Revelations 21
I Peter 2
Frankly, I am disappointed that they
have replaced Mothers day with Christian Family Sunday. It’s not that
an emphasis upon the family is unimportant, it’s that Mothers need to
have a day when we can voice the true sentiments that are held, but all
too seldom expressed. We keep a special day for Fathers, and I
think we ought to keep this day for Mothers, because when you focus on
Mothers, even more than on Fathers, you also focus on the family.
Both Chris and I are lucky enough to
still have our Mothers. Not many our age can say that. Now
that I am older, I appreciate my Mother much more than I did when I was
a youngster. When I was young, my Dad was my hero. He taught me
how to weld, how to play ball, how to fish, etc. It was deeds and
accomplishments that were important to him, and I ate that up and
competed as hard as I was able. Succeeding became crucial, and
doing your best became a way of life.
It was my Mom who simply modelled what
I now see as the Christian life. You see, I was one of those over
active kids who cause parents to ask "What did I do to deserve
this?" My only interest at that time was sports. Dad
supported this, but he wanted us to win. Mom simply wanted us to enjoy
ourselves and not get hurt. She was simply there, and whatever my
brother, sister or I did was OK with her, so long as it was
constructive, we enjoyed it, and nothing happened to us. It didn’t matter to Mom whether we
won or lost, whether what we did was good or shabby, we were her kids;
she loved us, and that was all that really mattered. We were accepted
as we were, and that I submit is one of the greatest qualities that
parents can model for their children. And, in my experience, most
mothers do that very well. Her dreams for us were idyllic rather
than competitive.
The texts that I have chosen for today
may seem like strange texts for a Mothers' day or family day service,
but they demonstrate the positive and hopeful message of the scriptures. I think that is one reason why I
like the Book of Revelation so much. It exudes hope. From my perspective, those who take
the Book of Revelation literally, or make it a collection of prophetic
pronouncements, have missed the entire point of the writer. John,
wrote this book while exiled on the island of Patmos. In his
physically and psychologically isolated location, where he could
observe the comings and the goings of the Roman Empire, and see the
mindset of those in the pursuit of power, he wrote a book about a
utopian dream.
The book is apocalyptic in nature,
that is, it is written in highly imaginative and symbolic language that
was very familiar in the culture of the Middle East; in fact it still
is. Apocalyptic literature is not only is colorful. It also
tends to be eschatological, that is it speaks of the end of things as
they are, and of the coming of a righteous time. It is a style of
literature that is not exclusive to Christianity, in fact all religions
of Middle East derivation,have apocalyptic literature in their sacred
books. The writer of
Revelation saw a great day coming a day when the world would have no
more hunger, and no more thirst. Remember, this is a parched
land. And the oppressed would be free. This is the dream of the
faithful of God. Listen
to his dream again “I looked and beheld a great multitude which no man
could number, from every nation, from all tribes and people and
tongues, all standing before the throne and before the lamb crying out,
salvation belongs to our God who sits upon then throne and to the lamb.
And they worshipped God saying, Amen! Blessings and honour and power
and might be to our God forever and ever. Then, a few verses later, he
says, “they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun
shall not strike them nor any scorching heat”- a great symbol for a
desert people. “For the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their
shepherd, and he will lead them to springs of living water, and God
will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Wow! That’s some
dream. Under
tension, John says look for a better world; in fact, work for it. The
victory is God's; believe it. Things may be tough. It’s easy to get
discouraged, but things will get better- that’s part of our faith.
Now listen to Peter. He writes a
message that is quite similar. He writes to those who are exiled
because of the diaspora or the dispersion. These folks are homesick,
and tired of being under the control of a conquering people. Peter
writes to them, “ You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of
him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you
were no people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received
mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Can you imagine any message that would
make a downtrodden people in captivity feel better? That is Biblical
hope. But that is no big deal; that is the type of message that my Mom
gave to me. Mothers say by their deeds, you are my child, I love
you and I want the very best for you. That’s why, when the chips are
down and life is crumbling, children, no matter what their age, want
their mothers. That’s why the toughest and meanest bloke around gets a
tattoo on his arm that says, Mother or Mom. Mothers love, mothers
accept, mothers hope and that is something that endures through any
situation.
That is the quality that makes good
parents and good families. It is not a matter of agreeing on
everything; that seldom occurs. It is the foundation of love and
acceptance surrounded with instruction and example that makes strong
families and, not coincidentally, strong Churches. I believe the major message of Jesus
is "I love you. I love you whether you accept it or not." We need
a person in our lives who by action as well as words says "I love you
no matter what. I love when you are stupid; I love you when you make
mistakes and I love you when you try to do better." That’s what good
parents do and that is the ministry of the Church.
I believe the Church should get out of
the "scaring people" business and into the "loving people" mode. By
word and action, the Church should be saying "I love you; I accept you
and I forgive you." After that, we’ll have lots of time to talk
about doctrines and interpretations, but that is where Christian living
begins.
Parents are crucial to the Church. We
can hire the best youth leader in the world and we will not have a
youth group or a Sunday school unless parents make these priority items
for the family. Where families put their emphasis is where children
will put their time and their effort. It’s not children who are
at fault with declining Sunday school and youth enrollments in our
nation, it's parents who have not made Sunday school, youth group or
Church a priority item for their family. Ideally, parents teach
and model the invisible truths.
Unfortunately, I never learned the
richness of children’s literature as a young person. As a middle-aged
man, Chris got me to read some children’s books, and they are simply
marvelous. One of those books is called, “The Little Prince” by
Antoine De Saint-Exupery. At the risk of being redundant, let me share
a portion of that book.
The little prince lives on a small
planet; so small, that on this planet the only things that exist beside
the prince, are a baobab tree and a couple of volcanoes that the prince
cleans regularly. One day, a seed falls on the planet. The prince
watches the seed germinate and grow into a beautiful rose. Not only is
the rose beautiful, it is also very jealous and it wants to be
protected.
The prince leaves the planet, and when
he gets to the other planet he meets a fox. After exchanging
pleasantries, the fox says to the little prince “tame me.” The little
prince answers, “what does that word mean- this word tame?" "It
is an act too often neglected” said the fox. “It means to establish
ties." “To establish
ties?”
“Just that” said the fox. “To me
you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred
thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your
part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a
hundred thousand other foxes. But, if you tame me, then we shall need
each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall
be unique in all the world….”
“I am beginning to understand” said
the little prince. “There is a flower…I think she has tamed me..”
“It is possible” said the fox. “I want to tame you very much” the
little prince replied, “but I have not much time. I have friends to
discover, and a great many things to understand.” “One only understands the things one
tames” said the fox. “Men have no more time to understand anything.
They buy things all ready made up at shops, but there is no shop
anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends
anymore. If you want a friend, tame me….” So the little prince
tamed the fox, and when the hour of his departure drew near---
“Ah,” said the fox, “I shall cry.” “It’s your own fault”, said the
little prince. “I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me
to tame you….” “Yes, that is so” said the fox. “Then it has done you no good at
all!”
“It has done me good”, “Because of the
colour of the wheat fields” said the fox. And then he added: “Go and look again at the roses. You
will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come
back and say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret.”
So the little prince went his way to
look again at the roses. “You are not at all like my rose” he said. “As
yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one.
You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a
hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he
is unique in all the world.” And the roses were very embarrassed. “You are beautiful, but you are
empty,” he went on. “One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary
passerby would think that my rose looked just like you—the rose that
belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the
hundreds of you other roses; because it is she that I have watered;
because it is she that I have put under a glass globe; because it is
she that is sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I
have killed the caterpillars (except for two or three that we saved to
become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when
she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing.
Because she is my rose.” And he went back to meet the fox.
“Goodbye” he said. “Goodbye” said the fox. “And now,
here is my secret, a very simple secret; It is only with
the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to
the eye.” “What is
essential is invisible to the eye”, the little prince repeated, so that
he would be sure to remember.
“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so
important.” “It is the
time I have wasted for my rose…” said the little prince, so that he
would remember. “Men have
forgotten this truth”, said the fox. “But you must not forget it. You
become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are
responsible for your rose.”
“I am responsible for my rose” the little prince repeated, so that he
could be sure to remember.
Mothers, Dads, Grandparents- that’s
the message. We are responsible for our roses. What is essential is
invisible to the eye. You
are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people-
said Peter. And Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life” and,
A new commandment I give you- that you love one another as I have loved
you.” May that become a reality right here!