Revelation 22: THE END!

" ‘See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’ 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practises falsehood.

16 ‘It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.
17 The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’
And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; 19 if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. 20 The one who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen."

Introduction

We end our consideration of the Revelation to John the week before Pentecost. The coming of the Spirit makes all things new; so the great drama that unfolded in Revelation will then need to be interpreted in the light of the Age of the Spirit in which we live. Today, however, we are still in "pre-Pentecost" living.

In this essay I will indicate a number of themes which would be worthwhile to explore in preaching or teaching, but I begin with my major "gripe" about the Revised Common Lectionary. My complaint is this: we are at the end of Revelation, the glorious end, where saints enter into the Holy City and where all who are thirsty have an invitation to be with Christ, without really understanding the pain that the saints, and others, have experienced. The lectionary has focused on the "upbeat" passages from Revelation; even in this text it wanted to "eliminate" vv. 15 and 18-19. These are at the heart of the text, and to excise them suggests that the Lectionary makers are complicit in what Bonhoeffer famously called "cheap grace."

Themes to Explore

1. So if I were preaching on this text, I would first spend some time on the "gruesome" in Revelation. Where would I go? I think the opening of the seventh seal in Rev. 8-10 would be just about enough for anyone to stomach. When that seal is opened we have seven angels with seven trumpets; they are ready to blow them. When the angels blew the trumpets, misery gushes forth. The shape of the misery is extreme: hail and fire; a third of the earth burned up; a third of the sea becomes blood; a third of the rivers and waters polluted; a third of the sun and moon darkened. All the author can say is "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth" (8:13). The glory of Rev. 22 is made more glorious because there is a Rev. 8 or 9 or 10, for example.

2. The basis of salvation and admittance into the Holy City in 22:13 is "works" and not "faith." In fact, the dichotomy between the two, so familiar from the Pauline letters, is absent in the Revelation. Those who are faithful are those, by definition, who face and endure the persecution and martyrdom that is coming. There is no indication that all you have to do is "accept Christ," whatever that means, and you are "saved." Christ's reward (v. 12), which is last mentioned in 11:18, is based on "everyone's work."

3. The next thing to note is the identification of Christ with the Father. At the beginning of Revelation we had the majestic words spoken by God: "I am the Alpha and the Omega...who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" (1:8). Here we have Christ's self-identification as "the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (22:13). In between the first and the last chapters is a symphony of pain and deliverance. Christ, as it were, becomes identified with the Father through his experience of his death and resurrection. The hope is then strong for the saints who experience this trauma that they (we) too will become conformed to the image of Christ.

4. There are definitely the insiders and outsiders at the end, even though the Lectionary reading would have you "ignore" the outsiders. Not so. Every inclusive movement in the history of the people of God is also met by an exclusive movement. The people of Israel were chosen as God's beloved; the rest of the world were "outsiders." So, at the end, those who have "washed their robes" (v. 13--a word indicating the martyrdom of the saints--cf. 7:14) will be in the city, and many others will be outside. The list is a very visual one--those outside are "dogs" (though I hope my Golden Retriever makes it in!), "the pharmakoi"--i.e., those messing with "drugs" or the "sorcerers"; "the pornoi"--i.e., those going off the deep end in immoral behavior; the ones who worship idols (who might these be?) and those who love and do falsehood. I don't see a tone of gloating over these people; I also don't see here a punishment indicated, even though other texts focus on that. John is only interested in the contrast between the insiders and outsiders.

5. The language of v. 17 is, as Geoffrey Caird suggests, reminisncent of early Christian liturgy, probably a Eucharistic liturgy. The threefold invitation to come is reflective of a Trinitarian style that was quickly adopted by the earliest Church. Even at the distance of 2000 years the invitation still rings with authority and attrativeness. Those who have endured the great tribulation, who have suffered incredible pain, who have now witnessed the Holy City descending from heaven, are issued an invitation to celebrate in the victory that the Holy City represents. The language of wordship, of hymnology, of the Scriptures, ought to enter into our communication and ways of doing things today; John gives us an example of how it did so for him.

6. The book closes with a warning, which the Lectionary also skips. The warning is typical of ancient authoritative books; indeed Deuteronomy has the same kind of exhortation: "You must diligently observe everything that I command you; do not add to it or take anything from it" (12:32). Such a warning is also an exhortation for us--to take seriously every word of the Revelation and not simply the easily palatable passages.

7. The final coming of Christ is repeated three times in this passage. In v. 12 Christ says that he is coming "tachu" (quickly--we get the variety of English terms beginning with "tachy" from the word, such as tachyarrythmia or tachymeter). Verse 20 repeats this. Then, the author in the final words says, "Come Lord Jesus." The stage is set, even though what this coming might mean and when it might occur in 2007 is not really clear. We understand the urgency and desire of the first generation of Christians, however, even if this urgency has left most of us today. Yet, the things to which Revelation points--the gruesome and painful, are still a part of our world....everyday.

Conclusion

Whenever I read this text, I am reminded of William Walsham How's great hymn "For All the Saints" (set to music by Ralph Vaughn Williams). Though it is most appropriately sung around Nov. 1, the last verse of the hymn draws some of its imaginative power from the final scenes of Revelation. Let's close with those dramatic words, with the music playing in your mind:

"From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,/Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,/ And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:/Alleluia, Alleluia!

Amen.

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