Easter 6 | 22 May 2022 | Revelation 21:10-22:5 | Samuel D. Zumwalt, STS |<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Revelation 21:10-22:5 <\/strong>English Standard Version <\/strong>Copyright \u00a9 2001 by Crossway Bibles<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were in-scribed\u201413 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth ame-thyst.21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day\u2014and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. 22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HOLY BAPTISM: CHRIST THE LAMP<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Children of the Light<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Clap and sing with me softly now, and remember the beat is on 2 and 4: \u201cThis little light of mine. I\u2019m gonna let it shine. (Sung three times). Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baptized into Christ, you are a child of the Light. Baptized into Christ, He is your Lamp. Baptized into Christ, you have a permanent address and a permanent home. Where the Lord Jesus is, there is His Bride. Where the Lord Jesus is, there is His city. Baptized into Christ, you are not your own. You are His. Never forget who and whose you are! Tell the children. Tell each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eden is not a mythical place. Eden is where our first parents lived. Eden is where God\u2019s people will be again. The Bride with her Bridegroom. The City with her King. It was perfect at the beginning. It will be perfect at the end. No more treacherous sea. No more death. No more mourning. No more crying. No more pain. No more curse. No more night. Christ the Lamp is her Light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My mother often read at bedtime a little poem by Emily Dickinson: \u201cI never saw a moor or visited in heaven. Yet certain am I of the spot as if a chart were given\u201d (\u201cChartless\u201d). Who brought you to the baptismal font? Who told you who you are, child of God? How did you learn your permanent address to which you are going? You are a child of the Light. Jesus is your Lamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sing the refrain very softly now: \u201cLet it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Slipping into Darkness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My eighteenth summer was not a good one. I had forgotten who and Whose I am. On the one hand, I was holding a full music scholarship to an excellent music school. On the other, I had had disappointments, and my parents didn\u2019t know what to say to me. Mentors to which I had looked were of no help. So-called friends were like Job\u2019s friends, which means they were no friends. A song was on the radio by a group named \u201cWar.\u201d It was a cautionary word. It was an admonishing word. It gave voice to my painful summer of self-doubt and named the siren song of destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n