Meditation on Revelation 21:1-4
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. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"See, the home of God is among men and women. He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.
The promise of eternal life with God in a heavenly home stands at the core of hope for Christian faith. An everlasting life we cannot really imagine, much less explain – save to exclaim with John the elder, the author of revelation, Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.
I have heard it said that to get the gist of a book, you can read the first chapter and the last chapter. With the Bible, that works for most folks when you start with Genesis, but when you get to Revelation, a lot of folks throw up their hands and say, “What in the world is that all about?” Revelation was written to the churches that had sprung up in the first century after Christ – churches and Christians who lived under severe persecution. Being a Christian was hazardous to your health. Talking about faith was dangerous. So Christian writers like John utilized an ancient style of writing called apocalyptic that used highly symbolic and visionary language.
Now, we don’t live under the threat of persecution (thank God). But we do experience tough times. We do experience suffering. We do have to endure difficult, challenging, puzzling, exasperating events. Many of us live with pain. All of us, at one time or another, one way or another, suffer. And ask questions which demand answers, but questions which have no answers. Or at least adequate answers.
What Frank endured poses those kinds of questions. While we stand in awe of his indomitable spirit, a will to live and a strength to hang on through stroke and brain hemorrhage, and cancer and pneumonia and set back after set back, we also want to ask WHY? What is the purpose such suffering?
For sure, Frank taught us all a lot about the human spirit. And to not bet against him. But is there some larger, divine, Godly lesson in all this? Marilyn and I talked about this even the very night Frank died.
And the lesson is this. God does not will any of us to suffer. God does not want any of us to endure pain, sadness, grief. But we do. And God offers us a two fold promise. I will be with you NOW, and FOREVERMORE.
As the Psalmist wrote, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, THOU ART WITH ME. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” God promises to be with us in our darkest moments. God IS with us in our darkest moments. As our companion, as our comforter, as our guide. God is present with us in good times and bad. God is with us always. God is with us NOW.
And God promises to be with us FOREVERMORE. Which brings us back to that visionary writer John the elder, in Revelation. What the “forevermore” will be like is beyond us. But John is surely on to something with his vision of a new heaven and a new earth. A heavenly city. A place, with God, where death and dying will be no more. Where suffering will be no more. Where mourning and crying will be no more. The vision of that eternal hope does not remove the pain of this present moment. It does not remove from us the imperative to do God’s work in God’s world. But that vision does give us – as it did for those ancient recipients of the book of Revelation – the hopeful strength to endure the present and to reach for the future. To work for – and to reach for – that heavenly city of God, that eternal city, that place of complete and everlasting peace.
Three monks made their annual trip to visit a wise and holy man. Two of the brothers asked many questions and shared thoughts and dreams, but the third companion remained silent and spoke not a word. After many visits the Teacher spoke the silent brother. “Though you come here often, you ask me no questions.” Smiling, the brother replied, “It is enough just to be with you, father.” (Stories for the Journey 66)
Dear friends: God has promised to be with us now and forevermore. And God’s presence is enough. More than enough. AMEN.
R. Charles Grant
Service for Frank Schoettinger
February 23, 2004