9th Sunday after Pentecost
Living in Hope of God’s Promises to Come
My grandfather passed away in November of 2020 at the age of 92, and I remember an experience I had on the day I drove to his funeral. It was a one and a half hour drive and it was quiet as I rode along by myself. As I drove I found myself reflecting upon my grandfather’s life and imagining what heaven would have looked like when he got there. I imagine it was beautiful. In my mind I could see him being reunited with loved ones like his parents and siblings, and Jesus was embracing him to welcome him home. I felt joy, peace, and a little heartbroken too.
I was listening to a CD of the Christian band Mercy Me, and one of their most famous songs, I Can Only Imagine, came on. The song is beautiful and it has long been one of my favorites. The song imagines what heaven is like, the joy of being welcomed home and seeing God face to face. Before I knew it I was crying for the first time since my grandpa died. It was grief, it was grace and awe, it was giving my grandpa to God. I put the song on repeat and sang for the rest of my drive. It was one of the most sacred and most healing moments in my life. My grandpa, a redeemed sinner and a beloved child of God, was home, and though I was sad to lose him, I couldn’t help but worship God for where he was now.
When someone we know dies, we want to know our loved one is in a good place. We are also reminded of our own mortality, and in those moments we often wonder what heaven is like. We wonder where it is, what it looks like, who all is there. Television shows and movies often depict white fluffy clouds, the sound of harps and the big pearly gates. I don’t know how accurate that is—maybe it is and maybe it isn’t—like the song says, I can only imagine. However, scripture does offer a few glimpses of heaven in the book of Revelation.
Revelation was originally written as a letter to seven churches by a man named John. We don’t know much about this particular John other than that he was a believer who had been exiled for his preaching of the Gospel. To these churches John is describing several visions he has had about heaven and God’s final victory to come. The book of Revelation can be intense and seem scary to modern readers, but in essence it was meant to be an encouragement, an assurance to its original audience of God’s final promises coming true. These early Christians, who were living under Roman rule and sometimes persecuted for their faith, would have longed for such assurance. They longed for justice, for an end to suffering, for the world to be set right, and John’s letter and visions were meant to encourage these early Christians to live in hope while they waited for God’s promises to come to completion.
Throughout the book of Revelation John describes glimpses of heaven he sees in his visions. In Revelation 4 he describes scenes of heavenly worship, and in Revelation 7 John describes countless people of all nations gathered around the throne of God. John describes a battle between God’s goodness and evil, and God, of course, is victorious and destroys sin and injustice once and for all. Then in Revelation 21 John describes a new heaven and a new earth, and God establishes God’s self among the people forever—there is no longer sin or death, nothing that can separate God from God’s people. And in Revelation 22, John describes the river of life flowing through the new Jerusalem, a holy river that gives life and light to all. The book ends with praise, saying, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”
Like the early Christians, there are times I look at the world around me and I long for the fulfillment of God’s promises to come. In our current world I see sickness, death, war and poverty, climate change. Revelation 21 describes a time when God will wipe every tear, death and pain will be no more, all things becoming new. I am ready for such a time.
In contrast to the glory of heaven that John describes, it can be easy to become discouraged in our world, and we may wonder why God is taking so long to fulfill God’s promises. Now, I don’t know the answer to that question other than to say that God’s time isn’t the same as our time. I have to trust, though, that the God who was faithful in the past and now in the present is the same God who promises good things to come. I have to believe that God has a plan for us and for the world as we live in this time of now and not yet. Perhaps there is a reason Christ has not yet returned, and I wonder if that reason may be that we still have work to do in the here and now.
Christ is already at work in the world around us, and we can already see glimpses of God’s Kingdom in our world. I see the Kingdom of God at work through church ministries and community partners, in places like Every Meal, the NEAR Food Shelf, and in kids at VBS assembling birthday kits. I see the Kingdom of God when kindness is shown and forgiveness is given, in the moments when broken relationships become whole. I also see the Kingdom of God in the beautiful diversity of people. God is a creative God, and I see God’s Kingdom when I can be in relationship with and learn from someone who is different than me, and often in those moments I learn that we are not as far apart as I may think. Needless to say, God is already here and moving. And yet, the fact of the matter is, we also live in a world full of people who are in need of hope—people who have never heard the gospel, people who have never felt loved or accepted, and people who feel lost.
As people created in the Image of God and set free through the gospel, living in hope of God’s promises to come, could it be that God is inviting us in the here and now to play a part in bringing about the Kingdom of God? Is God offering us the opportunity to play a part in God’s redeeming work? I think it is true. We are people of the gospel and trusting in God’s promises to come, we have reason to hope and to live and to serve now.
Living in hope of God’s promises, let us be together in Christian community. Let us pray and worship, let us welcome the stranger into our midst and offer comfort to the lonely. Let us do our part in caring for the earth and it’s creatures. Let us stand together advocating for justice, and may we work together to care for those who do not have enough. Let us show kindness to others, offer forgiveness and grace, and may we reflect God’s love to those around us.
While we wait for the fulfillment of God’s promises or until the day we each are called home to heaven, we have reason to be here now. I can only imagine what it will look like the day we each make it to heaven, but while we wait, I can only imagine all the good things we can do in the world in meantime. Let us go forth, living and loving in hope of God’s promises still to come. Thanks be to God. Amen.