Then and Now

 

Then and Now

Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35

(A sermon preached on May 15, 2022)

 

I enjoy watching mystery series on television. Such series have recurring characters that provide continuity. Different series have differing approaches to how they present their stories. Some present a different mystery in each episode. Some deal with one main mystery over the course of  a season. Some combine the two approaches—they have one over-arching story, but they present a new mystery in each episode. Whichever approach a series takes, we can be confident that the mystery will eventually be solved, because that is the way the genre works. If the mystery is never solved and if some resolution is never reached, we become frustrated and will find another show to watch.

There is a sense in which we live in a mystery. We woke up this morning with some expectations of how our day would go. But if we stop to think about it, we realize that we don’t know what is going to happen. Life can take unexpected turns. That is true in our personal lives. It is also true in the world at large. Something unexpected can happen that will change everything. We just don’t know what the future holds. Life is a mystery.

When we watch a mystery series, we do so with confidence that the mystery will be solved and that the various strands of the story will be tied up.

I am here to tell you that the mystery of life will ultimately be solved and that the strands of the story will ultimately be tied up. God will resolve everything. God will bring everything to its appropriate conclusion. God will fulfill all of God’s purposes.

And what a day that will be when God accomplishes all that God intends to accomplish! When that time comes, God will make everything as it should be. Everything that threatens us will be eliminated. Everything that brings pain and suffering to our lives will be defeated. Every obstacle that comes between God and us will be removed. Every limitation that prevents us from living our full lives will be done away with.

We can count on God accomplishing everything that God has promised to accomplish. Yes indeed, what a day that will be! When that day comes, there will be no more sickness, no more sadness, no more grief, and no more pain. There will be only blessing and wonder and joy forevermore.

Oh, and let’s not forget love. There will also be love.

As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13, we need faith, hope, and love as we live in this world and as we face all its mysteries. We need faith as we deal with the mysteries of life and with all the struggles they bring with them. Faith is trust that God is with us and for us in and through everything we encounter. We also need hope as we deal with the mysteries of life and all the struggles they bring with them. Hope is trust that God is working God’s purposes out in and through everything we encounter. For as long as we live in this world, we need to have faith in God and we need to hope in God.

But we won’t need faith and hope once God fulfills God’s purposes and once God makes all things as God intends for them to be. We won’t need to trust and to be assured that God is working God’s purposes out once God has worked God’s purposes out. Faith and hope will pass away because we won’t need them anymore.

Love, on the other hand, will endure and continue after God completes and fulfills all things, because love is eternal.

We anticipate how things will be then. We look forward to how things will be when God makes all things as they will forever be.

But then is not here yet. And until that day comes, we must live in the now. How can we best live in the now? How can we best live now in light of the then that God will surely bring about?

We best live in anticipation of then—of what God will ultimately bring about for all eternity—by practicing now the one way of life that will continue for all eternity—the way of love.

That is, after all, the way Jesus told his disciples to live. And we are Jesus’ disciples as surely as were those individuals who were with him on the night he was betrayed and arrested.

On that night, Jesus told his disciples that the time had come for him to be glorified. All of Jesus’ life glorified God, but his crucifixion and resurrection were the crowning events of his glorification. Jesus told his disciples that they could not go where he was going—they could not yet follow him in death and resurrection.

But Jesus’ disciples could follow him in practicing love. So can we. We can practice the same love that Jesus practiced—we can lay down our lives for one another as Jesus laid down his life for us. Only Jesus could die on the cross for our sins, but all of us who follow him can give up our lives for each other. We can think of others before we think of ourselves. We can look to give ourselves away rather than looking to protect ourselves or to keep our lives to ourselves.

Practicing love is how we live as Jesus’ disciples. Practicing love is how we show others that we are in fact followers of Jesus.

I started out talking about watching mystery series on television. As we do so, we become familiar with the main characters and come to expect them to behave in certain ways. We can be disappointed and become frustrated when a character behaves in a way that seems out of character.

We are people who know that God is working God’s purposes out. We know that the day will come when we enter God’s eternal kingdom of love. We know that until then, we are to practice love now.

Let’s live as who we are.

Let’s stay in character.

Let’s live in love.