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On Earth As It Is In Heaven
Revelation 21:10,22-22:5
A sermon by Kathy Toivanen at EMUC, 5/16/2004
Through the medium of the “Silver Screen”, creative people in the film industry have provided the movie watcher with a wide variety of visions of what earth may become.
The ‘Matrix’ series of movies reveals an earth so controlled by technology that human life has become enslaved as the energy source for the running of this complex machinery.
Movies like “Spiderman” or “Superman” or the “X-Men” paint the picture of a world that keeps evil at bay through the intervention of a variety of super heroes who have powers far beyond that of the average citizen.
The Star Trek movies point to a day when the people of earth are engaged in exploring the vast expanse of space as they develop relationships and alliances with beings that inhabit these other worlds.
And of course there are the ‘disaster movies’ which show the world ending with a cataclysmic event like collision with a meteor or an alien space invasion or a virus run rampant.
When we watch these movies, we don’t take them literally. We are experienced and sophisticated enough to understand symbol and metaphor. And along with the sheer entertainment these movies provide, they also lead us into reflecting on the major themes of life: the themes of good and evil, love and hate, life and death, hope and suffering.
So it is with the Book of Revelation – the last book in the Bible. The actual title of this book is “The Revelation to John”. John was a Christian in the early church, writing to congregations in the area of Asia Minor under the rule of the Roman Empire. Using a style of writing called apocalyptic, John fills up the pages of his manuscript with visions, symbols and events of cosmic proportions. In his wonderful creative offering, John is trying to encourage fledgling churches who are struggling to be faithful in a time and place where the claims of the Caesar and the Roman Empire are in conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ and the Christian life. Because the Revelation to John deals with the major themes of life, it continues to have meaning for us today, as we struggle to be faithful to Jesus Christ in the midst of the Caesars and empires of our day.
At the end of the book of Revelation, John describes a vision of a new earth. He uses the city of Jerusalem as a metaphor of what this new earth is like. It is important to note that John’s vision of a new earth is not a vision of the end of the world where the faithful are raised up into some heavenly other worldly realm. John’s vision is that of an earth restored - an earth that finally embodies and reflects the fullness of God’s creative purpose and plan.
In John’s vision of this new earth, we see God face to face. God’s presence is like a light that radiates peace and wholeness, unity and health among all peoples and nations. No longer will the gates need to be shut to protect the people, for there will no longer be the threat of violence; no longer will anyone live in fear of attack or oppression. Whatever once cast a shadow on the world will be banished by the light of God. And like a river flowing through the city, all the earth will experience the life-giving energy of God. And like trees that bring forth fruit and leaves in season, all nations will be nourished and healed in God’s love. In this new world, all creation will celebrate God’s goodness and blessings for all time!
So what is the point of a vision such as this in Revelation? In John’s day and in our day, it compels us to live in hope. In the midst of all that is wrong with the world, it communicates to us God’s vision of what we and all the earth are truly called and created to be. It is a vision of our true identity.
Like those first Christians living under the rule of Rome, we too live in a day and age when we are tempted and pushed or pulled to embrace a way of living that does not reflect our true identity as children of God and as companions of Jesus Christ. Without a vision, it is all too easy to settle for less, it is all too easy to give into disappointment and despair, it is all too easy to trade God’s gift of life into an existence where God’s creation and God’s people are diminished by greed or violence, where waste and want live side by side, where suffering and death cast long shadows.
A vision holds open a space for a different reality. A vision gives us the inspiration and the courage to take those first trusting steps on the way to working together for God’s future.
Let me tell some stories that lift up what I am trying to say.
Vedran Smailovic was a Bosnian born in Sarajevo to a musical family. At the age of 37, Vedran was the principal cellist of the Sarajevo opera theatre. But in 1992, the opera theatre was no longer, destroyed along with much in that bloody, hopeless time in Sarajevo. On May 27th of that year, a long line of starving people waited in front of the only bakery in Sarajevo that had enough flour to make bread. As Vedran Smailovic stood at his window about 100 yards away he watched in horror as shelling erupted and killed 22 of the people waiting in line.
The next day, people continued to line up for bread – knowing that they would die if they didn’t come to the bakery, and convinced that they would die if they did. And then it happened. Vedran Smailovic arrived in the square by the bakery. He was dressed in the black suit and white tie in which he had played his cello every night until the opera theatre was destroyed. He carried his cello and a chair. Surrounded by the debris from the shelling, the remainders of death and the despair of the living, he sat down and began to play. He played the Albinoni’s ‘Adagio’, the one music manuscript that had been found whole in the city after the carpet-bombing of Dresden in WW II. And for 21 consecutive days after that, Vedran came back to the square to play, a living reminder that in spite of the shelling and death, the human spirit for life could not be destroyed. Today, where Vedran sat and played, there is a monument of a man in a chair playing a cello. It is a monument to the hope that beauty and life could be reborn in the midst of a living hell.
In 1997, in the USA, at the age of 10, Jason Dean Crowe heard the story of Vedran. Inspired by Vedran’s witness to the human spirit, Jason began a project to create a peace statue to send to the children of Bosnia from the children of the world. This project has led Jason into speaking and acting for peace in a variety of different ways. In 1999 the “Global Youth Peace and Tolerance Award" was presented to him at the United Nations. In 2001, his work was honored by the American Community Schools and he was selected the recipient of the "ACS International Peace Prize." This gave Jason the opportunity to travel to London and to talk with keynote speaker Betty Williams, Nobel Peace Prize winner from Northern Ireland. And so, the Bosnian cellist’s vision of peace and life continues as youth like Jason respond with their actions for peace and justice.
Another story:
Ken Parker is a member of the Seneca Nation, who now finds his home on the Six Nations Reserve near Brampton. He is married to Linda who grew up on a farm on the Six Nations reserve. Together they own “Sweet Grass Gardens”. Their primary vision is to restore, preserve and maintain the plant species that were indigenous to North America before the arrival of Europeans.
When Ken spoke to a number of folk here at EMUC a few weeks ago, he was contagious in his enthusiasm. He showed pictures of the beautiful gardens on his property that thrive in the soil of the region, free of pesticides and fertilizers and dependent only upon the sun and the rain that occurs naturally. And with each indigenous plant that is given space to grow and with each gardener who begins think more holistically about the impact of gardens on the environment, the vision to restore the land and the indigenous species of North America is growing.
A final story:
In the May issue of Chatelaine Magazine, Sally Armstrong tells the story of Susan Bellan. Susan was touched by the stories of Afghan women and girls who wanted to go to school in the post Taliban regime, but couldn’t because there was no money to pay for the teachers. Susan has a vision that includes the opportunity for education for every girl and woman in Afghanistan. To reach this vision, she has started the not for profit organization, “Breaking Bread for Women in Afghanistan”. Simply put, under the banner of “Breaking Bread” a potluck dinner is held and the participants make financial contributions toward Afghan teachers’ salaries. At the first of these potluck dinners in Toronto, over $1,000 was raised. This initiative has now spread across Canada and as of last December, the program had raised $158,000 at 122 dinners – enough to pay more than 200 Afghan teachers.
When Sally Armstrong traveled to Afghanistan to visit some of these schools for women and girls, she talked with Dr. Samar who was one of the pioneers in starting schools for women. Dr. Samar praises the initiative of Susan Bellan for the solidarity it creates between Canadian and Afghan women. According to Samar, “The most useful way to change the mentality of society is education. If you educate the women, you educate the family.”
After listening to each of these stories I hope that you have a sense that a vision is something big. A vision has to be big enough to engage our spirits, our hearts, our minds and our bodies. A vision inspires us to hope again, to breathe deeply, to say yes to life, to take a leap of faith. A vision is not often the result of a 10-year study or a detailed analysis of finances and other resources – it is not about technique and expertise. A vision is often a surprise – a gift that falls unexpectedly into our laps and into our lives. For people of faith, a vision is a gift of God – and for those of us who profess to be companions of Jesus Christ, it can be nothing less than a gift that embraces God’s healing work of love, justice and peace for all people and for all creation. That is what the vision in Revelation is all about.
Today, we are called to respond that vision through our actions of hope and faith. Today each one of us is asked to imagine what it would mean to commit our lives to God’s amazing vision for the earth. Today, Erin Mills United Church is asked to imagine what it means to this community to commit its life to God’s amazing vision.
Individually and as a body of faith, we cannot wait – we cannot delay –waiting for the finances to be secure, waiting for the resources and infrastructures to be in place, waiting for the t’s to be crossed and the i’s dotted. Vedran Smailovic didn’t wait, Jason Crowe didn’t wait, Ken and Linda Parker didn’t wait, Susan Bellan didn’t wait - Jesus of Nazareth didn’t wait. They all began with a tiny mustard seed of faith; they all began by taking that first step in faith.
There is a saying: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Faith is like a lantern on a dark path; it shines only far enough to illumine the next step. Only when the next step is taken does the light move on.” Our beginning steps to embrace God’s vision do not have to be great and grand. They only need to be from the heart.
What will be your next step today? What will be the next step for EMUC? Let it be a step that announces to the world our dedication and commitment to nothing less than God’s will for a creation that radiates the light and love, healing and wholeness of God.
Amen.
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