November  6, 2005

 

GOD HAS A PLAN FOR THE WORLD

 

(Revelation 7:9-17)

A  Sermon by Gordon E. Simmons, Pastor

Reformation Lutheran Church

 

     The last book in the Bible is the book called “Revelation”.  It’s one of the most exciting, most dramatic books in the whole Bible.     The book of Revelation seems to be about the end of the world; I say “seems to be” because there’s some misunderstanding about that too.  But I’ll get back to that in a minute.  Let me start at the beginning.

 

     The book of Revelation was probably written about the end of the first century, maybe 60-70 years after Jesus died and rose.  It was written during a time of great persecution.  The Roman emperor named Domitian had cracked down on the Christians.  If they didn’t worship him, if they didn’t at least give some signs of allegiance and commitment, they were in big trouble.  This is the time when the Romans had these large coliseums, and they send gladiators and lions and who knows what else against the Christians.  It was really a form of public execution, and the crowds came and cheered on their super-heroes.

 

     Just imagine what it was like to be a Christian in those days.  You had to hide.  You had to be careful who you talked to.  You weren’t sure whom you could trust.   It was dangerous being a Christian. 

 

     And so someone sat down and wrote the book of Revelation.  It was written in code.  They wanted to make sure that if the book was found by government officials, it wouldn’t make any sense to them.  There is a lot of symbolism in the book.  People understood that if the book fell into the wrong hands, the people who wrote it, well, even the people who read it, could be in big trouble. 

 

     The passage we have from Revelation today – this is in the 7^th chapter – looks like it is a vision of heaven.  It says a great multitude was gathered there, no one could even count all the people, there were so many.  And it says there are going to be people from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.  You have this great crowd of people, all kinds of people, gathered around the throne of God, and what are they doing?  They are praising God.  They are singing songs, like the one in verse 10:  “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”  This great crowd of people is up there in heaven, and what are they doing?  They are singing the praises of the Lord.

 

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     And God is protecting them.  Remember, the people reading this book were people in great danger.  And this was the message:  God is protecting you.   Look at the end of verse 15.  God will shelter you.  Verse 16.  God will take away your hunger and thirst.  God will protect you from the sun and the scorching heat.  Remember, these people lived in a desert, and they didn’t have air-conditioning, they didn’t even have sunscreen, so protection from the sun was a big deal.  Verse 17:  Jesus will guide you to the springs of the water of life. And God will wipe away every tear from your eyes.  The people reading this old story of the vision of the end of the world saw that God had a plan for them.  These people who were in such great danger saw that God had something else in mind; God was going to protect them.   They didn’t have to be afraid anymore.

 

     There is a family in our church, the Gabriel family, that is from Liberia.  They were living in the capitol of Liberia, a city named Monrovia, in 1990, when one morning some rebel soldiers  -- there was a revolution going  on – some rebel soldiers came knocking on their door.  They made loud noises, and they ordered the Gabriels from their house.  “Where shall we go?” the Gabriels asked.  “Just get out of town,” was the reply, and the soldiers carried weapons and the Gabriels knew they were going to have to leave.  Thousands of others were leaving too.  Long lines of people formed on the roads outside the city and the people walked, well, they weren’t even sure where they were walking to, and they were afraid.  The Gabriels had two daughters – Patience who was just 10 years old, and a little baby in arms they had named Precious.  They walked for an hour, for two hours, for three or four hours.  Along the way, rebel soldiers stopped them and questioned them.  Mr. Gabriel was singled out.  In times of great fear, people sometimes point fingers at one another.  You can’t be sure who to trust.  Somebody must have said he was a Nigerian, and the Nigerians were in alliance with the government that the rebels were trying to defeat.  Mr. Gabriel was taken away from his family – only a few hundred feet away, and they heard the shots that took his life.  Now a mother was left with two young daughters, to protect them in a dangerous land.  Two years later the Gabriels emigrated here to Philadelphia, and later joined our church.  Today Patience comes too, with her baby daughter, and Sanaa will be washed in these waters, and she will hear God saying, “Sanaa, I will protect you.”   You will be guided to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from your eyes.  The same words spoken to the multitude gathered in heaven.  This is the promise of God.

 

     This is why I said that the book of Revelation “seems to be” a story about the end of the world.   Actually, it is a story about what God intends for this world too.  God has a plan for this world, a plan for our lives, and – what is it that Rick Warren says? – we were put here for a purpose.  And if you want to know what that purpose is, all you have to do is to look in the Bible, in the book of Revelation, and it’s all spelled out – spelled out in cryptic, symbolic language – remember these people were in danger and they had to be careful what they said – but spelled out nonetheless.  If you want to know what God’s purpose for your life is, just read the 7^th chapter of the book of Revelation.  It’s all right here.  The great multitude was praising God, they were worshipping the Lord.  Well, isn’t that just what Rick Warren said was our first purpose in life?  We were planned for God’s pleasure.  We were put here to worship God.  That’s why we’re here.

 

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     The other thing that’s really important about this vision from Revelation is that it talks about a great crowd, a huge multitude and they are all doing what they are doing together.  Don’t think that when you get to heaven, it’s just going to be you and God sitting there by yourselves passing the time of day.  This is a vision about community.  The people are all gathered together.  Well, isn’t that just what Rick Warren talks about when he talks about our purpose in life?  He says you were formed for God’s family.  That’s fellowship.  And you were created to become like Christ – that’s discipleship and it means that we were put here to sacrifice for each other.  You were shaped to serve God and one another.  That’s service.  And you were made for a mission, reaching out to others to make the multitude even bigger than before.  That’s evangelism.  This multitude gathered around the throne is a way of talking about God’s purpose for our lives even now – we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to get connected to each other.  This is God’s purpose for our lives.  You were put here for a reason, you know. God has something in mind for you to do.  You have a purpose.

 

     There are some other connections I want to make this morning.  One is with our brothers and sisters in the Hale Parish in Tanzania.  When we visited there two years ago, we agreed that every year on All Saints Sunday, the first week in November, we would remember each other in prayer.  Today the songs of our liturgy sound like Africa, and they remind us of some people we know in a little village in the northeast corner of Tanzania.  The church building in Hale is new, like ours, although much simpler – only concrete blocks and a concrete floor, no electricity or running water.  But the people gather there every Sunday to worship like we do – their choirs electrify the building, and their pastor, a young man named Amasiah Kowanecka, preaches to them from the Word of God.  Pastor Kowanecka visited us last year.  Since then he has been married, and they now have a child.  All Saints Day is a day when we remember how we are connected to other Christians all over the world – people in places like Hale, and thousands of other places.  We were formed to be a family, with all the saints, all the people of God.   This is part of our purpose.