21st Jan from Rev19.
Ok I’m going to have a go at the reading we had from Revelation. And the question you’re going to have in the back of your mind is What are you doing to get ready for this heavenly wedding?
Its not easy to read Revelation. We had it last week and we will have it next week.
Its full of symbols and jargon and weird stuff.
I don’t think it would have been as weird to those first readers but I think even to them they would have had to pause and pray and think about it.
The nearest genre I think we have today would be in the area of the political cartoon. There you might see a picture of the Russian bear growling at the Asian Tiger whilst Uncle Sam looks on confused. And we would look at that and see how the cartoonist has drawn a commentary on how she sees the relationship between those countries.
So in Revelation we have dragons and beasts and animals that have multiple horns that grow out of their head. Its weird but in the world of political cartoons you’d be saying ‘Its not that weird’.
I don’t think that this week’s reading is particularly weird. The weirdest bit is this invitation to the wedding of the Lamb. And the Lamb has a bride, and the bride is you, us, the Church.
Last week’s reading from Revelation, chapter 5, we saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain. This Lamb has 7 horns and 7 eyes and is worthy to open the scroll, the scroll that will begin the End, this moment, ch5 will be the beginning of the End, and only this Lamb is worthy to open the scroll because it has been slaughtered and by its blood has ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Somewhere during that last paragraph, some of you were thinking – Okay you’re talking about Jesus.
On the one hand Jesus isn’t actually a lamb, but, then again he’s wrapped up and placed in a manger, just as the angel had said to the shepherds and the shepherds will remember the words of the angel that you’re going to find a Saviour, Messiah, Lord, and so to the shepherds who breed lambs for the temple sacrificial system, it’s not a difficult jump to say – along with John the Baptist – Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
So that’s the groom. Jesus. You were hoping perhaps for a young man blond and blue eyed and golden haired? I really cannot promise that that is what Jesus will look like in heaven.
So what about the bride. And that’s where we come in. I think pretty much all the women I have married over the years, Sorry, that should read All the couples I’ve married over the years, anyway
Sometimes the Bride has said something about the importance of having a re-fitting of the dress shortly before the wedding, because she has been aware that she’s been exercising like mad but also occasionally anxiety eating and so she has no idea if she will fit into the dress as originally measured.
The good news for us here is that God, the groom, the Lamb, wants a full fat bride. Not a stick insect. Not the shape of the latest models from Milan, but full and fat.
And so, we come to the dress – its going to need to be big and generous.
Sensible men know to stay away from this area of conversation. But the bible gives us two different ways of looking at the dress.
Firstly the dress is given. God gives us, the Church, so much. God gives us His Salvation, His love and grace, the fruits of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, so much given to us, the Church, the Bride.
That’s lovely. And that would explain why this wedding is clearly going to be a noisy service – lots of Hallelujahs – so much that it sounds like loud peals of thunder.
So when it comes to choosing the outfit, we the bride, can relax because God will choose it for us.
But we’re then given this detail – this lovely dress – fine linen, bright and clean – that stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.
So on the one hand God gives you the wedding dress, on the other hand it is made up of your righteous acts.
Actually that’s not a new idea. St Paul in Eph reminded us that we – are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’
We have this both and.
Both that God has made us, called us, to be His Bride, that God has equipped us to do good. And prepared some good for us to do.
So If you like God has given us the material for the dress, now its down to us to make it.
And that dress will look like the good stuff that we do.
No it is not the good stuff that will get you the invite – We have enough parables in the bible to show us that everyone is Invited to the wedding.
And your wonderful deeds are not what woos God into saying – You look nice, would you like to be my bride – because we are saved by faith not by works.
But we do know enough to show what our faith looks like in practice, what our love for God looks like in practice.
We know enough to respond out of the Love that God gives us, by living a life that gives that Love away, that blesses others.
So what are we supposed to do about this Bible reading.
It was written in a time of pain and suffering, its written at the beginning of a series of persecutions that are only going to get worse over the next 200 and something years.
This reading is not especially written for the comfortable.
It is for those who are struggling to hold on. For those who earnestly pray each day – Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, O Come Lord Jesus come!
It is written for those who have a little hope, a little faith and would a little more.
This glorious vision that St John gives us of this full and fat wedding is a reminder to us to not neglect our own invitation. To respond with thanks to God’s gift of love and forgiveness, and His peace and hope to us.
Don’t neglect that invite.
And it is also a call for us to then prepare for that day when that ancient prayer will be fully answered – Your kingdom come Your will be done.
We prepare for that day by making our wedding dress, by the good that God has given us – the opportunities we have to be a blessing. There will be days when we aren’t, when we don’t see it, when we mess up, when we ignore an opportunity to be a blessing to someone.
There will be days when we do, when we answer someone’s prayer. And that’s about us learning to apply our faith, to grow our faith.
We can do it within the Church family, blessing each other, visiting, going to Care Homes, helping with Coffee or with the Chalices, or the Choir. And so on.
We can do it by helping people to connect to hope and faith, through inviting people, helping them to see the divine invite they already have.
And we do that through Alpha, Messy Church, Sparks and Ignite and Tots and Church watching and I bet you can keep this list going.
This picture of Heaven that St John gives us.
Even in just the passage that you heard he paints himself as a slow and stupid disciple, he falls down and worships the angel that is with him, helping him to understand what he’s seeing. John worships the angel. I’m encouraged by a Saint like St John making that rookie mistake.
But I’m also slightly over-awed by it – I suspect that I would make the same mistake, that this encounter with this angel has been so very wonderful and full of awe.
But note what the angel thinks is awesome – the angel thinks that the Holy Spirit – the spirit of prophecy – that’s what’s really awesome – because it is this Holy Spirit that is in us, that is helping us – with fruit and gifts – to live out this life that both : bears testimony to Jesus, points people to Jesus – through our words and lives, our generosity and our forgiveness – and at the same time is about us making this wonderful wedding dress.
So May you, not neglect this invitation to this wedding, because God wants His bride to be full and fat. May you take note of the opportunities that come your way this week to be good news, to be a blessing. And when that happens to note that you have glimpsed a small moment when God’s Kingdom appeared on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.