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Easter 5 - May 9, 2004

Acts 11:1-18

Revelation 21:1-6

The story in Acts 11: News reached the leaders of the Church in Judea that Peter had gone to eat with uncircumcised men, Gentiles (refer back to Acts 10, the reading on Easter Day). That is forbidden by Jewish law and the early Christians were Jews who kept the Jewish law. Peter was criticised for his actions though the news was that Gentiles had accepted the word of God and been baptised.

So Peter tells the Council the whole story of his vision and obeying the Spirit,

10:12 – and not to make a distinction between them and us. Other translations suggest and ‘not to hesitate’ about going with the messengers from Cornelius. Six other brothers - Christians - had accompanied him. He had not been acting on his own. Cornelius was a seeker and had also had a vision – of an angel telling him to send to Joppa and "he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved’.

Peter tells the meeting that the Holy Spirit fell on them as it had upon Peter himself and the other disciples in the beginning. It is a powerful statement Peter gives, very logical even though it refers to visions and angels and so on. And the Jerusalem meeting’s criticism is silenced. Then they praised God proclaiming that ‘God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life’. The Jerusalem Bible says: ‘God can evidently grant even the pagans the repentance that leads to life’.

The Council acknowledged that Peter’s actions were right and gave praise for the outcome but they were so condescending about the experience of fellow human being who didn’t happen to be Jews. But we keep on doing it. We keep on criticising the actions of our fellow Christians when, following their understanding of the leading of the Spirit, they are inclusive, and neither judgmental nor condescending.

That meeting did listen. Sometimes we do not.

The Church through the centuries has had to recognise that slaves are human beings to be included, that colour of skin does not mean inferiority or superiority, that women are equal in the sight of God. What else still divides us? What are current issues similar to what faced that group in Jerusalem? We are still very loath to accept that we might have been wrong, that our assumptions have been inadequate, that we have yet more things to learn.

What about sexual orientation? What about people of other faiths? What other issues divide us? What is God saying to us in our contemporary society? Remember the vision in Revelation that was so inclusive.

Revelation 21:1-6

A new heaven and a new earth? What can that mean for us today?

The new Jerusalem appears ‘coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband’. John has blended the conventional motif of a new Jerusalem kept in heaven till the last days, with the metaphor of the church and the people of God. The bride’s ‘fine linen, bright and pure’ is said to be the ‘righteous deeds of the saints,’

(Rev. 19:8)

The bride metaphor stresses the ideal bride was of pure origin with nothing that would compromise her loyalty to her husband, Christ. Loyalty was necessary to John’s claim that one day God will call all persons to account for their deeds on earth.

In the Book of Revelation there appears to be a note of triumphalism but the Lamb who invites us to the wedding feast is the Lamb who went on his way to a Cross. It is this Christ whom we meet as we respond to the invitation.

Many of us who were involved in the churches of the 60s became aware of new dimensions to our understanding of mission in today’s world: Poverty, hunger, conservation, pollution, racism, apartheid, human rights, the need for social justice began to claim our attention. We re-discovered the First Testament (OT) prophets like Amos: ‘Let justice roll down like a river’. But we believed hunger could be overcome by greater sharing of resources. Care of the earth, conservation, could be encouraged in place of the exploitation of the earth - which some readers of Genesis 1 felt was allowed. Pollution could be dealt with by better planning. Different races could learn to live together in harmony. But we thought we could solve all these problems with understanding, cooperation and hard work in the strength of the Spirit. In the latter decades of the 20th century we learnt more accurately the magnitude of the problems and we also encountered the opposition of Big Business and Multi-national companies unwilling to see the possibility of less profit. And many of these Christians ‘lost their nerve’ or suffered from ‘compassion fatigue’ or have grown old. So any possible danger of and feelings of triumphalism has past away. Instead some suffer from disillusionment and loss of hope. That is different from the suffering and persecution of early Christians in the power struggles of the first and second centuries but we too need to re-capture the image of a new Jerusalem and a new sense of hope and human responsibility.

On the other hand there have always been Christians who thought personal salvation is the only thing. ‘Leave the rest to God’. And there is a strong element of this in the Book of Revelation. But there is also a strong message of responsibility to act and to witness in the world, ‘the earth’ dominated by evil powers. God relies on our witness and action. The new Jerusalem comes down to earth out of God’s heaven. This earth is important to preserve.

There are examples of mediaeval art which draw on the images in Revelation. For many of these artists Revelation was their Bible, though they recognised the images were often from other parts of the Bible, particularly the First Testament. Sometimes the art clarifies the text in amazing ways, sometimes it goes beyond into further fantasies. But it helps us realise the images are not to be taken literally. They are images, metaphors, pictures, visions. And throughout the Book there is worship.

There will be occasions when the hymn, "Holy, holy, holy" will be appropriate to sing in the service or other hymns or songs with the theme of worship and glory to God.

It may be important not to have the reading from Revelation early in the service without some background before the reading. It may be more appropriate to include the reading within the sermon, even to have it read by another voice – but it should be a good reader and someone who is willing to practise beforehand.

John 13:31-35. A reminder may not be out of place that Jesus reiterates his message of the importance of love. Another translation suggests: ‘Accept and respect each other despite who you are and what you each may have been. If you can do this seriously and sincerely then everyone will know that you are my companions’.

PRAYER

Pray for committees and other meetings which have to make important decisions. Help us all to learn from that meeting in Jerusalem - first of all to listen attentively and then not to discount or ignore that ‘God may be doing a new thing’, that there may be new ways to learn, new insights to take into account, new behaviours to put into practice.