Pastor Thanael Certa-Werner
SCRIPTURE | REVELATION 21:1-7 (NIV)
21 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, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe 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 the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
Are you a fan of going to Ikea? How about Crate & Barrell? Hobby Lobby? Pottery Barn? HomeGoods? What do you like about these places? For me, my favorite out of all of these places is Ikea. When I was on campus at Garrett-Evangelical in Evanston, IL I would plan entire day-trips out to the Ikea. I would get there when they first opened and eat breakfast in the cafeteria. Then I would spend hours wandering through the massive, three-story store and as I was ready to leave, I would grab a quick snack from snack bar on the way out. Best of all, I would buy maybe one thing – IF ANYTHING! So why spend a day going through a store for an entire day and never buying anything (Besides the $3 breakfast)? It’s because of the possibilities!
It’s the same reason that I love to watch Chip and Joanna Gaines and their show Fixer Upper. Or when I was little, we would watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. At Ikea, at many of these stores, and watching these shows, we can see the possibilities of taking an old house and turning it into a beautiful, modern, elegant or cozy home. Who hasn’t gone through a store and thought about all they could do with the materials there. I’ll tell you what, when I go into Menards, all of a sudden I become the handiest man you’ve ever met. I look in the electrical section and suddenly have the urge to rewire the entire apartment. Or I look by the bathroom section and decide that it is time that every bathroom in the entire church needs a remodel and I’m just going to do it all in a day over the weekend.
Of course, if I were to ever attempt to do any of these projects, they would quickly end in ruin. But it’s the possibilities which are so exciting. In some sense, this makes us idealists. The thrill of watching these poor saps take on a run-down, beaten up, nearly abandoned old house and turn it into a home is only fun because we know that it will turn out okay. It’s only fun remodeling a kitchen when you know that things will turn out well. But taking on these projects is scary work – especially when what you start with isn’t such a great starting point. Taking an old rickety house and turning into a home is a scary risk, especially for people who don’t really know what they’re doing Yet, in many ways, that’s what we’re claiming to do in our mission when we say that we are going to transform the world.
We’ve talked about this before. How bad the state of the world is. The world is like an old, run down house. Cobwebs like inequality and political suppression loom throughout the house. Cracks in the foundation like starvation and disease make the floors uneven. The walls have holes made out of poverty and oppression. With such a house, a transformation seems daunting.
To help us out, God has given us a vision of what this house will look like when it is a home once again. God reveals this vision to John the Elder who wrote the Book of Revelation. This is what John sees: “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.” Right off the bat, everything is going to be made new. The walls, the foundation, the ceilings, the floors – it will all be made new.
“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.’” What makes a house a home is when it is lived in. God is promising us that He will live amongst us again – not just as He does know in the Holy Spirit. Heaven and Earth will be made one – the family reunited and God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – the Holy Trinity will live with us again.
“He will wipe 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.” Not only is the house a home, but it is a home of life everlasting. It is a home of joy, of peace, of patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is a home in which we love God above all things and love our neighbors as ourselves. This home is everything we dream of.
What’s best yet – this is a home that we have a part of. In our mission, we say that our aim in everything we do is to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. In other words, it is through our making of disciples that we are a part of the extreme makeover: world edition. When we teach others about life with Christ, when we let others see how Jesus has changed us, we are contributing to truly making change in the world. How will we end poverty? By making disciples because disciples give up of themselves to serve those who are worthless to the world. How will we end hunger? By making disciples because disciples feed those who have nothing to eat. How will we end inequality and oppression? By making disciples of Jesus Christ – because disciples love all people as they love themselves.
When we become disciples, we work towards becoming perfect in the Grace and Love of Jesus Christ. In sharing this grace and love with the world, we take an active part in transforming the world into being more like Christ. Fixer Upper and Ikea help give us a vision for what our houses can be, just as God, through John’s revelation, gives us a vision of what the world can be. We get to have an active part. We are given blank sheets of paper and we get to decide how we use them. We can choose to show the world that we are no different from it. Or we can choose to make the world a home, by showing that Jesus is fundamentally different from it.
Let us choose to show that our lives are set aside for God – that they are for the special purpose of making disciples so that we may transform the world. Let us show this by actively making disciples of ourselves and others through the study of scripture, devotion to prayer, giving generously, and dwelling with the people of God.
Amen? Amen.