Revelation 21:10-22:5 | Göttinger Predigten im Internet

Easter 6 | 22 May 2022 | Revelation 21:10-22:5 | Samuel D. Zumwalt, STS |

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—13 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—and 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.

HOLY BAPTISM: CHRIST THE LAMP

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Children of the Light

Clap and sing with me softly now, and remember the beat is on 2 and 4: “This little light of mine. I’m gonna let it shine. (Sung three times). Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.”

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.

Eden is not a mythical place. Eden is where our first parents lived. Eden is where God’s 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.

My mother often read at bedtime a little poem by Emily Dickinson: “I never saw a moor or visited in heaven. Yet certain am I of the spot as if a chart were given” (“Chartless”). 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.

Sing the refrain very softly now: “Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.”

Slipping into Darkness

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’t know what to say to me. Mentors to which I had looked were of no help. So-called friends were like Job’s friends, which means they were no friends. A song was on the radio by a group named “War.” 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.

Some of the lyrics: “I was slippin’ into darkness when they took my friend away… I was slippin’ into darkness when I heard my mother say. You been slippin’ into darkness. Pretty soon you’re gonna pay.” https://vimeo.com/541170260

At the end of the summer, I went to a different school thirty miles from home and went to classes every day. I got my homework done first each day. But I was lost and didn’t know it. When I went home on weekends, I went to church with my parents and often played for the services. I dated hometown girls, because they were people I already knew. On the outside I looked like a typical, long-haired kid, a party animal. But I was still slippin’ into darkness and didn’t know it.

We got a new part-time pastor, a long-haired guy who drove up from Dallas. He couldn’t admit yet that he didn’t want to be a pastor, but, in all of his confusion about where he was going, I caught a glimmer of the Light. In retrospect, it was no surprise when he eventually left the ministry. But he loved our family and carried us through Dad’s painful decline and death from lung cancer. And in his own struggling presence, he pointed me back to Christ the Lamp, who brought me out of the darkness into which I had been slipping. Dad’s cancer and Pr. Steve’s care became part of God working in everything for good with those who love Him, who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Do you know what I’m talking about? Have you been there?

Sing the refrain very softly now: “Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.”

Illumined for Good by Christ

Eden is not a mythical place. Eden is where our first parents lived. Eden is where God’s people will be again. The Bride with her Bridegroom. The City with her King. It was perfect at the be-ginning. It will be perfect at the end. No more treacherous sea. No more death. No more mourn-ing. No more crying. No more pain. No more curse. No more night. Christ the Lamp is her Light.

Close your eyes and try to see it, dear ones. It’s more beautiful than the most pristine place you have ever seen. Listen, and you may hear it. In the new Eden, the river of life flows from God’s throne through the City, joyfully bubbling in contrapuntal praise of God. And the tree of life straddles the river like a gigantic sequoia. No longer does an angel with a flaming sword bar the way keeping God’s people from eating of the fruit of the tree of life. For nothing unclean, nothing unholy, nothing false can ever be there in the new Eden. Now, the tree of life yields a different fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of all the nations. At the end, the only identity there is child of God. There is no separation by sex or color or education or wealth or address or ethnicity or country of origin or language or any set of initials behind or before names. There is only one story. It is Reality. Everyone there worships the Triune God. Everyone sees Him face to face. Everyone bears the Holy Name (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) on their foreheads in the sign of the cross given them in Holy Baptism. The Beauty of the Lord overwhelms every sense. Blessing, honor, glory, and might be to God and the Lamb forever.

Yes, 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.

God’s people will be illumined for good by Christ the Lamp, and you can cling to that vision and be illumined for good as you walk as a child of the Light each day. Who do you know has been slippin’ into darkness? Who do you know is in the dark about being in the dark? Who do you know needs to catch a glimmer from you, and see the Light of Christ shining on your face and through your words and deeds.

Reach in the font as you come or go from the altar today. Trace the cross of Christ on your forehead again and remember the cleansing Flood that has claimed you. If you are baptized, taste and see that the Lord is good as you receive His True Body and drink His most precious Blood for the forgiveness of your every sin. And, if you or your child is not baptized, hear again the Lord Jesus calling you to be born from above by water and the Holy Spirit. Christ has died your death on His lonely cross, He is risen from the dead, and He wants you to have His eternal life.

So, once again, clap and sing with me softly, and remember the beat is on 2 and 4: “This little light of mine. I’m gonna let it shine. (Sung three times). Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.”

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

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

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szumwalt@bellsouth.net

St. Matthew’s Ev. Lutheran Church

Wilmington, North Carolina USA