6^th May 2013

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 28 April 2013

Lessons - 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. And I saw
the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.' (Revelation 21:1 RSV)

With these words the Vision of John and the Bible moves towards a breathtaking climax (expressed so dramatically in this morning's anthem, 'New Jerusalem'). Affliction, sin and death will be no more. Evil will be judged. War and persecution will cease. Desolation on 'earth' will end; 'heaven' will come near. This is a word of hope for all martyrs of the faith and all who have suffered brutality and betrayal. In spite of appearances, God will be honoured and righteousness will be done throughout the entire universe.

The 'sea', which is a symbol of chaos in every area of life, will be no more (v1). The 'new Jerusalem' (vv2,10), that represents God's presence with Israel and our redemption in Christ, signifies the glory of God to be revealed to the 'world'. The future is beautifully portrayed as the 'holy city' coming down as 'a bride adorned for her husband' (v2) in contrast with the 'unholy city' where all is not well at present.

The splendid vision of a future that comes from God, highlights the fact that we cannot create a new heaven and a new earth. The future will not be a socialist, capitalist or environmental utopia. It will not be based on an idealised picture of Aussie fairness, mateship or heroism. The 'new Jerusalem' is not the Jerusalem of 'England's green and pleasant land', much beloved of those who rightly treasure our British heritage. Our 'hope and glory' is not in human progress or national loyalty but in the promise that, in Christ, God shall make all things new.

Here in particular is a word of hope for the persecuted Church, like Christians recently kidnapped or killed in Syria and Egypt. In a brutal world where hatred holds sway, it speaks of the fulfilment of our humanity not in a utopian state, but in a community formed by, and conformed to, the love of God in Christ (John 13:34). The future is assured only 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 (as signified in the paschal candle).

It is a magnificent vision! But it can seem far-fetched, otherworldly and unrealistic, especially when misinterpreted by charismatic enthusiasts urging us to experience 'the Rapture' here and now!

Such an interpretation is a misinterpretation. Surprisingly, the Apocalypse of John, as Ernst Käsemann says (Jesus Means Freedom pp130ff), is the most earth-shattering and revolutionary book in the New Testament.
To Christians who are confronted by political, religious and national arrogance, John insists that 'Jesus alone is Lord of the earth'. He urges Christians to take heart knowing that evil will not have the last word!

Therefore they are not live in an 'idyllic haven' sheltered from storms but be a community of agitators defiantly opposed to state-sanctioned ideologies that dishonour God and demean human dignity. As disciples of the 'Lord of the earth' they are to embroil themselves in life-and-death struggles against the 'principalities and powers' that are hostile to God's good purposes for the earth. They are to be agitators in the public arena.

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 both pastoral and uncompromising. The promise that 'I will be your God and you shall be my people' - originally given to Israel - is repeated and extended to include 'all humanity' (v3). But there is also a note of divine judgement. Faithlessness and cowardice - mentioned first in the list of sins - are harshly dealt with, like murder, idolatry, lying and immorality (v8).

On one hand, 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, some have buckled under pressure, tolerating pagan beliefs and practices (Pergamum, Thyatira), being censorious and loveless (Ephesus), apathetic and self-satisfied (Laodicea) or lifeless (Sardis). Thus John encourages and chastises.

The Apocalypse of John also speaks to us. Not long ago most Australians assumed that they were living in a 'Christian country' where Christian faith combined with British heritage and confidence in human progress formed a more or less ideal community. 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 Neo-pagan Situation'
International Review of Mission, 1976, p65.)

The voice of classical Christianity is being silenced in public debate by beliefs grounded in our natural (pagan) instincts and concerns. The Christian faith is treated as an annoying, irrelevant, harmful and religious oddity. Instead, we are encouraged to develop values that are 'right for us', to express our own individuality and spirituality and to tolerate other people's choices. This fosters a sense of harmony. However, it reduces our sensitivity to ideals that replace worship of the God with self-adoration, and obedience to God's righteousness with rights that we confer on ourselves. It desensitises us to ways of living that are incompatible with the life-affirming hope embodied in Jesus.

The 'new tolerance' is stridently 'intolerant' of orthodox Christianity.
It is very attractive in Western nations that have forgotten their Christian heritage. It beguiles Western Churches which do not want to offend anyone by distinguishing the demands of Christian discipleship from the utopian ideals promoted and sanctioned by militant activists, sentimental citizens and compliant governments.

The Revelation to John certainly speaks to us. We are living in a society that is becoming more and more like the late 1st Century Roman Empire where biblical Christianity is despised and sidelined in favour of ideals and policies that mock the goodness of God and demean our creation in the image of God.

Public debates on controversial issues reflect a clash of beliefs. One believes that, by looking into our own 'human nature', we decide what is right on earth. The other believes that we can only know what is right on earth by looking to the God whose righteousness has been embodied on earth in the incarnate, crucified and risen Christ. One looks to bring 'heaven on earth' by harnessing our natural human potentiality for good. The other looks to the fulfilment of God's promise of a 'new heaven and new earth'
that has been displayed already in the healing and mercy of Jesus' earthly ministry.

Because God's costly, triumphant love of the earth has already been decisively revealed in Jesus Christ, the Church is summoned to live by hope (in God's future) in a way that liberates us to protest against ideals, policies and laws that are dehumanising (in the present). The vision of 'the Lamb of God who is to be worshipped and adored as the Lord of heaven and earth, encourages and obliges us to act boldly on issues like the abuse of children (born, unborn, institutionalised, kept in detention), the desecration of marriage, the right to death and demonising refugees fleeing persecution.

The magnificent vision of John is a word of hope and a call to arms that is accompanied by a pastoral warning. Do not shrink from the joyful - though sometimes unpopular -responsibility to which you have been called!

Remember, says John, that because the unique splendour of God's love for the earth has been displayed in Christ, the 'Lord of the earth' ideals, beliefs and practices that are centred in our 'human nature' must be resisted. John invites us to put our hope for the renewal of the whole creation - not in our personal, political or national ideals - but in the God who has made all things new in Christ. We are summoned to give ourselves in love for the world by withstanding evil, supporting the vulnerable and refusing to let others diminish the glory of God embodied in Jesus.

Failure to do so has grave consequences (v8). 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.

This stern warning is not meant to encourage doomsday preaching or an unhealthy pre-occupation with the sins of others. It focuses our attention on the glory of God and the importance of our vocation to glorify God for revealing Christ as the Lord of heaven and earth.

Therefore, as we await the future perfection of all things in Christ, let us resolve to worship God and serve our generation in righteousness, truth and love.

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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.