Fourth Sunday of Easter

NOW WHAT?

Revelation 7:9-17 “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “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, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

            I am going to start of this sermon message with a certain advertisement.  Now the ad I am about to mention is not real but imagine that it might be.  The following message has been paid for by the Bored agency.  Are you bored today?  Are you wondering what you can do?  Are you thinking “now what”?  Are you not sure what to do because Easter has arrived.  What is there to do now?  Forgiveness has arrived for all of us and now the question comes up again “now what”?  People love asking these questions after Easter.

            Although we believe in Christ, life does not stop just at Easter.  Our lives as Christians continue and it does not just stop in an instance.  Christ told us the Great Commission to go out and make disciples of all nations.  Even last week we heard from John that Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep.  Again today, we hear from John that in his vision he saw “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”  Does that mean we have something to do after Easter?  Does that mean that life can continue?  Of course, life continues after Easter.  God’s plan for all of us does not stop just at Easter.

            Yet, the devil and sin would like to think otherwise for us.  They will try anything to turn us away from God.  The devil hate God’s plan.  He does not want the Great Commission to continue or any of you feeding His sheep.  He will try everything and anything for all of you to stop.  How do we know that because Jesus told Satan to get behind him “Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”  How true it is, that Satan does not have in mind the things of God.   How true it is that Satan is an obstacle to God’s plan.  Satan loves to be an obstacle so that we can turn away from God when we sin. 

            We are not the only ones here that Satan tried to turn away from God.  John, who wrote the book of Revelation, the Gospel and his epistles, received the Great Commission and yet even Satan tried his tricks on him.  He tried fear, worry, and sadness on John.  The death of his brother James and his imprisonment on the Island of Patmos could not be an easy life for John.  We suffer the same things as John, we lose love ones, and we fear for our lives, living our life is not easy.  Even as a Church, certain issues about the property, missions, events etc. Satan tries using these issues against the church.  All of this is but a tribulation that is going to happen to us as believers of Christ.  The reason we have tribulation in our lives is not that God wants us to suffer but because we are sinners.  We are sinners who continue to sin and turn away from God every time we sin.

            This does not mean that we are going to be living our lives in failure all the time.  This does not mean that we are lost to tribulation.  John could have given up after Christ died on the cross.  He could have said “Now What?”  John could have given up after his brother was martyred.  Again, he could have said “Now What?”  John could have given up even after being stuck on that island.  Again, he could have said “Now What?”  Nevertheless, he did not.  He had faith in his Risen Savior.  Just like us. 

            We believe that the Risen Savior would not leave us to our tribulations.  Jesus went through a harder tribulation known as Good Friday.  He suffered and crucified on the cross for all of us here.  His crucifixion on the cross promises us that even though our lives might be hard, God still loves us and forgives us.  1^st John 3:7-8 “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.  He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.  He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”  God has done what John spoke of and because that we are righteous in Christ.  Before Christ, our clothes were black but with the blood of the lamb, our clothes cleansed in His righteousness.

            This is not just a saying or a statement that we hear every week but the truth.  Jesus Christ did die for all because we are all God’s people.  1st John 2:2 “ He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”  His death on the cross was because God loves his children more then anything.  1st John 4:9-10 “This is how God showed his love among us:  He sent this one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”   His love surpasses any kind of love that we have today.  A true love, God has for his children.  An example of His love is that of a Father who cares for his child who gets hurt.  When a child cries the parent is there to comfort that child who cries.  Even John states that in paradise, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  He does not only wipe away our tears in paradise but also in our real lives.

            His death on the cross and being raised on Easter Sunday, Jesus has now become our eternal Shepard.  He is our Shepard who will guide us.  He is our Shepard who will watch over us.  He watches over us by sending the Holy Spirit.  We were lost but now found because of God’s love.   We heard a promise from Jesus himself, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me I give them eternal life, and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the father’s hand.  I and the father are one.”  What can get better then that?  We have a promise to be with him in paradise.  We have a God who is always watching over us forever and forever.

            Forever and forever does not just stop in this lifetime.  It continues into paradise.  As John said “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.”  When we are in the Kingdom of God, we do not have to worry about anything that we worry today.  God takes care of us and none of those issues mentioned before are issues in Heaven.

            If this were to happen today then what is God waiting for?  Why aren’t we there right now?  There is too much hate, destruction, and war going on right now.  Would it not be a good time for all of us to be heaven then down here on earth?  There is still sin in the world.  Why should we be part of it?  The reason is the mission is still not done.  The mission is to save others.

            There are those who do not believe in Christ.  Not only do they not believe but also they do not even know about God’s salvation.  That does not mean that the message is not for them.  God’s message of salvation is for them too.  As John saw, a great multitude of people was praising God.  This also fulfills the promise that God made to Abraham.  The number of descendants would exceed the count of the stars.  Does that mean that with salvation, we can just relax?  No because we still live our life until God calls us to be with him in paradise.

            He has given us a mission.  The same mission that John had, the same mission Paul had and the same mission that Peter had.   Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep, which is His greatest creation.  The same goes for us.  We are to go out and feed His sheep with God’s word.  Telling people about God’s word is one way of spreading the Gospel.  We cannot do this by ourselves.  God uses us to spread His word.  He uses the Holy Spirit to work through us to work non-believers.  We cannot win people over by our works, only Christ can.  His work on the cross saves others.  However, it is by our actions in Christ that we can be a witness to others.

            There are other ways too.  Our mission to Kenya for example is a great way of spreading the Gospel.  Not only are we helping our sister church in Kenya but also we are helping people who we do not even know.  We help by them by raising money, food and supplies.  Saint Paul as a church is sponsoring an event to raise money for Kenya widows.  On May 19, we’re having a walk to raise funds to buy a Corn Mill.  Walking is not the only option to help.  Handing out water, fruit and protein bars is one way to help.  Even being there to support the walkers is another.  We are helping people who do not speak the same language that we are speaking.  Yet they are speaking the same language too because they too are praising God by saying “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” in their language.

            We also help provide for people who are not even part of our church.  For example, we help soldiers who are serving in the military with gift boxes.  We help by providing support to the numerous groups here at church.  These are but a few great examples of how, we as a church and a family spread His work.  Even this past Wednesday, we as a church blessed by God, found out that we are getting another Vicar.  A Vicar who all of you will help train just as you are training me.  That by itself is a mission known as the National Mission. Therefore, the question comes back, “are you bored? or now what?”  The answer to that question is up to you.  For me I am never bored being servant of God and for now it is up to God and His will.  Go in Peace and serve the Lord.  Amen