The Rewards of the Overcomer

Lectionary readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

TEXT: Revelation 21:1-7

LISTENING TO THE TEXT

The celebration of Easter declared to us again that all are things are made new. Resurrection brings new life and new hope. We exulted in the message that through Christ life now comes where only death would be expected. That kind of message, if it's true, should change things.

But here it is now a couple of weeks after Easter and things in my life look pretty much the same. I go to the same job, drive the same car, come home to the same four walls and the same family members and have about the same bank balance. What happened to all that "new" and "different" talk?

This text comes to us in Easter when we are thinking about new things. It speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. It is the eschatological hope of God's people. Someday it will be better. Someday Christ will have his full reign and rule over all things and all people. We are truly a new covenant people but we still live in the meantime. The Kingdom of God is now and not yet. God is surely present in this world but it's still a world that is broken and scarred by sin. We still look for the day when the "Alpha and Omega" will pull together everything in between with his redemptive power.

This passage from the Revelator proclaims with great emotion that the day of grand inheritance is coming for those who overcome. There are vast rewards in store for the overcomer.

ENGAGING THE TEXT
THE NEED

Sometimes the church is keenly aware of this eschatological hope. When we are under persecution, when we suffer, when it seems that world is going out of control - then we pay close attention to the message of the new Jerusalem. But there are other times. There are times when we are comfortable and healthy. There are times when this world seems like a pretty good place. There are times when our prosperity overshadows any pain of which we might aware. In those times, it's easy for us to forget we are part of a story that is still being written.

Revelation has too often stood as an unapproachable book to Christ's church. It mysteries have often become barriers when we approach this book only to "study" it rather than to allow it draw us into worship. The primary purpose of Revelation is to encourage a persecuted church. So, for the message of this text to faithfully re-function in our congregations it must be heard as a word of hope to a people who are "in-between."

GOD'S ANSWER

These are powerful words that point to realities in the city of God that are beyond mere description. John notes in verse 1 that there is "no longer any sea." The image of the sea would have brought to mind all that is deep, dark, and chaotic in the world. This chaos is now overcome by the Lamb of God who brings in the new heaven and new earth. And more than a description of place, John says that the remarkable thing about this new Jerusalem is that God himself dwells there. He says, "They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God" (v. 3). Sound familiar? It's the covenant that God made with Abraham centuries before. The reward of the overcomer is not so much a place -- not a "mansion over there" but it is God himself. It is his personal care ("he will wipe every tear"), and his perpetual life ("no more death") (v. 4).

OUR RESPONSE

Perhaps more than anything else in the world we need intimacy. In a culture like ours that is very prosperous and comfortable, the need for genuine intimacy is still profound. People long for an intimacy that pure, being completely known and knowing another without any shame. The rewards of the overcomer that John outlines in this victorious chapter meet up very well with the deepest needs and desires of our lives.
We desire joy, justice, understanding, and intimacy. All of these needs are met in the promise of taking up our residence in the new Jerusalem, the city of God where He dwells with us as our Father.

The call of this text is in terms of identity. How do we understand ourselves in the context of a world that is so self-absorbed? How do we measure our value and worth in a materially oriented society like ours? The gospel says that we can understand those questions in light of our ultimate destiny: "He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son" (v. 7).

PREACHING THE TEXT

It will be important to help people who have some history in the church to overcome possible prejudices about the book of Revelation. Of course, new Christians won't have those same prejudices but we can do some significant teaching here about the real purpose of Revelation as a word of hope to a discouraged and persecuted Church.

The theme of "overcoming" (the word used in verse 7) may provide the connection point for the re-functioning of this hope filled text. There are two kinds of overcoming to be considered. There is the negative side, overcoming evil and sin. There is also the positive side of "overcoming to." The faithful overcomer is promised some great rewards in this text.

And that is the call of this passage - to remain faithful. It's to avoid the fate of those described later in the passage, the cowardly and unbelieving ones (v. 8), and press toward the promise of the faithful ones.