We are coming to the end of the Easter
season. While we still have two more weeks, this is the last Sunday
(and the last few days) with the resurrected Christ physically
present on earth. This Thursday is the Feast of the Ascension where
we recognize and celebrate the Son's return to the Father. So even
though our time with Jesus on earth is coming to a close, we are
looking forward to our own eternal time with God.
What might this look like, this eternal
time with God? Jesus gives us an indication in today's gospel.
First and foremost remember, it's about
love. If you claim to love Jesus, then you will keep his word. That
word, basically, is to love others as he has loved us. By doing that
we are upholding our end of the covenant and God the Father will love
them that love others. And not only love them, but the Father and
Son will make their home with them. This is an image and promise
that God will dwell here with us.
Jesus reinforces this image when he
says that he is going away and coming to you. He is looking forward
to both his Ascension and his return. When that happens – that is,
after he ascends to the Godhead and after he makes his return – the
kingdom will then be realized and fulfilled on earth as it is in
heaven.
All of this is reiterated in the
reading from Revelation today.
John has a vision of the holy city.
This is the city of peace, the city of God. The radiance of the
glory of God is its light. He notes that its gates will never be
shut by day, but also that there is no night. Nations and people
will enter it.
Note, though, that those nations and
people, the people of God, are not taken up into the city. They are
not taken up into heaven. Instead it is the holy city of God that
comes down to us. As in the gospel when the kingdom of God is
realized/fulfilled when the Son and Father make their home with us,
Revelation puts forth the same idea that the kingdom of God will be
realized as the holy city of Jerusalem comes down to earth from
heaven. This is the ultimate manifestation of “on earth as it is
in heaven.”
This is the vision given to John of the
end of the age.
If we are going to look forward to the
end, though, we should probably also look back to the beginning.
Think back to the beginning when God planted a garden. In that
garden was the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. It was from the tree of knowledge that Adam and Eve ate. If
you remember the ending of that story, God was worried that they
would also eat from the tree of life and live forever, so they were
expelled. God then protected the garden with cherubim and a flaming
sword.
And now we have a vision of the end of
the age. We have Jesus telling us that he and the Father will come
live with us. We have a vision of the holy city of God coming down
from heaven to be on earth. And within that city is the tree of
life. That which was barred from us in the beginning is now made
available to us at the end.
This tree of life produces a different
fruit each month, and its leaves are leaves of healing. In other
words, this tree will never lie fallow. This tree will produce
nourishing fruit for ever and it will heal all.
These are all nice images: Father and
Son coming to dwell with us and the holy city of Jerusalem coming
down from heaven with its tree of life, food, and healing leaves.
But is there more to this than simply a nice, peaceful image? I
think there is.
Part of what we try to do with
scripture is to make it relevant in our lives today. Scripture is
not merely static words written on a page reflecting what life was
like thousands of years ago. That's called a history book.
Scripture is the living story of the relationship between humanity
and God. It's the living word of God that tells the story of how we
today are trying to live into a faithful relationship with God. So
we need to constantly ask, “What does this story mean or look like
for us today?”
With that in mind, what does this
vision from Revelation look like for us today?
This vision of the holy city with the
tree of life, its twelve kinds of fruit, and its healing leaves is
also a vision of the holy Church.
There are a few places in scripture
where both Peter and Paul reference the cross as a tree. It is that
tree, the cross, in which we are given life. Christ crucified, died,
and risen is the tree of life through which our hope rests. And that
hope, that life, is found here, in the community of the one, holy,
catholic, and apostolic Church.
The tree produces a different fruit
each month. John didn't specifically say it, but it is that fruit
which nourishes and feeds the people of the holy city. As I pointed
out earlier, this tree never lies fallow; it produces fruit
year-round to nourish the people.
In the Church we are also recipients
of year-round nourishment. While not exactly a one-to-one
comparison, we have fruit produced every season for our nourishment.
These seasons are Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and the
Season after Pentecost. In their own way they nourish us throughout
the year. And the life giving body that is the Church never lies
fallow.
The leaves that are for healing are
often seen as the words of Christ or the pages of scripture. It is
here, in the church, where we most often break open, dig into, and
examine scripture; hopefully to our benefit and for our healing.
And, because I'm an Episcopalian, this can also refer to the pages of
the BCP. The words and prayers in that book have often helped heal
many people over time.
Revelation gives us a vision of the
holy city of God coming to earth. We don't need to wait for some
future time in the sweet by-and-by to see its presence, for it is
present in the here and now in the form of the holy Church.
As we come to the end of the Easter
season, may we come to see this place as a place of life. May we
come to see this place as a place of nourishment. May we come to see
this place as a place of healing. And the more we strive to live
lives that emulate the love of Christ, the more this place will
indeed reflect the holy city of God, providing year-round nourishment
and healing.
Amen.
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