Revelation 20: 11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire, and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Sermon Text
After a week of illness, it is good to be back here with you all. Especially to participate in something our question series. Sadly last week’s theme could not be tackled, but I can speak to what it would have been briefly. Hospitality is much more than just saying hello when people come in, but preparing a place they can feel safe and at home as well. For this purpose we’re working to upgrade some of the fixtures of the Church. Redoing our parking lot, putting signs and maps up in the Church, as well as working hard to make our church accessible to all people. Hospitality is much more than coffee in a coffee pot or a greeter at the door.
Today our question series takes us into territory much broader and perhaps more difficult to parse as a result The question deals with a specific item described throughout the scriptures, “The Book of Life,” and whether or not its contents were written by God before we ever drew breath or is the book of life an ongoing writing project of God’s? Put more simply – do we choose to follow God or did God choose us so that we really had no choice in the matter?
Firstly, we can look directly at the object itself – the book of life. The book of life only named once in Hebrew Bible – in Psalm 69. When it appears, it seems to refer to a book of who is alive. Sometimes it is mentioned in the context of punishment. In this case someone is described as being, “Blotted out,” from the book of life. In other words, a name that used to be there is no longer there. Elsewhere, scripture presents the book that God keeps records in as being for the purposes of keeping all the good deeds a person works, and conversely, recording every sin that that person commits. Later Mishnaic commentary described three separate books being kept – one for the righteous, one for the wicked, and one for the moderates.[1] One book would ensure your placement in the World to Come. One would ensure your place in perdition. The final would put you in a place where repentance was possible.
When Christians began to picture what Heaven was like, they adapted this imagery for their own purposes. Throughout the New Testament, oblique or explicit references to “The Book of Life,” are made and always for the same purpose. The Book of Life is a roster of the saved in Heaven. This is the usage that we see used in our scripture for today. A book of all those who Christ has saved, and who are therefore permitted to live in the glory of Heaven for eternity. This is probably not a literal book, but a way of speaking of God’s knowledge and oversight of the saved. Even if it is a literal book, the pages are more numerous than we could ever imagine. The question becomes, and the essence of our topic for the day, whether or not the names within the book preexist our life or are written during our life.
Some may look at this question and find it strange, after all there is no mention of names being written down in most of the texts we have – only that they already exist in the book of life to be preserved or erased. It is possible that every name is in the book until it isn’t, in other words. However, for some people the overall context of scripture leads them to conclude that God has decided long ago who will be saved and that is the end of the question. Some supporting evidence for this are the several mentions of God working on behalf of believers long into the past. Matthew 25 gives us a mention of a Kingdom “prepared… from the foundations of the Earth.” Paul is even more explicit in Romans 8, saying that those who God “foreknew,” God also “predestined.”
These definitely speak to God working for our good before we are even born, but does it mean that God has already picked who is in and out of eternity? I don’t think so. Normally I might take some time to talk about the ways that you could defend predestination from the text and then explain why I think that is not the right way to read the text. For my part today, however, I think it is sufficient to explain a bit of why I think free-will is the more compelling argument from scripture. To do this, we simply have to look at any part of scripture.
We can begin in the Torah. In Genesis, Abraham is told by God that many people are going to die for their sins – Abraham pleads with God and convinces God to spare everyone if he can find even a handful of righteous people. Later in Exodus, Moses pleads with God to spare the people despite their many failings, God relents and listens to Moses. The Prophets all preached a message of doom, but for most every group preached to there was a hope – a hope that if they changed course they would be allowed to live. Jesus preached for people to be baptized and repent so that they might take part in the Kingdom. Scripture is full of many people being given choices and making decisions that change what happens next. So much so, that even God seems to be willing to redirect Divine Will for the good of God’s people.
This overwhelming message of scripture is that we have choices to make and that those choices matter. It would be strange to me if there were choices offered for every aspect of our life except the most important part – namely matters of salvation. Why would God give us all these small choices to make, allow us the illusion of choice, only to deprive us the most impactful decision of our life? From the very basis of the idea, it seems impossible for me to see God as deciding something so significant.
I also cannot imagine God willed who will be saved from before time began because that means God would also have decided who will be damned before time began. John Wesley beautifully described the matter, saying that, “unconditional election cannot appear without the cloven foot of reprobation..”[2] In other words, you cannot imagine God pre-ordaining the saved without dooming others to Hell at the same time. No matter how beautiful the idea of predestination feels, that God cared for the saved before they were ever born, it also necessarily leads us to believing God has eternally rejected others.
I cannot accept that version of salvation history. God does not set up targets just to be knocked down. It is a firm belief of my heart, stronger than most anything, that while Divine Freedom means God would be able to choose to preordain salvation, Divine Mercy necessitates God would not. God gives chance after chance for us to make things right – not only with God, but with all those in our life. We are people given a multitude of choices, a million opportunities to grow and to change. We are able to do this because God allows us to change, and that choice is a blessed thing.
The Book of Life sits open in Heaven, and it is being written in every minute. Whether God holds the pen or the angels, whether they’ve gone digital or they still keep paper copies – it does not matter. Our life is being written down, our deeds kept track of. If we wis to see our names kept on the page, then we need faith. If we want to see our ledger full of good deeds to be celebrated rather than evil ones to be erased, then we need to make changes to do those good deeds in the here and now. We are always given a choice, and we must always be willing, with God’s help, to make the right ones. – Amen.
[1] Mishnah Avot. 3:17
[2] John Wesley. “Predestination Calmly Considered.”
Teach us to Number our Days 