Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.
Revelation 22:12-21
Come, Lord Jesus
Seventh Sunday of Easter, 12 May 2013
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who
is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus
Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler
of the kings of the earth. Amen.
Christ has
died. Christ is risen! Christ will come again! Today our Epistle text focuses
our attention on the Second Coming of Jesus. Ordinarily, we reserve such
thoughts about the end of the world for November, for the last three Sundays of
the church year. But just as we know that Jesus’ return will be sudden,
unexpected, like a thief, one never knows when the teaching of Jesus’ return
will show up in the lectionary—this time it is the Seventh Sunday of Easter.
12 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I
will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and
the Last, the Beginning and the End.
I will give to everyone according to what he has done. Just
reading this verse alone would make one think that citizenship in heaven is
according to works, what we have done. That would be taking this verse out of
context. We must look at what has gone before. Verse seven of this chapter
reads, Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the
prophecy in this book. That’s the doing Jesus has in mind. Only someone in
faith could do so—keep the prophecy in this book. Verse 11b: let him who does
right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.
Knowing the rest of Scripture helps us avoid
misinterpretation, since it never contradicts itself. For it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of
God—not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9. Verse 10 is
important: For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Works earn us nothing, but
faith does them just like your lungs breathe. They just do. Faith is always in
action doing good works. Works are the fruit of faith. Those without faith
cannot do good works, by definition.
The following verses explain more about the gifts of faith
and righteousness—gifts, not earned by works. No one earns a true gift.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may
have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the
city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who
practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and
everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Have you despaired of your own righteousness? Have you given
up trying to become perfect in this life? Have you finally stopped trying to
earn God’s favor? Most importantly, have you washed your robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb? (Chapter 7) These are they who have come out of
the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb.
The Lamb gives His righteousness and He gives His reward to
those whom He has already given His righteousness. Jesus loves to give us His
Gifts. But some will not have any of it—those Scripture calls “dogs”, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. They reject Him, they reject His Gifts, they persecute and try to deceive those who follow the Lord. These people will be rewarded with judgment. They are outside of salvation, outside of New Jerusalem, doomed to hell, to be tormented day and night like Satan, forever and ever. They are punished for their sin.
Gifts. But some will not have any of it—those Scripture calls “dogs”, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. They reject Him, they reject His Gifts, they persecute and try to deceive those who follow the Lord. These people will be rewarded with judgment. They are outside of salvation, outside of New Jerusalem, doomed to hell, to be tormented day and night like Satan, forever and ever. They are punished for their sin.
Our sin has been forgiven. We are rewarded according to what
Jesus has done for us, and for wearing His righteousness by faith—even our
faith is a Gift!
In some churches this day, verse 15 is missing. Some
churches are unwilling to call homosexuality, sexual immorality, “living
together” outside of marriage and falsehood by its true name, sin. Accordingly,
verse fifteen is missing. They’ve literally cut it out of their reading of the
Epistle lesson today. It’s not read, not mentioned, not discussed. A Word of
the Lord is ignored. How tragic! 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice
magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who
loves and practices falsehood.
Dogs are what Deuteronomy 23:19 calls male homosexual
prostitutes. Not only that, this term was also a metaphor for an evil human
enemy. Psalm 22:16,20
“Those who practice magic arts” could also be rendered,
“sorcerers.” This would include all practitioners of occultic arts, whether
so-called “good” or “bad” magick. There is no such thing as a good magick. I’m
not talking about visual slight-of-hand, but that which has as its source,
Satan. Even in the childrens’ novels, the so-called good guys who use white
magick are still using magick, and are therefore calling upon the power of
Satan, not God. Sorcerer’s Stones are not of God.
In his exposition of the Second Commandment Luther teaches
us, We should fear and love God that we may not curse, swear, use witchcraft,
lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise,
and give thanks.
In 1 Corinthians 10:18-22, St. Paul warns us, Consider the
people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol
is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to
God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the
cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have part in both the
Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s
jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the
sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and
practices falsehood. All these persons and practices are dangerous to faith.
These we are to avoid.
Instead, cling to these words: 14 “Blessed are those who
wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go
through the gates into the city. Cling
tightly by faith to your Savior and His gift to you, your Robe, His righteousness,
won for you when He defeated sin, death, and Satan. Satan is defeated. Don’t
let him get a foothold. Hang on to Jesus!
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony
for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright
Morning Star.”
Our Lord leaves
us with no doubt about who is giving us these words, recorded by St. John.
Jesus refers to Himself by name. The name Jesus is used fourteen times in
Revelation, but only here does the Christ refer to Himself by name.
Jesus also
uses other titles, tying together the Old and New Testaments. He is both
David’s son, descendant, and David’s Lord, The Lord! He is the promised royal
offspring of King David. Now, He reigns as the eternal King—His rule shall
never end.
Jesus is
the bright morning star, the brightest in the heavens, the light of the world
that no darkness can overcome. He is the Lamp and Lamb. The city does not need
the sun or the moon for the glory of God gives it light. Jesus is the light!
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who
hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let
him take the free gift of the water of life.
Salvation
is a free thirst-quenching gift that fills the empty, dark place inside each of
us. Not by works. We are given faith as a gift. Faith is our baseball glove
that receives all the rest of the Gifts of God, by faith. Righteousness, life,
salvation, forgiveness—all are free gifts, the water of life.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of
this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues
described in this book. 19 And if anyone
takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his
share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this
book.
This is a
serious warning. Specifically, this admonition concerns the book of Revelation
itself. We aren’t to sugar-coat the law here and call what is good, bad, and
call what is bad, good. In other words, don’t leave out verse fifteen! We are
called to embrace all that is here in Revelation, and not reject a word. In a
larger sense, since the book of Revelation is the culmination of Divine
Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, we are not to mess with the text of
Scripture. The Bible, in its entirety, is the holy, inspired, inerrant Word of
God. Just because we don’t like something does not give us the authority to
change God’s Word. It is humbling to submit ourselves to the authority of
another. That is what Christians do when it comes to the Word. If we deny it,
we deny God. When we embrace it by faith, we have all of the blessings it
contains.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming
soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
One of the most common table prayers we use is “Come, Lord
Jesus…” In this prayer, we invite Jesus as a guest into our hearts, homes, and
to our meal. Common food is set aside, sanctified, made holy unto the Lord. Our
prayer recognizes the meal as another gift of God. It presupposes that the food
eaten by those around the table will provide health and energy to them so they
may continue their service to the Lord.
A second verse, common here at Immanuel and coming from the
Slovak Lutheran tradition reads: “And may there be a goodly share on every
table everywhere.” It is a prayer of mercy, of generosity, acknowledging our
bounty and that there will always be others in need. It’s an evangelistic
petition. Those who pray it ask God to shower the same blessings we have on
others, especially the gift of the Gospel message. “Come, Lord Jesus!” is the
cry of all the faithful as we wait for the Day of the Lord—a day when we don’t
have to invite Jesus to come into our homes, but the day we will come into His.
In the meantime, let us continue to thank God for His many gifts and employ
them in His service.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
The Lord
Jesus has promised to be with us to the end of the age. We are God’s people in
this place. We rejoice that the grace of God has come to us and abided with us
in His forgiveness. That is what will carry us through to the end, not any
strength in or from ourselves. We pray that the Lord’s grace would help us
resist Satan, sexual immorality, idolatry, and falsehood. We are confident that
God’s grace rests upon us as, next Sunday, we partake of His Body and His
Blood. We know with certainty that it is by grace we are saved, through faith,
not by works so that none can boast. Let us pray that our Lord will come soon
and that the days of darkness would come to an end. Let us pray, Thy Kingdom
come.
About the Cover: It seems like a child’s fairy
tale—all the good things promised to us at our Lord’s return. But we know that far
from a fairy tale, they are a divine promise. That day, Christ will shine upon
this earth, and in Him we will reign forever. Thus the Church teaches all her
children to long for this day and to pray without ceasing, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be
with God’s people. Amen.
