After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
Revelation 7:9-17
“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!”
And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing,
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are before the throne of God
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat,
for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
My sermon from the Fourth Sunday of Easter (May 11, 2025) on Revelation 7:9-17.
******
So it’s been a big week for the power of “w” “e” especially if we’re doing all we can to help our teams make it into the next round of their playoffs. We’re sure we’re the ones who created the space needed for Aaron Gorden of the Denver Nuggets to not only steal game one from the Oklahoma City Thunder but also send game three into overtime. We skated beyond the cool plains of Edmonton, Alberta to take a commanding 2-0 lead over the Golden Knights of Las Vegas. And it was our energy and will that pushed the rest of our New York Knicks to rally from twenty points down to win game 1 and 2 against the Boston Celtics. It’s kind of amazing we did so much while sitting on our couches miles away from where any of these games took place. Yet the power of “we” has a way of moving us into something so much bigger than ourselves. This “we” even extended from the hardwood to the Sistine Chapel since my social media feeds have been full of memes showing how many of the New York Knicks as well as the new Pope – all graduated from Villanova University. Many different communities have done their best to show how expansive they get to be. And while some, like the Chicago Cubs, were disappointed to learn that the White Socks are actually Leo XIV’s team, this movement was less about claiming him as “one of us” and more about pointing out how all our lives are meant to be about so much more than just “me.” Even if the closest we’ll ever get to winning a playoff game is measured by the inches our face is from the screen while watching our team play, there’s something welcoming, inclusive, and hopeful about being part of this “we.” And in today’s reading from the book of Revelation, we’re shown another kind of “we” full of people holding palm branches in their hands.
Now I often describe the book of Revelation as a kind of graphic novel since its author, John of Patmos, used words to paint a series of pictures that spiral in, and around, one another. We tend to imagine Revelation as a book focused on the end since it’s full of pictures of a time when creation will thirst and hunger no more. But at the beginning of this story, John also directed his message to seven different church communities that once existed in what is now modern day Turkey. These communities were in cities ruled by the Roman Empire and had their own diverse cultural backgrounds and stories. Some were founded by civilizations that no longer existed while others had extensive trade networks with Persia, Arabia, India, and beyond. The images John painted – of heavenly throne rooms, slain lambs, four horsemen, ecological and cosmic disasters, beasts, dragons, and more – weren’t only for those living in the future. They also challenged, inspired, frightened, and brought hope to real people living very real lives. They, like us, wondered how to live a faithful life in the here and now. Yet they also were going through specific situations John named. Some of the communities were extremely wealthy, caring more about those who had money instead of the poor and marginalized. Others aligned themselves with those in power, acting as if the world’s love of greed, strength, and violence can also be good and holy. A few of the churches were persecuted for their beliefs in ways more intense than them simply not knowing how to process their own discomfort when they met someone who didn’t see the world in the same way they did. The church, however, that John reserved his most intense words for was a community whose faith, he thought, was lukewarm at best. They were neither hot nor cold since the people rarely acted as if their faith was supposed to shape their lives every day. What they, and all the communities needed, was a word to challenge, comfort, inspire, and bring them a sense of hope while navigating a difficult present and an unknown future. And so, in the middle of a series of swirling images that pushed the boundaries of what our minds could even imagine, he interrupted everything by offering a peek of what’s at the center of the kingdom of God.
We’d expect, I think, for there to be some kind of throne room – a command center – where those in charge could issue proclamations, commands, and all kinds of executive orders. But instead of inviting us to imagine the one issuing these words decked out in an outfit reflecting how powerful they might be, we meet a lamb carrying all the wounds life gave him. All the times when they were overwhelmed, weak, and fragile, were not pushed aside or hidden from view. Instead, the lamb at the center was simply being himself while inviting us to be fully ourselves too. Around this leader, we’d expect to see all kinds of officials, ministers, and generals doing their best to make the orders of the ruler come to life. But the very first group John identified as a “we” wasn’t full of technocrats, politicians, or PR firms. The insiders closest to the throne weren’t divine beings full of power and might. They were, instead, a multitude of people from every time and place speaking every kind of language who had lived and were now participating in an eternal act of worship and praise. It’s this crowd who reflect what the kingdom is all about. And what unites them isn’t the life they’ve lived but rather it’s through the One who, with his body and blood, has already claimed them – and us – as his own.
Now when John saw this “we,” he was told they went through some kind of ordeal. What that was, we’re not specifically told, though it could be related to the violence some churches went through or a hint at the larger persecution that was historically about to come. But I also wonder if this ordeal could also be related to the different kinds of messages John gave to those specific church communities. When we focus on power in this world rather than the power we’ve already received; when we focus on what we can take rather than on what we are called to give; when we let fears of others mask the expansiveness of the multitude around God’s throne; and when our imagination of what can be is reduced to what already is – it’s easy to lose ourselves in the chaos swirling around and within us. The ordeals they went through will shape them in the same ways it shaped the still wounded Jesus at the center of it all. Yet the worst thing that has been done to us or that we have done ourselves won’t be what fully defines us. Rather, we’re already connected to the One who has gone through the ordeal of the Cross to show us how far God’s love will always go. The “we” we’re a part of isn’t one we build by ourselves. It’s a gift given to us by the One who has made us part of the team that extends beyond every limit of time and space. We, together, get to embody the mercy, love, forgiveness, and hope at the heart of who our God chooses to be. And while this day might be full of ordeals that challenge our identity, our strength, and even our faith, we are already rooted in the One who will be there to carry us through.
Amen.