4th November Trinity 2011, Fire in the Earth

4^th November Trinity

Revelation 21: 1-8

And I beheld the events in the spirit out of which a new heaven and a new earth proceeded. For the earlier heaven and the earlier earth were gone, and the billowing ocean is no more.

And further I saw the Holy City, untouched by the earthly, coming forth out of the being of God, descending out of the spiritual worlds: the New Jerusalem.

She appeared in her beauty like a bride who has adorned herself for the bridegroom.

Lamb and His Bride, Douce Apocalypse 

And I heard a powerful voice coming from the throne that said: “Behold the Dwelling of God in the midst of humanity. For He will indeed dwell in your midst, and the people will be His people.

‘”God himself will be with them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eye. There will be no more [bodily pain, nor soul pain, nor any other burdens of the inmost being] death, nor sorrow, nor weeping [uproar] nor any other sound of pain, for the old world is gone.”

And He who was seated on the throne said: “Behold: I am creating all anew.”

And He said, “Write, for it is these words that shall make faith and knowledge into true reality.”

And He said to me: “It is accomplished! I AM the Alpha and the Omega, World Beginning and World Goal. To the thirsty I will give from the springs of the waters of life, outside the workings of destiny, as grace. He who overcomes, he shall inherit all this. ‘I will be His God, and to me He will be like a son.’

“Those however who were cowardly [the spineless], and who had no trust [the faithless, unbelieving], who were servants of evil and perverted the image of Man [the despicable, vile, foul], who wanted to destroy the sacred [murderers], who went along impure paths of soul [sexually immoral, whoremongers], who worked with forces of evil [witches, practitioners of the magic arts], who bound themselves to evil beings [idolaters, idol-worshippers]—and all who served the Lie [liars of every kind]—their share will be on the lake which burns as with fire and sulfur; that is the second death, the death of the soul [the death after death].”

4^th November Trinity

November 20, 2011

Rev. 21: 1-8

Life can be compared to a great wheel. Any point on the rim of the wheel is sometimes up, sometimes down. Nevertheless, that place on the rim always comes down on a different spot; for the whole purpose of a wheel is to move forward, to make progress.

We have come to the point in the wheel of the church year where one great cycle is ending. This is the last Sunday before the new beginning at Advent. And appropriately, the reading helps us look at the great cosmic rounds in which we are involved. We hear ‘Behold, I am creating all anew!’

In the next round, what will emerge is a beauteous dwelling place for God in the midst of humanity. It is a city, being built, now, by humankind. The dwelling place for God is created by all the noble, true and beautiful deeds of human beings over the aeons. We ourselves are helping build the new city of God at the center of the new heaven and the new earth.

For as the poet David Whyte says:

….You were there in the beginning

you heard the story, you heard the merciless

and tender words telling you where you had to go.

Exile is never easy and the journey

itself leaves a bitter taste. But then,

when you heard that voice, you had to go.

You couldn't sit by the fire, you couldn't live

so close to the live flame of that compassion

you had to go out in the world and make it your own

so you could come back with

that flame in your voice, saying listen...

this warmth, this unbearable light, this fearful love...

It is all here, it is all here.[1]

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[1] David Whyte, “In the Beginning” in Fire in the Earth