Sermons for the Month

A Perfect Day…and Future
DATE: November 1st, 2009
SERVICE: All Saints' Sunday
TEXT: Revelation 21:1-6

“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN

If you were to describe a perfect day, what would it be like? Can you imagine it? Mine would be a 65 degree day with bright sunshine and the landscape would look just like an area that caught my attention in a parking lot last week. Right smack in front of me was a tangle of trees and weeds displaying foliage in every possible shade of red, orange, yellow, green, brown and even purple. The colors were vivid; it was astounding. That would be my first choice for the weather and environment of a perfect day. (The second choice would be lots of snow and sunshine.)

Then, I'd add a friend, or a few friends with whom I feel completely at ease, a walk, a heart-felt conversation, laughter, no need to worry about or plan anything, and all the vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and peanuts I wanted with no concern about ill-effects. That would be some of what I'd include in a perfect day. What about you?

I guess it goes without saying that mourning, crying and pain would not be included, which is why in today's second lesson says that they are no more. What we just read from the conclusion of the book of Revelation is a description of a perfect day; a promise of a new beginning. It's a double vision of a new earth and a new heaven out of which the holy city, the New Jerusalem, comes down from God. This is the day when God's kingdom fully comes. We might think of it as the day Jesus returns and the saints - those who have died in faith - are raised to join the living children of God.

As we reflect on these beautiful promises from Revelation it's vital to remember that the author, John of Patmos, was exiled during a time of severe persecution for Christians. He writes this letter we call Revelation to seven churches, urging them to remain faithful and reminding them that the Roman Emperor's power is not absolute.

Remember, Revelation is intended to be a vision of comfort for people being persecuted and in distress. Unfortunately, it has been misused. As Roger Ferlo noted, it has been used as a map of the future in which no detail is too trivial, no symbol too opaque for the believer who is determined to read his or her own agenda into it. (1)

That's a distortion of its purpose; it was written for early Christians who were risking all they had for the sake of the name of Jesus; in it they are assured that by putting on the name of Christ in baptism they have been made citizens of a heavenly city, a city not made with human hands. There is hope because it is God who reigns supreme.

While we are not among those who are persecuted for our faith, we too find comfort in the assurance that one day God will be at home among us. On that day we will all grasp that reality and bask in it. God will wipe every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more. Mourning and crying and pain will be no more. All will be made new.

Having been to Jerusalem and to the place described in Monday's headline, "Violent clashes break out at Jerusalem's holiest site," and having seen the Plexiglas shields and weapons that were put to use there earlier this week, the description of a New Jerusalem takes on a bit more significance to me. Just imagine a day when there is no more conflict in the ancient sites of constant upheaval - or anywhere else - including our homes and lives.

What John describes in Revelation is our future. It helps us understand our ultimate destination. To put it simply, we end up where we started, with God. We often call that destination heaven and get bogged down in where it is, what it looks like and who will be there. But John tells us what's really important. God will be there and the suffering of our lives will not. One day we will experience life in a new and different way.

As I prepared for this sermon I came across the writings of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. The name may be familiar to you. He was an important leader in the Catholic Church, at one time the youngest bishop in America and instrumental in shaping the Catholic Church according to the vision of the 2nd Vatican Council. He became Archbishop of Chicago in 1982 and was committed to ecumenical and interfaith dialog.

But perhaps that for which he is most remembered is that after he developed pancreatic cancer he touched other cancer patients with his words of faith and encouragement. Cardinal Bernardin died in 1996. Listen to the way he imagined the world to come in his book The Gift of Peace.

"As I write these final words, my heart is filled with joy. I am at peace. It is the first day of November, and fall is giving way to winter. Soon the trees will lose the vibrant colors of their leaves and snow will cover the ground. The earth will shut down and people will race to and from their destinations bundled up for warmth. Chicago winters are harsh. It is a time of dying.

But we know that spring will soon come with all its new life and wonder. It is quite clear that I will not be alive in the spring. But I will soon experience new life in a different way. Although I do not know what to expect in the afterlife, I do know that just as God has called me to serve him to the best of my ability throughout my life on earth, he is now calling me home.

Many people have asked me to tell them about heaven and the afterlife. I sometimes smile at the request because I do not know any more than they do. Yet, when one young man asked if I looked forward to being unified with God and all those who have gone before me, I made a connection to something I said earlier in this book. The first time I traveled with my mother and sister to my parents' homeland of Tonadico di Primiero, in northern Italy, I felt as if I had been there before. After years of looking through my mothers photo albums, I knew the mountains, the land, the houses, the people. As soon as we entered the valley, I said, "My God, I know this place. I am home." Somehow I think crossing from this life into eternal life will be similar. I will be home." (2)

At that moment the perfect day arrived for Cardinal Bernardin, as it has, and will, for all the Saints of God.

AMEN

(1) Feasting on the Word, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, Westminster John Knox Press, 2009, pg. 232

(2) Imagining Heaven by Dr. Gilbert W. Bowen, Revelation 21:1-7, www.lectionary.org

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