Making All Things New

If someone were to ask you about your vision for the future, what would you say?  Would you be concerned about making all things new?  If so, what would that mean?  In our lessons appointed for today, the Revelation to John is about the vision of a new heaven and a new earth?  “See. I am making all things new…. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.”  Then, as we heard in the gospel of John,  “Love one another, even as Christ has loved you.”

The Revelation to John proclaims the reality and fulfillment of the whole biblical message of redemption.  “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…. And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new…. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.”

When we think about our history and our future as 21st Century Christians we look back to the story and heritage that shaped the identity of the early Christian community.  The earliest Christians lived in the midst of human misery and suffering.  Part of their identity helped them to look forward with hope and anticipation for new life.  The very meaning of life was found in hope and love. 

The issues we face today were so far into the future of the early Church that they could not have been imagined.  There was no thought or concern about civil rights, climate change, the energy crisis, internet technology, instant world-wide communication, a world-wide economic system, human genome and brain mapping, or standardized tests.  These issues were beyond human dreams and visions.

Among all that is new today is the fact that we are members of a worldwide community.  We are no longer simply members of a local community, or of a clearly defined and identifiable religious community.  We go through life moving from one community to another, always building new relationships and always saying good-by to communities left behind.  Many religious people also move from one church community to another; and there is far less denominational loyalty today than in years past. 

What this means for us is that God’s new Jerusalem, at least for now and for the foreseeable future, is to come to terms with what it means to be a worldwide community, multi-national, multi-cultural, multi-religious -- an interdependence that is global.  The days of nationalism and isolationism are past.  The real question is how are we to understand what it means to live with relatively new relationships.  How are we to understand one another’s language, customs, traditions, worldviews? 

What this suggests to me, especially in the light of our reading from the Book of Revelation, is that we should be open and hospitable to those whom we do not know.  “To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.”  The “spring of the water of life” belongs to everyone.  We are all thirsty and we all are in need of this water.  Pour a glass of water for the stranger you meet and that stranger will become your friend.

The theme of redemption is reflected in Jesus’ statement to his disciples: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”  This passage is part of the last discourse of Jesus.  Jesus’ death, resurrection, and glorification by God are held together as one event.  God is glorified in Christ.  It is an event of redemption for the whole world; a new covenant is about to be sealed.  Jesus told the disciples the new covenant, which implies commandment, is not unlike the old covenant.   What is new is the fact that Jesus’ love was unconditional and ultimate.  He was led to endure death in order for his followers and all of us to have eternal life.  The disciples’ love must be no less.

Our love for others must be no less.  It is a love that embraces compassionate care, peace and justice, romantic love of partners in intimate relationships, the love of Jesus caring for all sorts and conditions of people.  Jesus forgave them, healed them and brought them to new life. 

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Where I am going you cannot come.”  Death is real.  It is not just physical dying but it is death to everything that stands in the way of love and life for everyone.  No one is to be denied water from the spring of the water of life.  The death we are to witness is a death to the status-quo, to the accepted ways of doing business and of taking life for granted.  Death must happen in order for new life to spring forth from the water of life.  Privilege must die so equality can live.  Greed must die so people can work and share the resources of life.  Prejudice and bigotry must die so pluralism, understanding, and mutual respect can live.  Violence and terror must die so love can live.  Self-righteous nationalism must die so a new world order can be born.

As we prayed in the Collect for today, “Almighty God,… grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life.”   May all that we do in our ministry as Christians serve to make all things new by working for reconciliation and unity with God and everyone we meet.  Amen.