St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church

Visions Of The New World

                          

One of the elders asked me, "Who are these people dressed in white robes, and where do they come from?" "I don’t know, sir. You do," I answered. He said to me, "These are the people who have come safely through the terrible persecution. They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb.."

 

Looking up from his hospital bed, a frightened young man close to death with complications from the AIDS virus whispered to the hospital chaplain, "Hey preacher! What’s the good news! For the child dying of cancer in the hospital, the young family standing at the grave of a parent killed in a car accident, the family who have lost everything through war, including a father, a son, the family gathered around a hospital bed to say their goodbyes, what is good news? What can we say in the face of so much death?

Listen to the stunning vision that the apostle John gives us in Revelation. John is transported to heaven and sees something that human words can hardly describe.
I looked, and there was an enormous crowd—no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood in front of the throne and of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They called out in a loud voice: "Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb!" All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. Then they threw themselves face downward in front of the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honour, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!" (Rev 9-12)

The Lamb, who knows what suffering is all about, the Lamb, the Son of God, who was rejected and condemned to death, the Lamb who was humiliated and crucified, now sits on the throne.

The Lamb who was one rejected by the world, now rules in heaven.
And all those who are gathered around the throne worship God saying, "Praise, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honour, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!"

In this glimpse into heaven we see that those standing around the throne of the Lamb are unusually free of any of the hassles and suffering that we experience here in this life.

We see that there, in the presence of God, there is neither hunger, nor thirst, nor heat, nor pain any more. There is no more suffering death or grief. All that has passed away, a new reality has come, a new life has come, a glorious life. It is a life in which there is peace, and joy and praise.

This is the good news! We can say to those who suffer that there is something beyond their pain. There is something beyond their inevitable departure from family and friends. There is something wonderful to come as they face the end of their life here and enter the darkness of death. There is good news for those who are grieving, "Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb!" "Praise, glory, … honour, power, and might belong to our God."

Mortality rate is 100% and none of us will escape it, death is an enemy the Bible tells us. It comes to steal and causes hurt, and confusion. It is something we wish had never come into our world. The days, hours and minutes leading up to our death can be terrifying and fill us with dread.

But at the same time the power of death has been defeated. It cannot obliterate us. On the other side of death there is the most glorious life that we could ever imagine. That is what John is trying to describe for us today. No one - not even John can really tell us just how wonderful heaven is, and certainly no one can tell us just where it is, and exactly what it feels like and looks like. Let me also say, no one can tell me, and no one should ever tell you, that it doesn’t exist.

A dying man asked his doctor, whom he knew  was a Christian, to tell him something about the place to which he was going. As the doctor fumbled for a reply, he heard a scratching at the door, and he had his answer. "Do you hear that?" he asked his patient. "It's my dog. I left him downstairs, but he has grown impatient. He can hear my voice, and has come up and is waiting at the door. He has no idea what is happening in here, but he knows that I am here. Isn't it the same with you? You don't know what lies beyond the door, but you know that your Master is there."

That’s how it will be for us as we approach our dying. And that’s how it has been for those who have gone before us and are now standing in the presence of God where "never again will they hunger or thirst; neither sun nor any scorching heat will burn them, because the Lamb, who is in the centre of the throne, will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Their days of suffering and pain are over. They are no longer troubled with the fear, the worry, the uncertainty and hurt that has been so much part of the life in this world. The death that they had spent their whole lives dreading has now become the light of heaven. They are with their Lord.

The text from Revelation gives us a very intimate picture of the relationship between Jesus and those in heaven to the point of telling us that God will wipe away every tear that has filled our eyes because of the hurt and suffering we have received in this life. With love he gently wipes away every trace of human sorrow that has dogged us from the moment of our birth. What love, what closeness, what joy is being expressed here!

The draw card of our heavenly home is not so much the place itself. The Bible, in fact, doesn't even describe heaven in any detail for us except to tell us that it’s a wonderful place, a place that is beyond our wildest imagination. The best description that we have is this - we shall be with Jesus. Someone once said, "For Christians heaven is where Christ is … being in heaven is being in the presence of Christ".

Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. … In my Father's house are many rooms. I am going to prepare a place for you ...that you also may be where I am". "That you also may be where I am". And that precisely what John saw in his vision of heaven. There was the Lamb, Jesus, in the middle of that vast crowd of people from every nation around the world. They are ever so happy because they are with their God and Saviour in heaven forever.

As we think about all the saints gathered around the throne of God, we recall all those who have died with faith in their Lord, those members of this congregation who are no longer with us, the family members, the friends whose funerals we have attended. Some of them suffered a great deal in their last days, some slipped quietly from this life to the next, others were taken suddenly.

Their departure has brought sadness into our lives. They will not be here with us to celebrate this Christmas, but they have gone home, their true home and they are celebrating in the presence of their Saviour. We miss them terribly but at the same time we know where they are now.

They lived and died with faith in Jesus and are now enjoying unending joy in the presence of their Lord in heaven. They are celebrating with all the faithful gathered around the throne of God. One day when it is our turn to pass through the valley of death, leave this life and go home we shall join them standing before the throne of the Lamb. "Trust in me", Jesus says, "I am going to prepare a place for you ...that you also may be where I am".

How can we be so sure that we will end up in heaven? Most people when asked whether they think they will go to heaven say, "I hope so". "I think so". "I’m not sure". But the fact is this. We can be absolutely sure we will go to heaven. There is no doubt about it. In John’s vision of heaven he noticed that those who were standing around the throne of the Lamb had "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb". That sentence about robes washed in blood and they come out white is a bit ridiculous really.

As we know blood does not make anything white. What John is trying to tell us this today, is that those before the throne of God are clean, perfect, and forgiven. They have been made holy by Jesus’ death for them on the cross. Their sins have been blotted out, wiped away, they have made clean, white, and perfect and they are now able to stand before the throne of the God.

Sin separates us from God. Sin creates a huge chasm between God and us. It is sin of unbelief that makes it impossible for us to enter heaven. But we have a Saviour who has destroyed the power of sin to keep us out of heaven. Our sin has been forgiven. The blood of Jesus shed on the cross has wiped away every sin and given us eternal life. That is why those around the throne of the Lamb are so excited and shout, "Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb!"

With faith and confidence in Christ, we can be sure of our future. We don't know what our future earthly life holds for us, what troubles, what joys, but there is one thing we are certain about. That is, that we have a Saviour who loves us and who holds our life in his hands and deals with us lovingly and in the most caring way possible.

 And in this love we trust. At the moment of our last breath you and I can be certain that on the other side of death is a life beyond description. We can be certain that because of Christ, we too will stand around the throne of the Lamb saying:

"Praise, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honour and

might belong to our God forever and ever.

 Amen!"