention and praise on the lamb. They knew, as John and we soon would, that the lamb can and will break open the seven seals (chapter 6).
I do not know about you, but this imagery overwhelms me. The vastness of this vision, the oddity of the creatures, the ever-widening circle of those singing praise, these are beyond imagining. I am not sure where I would look first, what I would see and hear.
Have you ever seen something so beautiful that it almost hurt to look at it ― the vision brought tears to your eyes? This has happened to me a few times. Of course, I have not had a vision of God enthroned in heaven, but I have seen some wonderful natural sights. Standing at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, my breath caught in my throat. Even though I hate heights and could not convince myself to hike down the trail, I looked out and down into the canyon and the most wonderful rock formations and rapids in the Colorado River. The sheer breadth and depth of the canyon was amazing to me. Tears came to my eyes as I looked at this wonder of nature.
When I was in India in 2020, I was able to see the Taj Mahal, truly a wonder of the world. The marble, the individual placement of gems and stones, the dome, all these were breathtaking. My breath caught as I walked into this ancient structure, begun in 1632 and completed in 1653, built to honor and immortalize Shah Jahan’s third wife. The structure clearly is wonderful and awe-inspiring.
Yet, nothing in my human experience is at all like the spiritual experience John is describing, the experience of seeing God, Jesus, the elders, the creatures in the heavenly realm. Why this reading on this Sunday in this Easter season? Perhaps it is because it aligns well with the gospel from John.
In the gospel lesson, the disciples, after seeing the risen Christ, have gone back to fishing. It is as if they have not really seen the risen Christ, as if they do not understand the magnificence of the resurrection. John’s vision of heaven surely provides a counterpoint to their lack of enthusiasm or understanding of what they have seen and experienced.
We take Easter for granted as well. For many of us, Easter is just a day, surely it is a day to celebrate in worship, to receive communion, to shout the praise that Christ is risen! Yet, by Easter Monday most of us have gone back to our routines, just as the disciples do. Has the resurrection meant so little to us? Or is it that the concept is so excessively big that we cannot begin to comprehend it?
Easter is a season, my friends. Resurrection is a promise that continues to live on throughout the hours, days, years, millennia since that first Easter morning. We, the faithful, those who carry the love of God and the light of Christ within us, live into that resurrection, that hope of resurrection every single day ― or, we should.
Sustaining awe and wonder is difficult. It is hard for us to know and feel the joy of the resurrection moment every single day. Awe is challenging for us to cling to. Maybe it is less important to hang on to awe, than it is to live in the hope that we have been given through the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Maybe the hope is enough.
Do you live in hope? Where do you find hope? The Easter season sets Christians apart from other faith communities. We truly are Easter people. It is Easter that is the foundation of our faith. The resurrection of Jesus is foundational not just to our theology, but to celebration of the life we live and look forward to. How often do you think about our resurrection faith, the hope of that resurrection guaranteed by the sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus?
I do not know about you, but I do not think about resurrection every day. Surely, I know it is my hope and my future at the end of my human existence. Yet, I do not meditate on it, pray about it, think about it very often. It is like the warranty on my car. I know if something on the car stops working, I can take it in to get it fixed and the warranty or the extended warranty will cover the expense. My belief in the resurrection is a little like that. I know that Jesus lives in me. I know I put my faith in God through Christ at the center of my life. I know I try to live a life worthy of God’s love, living in God’s righteousness every day. I know it so well that I count on it. I do not have to think about it every moment or even every day. I can go about living my life and count on God to be with me.
Yet, occasionally, it is good to stop and reflect on the gift and the sacrifice that gave that gift. That is what the season of Lent was all about ― a time to reflect on the ministry of Jesus, to focus on how Jesus lived and calls us to live, how Jesus sacrificed and calls us to sacrifice, how Jesus died, was raised, and ultimately how I too will die and be resurrected. The Easter season is the time to remember and to celebrate the resurrection.
When I visited Israel & Palestine, I traveled to many of the places mentioned in scripture. There is some disagreement about where, the exact location where Jesus was crucified and where he was entombed. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is said to be one of the possible locations for the tomb of Jesus. You can reach down through the foundation and touch the stones of the possible tomb. The other possible site is managed by the Episcopal Church and is called the Garden Tomb. Having toured both, I do not know which is more likely the site. And that is less important. As the docent at the Garden Tomb told us after we had been able to walk into the tomb and look around, “There is some disagreement as to which location is the actual tomb of Jesus, but it doesn’t really matter. The tomb is empty. My redeemer lives.”
Yes, friends, our redeemer lives. John’s vision of heaven includes God enthroned, priestly elders, creatures, and the lamb who was slain ― the Christ, Jesus. It is Jesus who opened the gates of heaven for us. It is our task to live in the hope of that redemption and to offer the gift of that redemption, through our faith, to others. Live in awe if you can, but certainly live in faith, live in hope, live in love, live in celebration of the Easter gift we have been given. Amen.
