Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23
Sixth Sunday of Easter (Confirmation Sunday) - 1 May 2016
Rev. John Derme
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, dear Garrett, Maddie, Hope, Nicole, and Sierra. One of your parents may have said something like this to you at some time: "You say that you love me, but you don't listen to what I tell you. The things I tell you are for your good. But when you don't listen to me, it makes it look like you don't love me." It does make parents feel sad when they tell their children what is best for them, but their children ignore their words.
That's pretty much what Jesus was saying in our Gospel of the Day from John chapter 14: "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching." The way those words are translated here makes it sound a little bit like Jesus is saying that if you obey his commands, then he will reward you with his love. But that is not Jesus' point at all. Rather, he is simply describing what a Christian looks like. When somebody loves Jesus, that person holds onto his Word. If a person doesn't love Jesus, he doesn't listen to his Word. You and I can ask ourselves, "Do I hold on to God's Word? Do I fit the description of a Christian?" If the answer to that question is, "Yes," then Jesus tells you and me something else that is also true. God the Father and God the Son will come to us and live in us.
So, do you fit the description? That is the whole reason you confirmands are sitting in the front pew today. You are here to receive blessings from God's Word and Sacrament today. You are here to promise that you will faithfully hold on to the Word of Jesus for the rest of your life. Of course, as you so clearly confessed last week at your examination, you aren't claiming that you deserve any credit for this. The Holy Spirit has worked this faith in your hearts to trust in Jesus. The Holy Spirit has led you to live in thanks to Jesus. And because of the Spirit's work in your life, God the Father and God the Son live in you, too! The Lord is with you all the time and everywhere you go! What a gift! What an honor!
You and I cannot even understand what an amazing promise Jesus is making to us in John 14. And yet, in the Second Lesson from Revelation chapter 21, our Lord makes an even greater promise to us. On this Confirmation Day, we continue celebrating Easter with saints and angels, because Jesus will take us to glory.
Last week, at the beginning of Revelation 21, we saw what it will be like after Jesus returns on the last day, after sin, death, and all his enemies are done away with, when he creates a new heaven and a new earth for us. We saw that Jesus and his church will come together, and he will be with us forever. Today we see in St. John's vision what it will look like when we are with Jesus.
John describes for us what he saw: the Holy City, Jerusalem. As we said last week, this city is a symbol of the church of all believers. The church will shine with the glory of God, because after the last day, when we are in the new heaven and new earth, his glory will shine on us. The city walls that John saw and the angels at their gates symbolize the absolute safety and security that we members of his church will have there, since God will do away with death and sadness and all his enemies. Since the number twelve in Revelation is the number of the church, the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on the city's twelve gates and the names of the twelve apostles on the city's twelve foundations are symbols that remind us that this is the church of the Old and New Testaments, including all believers of all times and places.
John notes that he didn't see a temple in the city. That makes sense. What was the purpose of the temple in the Old Testament? That is where the people would go to meet with God. But in the new Jerusalem, God will be with his people all the time! And there will be no need for sun or moon there, because the glory of God shines in it. Just as the Lord made his presence known in the Old Testament by the appearance of his glory, so we will experience that glory of the Lord forever.
Some of the Lord's people in Old Testament times got to see that glory. You and I have never seen it, though. We cannot imagine how wonderful that was. We've seen things that remind us of the glory of God, like when the sun shines through the clouds onto the mountains, or when a diamond makes the light that shines on it sparkle. But the glory of the Lord will be even more amazing than anything we've ever seen. You won't want to miss it!
So, how do we get there? Jesus has already done everything necessary to get us there. We don't deserve to be a part of the Holy City, because we are not holy by nature. Since we were God's enemies by nature, we deserve to be shut outside those city walls and separated from the glory of God. But Jesus reconciled us to God the Father by suffering and dying for every crime that we have committed against him and by winning for us in his perfect life the holiness that we need to enter the new Jerusalem. And through Baptism and in his Word, Jesus has sent his Holy Spirit to us to bring that forgiveness and holiness to us. Just as Jesus promised in the Gospel, God the Father and God the Son join themselves to us and live within us. This union that we share with our Lord is a foretaste of the union that we will have with him when we see his glory in the new heaven and new earth.
Dear confirmands, this is a wonderful time in your life. You will experience so many new things over the next months and years, and each of you can look forward to a bright future. Do you know what the best thing about your life right now is? It is what Jesus promises you today. He is with you right now. He has wonderful blessings for your life. He has exciting and challenging opportunities in store for you. Only he can empower you to take them up and serve him in your life. You know how he does it. He does it through his Word and his Sacraments.
Yet after this life is over, Jesus has an even brighter future ahead of you. He wants to bring you to his glory in the Holy City, the new Jerusalem. What better future can there be for you than that? Just as he is with you now, so he will bring you to be with him there. You know how he gets you there. Through his Word and Sacraments. He will work to strengthen you in your faith as you keep listening to his words and receiving the Lord's Supper from this day forward.
For the rest of your life, God the Father and Jesus, the Lamb of God, will be at work to bring you to heaven. Be careful, though, because even though the Lord will never leave you, you can leave him. God is perfect and doesn't make mistakes. But while we live on this earth we are still imperfect and do sinful things. One of the worst things that people can ever do is to stop coming to church, because when they do they stop hearing the Word and receiving the Lord's Supper. God doesn't leave them; they cut off their connection to God.
This is a warning for you. You will be tempted to think that you don't need to be in church and hear God's Word each week. Actually, this is a warning to all of us. Don't give up what God has given you. Don't give up a life in his service for a life in service to yourself. It will leave you unfulfilled and feeling empty. Don't give up eternal life with Jesus and all his blessings for suffering in hell. That will leave you very unhappy. You have Jesus now. He has come to you and made his home in you through Baptism and his Word. Stay close to him through his Word and Communion.
This is a promise for you and to all of us. Jesus will work amazing things in you through his Word and Sacrament to empower you to live a full and meaningful life in his service. Finally, he will bring you to that place with him where everything is perfect and holy, where you will be perfect and holy and happy forever.
You and I can't even imagine what an amazing promise Jesus makes to us today. Just as he has fulfilled his promise that he and his Father would come and live in us, so he will keep his promise to bring us to live with him. We have a lot to celebrate on this Confirmation day during the season of Easter. Most of all we celebrate that Jesus will take us to glory.