Psalm 87
OT Lesson : Zechariah 8.1-13
NT Lesson : Revelation 21.22-22.5
The film ‘The Kingdom of Heaven’, which is to be released this coming Friday, is a Hollywood blockbuster about the Crusades. With battle scenes on a grand scale, the producers thought they needed a large choir to roar snatches of a dies irae amidst the thundering of hooves and the buckling of swashes, or to murmur tenderly in the more romantic interludes, so they turned to the Bach Choir we needed the money and as a result I got to see a few excerpts while the recording was being made. Stirring stuff if you like that kind of thing, and very well done. I’m not sure to what extent the directors and producers may be consciously seeking to counter the misuse of such emotive language as ‘crusade’ and ‘axis of evil’ in connection with British and American policy in the war against terror, but I’m happy to report that the portrayal of Saladin is every bit as noble as that of the crusaders. They may have thought they were fighting for the Kingdom of Heaven, but in the event their battle for Jerusalem didn’t bring it any nearer. So what’s new you may ask, and perhaps that’s what we are meant to ask.
You will remember that in the Old Testament God was very reluctant to give his people either a king or a temple. God knew that it would be all too easy for a king to forget the true origin of his power and authority. And the creation of a special place for the worship of God could cause people to lose sight of the even more important fact that God is present everywhere. Zechariah, whose prophecy celebrates the rebuilding of the temple following the Jews return from exile in Babylon, speaks of a whole city so holy that even the common pots and pans used for cooking will be as sacred to the Lord as the bowls that stand before the altar in the temple itself. Thus he acknowledges the presence of God throughout the city. But the author of the book of Revelation, goes a step further as he envisages a city so full of God’s presence that it will need no temple at all a city so full of God’s glory that it will need no other light.
Sadly we don’t seem to be getting any closer to building such a city, whether it be on its historic site or indeed in England’s green and pleasant land. On the contrary, the special status of Jerusalem as a place sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity continues to provoke conflict and war rather than peace and reconciliation as one group after another seeks to gain the upper hand and push the others aside, or indeed drive them out altogether. In Zechariah’s time the rebuilding of the temple was an opportunity to focus attention on the centrality of worship in the life of God’s people, not least as an act of thanksgiving for the decision of Cyrus king of Persia to allow the exiles to return and rebuild their city. Zechariah’s name means Yahweh has remembered. But Zechariah’s vision, though it reaches out to sanctify the whole city, remains earth-bound
John’s vision, which was written down some decades after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD, reaches beyond any earth-bound identification with the city of Jerusalem as such to describe a new Jerusalem in which God’s rule has been finally and completely realised. At the heart of this new Jerusalem, instead of any temple, is the throne of God and of the Lamb, from whom and through whom streams the light which fills the whole city, just as the light of the setting sun, shining through the Lamb in our own west window, fills this place with light at evensong on a sunny evening. The whole city has become a beacon of light to the world and a centre of pilgrimage, because the glory of God is there. The kings of the earth come loaded not with gifts of gold and silver from their treasuries, but bringing their glory in tribute to the glory of God which they recognise as the source of their own glory and authority. The river of life flows from the throne of God, because God is the source of all life, and the tree of life growing on the banks of the river symbolises God’s rule over all peoples. Its twelve fruits suggest the twelve tribes of Israel, whilst its leaves are for the healing of the nations. We are all included. Nothing that is evil can survive in the presence of God, but in this city where the tree of life flourishes and its leaves heal the nations of all that is evil, there is neither death nor darkness.
And the servants of God, among whom we may all find our place, are here raised to the dignity of priests and kings. We read that they will see the face of God, his name will be on their foreheads, and they will reign forever and ever. In the earthly temple the high priest wore the sacred name of God on his forehead just once a year, when he entered the holy of holies, the inner sanctuary of the temple, the place closest to the presence of God. But in this city where God’s presence is everywhere, we shall all wear his name and see his face that is to say, since the face expresses who someone is, we shall all see God’s face and know who he really is, just as he sees us and knows who we really are. What an awesome yet exhilarating prospect.
But is it not all just a dream, the dream of an old man living in exile on the isle of Patmos almost two thousand years ago? Yes, of course it’s a dream, and poetic images are not to be confused with realities we can see and touch. But dreams, poetic images, music, may be as near as we can get to the truth when we are seeking to apprehend that which lies at the farthest limits of comprehension or expression. Moreover, this vision of a new Jerusalem, a new world, offers a satisfactory reconciliation of that strand of old testament prophecy which looks forward to a golden age for God’s chosen people, with the realisation of God’s plan for the salvation of the world. It is because our Lord Jesus Christ triumphed over sin and death through his passion and resurrection that we, in union with Him, can expect to share in his triumph and dwell with him in a new Jerusalem.
But the author of Revelation never loses sight of the means by which the triumph of Jesus was won. He places the innocent Lamb of the sacrifice, with the throne of God, at the very centre of the city. The glory of the Lamb is inseparable from the glory that streams forth from the cross. The Lamb serves as a perpetual reminder that the new Jerusalem, which is flooded with his light, is not to be subdued by our conquest or ruled by our arrogance, but rather has been won for us already by His patient endurance and sacrificial love. As Sheila Watson reminded us recently in her sermon on the nature of glory, it is our vocation as Christians to love one another as he has loved us, with all the consequences that may entail. Sometimes as we follow him in the darkness it may be hard to see beyond the next step along our way. But God in his mercy has granted us these precious moments of exalted vision, these glimpses of ultimate victory, which we carry in our hearts to strengthen and confirm our faith in the triumph of God’s love, as well as our hope in the life of the world to come.
I saw no temple in the city but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. Thanks be to God.
Handley Stevens