From Fear to Hope

A sermon I preached recently. I had never preaching on a Revelation text before this. Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 21-22

A simple prayer. Spoken by a child as part of the prayer before dinner. Spoken in times of great anxiety. Three words. An invitation. A plea.

Dark clouds roll in. The sky turns a eerie shade of green. In the fading light of the day, a tail drops down from the clouds. A tornado forms. Sirens blare. Families scurry to take shelter. It sounds like a freight train. Come Lord Jesus!

Three words; an invitation; a plea. Eighteen inches of rain fall in a day. Water overwhelms everything. The river continues to rise. The waters crest and spill out of the river banks. The streets become cement-bottomed creeks. Homes are destroyed. Water seeps in; mud follows the water; people are displaced. For those who don’t speak English are left behind. Come Lord Jesus!

Three words; an invitation; a plea. The economy takes a downturn. Banks are struggling. There are rising costs of food and of gas. There is less money coming in; but it takes more money to stay afloat. Credit cards become an easy way out, but then personal debt increases. There is more and more debt and less and less money. Retirement savings take a hit. There isn’t going to be enough money to retire just yet. The worry over money begins to take a physical toll. Money for health care just isn’t in the budget. What to do now? Come Lord Jesus!

Three words; an invitation; a plea. When we are anxious, these words are spoken as a plea. We don’t know the outcome of an event, we are overwhelmed by apprehension and fear, we begin to doubt ourselves and our judgment. We become paralyzed by fear.

There is much to be anxious about in the world today. Every time we turn on the TV or pick up the paper, the news seems dire. Natural disasters have been in the forefront of the news almost weekly it seems. The economy is still uncertain. There is still unrest in the middle east. We encounter news that makes us nervous about what will happen next. We may feel that there is nothing we can do to help the situation. We get stuck. Come Lord Jesus!

The community to whom Revelation is written would have been anxious too. They faced persecution from the Roman Empire. If caught meeting, they could be killed. They longed for Christ to return. We have the stories in the Gospels of the disciples gathering behind locked doors after Christ’s crucifixion, the early church was in hiding as well. Their world was filled with struggle and catastrophe too. They were anxious about the future. But it didn’t stop them from gathering. As they gathered, they sang, read, prayed and ate together.


Revelation was a letter written to be read in community, to be read with the gathered faithful. They are words that speak to the fear and anxiety of the believers, to the fear and anxiety of the world. Words to calm the doubts of those who don’t feel safe. Words of reassurance. Words to remind them of their agency in the kingdom, to remind them of what they are at their best. Words to bring hope. These final words of the Bible are eschatological in nature. Eschatology, the doctrine of last things, the doctrine of hope.

German theologian Jurgen Moltman, wrote A Theology of Hope. He speaks to the hope we as Christians find in the resurrection of Christ. On this ascension Sunday, we look toward the fulfillment of the promises of Christ. The promise that we have a great high priest who has suffered as we suffer and who has triumphed over death that those who believe may have eternal life. The fulfillment of this promise ensures us that we will be made new and makes us long for that day. We see the world around us and know that this isn’t what we have been promised. Our hope gives us a purpose, to work for the coming of the kingdom of God.

Christ will return and is bringing reward to the faithful. Those who keep doing the work of the kingdom will be brought into the gates, will be given access to the tree of life. They had not been abandoned. Christ was in control. As they gathered together, Christ came into their midst. The community was important in continuing to hope for the coming kingdom. They all faced persecution, but they could hold onto each other.

Isn’t that why we hold onto church? To gather and welcome the Risen Christ into our midst? A place where there are others to hold the Christ light for us when we are living in the night time of fear. (Servant Song). Ascension Sunday is about hope. Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega has gone before us and there is nothing outside of Christ. We are not left alone.

We are in the here and now, but we believe and trust that this is not all there is. We name the injustices within the world, we work toward bringing about the kingdom. Christ calls to the church in the final words of Revelation. It is a call to the faithful to continue to work. It is a call to action. We cannot sit passively. Church, our faith are not a spectator sports.

Three words; an invitation; a plea. After the tornado strikes, the community gathers to find those hiding under the rubble, to provide for their needs, and to wrap their arms around them. Come, Lord Jesus!

Three words; an invitation; a plea. A Hispanic minster and his wife seek to help the non-English speaking people who have lost everything in the Nashville floods. Come, Lord Jesus!

Three words; an invitation; a plea. Churches provide financial planning advice. The community finds ways to gather and to support one another in times when budgets are tight. We find new places to focus our attention, going out to serve instead of simply writing a check. Come, Lord Jesus!

Jesus calls and the church responds.

Jesus says “I am coming soon”
The church pleads “Come!”

As Christ announces his coming, he also announces that he is bringing not judgment, but reward for the faithful. Reward for those who wash their robes.
The faithful know that their robes have been muddied, stained, soiled and seek to wash them and be restored to righteousness, to be have their heavenly garments be made new. They continue to work in the world.

Jesus says “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” There is nothing in heaven or on earth that is outside of Christ.
The Spirit and the bride, the church cry out “Come!” All who hear the cry join in “Come!” An invitation to anyone who is thirsty to Come, to drink of the waters of life. It is the water that is offered to the Samaritan woman at the well in John’s gospel. It is this water that carries God’s grace to us in the sacrament of Baptism, the church’s outward sign of the grace of God. This water is offered to anyone who seeks it. In this water we find re-creation, new life. In this water we find community as we are grafted into the body of Christ. In this water we echo the plea of the church “Come!”

Jesus calls again “Surely I am coming soon!” A fulfillment of the promise of the coming of the kingdom, that Christ’s reign will be established. Where oppression has taken hold, God’s justice will come. A call to remember. A call to action.
The church responds “Amen! Come Lord Jesus!”

We respond to Christ’s call not from fear, but from a place of great hope that with the faithful saints we will be welcomed into the gates of the city and given access to the tree of life. We respond in hope that the here and now is not the end, that God’s justice will come! We wait with anticipation, with excitement and as we wait we continue to do the work of the kingdom and reach out to others at our best. Offering the water of life to all who seek it. Holding onto hope. Shouting “Amen! Come Lord Jesus!”