“The Great City” (Revelation 21:10,22–22:5)

Revelation 21:10,22–22:5

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 26, 2019

In our reading from Revelation, John has a vision of a great city. The great city is the New Jerusalem descending down from heaven from God to earth. The city already has inhabitants from every nation on earth in it. The entire city is illuminated by the light of Christ—the Lamb of God is so bright that there is no need for the sun or the moon to shine. It is never night there. It’s gates are always open welcome to whoever has been cleansed of their sins by Baptism and whose names are now written in the book of life. The River of Life runs through this city. The river begins from the throne of the Lamb. The roots of Tree of Life straddles the river on each side. It yields 12 different kinds of fruit and brings healing to all the nations. The citizens of this Great City worship the Lamb—the resurrected Christ. They see him face to face. The name of Jesus is written on their foreheads. And together with the Lord they will reign forever and ever. You will remember that John’s vision in Revelation is a vision of what is, what was, and what will be. It is a timeless reality of God’s Kingdom.

The Great City—the New Jerusalem is also the way Jerusalem was always intended to be. Jerusalem was always supposed to be filled with people from every nation, living together in perfect communion with one another and with God, worshiping the true and living God, and experiencing healing and blessing together and forever. But of course, we know the history of Jerusalem. Her inhabitants failed to keep God’s covenant. They were exclusive—and did not always welcome the stranger. Their gates were locked shut. They did not love and serve one another as they were called. They were not faithful to love and serve the true and living God alone. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing” (Lk 13:34). Jerusalem even rejected her King and crucified him. John’s vision is of the New Jerusalem—not just the earthly one that failed time and time again. But it is a vision of what the Kingdom of God truly is like. It is a picture of the way things ought to be—just as we pray, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” So God wants us to be the Great City on earth as it is in heaven.

“Epoch of a Great City” by Harry Sternberg (1937)

In 1937 Harry Sternberg painted a mural at the Lakeview Post Office in Chicago. The painting is entitled “Epoch of a Great City.” The picture tells the story of Chicago when it was just an outpost in the frontier. It shows how industry and agriculture built the city from the ground up. It shows the great Chicago fire destroying the city in 1871. Then like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, skyscrapers rise out of view of the painting to unknown heights.  Our city—or Chicagoland as we sometimes call this region—is a world class city. It is one of six cities considered to be world marathon majors along with Boston, New York, London, Berlin, and Tokyo. Sternberg’s painting tells the story of what is, what was, and what will be. But it falls short of the glory and beauty of God’s vision of who we can be as a city and as the people of God—the Body of Christ in the midst of this great city.

God’s vision in Revelation challenges us to put Christ as the center of everything we do—or perhaps more accurately, we acknowledge that Christ is already at the center. As Scripture says, “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28a). He is the Light who has come into the darkness of this world. John writes in his Gospel, “In him was life, and the life was the light of people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4,5). Every generation of the inhabitants of God’s Great City, the New Jerusalem have the challenge to open our gates to the stream of people from every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. It’s why we say, “We welcome you to be at home among us!”

No matter where you’re from, no matter what you have done, no matter who you are, the door is open for you to come in and join us as we gather around our Lord and Savior, give thanks for all his gifts and lift him up as the Light of the World. At the font we enter the gates of the New Jerusalem. The cleansing of Baptism not only brings the forgiveness of sins but also of a shared adoption where we receive the indelible mark on our foreheads that we belong to Christ. It is why we make the sign of the Cross on the foreheads of the newly baptized. And together we gather around the Tree of Life—the Tree of the Cross—the Lord’s Table. We receive the fruit of Christ’s death and resurrection in the Bread and the Wine of his Body and Blood for the healing, forgiveness, and assurance of life for the nations.

John’s vision is of the New Jerusalem that is, was, and is to be. I love the picture of this city coming to rescue the world. Usually the picture is of a King coming to rescue a besieged city and her people. Here we are a city with our King coming to  bless the world. That is who we are. That is who we are called to be—just as Jesus’ says in our Gospel: “We will come to them and make our home with them.” “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give o you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

“Mission to Love,” John 13:31-35

John 13:31-35

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 19, 2019

God’s people already had the commandment from the Law of Moses: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut 6:5) and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18b). Jesus gives a new commandment. It does not negate or contradict the command to love God with our whole being and love one another as we would want to be loved. It’s a greater commandment: “to love just as he loved us.” The better we know Jesus the better we will understand that kind of love. The more we learn about the love of Jesus the greater chance we will have to pass on that kind of love to others.

You will remember the meaning of the word disciple. It means pupil, student, or learner. To follow Jesus is to be a disciple—to gain more and more knowledge every day we walk with him. Jesus wants us to experience growth. He wants the seed of love he has sown in the world and in our hearts to sprout, reach toward the heavens, and bear fruit for the benefit of the world and the glory of God. It is not just a command from our Lord—it is a vision of the kind of impact we can have on the world. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This is how the world will experience the person and work of Jesus—through the love we manifest to them. People will experience the love of Christ through our acts of love. In other words, God’s love comes through God’s people. That is God’s plan—that we discover his love through the love of others. Jesus reminds us that this is about discipleship. The beauty of his mission to love as he loved us is something we are always learning about. We will never exhaust the depths and riches of God’s love for us through Jesus. And we will never stop finding new ways of extending that kind of love to those around us.

I believe our lack of love is due to our complacency and pride. We do not always see the famine around us for the radical love of Jesus. Or we think because we have the correct theology that there is not much else to learn. We should never be content with lovelessness. That is how the world will come to know Jesus. If we belong to Jesus, there will be a curiosity about his love toward us. We will be teachable. There will be a growing desire to show others just how radical and “out of this world” God’s love for us truly is. Jesus says, “Look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting” (John 4:35). Watch the news. Listen to what people are saying about the lack of love in their lives. Hear the stories in this community and throughout the world. There are countless people all around us—and throughout the world—who have never encountered anything like the unconditional love, sacrificial love, and eternal love that we have in Jesus.

As believers in Jesus—even as his disciples—we have just begun to scratch the surface of how much love God has lavishly poured out upon us. We have scarcely had a glimpse of the love that he has in store for us. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:). We are all on a journey of discovery together to learn about the love of God and learn how to share it with others. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

By our love those among us will experience God’s love. By our reaching out to those around us, they will see our Savior who humbled himself by leaving his heavenly throne to take on our humanity in the incarnation.

By our desire to grow, learn, and discover, they will see Christ who grew in stature both before God and people (Luke 2:52). By our empathy and compassion for others, they will see Jesus who was moved to tears and wept at the sight of grief and suffering and brought both hope and the power to raise the dead.

By our welcoming those who are different than us, they will see the Messiah who tore down the walls of hostility between peoples and challenged discrimination.

By our acceptance of people weighed down by their wounds and sin, people will see Jesus “who did not come for the righteous but for the unrighteous.” The world will see that in Christ “there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift” (Rom 3:22b-24).

By our inviting others to the font where they can experience a washing of water, the Word, and the Holy Spirit through baptism, they will see their adoption into the family of God and forgiveness and cleansing of all our sin. They will hear him who says to us, “you are my beloved daughters and sons.”

By our feeding the hungry in community meals, bringing healing to their bodies through the foot clinic, and visiting and praying for people who are sick they come to know Jesus who delivered people from their demons, healed them body and soul, and even raised the dead.

By our preaching and teaching the Word of God, others come to know the Word made flesh. We all grow in the wisdom of Christ. Through the Bread and Wine at this Table, we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus who strengthens us in body and soul to life everlasting.

“Eternal Life” (John 10:22-30)

John 10:22-30

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 12, 2019

John tells us it was during the festival of the Dedication or Hanukkah when Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd who gives us sheep eternal life. This is significant because of what that festival meant to the Jewish people. Hanukkah is a celebration of liberation from Greek occupation. When they liberated the Temple, the little oil they had miraculously lasted 8 days. So their light did not go out. It’s why Hanukkah is also called the Festival of Lights. Now God’s people are under Roman occupation. They want to know if Jesus is Messiah because they want the same miracle to happen. They want liberation from their captors and independence from foreign rule and tyranny.

When Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd, it is much more than an analogy to a loving caretaker of sheep. Shepherd is the title foreign emperors, kings, and tyrannical rulers used to describe themselves. Jesus is not just a fulfillment of messianic prophecy. He is King of kings, Lord of lords, Ruler of heaven and earth. He does not lord it over his subjects. He does not come to tax, take, and enrich himself off the backs of the sheep. He comes to give, enrich, and nurture the sheep of his Kingdom. He says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” When we hear those words eternal life we may think that Jesus is just talking about life after death—our future heavenly existence. But it is much more than that. Jesus does not say, “I will give them eternal life” but “I give them eternal life.”

Stained glass from St. John the Baptist Anglican Church
Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia

Just as those in Jesus’ day fell short in their vision of who Messiah would be, so our vision of Messiah can and often does fall short of all that Jesus is for us and the salvation he brings. Eternal life is not just about the length of existence that never ends. It is about quality—the quality of living Jesus brings to us now. His greatness is unparalleled—boundless. The gift of life he gives is unquantifiable and immeasurable. As Psalm 23 says, “My cup overflows.” In other words Jesus is magnanimous. He is forgiving and generous toward those who are less powerful. He is the Good Shepherd who does not hold our sins against us and provides extraordinary care for us. St. Thomas Aquinas talks about the virtue of magnanimity. This is “the stretching forth of the mind to great things.” This is how Jesus describes his sheep—they are the ones who know the Good Shepherd’s voice, follow him, and realize the greatness of all the gifts he lavishes upon us.

Earlier we prayed, “Send us as shepherds to rescue the lost, to heal the injured, and to feed one another with knowledge and understanding.” In other words, develop the virtue of magnanimity among us.  Make us like magnanimous like Jesus—forgiving, generous, nurturing, and empowering others—helping others realize the fullness of the Kingdom—stretching others so that they too will experience life that is incalculable, infinite, and never ending.  Isn’t this what we celebrate and give thanks for on Mothers Day—those people who were there for us to make life possible—those who love and forgive us unconditionally—those who give and nurture us—those who fostered our growth physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually? This is what it means to participate in Mother Church. This is what it means to know the Good Shepherd’s voice, his heart for the world, to follow him, and to be the sheep of his fold—to benefit from he eternal life he gives and to share the good news of eternal life. This is what Jesus so clearly says earlier in John’s Gospel: “For God so loved the world that he have his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Eternal life is what the Good Shepherd purchased with his blood on the Cross. Eternal life is what the Good Shepherd delivers through his victory over death and the grave in his rising again from death. Eternal life is what the Good Shepherd gives us now—a magnanimous life in peace, grace, and gifts he gives to us, his beloved sheep. Eternal life is what we enjoy now. Eternal life is the good news we proclaim to the world. Eternal life is what we celebrate at the Table spread before us. Our cups run over. Grace super-abounds. We feast on Christ’s Body and Blood. His forgiveness is lavishly given. Our faith is strengthened in him who is the way, the truth, and the life. Eternal life is what the child of God celebrates when we say, “Sure goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house forever.”

The King of love my shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever.

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within Thy house forever!                         ("The King of Love My Shepherd Is"  LSB 709, vv. 1,6)

“Chosen Instruments” (Acts 9:1-22)

Acts 9:1-22

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“Chosen Instruments,” Acts 9:1-22
Pastor Tom Johnson, May 5, 2019

Saul is “still breathing threats and murder” against Christians. Saul does not just dislike Christians or lack toleration for them. He hunts Christians. And he is thorough. He gets his hunting license from the high priest himself.  Saul’s plan to is to find out who these Christians are, break them down, bind their hands behind their back, and take them to Jerusalem as prisoners of a religious war. Saul believes he is an agent of God—to bring them to justice. Little does Saul know that Jesus is on his own hunt—breathing peace and life. Jesus’ plan is to pursue sinners. He wants to break them down in humility so he can lift them up. He wants to bind them with his love and mercy, so that we can know true freedom in the Gospel. And so the resurrected Jesus pursues Saul.

Jesus appears to Saul as a blinding light. Jesus knocks him off his high horse and off course so he cannot do his dirty deed. And as Saul is lying there on the ground, Jesus tells him that when you mistreat Christians, you mistreat the resurrected Lord of heaven and earth. We are the apple of his eye. Instead of binding Christians and carrying them to Jerusalem to drive out their faith in Jesus, Saul is bound by his blindness and is carried off to Damascus to drive out his unbelief in Jesus.

Then Jesus appears to Ananias in a vision. Ananias questions Jesus. “Why Saul? Don’t you know how much evil he has done to Christians in Jerusalem?” Saul was there when Stephen was stoned to death. Ananias wonders why he should go and embrace someone like Saul. Jesus tells Ananias that Saul will be a changed man. The good work that God had just begun in Saul will be brought to completion. Jesus tells Ananias, “Go, for he is an instrument of mine whom I have chosen to bring my name before the Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel.” “Go, Ananias, for I will make an enemy of the Gospel into a proponent of the Gospel. I will make a doubter of my power and authority into a believer and preacher of my power and authority.”

"Ananias restoring the sight of Saint Paul"
Pietro de Cortana (1631)

So, doubting Ananias steps out in faith. He goes to Saul and his first words are words of acceptance and faith in the resurrected Jesus who transforms lives—the one who chooses us to be his instruments. He addresses him as “Brother Saul.” Ananias shares the same love, grace, and peace to Saul that God shares with us.  God chooses Saul’s mouth to be his instrument to preach the Gospel. God chooses Ananias’ hands to be the instruments that heal Saul of his blindness. Both Saul and Ananias have to overcome their own doubts.

God challenges our unbelief with this story itself about people who are willing to suffer, be arrested, and risk their own lives for their faith. They trusted in Jesus who died for the forgiveness of their sins and rose again to bring eternal life. God challenges our unbelief that some people are too far gone to be redeemed. He wants us to pray and be hopeful for even our greatest enemies—to believe that God can transform those who even breathe threats and murder—what Saul will later call himself “the least worthy of all the apostles,” “untimely born,” and “the chief of sinners.” And so God chooses all of us to be the instruments of his peace, love and forgiveness. He uses our hands, feet, mouths, ears, and eyes and our whole being to be the instruments of what he is doing in the world. Jesus chooses the weak, the doubters, and the sinful. This is the work of the Gospel

This story is the story of how the persecutor Saul became the Apostle Paul. His changed name is a constant reminder of a transformed human being. At the end of our text, it says that Saul confounded people and “proved that Jesus was the Christ.”  He became “the instrument to bring Jesus’ name” that he was called to be. He not only realized that Christians are not liars or delusional but he realized that Christ has indeed risen from the dead. And not only that, that he continues to raise the dead, overcome doubts with the truth, and free those in bondage to sin. Our church’s name is named after this violent Saul transformed into Saint Paul or the Apostle Paul. Our call is the same as his. We are called and chosen to be instruments of Christ to carry his name into the world. Jesus calls us to extend and share peace and good news with the world. And why does he choose us who are weak, doubting, and flawed? Perhaps we will never know. But we should be encouraged. We are Saul and Ananias.

This is not just a story of two people who were transformed by the Gospel. It is the story and picture of the purpose of the church—the purpose of our church. God has gathered us together and chosen us to share Christ’s peace, love, and forgiveness. What a privilege and joy to be in a church that understands her mission—and one who understands that God gathers a rich diversity of people from every nation, tribe, tongue and people—we are a community who shares Christ’s peace just as Ananias shared it with Saul and Saul with the whole world. This is what God does. This is how we participate in what God is doing. We are God’s chosen instruments. God transforms our toxic breathing of threats and murder to the fresh and clean air of the Gospel—breathing peace and hope into our lives and the lives of those of us who are least worthy and the chief of sinners.