Sixth Sunday of Easter Year C

Readings can be found here!

         

   For the last five weeks our second reading has been from Revelation. Father John mentioned it in the first week of April, telling us all that Revelation would be with us until Pentecost. But after that, our preaching has focused on Acts of the Apostles, the Psalm, or the Gospel. So we haven’t had much opportunity to consider Revelation. And perhaps the reason is that the Gospel has been so compelling, or that the Holy Spirit was leading us to preach on other texts. And perhaps Revelation is a difficult book, as whole, that is often used in ways that make many of us uncomfortable. But finally the week has come where I feel moved to preach about Revelation. I don’t know if moved is quite the right word, maybe closer to compelled. Each week I have preached since Easter, I have looked at the text from Revelation and felt, confused, or overwhelmed. But mostly confused. Where is this happening? What is going on? What do you mean the lamb? What do you mean vision? And none of it has inspired me to try to figure them out. All of my commentary readings kept telling me to understand these passages in the context of joyful worship that included a real diversity of people. But I wasn’t seeing it. It is hard to see very much in the short snippets of text from Revelation we get from our lectionary. I suppose they are doled out in short little segments so that they are not overwhelming, but I find them hard to understand in these little bits.

            Revelation is a tricky text to preach on because so much of understanding it depends on context. The text is largely thought to be written in code, and many people spend years decoding it. This often leads to predictions of the end of the world, or to comparing modern-day “bad people” like Hitler or Stalin to “the beast.” And then of course it is important to think of the Early Christians living in a very oppressive Empire, and Revelation’s code was for them, rather specifically about living as an oppressed group in a powerful empire. None of this helps us understand how to read Revelation today as Christians who do not live in the Roman Empire, and Christians who do not (generally) think that Revelation points to some specific end of the world.

            So then if we are trying to understand Revelation, and we are not looking to decode anything, how might we approach the text? I want to take a clue from our Gospel reading. Jesus tells his followers that he is going to leave. This is part of what is known as the “Farewell discourse” in John’s Gospel. This means that it is Jesus’ instructions to his disciples after he is ascended. And thus, it is some of Jesus’ instructions to us. He tells them the Holy Spirit will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said. This is helpful on a number of levels. First of all it reminds us that we are still guided by the Spirit into deeper understanding. And that we need the Holy Spirit to be reminded of the way the word interacts with the world.

            As I look at our passage from Revelation, the vision of a new Jerusalem, coming down is a powerful one. Looking closely at the reading, we see that not all of Revlaation has to be read as apocalypse, rather think more along the lines of the Lord’s prayer, this is that “on earth as it is in heaven” line in vision form. New Jerusalem is coming down to earth, it is happening here, the kings of the earth are going to bring glory into this renewed city. This isn’t about destroying old Jerusalem or the end of the world, but it is about the transformation of Jerusalem. And though Revelation is often read as condemning human civilzation (and especially the Roman Empire) here the kings are the ones bringing glory into the city. Thus this passage is showing us a vision for a transformed human society. The tree offering leaves of healing is a symbol of reconciliation. This passage shows us clearly that new Jerusalem is a vision of possible transformation. 

            I have been thinking about visions for the future this week. Partly it was because of an article I read in the New Yorker. It was discussing or perhaps comparing the non-fiction written about the Great Depression and our current depression. At first the article pointed out the ways that poverty in America looks different now than in did in the 1930s. A breadline looks different than a foreclosed home. Of course part of the reason why poverty looks different today is because of some of the social reforms that took place as a part of the New Deal, insuring a social safety net and preventing breadlines. But the author, George Packer, eventually settles on a fascinating point, many of the authors of books about the Great Depression had a real exciting view of the future. They had a clear vision. Their vision was socialism. They saw this as totally possible future, and a vision worth fighting for. Contrast this to the writing about our current depression, and there is no such vision for what is possible. No way out. And in some ways we are right. There is not a viable, realistic alternative to global capitalism. The Occupy Wall Street movement called attention to growing wealth disparity, but couldn’t seem to coalesce around any actual alternative. The article suggests we are suffering from a problem of vision. We can’t see anything but the present mess we are in, because there is not some great workers revolution that might lead to a different sort of future. We feel locked in.

            On a smaller scale, here at our church, I wonder about our visioning here too. We all know about the renovation project for the Parish house, and expect that once completed the revenue will both help to keep us afloat, as well as help us prepare for the future, and eventually to liberate the tower from its scaffolding. The vision is very building oriented. But I think we have some other aspirations too, I think we want to continue to grow, and to be a cultural crossroads in our community. But this morning, I think we are all called to look at some specifics about our vision here, and consider some practical issues regarding our image of the coming years. What do we think growth will look like? How will our community change with more new people in it? What might we have to try in order to grow? What might we have to give up?

            When we consider the way that global capitalism makes us as a society feel locked in and unable to have a New Jerusalem image for the future, I am reminded just how important vision is. And though it is important to be realistic about the fact that global capitalism is going to continue, perhaps we as Christians do have some vision that we can offer this system. Capitalism, as we learn in school, is all about individuals. It is individuals making choices, and individuals earning money. Christianity is, of course, all about communities and relationships. At it’s core it is about the relationship between the three parts of the trinity, and then it stretches outwards from there. It is about Gods relationship to each of us, which ties us into relationship with one another, and eventually compels us to treat all people with the dignity of love. Love. If we are unable to envision a totally other system, perhaps the vision we need to have is of a global capitalism infused with love relationships derived from our Christian faith. A relational capitalism would mean making choices that aren’t just in our own best interest, but consider the relationships involved in the transaction. On a very small scale, it might mean buying our food more directly from local farmers. But even small actions and choices, when made with love, when made with an awareness of our faith, when made with a vision for our relationships with one another will provide a picture of the future that may not be totally different, but perhaps will at least mitigate capitalisms worst effects. Or perhaps will just allow us to see that there is some viable alternative to the way things are now. Our Christian faith could help to unlock the stuck feeling that we have as a society.

            So it is with great joy that we realize the power of imagining the future. It is through a renewed effort at visioning that our present becomes unlock and we can live fully into that future. And for this we give God great thanks, and praise.