Transformed And Transforming
Sermon
Living In Hope
Cycle C Sermons for Lent and Easter Based on the Second Lessons
We continue this Easter season with the epistolary readings from Revelation. In this reading, we see the final vision of the world to come: the new heaven and the new earth, the new Jerusalem. This is also an apocalyptic vision, the vision the seer shared with us of the end of the world as we know it. This is a writing about a prophetic promise of what is to come at the end of time as we know it. John’s vision is almost complete and we may be comforted by this vision of what is to come.
The churches to whom John was writing and sharing his vision needed to know the comfort of what was yet to come. They were living in an oppressed society, feeling the heel of the Roman Empire on their throats, as a metaphor, and their pastor had been arrested and exiled. John’s vision of the cataclysmic end of the world and the battles wrought had been disquieting and we need only read the chapters of this revelation between last week’s reading of chapter 7 and this week’s reading of chapter 21 to know just how cataclysmic it was. John’s vision brought comfort to the people. This was what would eventually come to pass. This is how God planned to restore existence for the faithful followers of Jesus.
This portion of John’s vision spoke to the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. God coming down from the heavens to establish a new Jerusalem, a new city that would shine with and through the blessings of God. This vision fulfilled the prophetic promises of Isaiah. It fulfilled the expectation that the cosmos could be changed and would be changed in an instant by the hand of God. Imagine the mountains being moved, rivers changing their course, that which was old all vanishing before everyone’s eyes. This was the cosmic transformation of the world, in an instance, through the power of God. More than the transformation of the world, there was the transformation of the lives of the faithful.
God will wipe away every tear. Death, mourning, and pain will no longer exist. This is the paradise promised. Interestingly, it is not us going up to God that makes the changes. It is God coming down to earth to transform all that was and is into all that will be for all eternity. God’s home is among the mortals, among us.
For me, this harkens back to the incarnation and the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel God-with-us. The people did not all accept Jesus as the Son of God, did not all follow in the footsteps of the faith in God he laid out. Jesus came to lead us into a transformation, but we were not ready or able to transform. All the rest of our lives, we might struggle for that transformation, but we were not ready in the first century to acknowledge that Jesus was Lord and that we could make the world different, align it with the will of God, be fully God’s people. God had sent down from heaven a new world for us ― a world without pain, loss, or sorrow; a world without hunger or thirst, a world transformed through the act of God.
Transformation is really challenging. Physical transformation is one thing. Just ask anyone who has tried to transform their health, their bodies through diet and exercise. Old habits die hard and change is difficult. I deeply admire those who have the strength and courage for physical transformation. Yet, I believe that spiritual and attitudinal transformation is even more difficult.
Just look around the world in which we live. Hunger and poverty continue to exist. Hate and violence are rampant in our world. Those with much still do not necessarily want to share with those that do not have. Racism, sexism, and homophobic attitudes still exist. We are plagued by an inability to listen to one another and strive to understand each other. We are all too human in our falling into sin and falling away from the righteous love of God and neighbor. It seems our vision is very short-sighted.
Maybe that is why this passage is a gift to us. We get to see the future, at least John’s vision of the future, in a way that might inspire us toward transformation. At least, I hope that is what it does. The other alternative is to just live the way we always have, knowing that in the end God will fix it all. I am not at all sure that is what Jesus calls us to do or to be in our faithfulness to him.
I am of the belief that we are the light of God in the world, the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. It is our task to live as faithful followers of Jesus and that is not just about prayer and faith. It is also about action in the world. I have been and will continue to be a promoter of justice. I used to use the word protestor, but that word has sometimes been coopted to incite violence or anger in others. Rather I am a promoter of justice, the justice Jesus spoke about in the gospel of Matthew 25 about feeding the hungry, offering drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the ill and the imprisoned, and welcoming the stranger. All this is the basis for my actions for justice. Are they directives or commandments? I think so. Are they our call as the faithful? I think so. Are doing these actions, participating in the care for the least among us, a way to transform that world? I believe they are.
While I am anxious for the realm of God to be in our midst, I also believe we have an individual and collective responsibility to move into the world and act for transformation in the here and now, in the moments and in the places where we live. The presence of God is shown to others when we act in these ways.
Clearly, we are reminded in this scripture, in this portion of John’s vision, that God’s presence is meant to be among and with the people. God lives in us. God’s actions in the world are often made through us. We can be the fulfillment of the prophetic hope that love will reign, love will be shared, and that ultimately love wins. Not to be competitive, but in a world where anger and hate sometimes seem more powerful, grace and love have an important role. What happens when we love those who are our enemies, those with whom we have conflict? For me, I can see them as people in need of hope and grace and the presence of God. It is my role to share my hope, grace, and my knowledge of the presence of God with them. What if we all did so? How might the world as we know it change? Might the realm of God actually begin to live among us?
The other part of the vision is the removal of pain and hurt, suffering and mourning. God wipes every tear from our eyes. There is no more pain. That is a joyful hope. For those of us who have experienced deep loss and pain in our lives, hope is the anchor to which we hold, the dock which prevents us from drowning in our pain. Excuse the mixed metaphors, but I genuinely believe hope makes a difference.
In my late twenties, I became pregnant with twins. My husband and I were thrilled beyond imagining. I had been married before; my son was adopted by my new husband and became our son, but there was special joy in this pregnancy. My husband had been told he would never be able to father children, so we felt this miracle of my pregnancy was truly a gift from God. I was sick most of the pregnancy, new for me since I had breezed through the pregnancy for my son. As I approached the final weeks of my pregnancy, my friends at work threw a baby shower. I prepared to leave work. The following week was our wedding anniversary and life seemed to be filled with only happiness. That following Friday, the Friday before Thanksgiving, I went to the hospital for a routine ultrasound. I could tell from the face of the technician that something was wrong. She finished the scan and sent us to my doctor’s office. There I was informed that both twins had died in utero. You can imagine our shock, our pain, and even our anger. God’s miracle was not to be. We were sent home. I would be admitted on Sunday and would need to deliver our twins on Monday. I spent the weekend in shock, in anger, and in despair. How could this happen? I screamed my anger at God. My relationship with God was strong. I knew the relationship could stand my anger. I raged at God. I grieved with my husband and our six-year old son, who could not really understand what was going on.
Monday came. I delivered our twin sons. My parents handled the burial. My husband and I were numb with grief. And yet, I knew God was there. A friend, a Catholic priest, came to visit me. I was in the anguish when I asked him, “Why me?” His answer shook me, shocked me. He replied, “Bonnie, who would you wish this on? At least you have the strength of faith to know God is with you in this. It might destroy someone else’s faith.”
Yes, I knew God was still with me. Yes, to this day I know God is with me. We survived that loss and mourning. We survived the losses yet to come in our lives. We have held on to the presence of God, God with us in each and all these moments. My hope has been and continues to be in the presence of a loving God who lifts me up, embraces me, and comforts me in my pain. I welcome the day when there is no more pain, no more tears, and no more loss. But in the interim, in the time between now and the coming of the realm of God, I know God is present in my life and in all our lives. It is that hope and confidence that makes all human life acceptable and possible.
It is also why my life needs to be a part of the transformation of the world. What is your role in the world? What is your role in being faithful to our gospel mandates to love God with our whole selves and to love our neighbors? What are you called to transform in yourself, your family, your church, your community, and the world? Where are you called to act while we are waiting for the transformation of the realm of God coming down to be among us? When God does a new thing, sometimes the new thing is in us or through us. My prayer for us is that we hold on to our faith in the presence and love of God, then move into the world, acting as transformers for justice. May it be so in your time and place, in my time and place and forever more. Amen.
The churches to whom John was writing and sharing his vision needed to know the comfort of what was yet to come. They were living in an oppressed society, feeling the heel of the Roman Empire on their throats, as a metaphor, and their pastor had been arrested and exiled. John’s vision of the cataclysmic end of the world and the battles wrought had been disquieting and we need only read the chapters of this revelation between last week’s reading of chapter 7 and this week’s reading of chapter 21 to know just how cataclysmic it was. John’s vision brought comfort to the people. This was what would eventually come to pass. This is how God planned to restore existence for the faithful followers of Jesus.
This portion of John’s vision spoke to the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. God coming down from the heavens to establish a new Jerusalem, a new city that would shine with and through the blessings of God. This vision fulfilled the prophetic promises of Isaiah. It fulfilled the expectation that the cosmos could be changed and would be changed in an instant by the hand of God. Imagine the mountains being moved, rivers changing their course, that which was old all vanishing before everyone’s eyes. This was the cosmic transformation of the world, in an instance, through the power of God. More than the transformation of the world, there was the transformation of the lives of the faithful.
God will wipe away every tear. Death, mourning, and pain will no longer exist. This is the paradise promised. Interestingly, it is not us going up to God that makes the changes. It is God coming down to earth to transform all that was and is into all that will be for all eternity. God’s home is among the mortals, among us.
For me, this harkens back to the incarnation and the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel God-with-us. The people did not all accept Jesus as the Son of God, did not all follow in the footsteps of the faith in God he laid out. Jesus came to lead us into a transformation, but we were not ready or able to transform. All the rest of our lives, we might struggle for that transformation, but we were not ready in the first century to acknowledge that Jesus was Lord and that we could make the world different, align it with the will of God, be fully God’s people. God had sent down from heaven a new world for us ― a world without pain, loss, or sorrow; a world without hunger or thirst, a world transformed through the act of God.
Transformation is really challenging. Physical transformation is one thing. Just ask anyone who has tried to transform their health, their bodies through diet and exercise. Old habits die hard and change is difficult. I deeply admire those who have the strength and courage for physical transformation. Yet, I believe that spiritual and attitudinal transformation is even more difficult.
Just look around the world in which we live. Hunger and poverty continue to exist. Hate and violence are rampant in our world. Those with much still do not necessarily want to share with those that do not have. Racism, sexism, and homophobic attitudes still exist. We are plagued by an inability to listen to one another and strive to understand each other. We are all too human in our falling into sin and falling away from the righteous love of God and neighbor. It seems our vision is very short-sighted.
Maybe that is why this passage is a gift to us. We get to see the future, at least John’s vision of the future, in a way that might inspire us toward transformation. At least, I hope that is what it does. The other alternative is to just live the way we always have, knowing that in the end God will fix it all. I am not at all sure that is what Jesus calls us to do or to be in our faithfulness to him.
I am of the belief that we are the light of God in the world, the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. It is our task to live as faithful followers of Jesus and that is not just about prayer and faith. It is also about action in the world. I have been and will continue to be a promoter of justice. I used to use the word protestor, but that word has sometimes been coopted to incite violence or anger in others. Rather I am a promoter of justice, the justice Jesus spoke about in the gospel of Matthew 25 about feeding the hungry, offering drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the ill and the imprisoned, and welcoming the stranger. All this is the basis for my actions for justice. Are they directives or commandments? I think so. Are they our call as the faithful? I think so. Are doing these actions, participating in the care for the least among us, a way to transform that world? I believe they are.
While I am anxious for the realm of God to be in our midst, I also believe we have an individual and collective responsibility to move into the world and act for transformation in the here and now, in the moments and in the places where we live. The presence of God is shown to others when we act in these ways.
Clearly, we are reminded in this scripture, in this portion of John’s vision, that God’s presence is meant to be among and with the people. God lives in us. God’s actions in the world are often made through us. We can be the fulfillment of the prophetic hope that love will reign, love will be shared, and that ultimately love wins. Not to be competitive, but in a world where anger and hate sometimes seem more powerful, grace and love have an important role. What happens when we love those who are our enemies, those with whom we have conflict? For me, I can see them as people in need of hope and grace and the presence of God. It is my role to share my hope, grace, and my knowledge of the presence of God with them. What if we all did so? How might the world as we know it change? Might the realm of God actually begin to live among us?
The other part of the vision is the removal of pain and hurt, suffering and mourning. God wipes every tear from our eyes. There is no more pain. That is a joyful hope. For those of us who have experienced deep loss and pain in our lives, hope is the anchor to which we hold, the dock which prevents us from drowning in our pain. Excuse the mixed metaphors, but I genuinely believe hope makes a difference.
In my late twenties, I became pregnant with twins. My husband and I were thrilled beyond imagining. I had been married before; my son was adopted by my new husband and became our son, but there was special joy in this pregnancy. My husband had been told he would never be able to father children, so we felt this miracle of my pregnancy was truly a gift from God. I was sick most of the pregnancy, new for me since I had breezed through the pregnancy for my son. As I approached the final weeks of my pregnancy, my friends at work threw a baby shower. I prepared to leave work. The following week was our wedding anniversary and life seemed to be filled with only happiness. That following Friday, the Friday before Thanksgiving, I went to the hospital for a routine ultrasound. I could tell from the face of the technician that something was wrong. She finished the scan and sent us to my doctor’s office. There I was informed that both twins had died in utero. You can imagine our shock, our pain, and even our anger. God’s miracle was not to be. We were sent home. I would be admitted on Sunday and would need to deliver our twins on Monday. I spent the weekend in shock, in anger, and in despair. How could this happen? I screamed my anger at God. My relationship with God was strong. I knew the relationship could stand my anger. I raged at God. I grieved with my husband and our six-year old son, who could not really understand what was going on.
Monday came. I delivered our twin sons. My parents handled the burial. My husband and I were numb with grief. And yet, I knew God was there. A friend, a Catholic priest, came to visit me. I was in the anguish when I asked him, “Why me?” His answer shook me, shocked me. He replied, “Bonnie, who would you wish this on? At least you have the strength of faith to know God is with you in this. It might destroy someone else’s faith.”
Yes, I knew God was still with me. Yes, to this day I know God is with me. We survived that loss and mourning. We survived the losses yet to come in our lives. We have held on to the presence of God, God with us in each and all these moments. My hope has been and continues to be in the presence of a loving God who lifts me up, embraces me, and comforts me in my pain. I welcome the day when there is no more pain, no more tears, and no more loss. But in the interim, in the time between now and the coming of the realm of God, I know God is present in my life and in all our lives. It is that hope and confidence that makes all human life acceptable and possible.
It is also why my life needs to be a part of the transformation of the world. What is your role in the world? What is your role in being faithful to our gospel mandates to love God with our whole selves and to love our neighbors? What are you called to transform in yourself, your family, your church, your community, and the world? Where are you called to act while we are waiting for the transformation of the realm of God coming down to be among us? When God does a new thing, sometimes the new thing is in us or through us. My prayer for us is that we hold on to our faith in the presence and love of God, then move into the world, acting as transformers for justice. May it be so in your time and place, in my time and place and forever more. Amen.
