Text: Revelation 21:1-5
" Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Hands up everyone who likes fishing. Sorry to say, I have some really bad news for you. There's no fishing in heaven! I can prove it. While I'm at it, I'll also prove in exactly the same way that God is beyond all doubt, masculine.
Our text says both quite, quite clearly. I'm not kidding. If you missed it the first time, here's the no fishing one again. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. No sea, therefore no rivers, no fish, and ... no fishing. And I'm sure you didn't miss the description of God as a husband. Now no matter how you muck around with words, a husband has to be masculine. God is the husband and the church, the new Jerusalem, is his beautiful bride.
You see how easy it is to interpret God's Word? All you need is a little hatred of fishing and a desire to identify with a masculine God and Bob's definitely your Uncle.
This is exactly where you end up when people interpret images as if they are literal truth, instead of the small glimpses of the truth that they give us. What we're dealing with here and in lots of places in the Bible, especially in the book of Revelation are of course images - beautiful, very meaningful images. Images are of course, word pictures that help tremendously in our communications. We know exactly what people are meaning to say when they give us images like: I feel great, I slept like a log. I could eat a horse. You're as thick as two bricks. That guy's a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic.
No wonder Jesus used lots of images. His parables are really one picture after another. But images do have limitations. Some don't really translate well into other cultures. I can remember being told how N.G. missionaries had to change the many sheep images of the N.T.. They found themselves trying to communicate with people who had no idea what a sheep was. They'd never seen one let alone a shepherd. So our well loved image was changed till they had the story of the lost pig, and Jesus became the good pig herder. Other images experience difficulty passing the test of time. Here's an image from my teenage years. It comes from a Bible Study which was meant to indicate just how amazing our God given bodies are. This image deals with our brain.
" Scientists have estimated that if they had to build a computer to do all the work that the human brain can do, they would need to build a building as large as the Pentagon (32,000 people work in that building). They would need all the water of the Colombia River to keep it cool, and all the electricity generated by the Niagara Falls to provide it with power. Yet the human brain operates on .07 of a volt of electricity. It can do one hour of intense mathematics on 2.5 calories, which is half a peanut. "
It's a wonderful image. It's purpose and meaning is still important and perfectly true, our bodies and brains are magnificent gifts from God, but it's now way out of date and it needs drastic updating if not a whole new image.
So let's have a closer look at the images here in our text. Let's see if they still communicate and let's make sure we hear the message instead of being caught up in the image itself.
First there's the new heaven and the new earth. God promises his people a brand new environment. He offers no slightly soiled but definitely cheaper updated model, (like a second hand car). Our God offers us a brand new creation. The old is gone, behold the new has come!
And the sea has no part in this new world. Now, we've got to remember Jews are not known as a sea going nation. They didn't much like the ocean. Their image of the sea was one of primeval chaos. It symbolised the chaotic evil powers. The ocean was all that is anti-God and anti-creation. It was also the home of terrible monsters. So obviously our text says this evil remnant of the forces of chaos could have no place in the new heaven and earth. Perhaps to communicate the real message and so as not to upset our keen fishing members, we'd do better to think in terms of a brand new creation without hospitals. We've become clever enough to control most that nature hurls at us except our health. It's things like cancer, aids, strokes and car accidents we fear most. Not a bad image is it? - a new earth without the need for any hospitals.
His second gift is the New Jerusalem. It's God's gift, remember - the new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven. The old religious and political structures and powers have gone. God promises to create for us a brand new human community. A new community that fits perfectly into the new creation. And of course that new community is us. Me, you, and all other Christians. God promises to make us holy, to mould us into a holy community and then give us back to ourselves as a gift. Maybe the image of the gift of a new Jerusalem still communicates. At least the next song thinks so. (Australian Lutheran Hymnal " Jerusalem the Golden" Number 494) I'm sure it works much better than a place with a new Canberra or for us Lutherans a new Adelaide.
This image then rolls wonderfully into the next. God has made this new Jerusalem, the new community holy. He has washed her, cleansed her, and dressed her as a bride being adorned for her wedding day. The new community of God's people will enjoy a relationship with God comparable to the closest of all human relationships. Nothing will divide God from his people. Can you imagine having such a relationship with God that it could be compared to a human marriage? Unbelievable!
But before we go too far in the marriage image. Did you catch that other amazing image. We have a picture of God carefully and lovingly preparing us as a bride. Now in our society and definitely in Jewish society, and my guess would be almost every society on earth, the job of preparing brides for their husbands is always the work of women. Isn't this image of the fussing and doting mother or some close loved trusted female companion tenderly preparing a young woman for marriage, wonderful and surprising. But God's wonderful love and careful preparation for our new life with him in heaven is all there in that picture.
Now I know that in our society there are some who have great difficulty in picturing God as female. They go absolutely berserk if someone were to suggest that we might pray, "Our Mother in heaven." Perhaps for these people this Biblical image needs changing so that its intended message can communicate. Maybe they need to think in terms of a motor mechanic lovingly preparing a car for it's new owner. Maybe a chap in the back shed tenderly and gently brewing a new batch of beer for the Christmas party. But for me, the image of God as mother, or matron of honour is a wonderful and very meaningful one. The image doesn't really matter. As long as you can get the message of this God who is carefully preparing you for a wonderfully close relationship with himself. And it all comes to you as his gift.
Some of us may test God's creative powers, but he promises to make us all stunning new and beautiful brides.
Finally, we're given a second feminine image of God. The wonderful scene of a child being comforted in the arms of his mum. "There, there" our divine Mother says, "Stop all your crying, all the pain, all the sorrow, all the suffering, all the injustice, all the fear and tragic separations caused by death are over. It's all right, I've got you, you're safe now." And the tissues come out and our tearful cheeks are wiped dry for all time.
Now it's again possible that some would be uncomfortable with this magnificent feminine image of God. Some of you may want to object. You'll reject the feminine and cling to the masculine verb here. Look it says, "he wipes". But, you see, it doesn't matter. If it was your Dad who wiped away your tears, if it's important for you to think of yourself in the arms of a male, if that image brings you the sense of comfort, security and safety, then by all means let that be your image.
But me? Especially as a male, I'll go with the wonderful feminine image of God. I love the thought that my God wants to cuddle me like my mum used to. It's a magnificent image. It needs no further explanation. As long as you were fortunate enough to have such a mum. I sure thank God that he gave me a mum whose actions in my childhood life make this image so powerful and so wonderful for me.
Treasure the images God gives us in his word. Thank God for the experiences and people in your life that are able to bring these images alive. Remember how difficult some images are for people who have been sexually abused by their fathers and raped by their husbands, and abandoned by their mothers. Praise God that he loved us enough to communicate with us through images. And that he actually became an image for us - the Word made flesh.
And look forward to that wonderful time when there will be no more need for images and impressions and visions and pictures, that time when we'll see and relate to our loving, comforting, nurturing, mother-like God face to face.
© Copyright Rev. K.W. Stiller.