Show Us Love

          “Show Us Love” was preached at Lawrence Road Presbyterian Church on All Saints' Day, Sunday, November 1, 2015. Inspirations for this sermon included scripture, commentaries, Christian mysticism, and the French Baptismal Liturgy.  

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Revelation 21:1-6a

1 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. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them;

4 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.”

5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

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We know the story of Lazarus. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha who grew ill. When his illness took a turn for the worse, the sisters sent a message to Jesus saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But Jesus – being Jesus – dismissed Lazarus’s illness, saying it would not lead to death but rather to the glorification of the Son of God. However, a few days after, Lazarus did indeed die. In a moment of drifting off into an eternal slumber… In a moment of darkness without his Lord and Savior… In a moment where he might have felt abandoned instead of loved, Lazarus died.

They performed funeral rites on Lazarus. They wrapped him in cloths, the bound him from head to toe, and they laid him in a tomb. Mary and Martha grieved that day. And the day after. And the next day and the next. For four days, they grieved the loss of their brother before Jesus came to them. And when he did, it was Martha who first went to him and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” And then Mary went to him and said the exact same thing, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” The sisters began to weep at the feet of Jesus, and in a profound theological mystery – greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved – Jesus too began to weep. “See how he loved him!” the Jews exclaimed! “See! How he loved him!

Jesus then went to the tomb where the stench of the dead filled the air. He had them remove the stone away from the cave where he yelled for Lazarus to come out! Suddenly the dead man came out of the cave. Wrapped in cloths, bound from head to toe, Lazarus walked out of the tomb. For four days he had been dead, yet here he was, alive and well. Free to live the rest of his life. Truly this was a miracle.

After all of this, Lazarus appears again in the gospel of John. He shares a meal with Jesus, his sisters, and the disciples.  There is also a plot by the chief priests to kill Lazarus. But that’s it. That’s all we hear. Lazarus’s story stops there. We don’t know if the chief priests were successful in killing Lazarus. We don’t know if Lazarus lived for many years before he finally died of old age. We don’t know if he died of the same illness that killed him the first time or if he died in some unfortunate accident that no one could have predicted. We don’t know. But we do know that even though Lazarus was raised from the dead once before, he would eventually die again. Death for Lazarus was inevitable.

So too for us, death is inevitable. It’s a part of human life. It is something that will happen to all of us. It is something that has already happened to people we have loved. For some of you, it has already happened to the person you loved most in this world. People grieve through death. We mourn in death. We become angry at death. We become saddened by death. And it never really gets easier to face death. It’s just there, ever present in our lives. Death has happened and death will happen.  Death is a part of human life. But it’s only one part and it’s definitely not the end. God is. God – the Alpha and Omega – is the beginning and the end.

And we hear this good news in our passage today. Which is surprising since it comes from the book of Revelation… which isn’t really known for its good news… the apocalypse and conversations about the end times aren’t usually known to be light and cheery. But I found comfort in this passage because it is a promise that God will show us a world in which death is no more. God will show us love.

But first, let us acknowledge that death does affect us. We have lost people in our lives. Let us take the time to remember those who we have loved and lost in a moment of silence… Let us remember the family members and friends who have passed away this past year… Let us remember the family members and friends who have passed away this past decade… Let us remember the family members and friends who have passed away this past generation…

          When the people who we are closest to pass away, a part of our world passes away too. Death does that. But their names will not be forgotten. We will forever remember our love we shared with them. And we know that this isn’t the end. We use the phrase “passed away” to mean someone has died. It’s the idea that something has gone away. But God’s promise to us is when something has gone away, something new will come to us. And in the similar way to the passing of our bodies, our physical world will pass away and a new heaven and a new earth will come down to us. We will be able to experience this new heaven and new earth with all of our senses. We will be able to touch, hear, smell, taste, and even see it.

Four times in this passage, we have words in we see or saw. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” “And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem.” “See, the home of God is among mortals!” “See, I am making all things news.” In the same way when Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus and the crowds exclaimed, “See how he loved him!” something to us is being revealed. I saw. I see. The revelation of God is a new reality in which we live. A reality in which death will be no more. A reality in which mourning and crying and pain will be no more. A reality in which every tear will be wiped from our eyes and a reality in which God will show us all things new.

Julian of Norwich – a Christian mystic of the 14^th century – saw a glimpse into this reality. In a prayerful vision, Julian asked God to reveal her sin. This is what she saw, “And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazel nut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, ‘What may this be?’ And it was answered generally thus, ‘It is all that is made.’ I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God. In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that God loves it. And the third, that God keeps it.”

When Julian asked God to reveal her sin, God showed her love. This is the new reality in which we are supposed to live. Revelation’s vision of the future encompasses human beings and the world itself. For God, this world and all of its human beings are like a small little hazel nut in the palm of God’s hand. What seems so great and mighty to us is small and valued and cherished by God. And with it, God can do anything such as create a new world for us to live in. Where death is no more; there is only new and eternal life with God dwelling among us. This is the promise of the resurrection. And resurrection is the promise of a new existence, a transformed existence. God made us. God loves us. God keeps us. This will always be true especially in the new reality God has created for us.

Living into this reality is our task. It might be a reality that seems too complex and too far off. After all, it’s a new heaven and a new earth – one where the very seas – the waters that were there in the beginning of creation – are no more. A new heaven and a new earth where God dwells among us. And there is no sin and there is no death. It’s hard to understand. But the truth is, we already have glimpses and experiences of this reality now even if we don’t understand it.  We have already felt a love so deep and so rich when we were covered in the waters of our baptism. It’s the same love that moved over the waters at creation and the same love that made covenants with God’s chosen people. It’s the same love that had the Word become Flesh and lived among us full of grace and truth. It’s the same love that entered in the shadow of Gethsmane and it’s the same love that suffered through the horror of Calvary. It’s the same love that cried, “It is finished” with his final breaths! It’s the same love that rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. It’s a love so great and so deep that it was able to defeat the one thing that was undefeatable: death. We love God because God first loved us. All these things God did because God loves us. And we might not be able to understand any part of it but it is all part of the plan for us to live into this new heaven and the new earth.  Like I said, it is not supposed to be understood but it is supposed to be seen and tasted and felt and heard and smelt.

And we do see and taste and feel and hear and smell this reality every time we come to the Lord’s Supper. See the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the cup. This is Christ’s body broken for you and Christ’s blood shed for you. Smell the loaf and the fruit of the vine. This was what God has made for you. Hear the bread rip and hear the juice flow. These sounds are full of grace and love. Taste the grains of the bread and the sweetness of the cup. The body and the blood of Christ mixed together is the ultimate taste of love. And feel the texture of the bread. Feel the liquid in the cup. Feel God’s grace extended to you. These are the gifts of God for the people of God. We are brought into this new reality, if only for a moment, every time we eat the bread and drink from the cup. We are brought before God and Christ while the Spirit comes to us. The Trinitarian God dwells among us. This is the promise of the new reality. What God has spoken, God will do.

God is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The entirety of existence is framed by the presence of our God. And in this new reality promised in the book of Revelation, God’s presence – the God who gives life – will be among us. All Saints Day is a time where we can remember that death is real and that we have lost people. Death is a part of human life. It is inevitable and it will happen. But All Saints Day is also a time for us to remember that death is not final. We have been promised life and new life. This is the future God has given to us.

God made us. God loves us. God keeps us. Nothing – not even death – will ever change that. In life and in death, God will show you love.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.        Amen.

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All loving and all mighty God, You are the one true beginning and end. Thank you for your holy Word given to us today. Allow us to take this Word and use it in all of the days to come. Comfort us in death and remind us that death is not the end. You have promised us new life through the resurrection of Christ. Show us your love, O God, now and forevermore. Through your Son’s holy, grace-filled name.    Amen.

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