Rev 21:10-14, 22-23
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and
showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and
its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as
crystal. 12 It had a great, high
wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were
written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three
on the south and three on the west. 14
The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the
twelve apostles of the Lamb.22 I
did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb
are its temple. 23 The city does
not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it
light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
I don’t know if family reunions are big
anymore. We live in such a fast-paced, spread-out world compared to yesteryear.
When I was a boy, part of the annual summer ritual was to attend the family
reunion. It was always held at a state or county park, with sandy beaches and
lots of stuff for the kids to do. Some of my earliest memories of this event as
a small child, however, had to do with HOW I could know I was in the right
place. After all, ours wasn’t the only big group gathered at any given time at
that park….and from a distance, one big group of people sort of looked the same
as any other big group of people.
What finally did it for me was to look at the old people. Kids are
constantly changing and growing. I frequently didn’t recognize my own cousins
from year to year (and vice/versa)… but the old aunts and uncles always looked
the same. If I could spot one of them then I knew I was in the right pavilion
and with the right group.
There’s a neat thing going on in this passage from Revelation when it
says of the “new Jerusalem:” 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve
angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes
of Israel. 13 There were three
gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the
west. 14 The wall of the city
had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of
the Lamb. One city, but with the names
of the 12 tribes of Israel on the gates and the names of the 12 apostles on the
foundations. Unity and Continuity. Seeing the old people—or at least their
names—tells us we’re in the right place.
But we don’t always appreciate unity & continuity. When I
was serving as a chaplain I used to eat with the residents of the facility
every Wednesday. I could easily tell the 2nd and 4th
Wednesdays of the month because the menu was ALWAYS “ham bbq or perogies.”
Unity & continuity got pretty old. The teenager who’s growing up and desperately
trying to differentiate himself/herself from their family of origin doesn’t
appreciate the unity & continuity of the family. The person who’s grown tired and unfulfilled
by a certain job or career field craves radical change as opposed to unity
& continuity. And, YES… at times… in our quest to find spiritual fulfillment
or ‘enliven’ our relationship with God it’s easy to lose our appreciation for
what unifies us to the past and continues with us in our present.
May we come to view unity and continuity as a work of GOD….
and hence as something always done PERFECTLY, and always with us and our
deepest needs in mind. The New Jerusalem is picture language for eternity with
God. It won’t be eternity ALONE on our own cloud somewhere (Sorry Mick Jagger).
And for that matter, it won’t even be the best thing WE can imagine. It will be
the best thing GOD can imagine; a never ending family reunion in unity with all
of God’s family down through the eons and generations, and a never-ending
continuity together.
Cheers,
TM
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