3^rd May 2010

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley (Sunday 2 May 2010)

Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26; Revelation 21:1-8; John 13: 31-35

'Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.'
(Revelation 21:1 RSV)

With these words the Apocalypse of John (and the Bible) moves towards a breathtaking climax. Affliction, sin and death will be no more! Evil will be judged. 'Heaven' will not seem remote. Desolation on 'earth' will end.

This is a word of hope for all martyrs of faith and ultimately for all of humanity. In spite of present appearances God will be honoured and righteousness done throughout the cosmos (heaven and earth).

The 'sea', which (as we know from the horror of tsunamis) is a symbol of chaos in every area of life, will be no more (v1). The 'new Jerusalem' (vv2,10),  symbol of God's presence with Israel and of our redemption in Christ, signifies the glory of God to be revealed to the 'world'. The promise that 'I will be your God and you shall be my people' -- originally spoken to Israel -- is repeated and extended to include 'all humanity' (v3).

In John's vision the new order is described as the 'holy city' coming down as 'a bride adorned for her husband' (v2) . He depicts this splendid future in contrast to the 'unholy city' where all is not well.

That it 'comes from God' is a sign and a warning that _we_ can't bring about a new heaven and new earth. The future kingdom will not be a socialist or capitalist utopia; it won't be based on an idealised picture of our British heritage or Australian values. The Christian's 'hope and glory' is not in human progress or nationalism but in the promise that 'the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd'.

The image of the Good Shepherd in John's Gospel re-appears here as a word of hope for the persecuted Church. It also tells us that the fulfilment of our humanity will not be a utopian state, but a community formed by, and conformed to, the love of God in Christ. (John 13:34.) Our future is assured solely because the One who embodied God's good and gracious purposes for heaven and earth is 'the Alpha and the Omega' -- the beginning and end of history.

It is a magnificent vision! But it can seem otherworldly and impractical.

So it may come as a surprise to learn that Ernst Kasemann (Jesus Means Freedom p130ff) regards Revelation as the most earth-shattering book in the New Testament. That is because it insists, in the face of every form of political and national arrogance, that 'Jesus is Lord of the earth'.

Far from encouraging a comforting view of life-after- death which encourages Christians to retreat from the world, John calls them to steel themselves for battle against beliefs which deny the sovereign love of God.

He urges them to take heart knowing that evil shall not have the last word! They don't live in an 'idyllic haven' (EK) sheltering from the storm but are summoned to be a community of 'agitators' defiantly opposed to ideologies which dishonour God and demean human dignity. As disciples of the 'Lord of the earth' they are in a life-and-death struggle against 'principalities and powers' hostile to God's good purposes.

John is just as concerned about the churches' response to persecution as he is about the anti-Christian bias of the pagan culture in which they live and suffer. He is uncompromising and pastoral. He echoes the Psalmist's refrain that 'the steadfast love of the Lord never ends' (Psalm 136:1 et al). But he also sounds a note of divine judgment, saying that 'those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent'  (Revelation 3:19).

John is grateful for the endurance of Christians living under extreme pressure. They have withstood evil (Ephesus), absorbed slander (Smyrna, Philadelphia), kept the faith to death (Smyrna), shown resilience (Ephesus, Pergamum, Smyrna, Thyatira, Philadelphia), displayed love to one another (Thyatira), upheld Christian doctrine (Ephesus) and shown enthusiasm (Sardis).

Sadly though they have also buckled under pressure. Some have tolerated pagan beliefs and practices (Pergamum, Thyatira), one is censorious (Ephesus), one is apathetic and self-satisfied (Laodicea), another is dead (Sardis). They have succumbed to pagan religion and the jingoistic ideals of Empire.

As Leon Morris points out, the problem is that 'this is not the enemy from outside openly seeking to destroy the faith. The false teachers claimed "not that they were destroying Christianity, but that they were presenting an improved and modernised version of it" (William Barclay). This is the insidious fifth column, destroying from within." (LM, Revelation, p62.)

Here is the point at which the Apocalypse of John speaks to us. Not long ago most Australians assumed that they live in a 'Christian country'. Some still want to cling to this ideal! Now though, 'Christianity has been reduced to the status of a minority cult' (Roy Clements, Practising Faith in a Pagan World, p8) -- one among many faiths of equal value to satisfy our private needs. 'It is high time,' says WA Visser 't Hooft (former General Secretary of the World Council of Churches), 'that Christians recognise that they are confronted with a new paganism.' ('Evangelism in the NT Situation', International Review of Mission p65, 1976.)

When we think of 'pagans' we imagine non-Western heathens to whom missionaries once went. However, as Western pagans now say, 'paganism' is the natural form of religious faith. By looking into our psyche we will find the god within: the god who is us. This can be very attractive because it appeals to our subjective experience, rejects the need for a mediator and has little interest in history or doctrine.

The new spirituality, like the pagan ideals of the Roman Empire, is marked by diversity and tolerance. It is popular in the community, and the church. There is great interest in the pagan Christ as one of many teachers who help us to realise our potential and follow our individual path to faith. A live-and-let-live attitude has become all-pervasive in church and community -- on large issues as well as small. On life-and- death issues most Christians support State legislation which assumes that issues like euthanasia, sexuality and abortion must be decided by individual choice.

Behind these attitudes is the 'new tolerance' typical of all pagan societies. It is stridently 'intolerant' of Christianity but very attractive in Western countries which have forgotten their Christian heritage and in Western churches which don't want to offend anyone by distinguishing the demands of Christian discipleship from those of citizenship.

How different this is from the future vision of John and its challenge to us to witness to 'the Lamb of God who is to be worshipped and adored as the Lord of heaven and earth'. It is so different that, as John makes crystal clear, it can't be tolerated!

Since the crucified and risen Jesus alone is 'Lord of the earth' these pagan beliefs and practices must be resisted, especially when, as also happened in John's day, they are promoted in the Church. Those who confuse the way of the Cross with national ideals, or who reject the unique splendour of what God has done for each person, every community and the earth in Christ's life, death and resurrection, must be opposed.

The vision of a 'new heaven and a new earth' is very specific. It is not based on our national or political ideals -- no matter how much we love our country! Christians are to give themselves in love for the world -- to people of every nation -- by withstanding evil, supporting the vulnerable and refusing to let others diminish the hope and glory embodied in Jesus.

Therefore we must oppose governments when they pass legislation and promote policies which restrict the rights of Christians and others to worship and practise their faith. And we must resist those within the Church who would re-shape the Gospel to suit their own spiritual or national ideals. Failure to do so is extremely serious, as John with dramatic effect makes clear in Rev 21:8.

The first evils to be judged are 'cowardice' and 'faithlessness' -- before murder, promiscuity and pagan religion. Since the earth is the Lord's -- and since Christ's crucifixion and resurrection is the guarantee of the new heaven and new earth -- it is serious to capitulate to pagan spirituality or national ideals that mock God and demean others.

In these circumstances, what each one of us, and the Church as a whole, need to hear (as if from Christ himself) is John's uncompromising-and- pastoral word to fallible churches struggling to maintain their Christian identity in a pagan State: 'Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent.' (Revelation 3:19.)

In this hope let us resolve to truly worship and serve the Lord of heaven and earth in our own day as we await the perfection of all things in Christ.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.