Easter 5                                                                                                          May 6, 2007

“Here’s Something to Look Forward to!”

Revelation 21:1-6

            1 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.  2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  3 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.  4 He will wipe away 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.”

            5 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.”  6 He said to me, “It is done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.”

We’re all looking forward to something…

• Some of you are looking forward to 3 months of summer vacation.
• A few of you are looking forward to your sixteenth birthday – because that’s the day you get your driver’s license.
• Others are looking forward to some kind of a family trip, maybe across the country.
• And a few of you are simply looking forward to church being over so that you can enjoy some cookies or donuts.

We’re all looking forward to something.  Looking forward to something keeps a hop in your step, even during difficult times.  Looking forward to something helps you remember that things aren’t so bad after all.  Looking forward to something keeps hope in your heart.  Whether it is a treat after church or a vacation this summer or a license to drive…the outlook is always a little brighter when there is something for you to look forward to.  Today we are all going to hear our Savior cry, “I’ve got something for you to look forward to.”  Can you see where I’m going with this?  It’s better than a treat after church or a license to drive.  Can you guess what it is that Jesus wants us to look forward to?  Listen and find out…(read text)

Jesus wants us to look forward to the day we meet him in heaven.  There are three pictures he uses to describe this day.  One - we are his bride; Two – God will dwell with us; Three – This is a done deal.

1.  Jesus has prepared us to be his bride.

Let’s take up the first picture, that Jesus calls us his bride.  This is something I have learned only by having a little girl of my own – that every little girl looks forward to being a bride.  Not too long ago, I visited Gladys, our member in the nursing home and gave her a devotion on this verse.  When she thought of being a bride of Christ, her eyes lit up and you could see the calm and joy spread over her face, even though she was in tremendous pain.  Another time in Wednesday afternoon Bible History class, we were talking about Ruth being married to Boaz.  I asked the students, “Have any of you ever thought about the person you are going to marry?”  In about one-half of a second, the boys immediately said, “No!” but the girls immediately said, “Yes!”  Every girl dreams of the day she is a bride.

Listen to what Jesus has given us to look forward to.  He has prepared you to be his bride!  Listen again to verses 1 and 2.  (read v.1-2)  You are the New Jerusalem; you are the Holy City.  You are beautifully dressed, adorned in his clothes of perfection, clothes that have been made white in the blood of the Lamb.  Normally the bride is the one who plans most of the wedding; but in this case the groom has done all of the planning.  The groom has planned and prepared for the bride to be his very own forever.  This is personal.  This is special.  Our wedding day with Jesus – that is something to look forward to.

2.  Jesus has promised that he will dwell with us.

And there is more.  The dwelling of God is now with men.  In medieval times, the king would live in a castle.  The castle was the most protected and secure place around.  Many peasants would pitch their tents in a circle around the castle to try to take advantage of at least a little of that royal protection.  “If I’m close to the castle, that is better than being out in the middle of nowhere,” they thought.  Even being within a stone’s throw of the castle offered some peace of mind.  And just imagine what a medieval peasant would have said if the king ever invited the peasant to bring his family over the drawbridge and INTO the castle in one week?  Just imagine how the peasant family would look forward to that.

Well, that is exactly what God the king gives us to look forward to when he says, “Now the dwelling of God is with men.”  In heaven we go into the king’s castle.  In heaven we have full protection.  In heaven our tears are wiped away, and mourning and sorrow come to an end.  God himself invites us into his home and makes his home with us.

3.  It is done!

And that’s not all.  In addition to preparing us as his bride and inviting us into his dwelling, God has decided to record this for us in a way that cannot be mixed up.  Listen to verses five and six.

A written law is more official than an oral command.  That’s why the one on the throne shouted, “Write this down!  It is DONE!”  Isn’t it wonderful to know something is done?  Just ask any accountant how he feels on April 18; just ask any architect or construction manager how he feels the day after the punch-list has been completed; just ask any pastor how he feels the day after Easter.  After a busy time, it is a comfort to know “It is done.”  The deadline has been reached.  The work has been finished.  It is time to rest.

That is the thought God wants to share in these verses.  After a busy stretch, it now is done.  After a busy life, his work of saving us is done.  He is the Alpha and the Omega; the beginning and the end.  He started our faith-life; he will finish what he started and bring us to heaven.  We don’t need to worry that he is going to fall through on us.

God has given us plenty to look forward to.  He calls us his bride; he promises he will dwell with us; he has assured us “it is done.”  It is fun to have something wonderful to look forward to.  It is also fun to provide something wonderful for someone else so that they have something special to look forward to.  But how would you feel if you went to all the effort of planning a special, top-notch, extravagant wedding celebration for your lovely bride-to-be.  You bought an expensive, beautiful dress just for her on just this day.  You had diamond earrings specially made just for this occasion.  You reserved the grand ballroom of a downtown hotel and ordered only the choicest of foods.  You told your bride-to-be all about what you had planned and how you couldn’t wait for it, and you thought she would look forward to this… but instead she said, “Well, nobody would ever love me that much.  You must have meant it for someone else.” 

Or what if you went out of your way to bring an orphan under your wing, not because you had to but because you wanted to?  With penetrating eyes you told that child you would bring him under your roof and take care of him and look out for him and keep him safe and wipe away all his tears …and you thought he would look forward to this (how could he not?)… but instead he said, “I still feel left out in the cold.”

It is wonderful to have something to look forward to.  It is wonderful to provide something wonderful so that someone you love has something to look forward to.  How do you think God feels when God has blessed us with so much, and has given us such wonderful things to look forward to and we act like he’s given us not even a nickel?  How do you think God feels when he says, “You are my bride!” and we act like we are all alone with everything stacked against me and nowhere to turn for help.  How do you think God feels when he cries out, “Now the dwelling of God is with men!” and we say, “I feel left out in the cold.”  How do you think God feels when he could not say, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit” until our eternal future was secure – but when we hear him say, “It is done!” we act as though his victory over sin is still in doubt?

What sinners we are!  How ungrateful we have been!  God gives us something to look forward to and we don’t care.  But as great as our arrogance has been, Christ’s love has been even greater.  Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.  Jesus has washed away all our arrogance in one big flood of forgiveness.  Because of that forgiveness he can rightly call you his bride, invite you into his dwelling, and assure you that the work of bringing you to eternal glory is done.

It is wonderful to know the amazing and personal love of God for us.  It is wonderful to know that God has given us something we can look forward to.  And here’s something to think about if you are trying to tell someone you know about God’s love for them…if you are having trouble starting that conversation, why don’t you say, “Hello so-and-so, would you like me to tell you about something you can look forward to?”  And then you can tell them all about Jesus and what he has done to bring them to heaven. 

God bless you as you look forward to all he has given you.  Amen.