Past the Present
PAST THE PRESENT – SUNDAY MAY 25, 2025
22 1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of
life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through
the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree
of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month,
and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 Nothing
accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb
will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4 they
will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And
there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord
God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”
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Last week the pastor at the church I attended began his
sermon by quoting Issac Newton who once wrote about his discoveries saying, “If
I have seen further (than others) it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.”
The sermon that followed was about the invitation we all have to build on
and respect those who have gone before us allowing us, indeed, to “see further.”
Hidden in our readings for this liturgical season of Easter
have been snippets from the book of Revelation. Today and next Sunday we read
from the last two chapters of Revelation – the last two chapters, in fact, of
the entire Bible! If we “look further” with these readings we see the
end of the rainbow, the fulfillment of the Christian vision.
In the end, as the holy city descends to earth and the
fullness of God’s presence is know, there is no inside and outside of holiness.
There is no temple, no holy place, because in fact the whole world is now holy.
There are no believers and unbelievers, no selfish oligarchs or hidden, offshore
checking accounts. No, everything that has been entrusted to humanity, that
which has been used for the benefit and betterment of all – or not - returns to
God. There are no dark places, no hidden pockets of suffering. All which is
accursed and unclean has been expunged. Finally, all Creation can!
It is temping to want to name the “accursed and unclean.” I understand
that. However, doing so is not a part of the vision. The vision is of welcome.
It is a vision of embrace. From the throne of God flows a river to water all of
creation and around the river grows a tree – a tree of Life
– for the equity and inclusion of all who are.
The sermon I heard last Sunday referenced this vision. The
pastor noted the faithful on whose shoulders we stand, those who have guarded our
teaching and through whose eyes we are able to see this glorious tomorrow. But
course we do not yet live in that tomorrow. We continue to struggle in our today. “But to bring this vision
back into our today,” said the pastor, “is what we call faith.”
That struck me - and it is why I am sharing these words with
you today. To be Christian is not necessarily to be “hopeful,” “positive,” or of
a “heavenly minded.” To be Christian is
not to be disconnected from the pains and joys of the present. It is not to not
feel grief; not to never be angry; not to necessarily be compliant, have
questions or get depressed. No, to be Christian is to have at the center of one’s
imagination a city that has no temple, no borders, darkness or hunger. To be
Christian is to have stood on the shoulders of giants and glimpsed the end of
the journey in such a way that it can never be fully unseen.
This is where the arc of justice leads, and that changes
everything.
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