from now on just let the universe be your shelter

from the enemy

A sermon on Revelation 21 & 22:

I remember in college when I was going through some tough times. My pastor noticed what my real problem was. And it wasn’t my circumstances. It was how I was trying to fix them. “All your old survival skills aren’t going to serve you anymore.” He said. “You’re going to have to learn some new one.” 

And he was right. Everything I was doing to try and fix my situation was only making it worse.

You ever been there? Those disorienting times when all your old skills don’t work anymore. When they only make everything worse. We all have. 

In fact, it’s a part of a pattern called “the hero journey.” And even if you don’t know the formula, you are familiar with it. It’s been made famous by George Lucas and the Star Wars films. 

In the hero’s journey the hero is thrust into some circumstance where they must adapt to new surroundings in order to survive. And it’s like that for us when we go through some life-altering event. 

Which sounds dramatic. And often it is. But it can happen in mundane ways. Like a new job. A new relationship. A new child. And it can happen the other way, too. Like a death. A retirement. A change in health. 

When these events occur in our lives, suddenly all our old coping strategies don’t work anymore. And like the heroes on their journey, we must adapt. Learn new skills. Let go of old ones.

…Which sounds so cut and dried when I say it aloud. Doesn’t it? But as all of us who have gone through such an experience know, it’s not so clean cut. 

In fact, isn’t that what’s so hard about living in the time of COVID? Suddenly all our old ways of getting along, don’t work anymore. In fact, they’re spreading the virus! But instead of just adjusting, we’re all trying to make the old ways work!

The experts say we could be a lot further along if we could just make a few adjustments over a specific period of time. Yet, we can’t seem to bring ourselves to, can we?

The only thing that seems capable of getting us to is being forced. Which is often the case. As one of my favorite authors says, “I’ve never given up anything that doesn’t have my claw marks in it.”

Here’s the thing, though; just letting go is not the wise thing to do. It can also be the fun thing to do. And, in the Kingdom of God, it’s most certainly the most faithful thing to do.

As our scripture for today illustrates, the holy city, the new Jerusalem, comes down OUT of heaven from God. And fully prepared, too. God’s kingdom is an upside-down, backward, and inside-out one! One that comes without efforts. And instead as a gift. 

Grace is God’s one-way love!

We are strivers, though. We got to be on our grind. Hustling. And we tell ourselves, ‘as it is in the world, so it is with God.’ Only it isn’t. And trying to apply those old skills in the new Jerusalem just won’t work. In fact, it’ll only make everything worse.

It’s like this great movie a few of us watched a couple of weekends ago, The Way, Way Back. This movie is about the sort thing we all concern ourselves with, trying to measure up. 

What the film depicts so well, though, is how measuring up is trying to accomplish something measuring up cannot do! What I mean is, measuring up has to do with your worth. And the thing about worth is, you can’t prove it! Either you have it, or you don’t. And if you have to prove it, it’s a sure sign you’re not being given it!

Worth is not something that can be achieved, it is given. 

And you have worth. You are made in God’s image. What’s more, Jesus has died for you. You were not an afterthought in the enterprise of salvation. When Jesus went to the cross, he did so for you, specifically. 

Hear this loud and clear; you ARE valuable. You ARE beloved. It’s like Luther says, God does not love you because you’re beautiful. God loves you, and that MAKES you beautiful. 

And, this is true for every human made in the image of God, too. Usually, I wouldn’t feel the need to say this, but the events of late would seem to suggest otherwise…

What The Way, Way Back understands so well is how trying to achieve our worth only diminishes it. And all the characters in the movie are busy trying to prove their worth. And it’s only making them miserable. 

Into this dismal environment, steps Owen. Owen is dead to all that. As the movie intimates, he’s seen the dead-end of trying to prove your worth for himself. So, instead of going along just trying harder, Owen’s adopted some new skills. Namely, not trying at all!

But, and here’s the great thing, this approach makes Owen the most helpful character! All because he isn’t trying! His efforts aren’t motivated by his need to prove himself, they’re motivated by others! And the rest of the movie is the joyride of watching others get caught up in this upside-down, backward, and inside-out way of life!

Which is what’s been extended to you, and more, as the new Jerusalem comes down OUT of heaven from God! Fully prepared!

The truth is, I don’t need to try and pry the old ways of doing things out of your hands. Do I? They’re already busy failing. So, let’s all just try a new skill. Let’s let go. Empty, open hands are the kind God can use!

You don’t have to make the kingdom come. All we can ever build is the tower of Babel. But the new Jerusalem is a reverse Babel! One that isn’t built, but received! One that comes down OUT of heaven to us! As Jesus himself says, it is your Father’s good will to give you the kingdom! (Lk. 12:32) 

Yes, it’s a disorienting to let go of all those old survival skills and pick up some new ones. But here’s the promises: It’s a lot more effective. It’s a lot more faithful. It’s a lot more fun. It’s a lot more adventurous. And, when the new Jerusalem completes its descent, it will also be revealed to have been the truest way to live, too.

So, what are you waiting for?!?!