The Extraordinary 11/20/16
Revelation 22
Our story starts out in Trenton , NJ ,
in a conference room for the Division of Child Protection and Permanency. Two possible tracks are created for every
child that enters the foster care system:
re-unification or adoption.
Having been involved in the
system as a Foster Parent, these two tracks are intriguing. Re-unification means that children who have
been taken out of their home will be reunited with their parents after the
parents satisfy the state’s requirements for children to return. Adoption is the creation of a new permanent
family (often nicknamed ‘the forever family’) when the state formally
terminates the rights and responsibilities of biological parents, and then
rules that those rights and responsibilities are given to adoptive
parents. In adoption, the child becomes
a full forever member of the family into which he or she is adopted.
In creating these two tracks,
the state was on to something big.
Hidden in the government’s layered complexity of process, definition, legal
ramifications, and broken, difficult family dynamics is an extraordinary
story. Children can be reunified with
the family that they were born into, or for some, they can enter a more hopeful
story by being adopted.
Simply put, this is the same
story that Scripture tells. Scripture
includes the story of two redemptive tracks.
Both lead to the same Lord.
Hebrew Scripture tells the
story of Israel ,
with whom God makes a covenant and wills to bless the world through his chosen
people. Hebrew Scripture (what
Christians also call the Old Covenant, or Old Testament) tells us of Israel ’s
wanderings, faithlessness and rejection of the LORD.
The New Testament, after
announcing Jesus Christ as Israel ’s
Messiah by his atoning work, proceeds to tell the story of new family members
being added to the Covenant. The
Gentiles, that is, the nations previously outside of God’s covenant, are
allowed to enter relationship with the True and Living God. We do so by being adopted into the family.
Extraordinary news!
Now I need to take one step
back and clarify something. All children
that enter the foster care system do so because of some level of breakdown in
family life. The parents have done
something to involve the state’s entry into the conversation of what is best
for the child. This is where the
metaphor breaks down for our sermon series. God the Heavenly Father, and
Creator of heaven and earth, is not the problem. We are.
In fact, humans have brought
so much dysfunction to the story that it wouldn’t have surprised anyone if no
Scripture had been written at all. If
God had just washed his hands of humanity, no one could have accused him of
injustice.
The Extraordinary story is
that God makes covenant. He chooses the
people Israel
to be his people in this world, and the people by whom the Messiah will
come. And after he comes, there is still
more extraordinary: the nations are
invited in.
In the coming weeks and
years, we are going to become familiar with this extraordinary story of the
Bible. We are going to revisit stories
that are more popular, or at least recognized within popular culture, as well
as stories that we are less familiar with.
But all along, we are going to encounter an Extraordinary God.
In case you are wondering: The definition for extraordinary from the Oxford dictionary is…
1. very unusual or remarkable, unusually great
The word is a late middle
English word, from the Latin extraordinarious, or extra ordinem, which meant
outside the normal course of events.
Today, we start our journey
by looking at the end of the extraordinary story of the Bible: Revelation 22. We do so on Christ the King Sunday, November
20th, 2016. We do so on this last Sunday of the Church Calendar
year, before our journey of Advent, which announces the new church calendar
year. And this year, Thanksgiving is in
between the end and the beginning. What
a special season of God’s goodness!
Do any of you read the final
page of a novel before you sit down to read a story? I’ve heard it done, though if reading a
novel, I don’t want to know if the Butler
did it. To me, that is kind of the point
of reading the book in the first place:
to find out.
Turning to the end of the
biblical story is always a helpful practice for Christians. We can not grow tired of the good future that
the Lord has promised his people. “The
one who has this hope purifies themselves” (I John 3:3).
Today, we remind ourselves
that there is but One King: The Lord
God.
Today, we remind ourselves
that this King’s intent for creation and for humanity is good, gracious and
life-giving.
Today, we remind ourselves
that however far we feel from the certain reality that Jesus Christ is the King
of kings and the Lord of lords, we can turn to him and find the righteousness
of God.
--no matter how much we have sinned
--no matter how far we have gotten off course
--no matter what systems threaten us or neighborhood
--no matter what little decisions we’ve made along the way
that
over time have distanced us from our Maker
--no matter what anxiety robs us from God’s life for us
--no matter what apathy we have fostered
--no matter what prosperity has divided our focus
--no matter what idol we have falsely served
--no matter what disease or difficulty has entered us
--no matter what work of the evil one has made its way into
our
lives
--no matter what
No matter what, the
Extraordinary is before us today.
“Come! Let the one who is thirsty come, and let the
one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” (Rev. 22:17)
Revelation 22 speaks a
picture of eternal life that is good and pleasing, and fulfills human life with
its goodness and justice. This is the
way of life offered with Jesus Christ as King.
“They shall see his face” (vs
4).
Revelation 22 reminds its readers
not to put anything in the place of God.
“Don’t do that! Worship God” the
angel warns John (vs 9). Jesus Christ
the King should be first. That is the
only appropriate order.
Revelation 22 warns us
against adding to, or taking from what the Lord has spoken. God’s word alone speaks to us the salvation
that we need.
Revelation 22 tells us the King is coming soon! His servants welcome that word: Amen, Come, Lord Jesus (vs 20)
Revelation 22 ends with a
blessing, a benediction: “The grace of
the Lord Jesus be with God’s people.
Amen”.
We will need God’s grace for
our journey. But make no mistake: God’s story is Extraordinary! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. Amen.
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