Did You Do Your Laundry?
Revelation: Not Your daddy's Buick • Sermon • Submitted
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OPENING PRAYER Chris
Alpha and Omega, you make your home with us, you dry our tears and quench our thirst, you are the tender love that welcomes all people. Like a mother, you nurture your children, giving them life, teaching them to love. Come and dwell among us, and make all things new. Amen
HYMN: I Stand Amazed in The Presence
PASTORAL PRAYER WITH LORD’S PRAYER Chris
God of all hope we call on you today.
We pray for those who are living in fear:
Fear of illness, fear for loved ones, fear of other’s reactions to them.
May your Spirit give us a sense of calmness and peace.
We pray for your church in this time of uncertainty.
For those people who are worried about attending worship.
For those needing to make decisions in order to care for other
For those who will feel more isolated by not being able to attend.
For those that are laid on our hearts, say their names out loud now . . .
Grant us your wisdom.
Holy God, we remember that you have promised that
Nothing will separate us from your love – demonstrated to us in Jesus Christ.
Help us turn our eyes, hearts and minds to you
AMEN.
LORD’S PRAYER Chris
Scripture Sophia
Scripture Sophia
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me;
but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”
And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
“See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.
Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
“It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let everyone who hears say, “Come.” And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book;
if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.
HYMN: How Great is Our God
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION Rob
Introduction
Introduction
Today is our last sermon in the series on Revelation. For some of you this has been a Revelation about Revelation. You have heard, for you a new approach to this book. However, though it might be new to you , it is the classic interpretation of the book. I think you can see how important it is to understand the culture and history of the writer to begin to properly interpret a text. We need to always remember that we need to first understand what the writer was trying to communicate to their audience before we can ever interpret and understand what God is telling us today.
This book was never a book of doom and gloom, but a book of hope written to churches undergoing persecution for not worshipping Emperor Domitian. Yet, it has been a great source of hope to us in this series because of the historical milieu (meal-U) we now find ourselves.
Although we are not undergoing persecution ( although it might kinda feel like it) we are in a time in which the church is searching for a way forward as we deal with this pandemic, racism, white supremacy, political polarization, human sexuality, wedge politics, social unrest, civil disobedience, extremism and I could go on.
Ok on to today’s text.
Exegesis
Exegesis
We have reached the end or the epilogue as it is called in some Bibles and by all Biblical Scholars. This text really has no symbolism in it, unless you want to take Jesus return as symbolic in some way. I don’t. I believe he will really come back to usher in God’s kingdom. I just believe that we cannot save ourselves, that we cannot usher God’s Kingdom in some kind of spiritual way. God has already demonstrated that he has to intercede on our behalf for our salvation. It is God who saves, it is nothing we can do on our own. God’s takes the initiative in our salvation, which we have learned from the book of Revelation, is the salvation, the recreation of the world and not its destruction. However, we are the outpost if you will of God’s Kingdom now. Yes God will intercede, but we are his partners in doing so. We are God’s partners in bringing heaven to earth. More on this further in the sermon.
In the epilogue we have reached the fulfilment of God’s redemptive process. Judgment has taken place. Evil and death is eliminated and God now dwells with his creation, no longer separated. God and the lamb are the illumination of the universe. There is no more sun or moon. The sea is gone, chaos is killed. The Kingdom has come.
So the book ends with a warning. Jesus speaks again to the 7 churches. The church is warned to only worship God as the angel reminds John of this as he bows down in front of the angel. Most importantly the angel tells John not to seal up the words of this book!
This is VERY important to understanding this book. The words are not to be sealed because the end is neigh. It is not thousands of years’ off. This was to take place in that time and place! Most all apocalyptic writing was always sealed for a time in the future. Here’s one example:
But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be running back and forth, and evil shall increase.”
He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are to remain secret and sealed until the time of the end.
This is how apocalyptic writings usually end. Here we see these words were for right then!
As one scholar comments:
“ In closing, John reinforces the urgency of the message by declaring that the End will come soon. Unlike Daniel and apocalyptic literature in general, the book is not to be sealed as though its message is for future generations—it is specifically for John’s own generation”
But, this also makes the words of the book relevant to us today. This book is not a collection of prophecies, like reading Nostradamus, for it realtes to the 7 churches as well as the churches today as we shall see in a few minutes.
Now the warning from Jesus. He is coming to judge and to recompense. That is to repay according to everyones work. He then gives us a beatitude:
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.
What is meant by those outside are those judged, those that did not persevere the persecution. This is what Jesus had John right to the church at Sardis:
Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.
If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels.
As you can see those that are not clothed in white robes will not be in the book of life, therefore they are shutout. Everyone that is left can freely enter the city.
Then the book ends with Jesus inviting us into the community. He says “come.”
Jesus tells us that he is coming soon, and the book ends with the prayer Maranatha Come Soon! Maranatha was a common prayer of the early church. And still should be common today though it isn’t.
Then the book ends with grace!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.
Application
Application
But, if that’s the case does this mean we can stand idly by just waiting for the time to come when Jesus returns? So what are we supposed to be doing? Our laundry that’s what!
Well that’s what it says right here in verse 12-14
“See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.
What does Jesus mean by washing o ur Robes? Well the King James translates this passage as ‘Blessed are they that do his commandments.” Now that was a poor translation of the Greek on the KJ translators part. What we read today and you read in all the modern translations is about doing your laundry. In essence it means you need to be doing the work you are supposed to be doing, not standing around gazing at the sky waiting on Jesus to come back.
When we moved to Dunwoody in the early 60’s my three sisters and their families still lived in southwest Atlanta. On Sundays they would often come to visit in the afternoon. Many Sunday afternoons I sat on my bicycle at the corner of Valley View Road and Ashford Dunwoody the street they would be coming down, waiting. Just sitting there waiting. At first my hopes would be really high with anticipation, and then as the time drug on, I thought maybe they weren’t coming after all. Then I would turn my bike around and disappointedly head home.
When we sit idly by we invite depression and disappointment. However, if I had stayed at home and did the things necessary to prepare for their arrival, and I understand that arrival not to be dictated by a clock, I would have been forever ready in anticipation right?
We are instructed to be doing the work Christ commanded us to do and when he returns we will be rewarded. There is no talk of punishment here. We will be rewarded for the work we have done! Does anybody have any idea what this work is? I am not asking you rhetorically. We find in John 6:29 that the work of God is this:
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
And to believe in the one he has sent is to do those things he taught you which summed up is, “ Love God, Love your neighbor. Or as we say it here "Loving Christ. Loving People. Helping people to love Christ." In Mark, Jesus was asked a teacher of the law what the two greatest commandments were and this was the answer he gave. The scribe agreed wiht him and Jesus replied, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And what the New Jerusalem is, is the Kingdom of God!
Those two commandments cover a lot of ground don’t they? This is a fitting end to the book of Revelation. Doing the work of God until Jesus returns. Doing his work not as a burden, but joyfully sharing God’s grace with everyone that needs that living water! We are the bride, the church and we say Come! Whoever is thirsty, let him come, whoever wishes let him take the free gift of the water of life that flows directly from the throne of God! We have that water to share so no one is shut out. Everyone has opportunity to drink of it so they can drink of it when then Kingdom Comes!
Our response to the Book of Revelation is to be sharing God’s grace, God’s water of life! That is doing your laundry. And there will be rewards for us that do that! I don’t care what kind of rewards. It’s a heavenly thing anyway who can understand it, but we have this marvelous promise! So, in essence we are doing our laundry and helping others to do theirs so they will be washed in the blood of the lamb! What a beautiful picture of hope Revelation really is, and we play a role in it now!
I will sum up with this story and let me get to the end, it starts out slow. When I was in my early thirties my grandfather was in the hospital dying. I was very close to him and it seemed like he hung at death’s door forever.I spent his last night at his bed side with my sister. In the middle of the night the nuns came in. It was a surreal sight about 3 in the morning. And the oldest one prayed for my grandfather and then told him it was OK to die, that he could let go. You know it is OK. We will all go at the right time. We have had loved ones that have gone at the right time. But the message of Revelation is this we will see them again! Death and decay is not the end. No death is but a waypoint on God’s magnificent recreation of his world. I will see my grandfather again. What a great day it will be! The Sprit of the bride say Come, and let everyone who hears say come, and let everyone who is thirsty come! With Good news like this how can we not share the water of the river of life. Amen. Come Lord Jesus! !
HYMN: His Name is Wonderful
BENEDICTION Chris
Jesus gave a new commandment: to love one another. Because Jesus loves us,
we should love one another. Go forth to love.
Go forth to serve by Love Christ Love People and Help People Love Christ