The New Testament Lesson Revelation 5:11-14
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them, singing,
“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
Sermon Text
Today, as we gather for our service, we do so in anticipation of a baptism. Not only do we gather for a baptism but for a reaffirmation of faith and the joining of our local church by one of our newest additions to the community. Today is a big deal for us as a congregation. More than that, however, this is a day in which Heaven itself is able to rejoice in what we are doing here. As Christ says in the holy gospel there is nothing that causes the angels of heaven to celebrate more than the homecoming of God’s people, the moment that we whether we have been gone our entire life or for a season find our way back into the fold of the thing.[1]
Our scripture today looks specifically at a scene out of the Book of Revelation. If you were part of our Revelation Study then you can tell me all about the different features of this, how it ties into apocalyptic literature, and of course how the four living creatures are references to the cherubim in the book of Ezekiel. For those of us, however, who would just like to read the scripture as we’ve presented it today, the image should be clear to us, angels and archangels, alongside heavenly beings that do not have names, all are celebrating the salvific work of Christ and the wonders of the Lamb who was slain and yet lives. Sometimes in this life, so tied to earthly things, we forget the heavenly dimension of it all. We forget that you and I, here today, are part of a group of people that does not simply exist on earth in the flesh but that is made up of spiritual beings. Some are humans awaiting resurrection and some of are angels that predate perhaps even the earth itself.
This spiritual aspect of our existence can’t be overemphasized but it can be poorly emphasized. So often, you have Christians who are so concerned with angels and demons that they forget about their business that’s in front of them, the things that Jesus actually told them to worry about. So, “heavenly minded,” the saying goes, “that they can do no earthly good.”[2] But the reality is that a Christian who is heavenly minded should be invested in the earthly work that we take part in. To truly understand heaven and its workings now and the heaven that will be when heaven and earth come together at the end of time, is to truly understand that what we do now matters. Our care of the earth and each other, the care of the souls that we are given, and the souls that are around us.
I’ve been reflecting more recently on the work that we have as the church. We talked just last week, after all, about how though our message is eternal the way we tell it has to change. We can clearly see the consequence of staying the same too long. Yet, I think sometimes as we discuss the work that the church is doing we forget some of the simplest parts of it. We believe that the church is a place that people can come to find an experience of Christ and that that experience of Christ would not only change the individual but will save the individual. Salvation is more than just where you go when you die, it’s a transformation of yourself in the present, a giving away of greed and selfishness, and all evil from within ourselves. in exchange for the wonders that come from the love of God.
The scripture that we read comes after John has written for two chapters about the churches of God. The seven churches to whom he writes are spread across the ancient world, but they are congregations that, though different in time and culture, are not that different really from you and me. These are churches who are on fire for God, who are doing so well, and yet each and everyone has a problem. There are the churches with more money than they know what to do with, and they aren’t using it to take care of the poor. There are churches who are doing a great job taking care of each other, and yet have abandoned the essential teachings of the church – the incarnation of Christ, his death, his resurrection, and the call on the Christian to follow that cruciform life. In fact, the only congregation that John writes to and has no negative word for, is a congregation of whom he says, essentially, “You are good at nothing except thatt you have loved God with all your heart. Therefore, keep doing what you’re doing. Even if it is only to be good at loving God you are doing more than most.”
After he has laid out the state of these churches only then does he give him the message of hope that is the Book of Revelation. And he begins it with a beautiful stretch in which nothing happens except Christ is worshipped. When we think of our future and eternity there’s lots of things, especially questions, that come up. However, there is one thing that is certain. We will join the angelic choir, the heavenly elders, the mysterious crowd, in worship of Christ for all eternity. That worship is not something that is waiting for us to happen but something that is happening as we speak in this place.
As we go forward into the service, baptizing one man into the church and accepting another into this congregation, we know that, as Jesus said, heaven celebrates with us. In one case, heaven celebrates the fact that no matter where we come from denominationally we are still all the church and therefore we can find a home with people who are willing to live and love us together. In the other case, we get to celebrate a long work of the Holy Spirit to bring someone into the fold of the faith and to the joy that is a life in Christ. In either case heaven is singing out today.
When we gather at the baptismal water and when we gather at the table of Christ we will join with choirs of angels as we sing, “Holy, holy, holy. Lord, God of power and might,” for heaven and earth are truly full of the glory of the lamb who was slain and yet lives, of Christ who died and yet rose again, who gives life where previously death reigned. Together as we are here, today, we are able to say behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the worl,d because we see what the work of the Lamb can do in the life of the people around us. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, people of God, because today we see one of the simplest truths of what we are here to do. To bring people home into a church that they can call there own and to love them with the love of Christ first showed us.—Amen
[1] Luke 15:7-10
[2] The exact provenance of this saying cannot be determined. While some tie it to Oliver Wendell Holmes, there is no record of it in situ of any of his writings.
Teach us to Number our Days 