“Final Instructions”
A sermon by Sid Burgess for Edgewood PC, Birmingham, AL
Ascension Sunday/Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 16, 2010
Texts: Revelation 22:12-21, John 17:20-26
On the Christian calendar Ascension Day has come and gone. It was last Thursday, which was the fortieth day following Easter. On the biblical time line 40 is a sacred number. For forty days and nights it rained. For 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. For 40 days Jesus was tempted in the Wilderness. Now, forty days following the resurrection, Luke says Jesus gives final instructions to his disciples, “And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth;” then, “When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight”(Acts 1.8-9).
On this Sunday, the seventh Sunday following Easter, it is the Church’s turn to get instructions. Our instructions are found in the final chapter of the final book of the Christian New Testament. They have been recorded by a Christian prophet named John. Brother John describes himself as a fellow Christian, a servant of Christ. John is writing from the Island of Patmos, about 60 miles off the coast of Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, where he is apparently in exile for having preached the gospel. John is writing to the seven churches on the mainland, likely at the end of the first century, during the reign of Emperor Domitian.
The book of Revelation has the framework of a pastoral letter, but its style is unlike any of the other pastoral letters in the Newer Testament. John is writing in code—it is called apocalyptic literature. The seven churches—composed of second and third generation Christians—are apparently under some duress. Official sanction of Christian persecution is some centuries off, but that doesn’t stop the locals from harassing, even tormenting our ancestors in faith. At the very least, these early Christians are outsiders-looking-in on the predominant Greco-Roman culture of the time. John is writing to urge the seven churches not to succumb to the allure of “Babylon”—that is, popular culture—but to hold out for the advent of the New Jerusalem.
To these beleaguered Christians—and to us-- the Risen Jesus speaks through Brother John saying, “See, I am coming soon.” In other words, divine company is coming, and coming soon. Having heard that Jesus is on the way, Brother John’s vision gives us our final instructions. Here are four steps to get ready to celebrate the presence of the Risen Christ in the world.
First, John’s vision urges us to get the story straight. Taking
on the voice of Jesus, John says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
first and the last, the beginning and the end.” In other words, let
there be no confusion. Christ has been present in the world from the
beginning of time, is present now, and will be present throughout
all eternity. “Jesus encompasses the whole range of human
history--the entire alphabet of life’s experience, ‘the beginning
and the end.’ Nothing—no wound, no sorrow, no joy—lies outside of
Christ’s enduring and embracing presence.1
Brother John goes on to describe Jesus as “The root and the
descendant of David, the bright and morning star.” The mystic thus
takes us back to the nativity—to that bright and shining star “that
rested over the stable and guided the magi to the scene of
miraculous birth.”2
First, get the story line straight. Second, get the washing done—especially those white robes of righteousness. Better get them all cleaned up, says Brother John, meaning repentance is the order of the day. In the words of our own time: better get our act together. None of us can resist all the temptations of this life all of the time, but all of us can symbolically ‘wash our robes;’ that is, ask God’s forgiveness. The Spirit of Truth enables us to confess. The Spirit of Grace assures us of forgiveness. Forgiven and free we are assured of access to Holy God, now and forever.
Third, better leave the bad guys to their own vices. Church is for those who hear; for those who thirst for God’s justice; for those who wish to take “the water of life” as a gift—a metaphor for the grace of God. Here at the climax of his vision, with mortal access to Holy God assured through Christ the Son, and the gates of the Holy City declared open to all comers, John reminds us that some folks will simply self-select out. All name-calling aside, the bad guys are “those who have refused to repent and give glory to God.”3
First, get the storyline straight. Second, get right with God. Third, leave the bad guys to their own vices. Finally, better not let anyone tamper with the text. For the early Church, long before the New Testament was put in final form, long before advent of the printing press, as critical documents were copied and recopied for ever-broader distribution, tampering with the text was quite a temptation. A little fix here, a little fix there in the process of transmission could assure that one’s point of view would prevail. Don’t even think about it, John warns. Today, people tamper with the text in a different way. We do it by picking and choosing our favorite passages of scripture. For some, the key text is “slaves obey your masters.” For others, it is Moses saying, “Let my people go.” For some, the key biblical message is the grace and mercy of God; for others, it is God’s justice and God’s “terrible, swift sword.” Faithful Christians hold in creative tension those texts that seem to contradict one another. The goal is that neither my verses nor your verses prevail, but that Jesus Christ be the standard by which all texts are interpreted.
So, the concluding chapter of the concluding book of the Christian Bible says get the storyline straight, get right with God, let the bad guys go, and don’t let anyone tamper with the text. Do all of the above and then pray: Come, Lord Jesus, come!
And while we are praying, “Come, Lord Jesus,” Jesus is praying for us, for this congregation and the Church Universal. In our text from the Gospel of John, Jesus prays not only for the 12 disciples—“but also on behalf of those who will believe in me.” That, my sisters and brothers, includes us. Jesus is praying for us—for our unity. He prays that we will share sacred unity of God the Father and the Son. Jesus wants us to experience unity with God, with Jesus, and with one another so that our witness in the world will be effective.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t quite turned out that way. The Church appears to me more divided today than ever. One hundred years ago it looked for a time as if unity might be possible, at least for Protestants. In June of 1910, 1,200 delegates from all the major denominations in Northern Europe and North America gathered in Edinburgh, Scotland, for the World Missionary Conference. The express purpose of the Conference was to facilitate working across denominational lines for the sake of world missions. As Protestant missionaries had fanned out across the world in the 19th century their would-be converts were confused by the divisions within the Church. “Christ and him crucified, dead, but risen for the grave” was hard enough to get across to people hearing the story for the first time, but then to confuse the issue with Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and other variations on the basic theme was just more than many new converts could comprehend.
Thus, the Edinburgh Conference, which led to formation of the International Missionary Council, established in 1921, and, eventually, to the World Council of Churches formed in 1948.
Sadly, the 1910 event in Scotland was the “high-water mark” of the movement. Two world wars, the long Cold War, a host of colonial wars of independence, plus issues of gender, race, and sexual orientation, plus modern biblical scholarship—some eager to learn, others refusing to listen-- have combined to doom any chance for wide-spread unification of the larger church. The World Christian Encyclopedia reports 34,000 Christian denominations. The largest single denomination remains the Roman Catholic Church, but second in size is the combined number of Christians worshipping through independent churches. The independent churches have formal ties neither to Catholicism nor to any of the traditional Protestant branches of the Church.
Altogether this is not a bad thing. The Holy Spirit is and always has been free to work its wonder in new and exciting ways. The independent churches, unencumbered by the rules and regulations of denominational structure, are free to roam where they please, wherever they feel the Spirit is leading them. These ‘post-denominational’ churches are growing like wildfire in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and even here in North America. What they may lack in theological sophistication, biblical scholarship, and corporate discipline they more than make up for in enthusiasm, drive, and determination.
Meanwhile, back in Edinburgh, Scotland, the remnants of the ecumenical movement will gather in June of this year to celebrate the centennial of the World Missionary Conference. I suspect it will be a far smaller, much quieter gathering than the one held in 1910. Again, altogether this is not a bad thing. Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann, challenging those who bemoan declining membership among traditional, mainstream denominations says, “We may not yet be small enough to be the faithful church Christ calls us to be.”
While that may be true for what remains of the big national governing bodies, I don’t think it is true for this congregation. I believe Edgewood Church is quite small enough to be faithful. May we be blest with the unity of spirit for which our Lord prays today!
The unity for which Jesus prays (v. 21) is founded in reciprocal love: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another“(13.24). This love is sometimes easy and graceful— as in the love we share for each newborn child brought to the baptismal font. At other times, it is a sacrificial love that evolves through our commitment to this particular community of faith when the congregation itself experiences hardship and loss.
Jesus concludes his prayer: 25“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me.
Yes, we know. Comes now the question: What will we do with this sacred knowledge? Will we follow, or will we flee. We have final instructions to become faithful followers. Jesus is praying that we will respond in unity of purpose. The stakes are incredibly high. Jesus seeks our affirmative response “so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
1 Hollyday, Joyce, FEASTING ON THE WORD, C-2, p. 537.
2 Ibid.
3 Roland, Christopher, C., “The Book of Revelation,” THE
NEW INTERPRETERS’ BIBLE, vol. 12, p. 733.