3rd
Sunday in End Time – Saints Triumphant – at Epiphany on
Revelation
19:5 Then a voice came from the
throne, saying: "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both
small and great!" 6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude,
like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and
be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride
has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her
to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) 9
Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the
wedding supper of the Lamb!'" And he added, "These are the true words of God."
Just
Married – To Jesus
You park in the lot and know you’re at the right
place because a few guys in tuxes are walking around and people are carrying
gifts into the building. You’ve never been here before, and you’re a bit nervous
because this is the biggest and most elegant wedding reception to which you’ve
ever been invited. Will your table setting have more than three pieces of
silverware so that you’ll have to decide which fork to use first? Where will you
hang your coat? Will you know a lot of people? You enter the enormous building
and see people of all ethnic groups enjoying the festive celebration. The
banquet room is just ahead, and, wow! You spot a couple that looks exactly like
your grandpa and grandma, who died when you were nine years old. You shake off
the strange sight and peer through the open doors into a banquet room that is so
expansive you can’t even see to the other side. It’s packed with happy people
being served by attendants dressed in the brightest, whitest uniforms you’ve
ever seen. The aroma of fine food spills into the air and fills you with both
anticipation and satisfaction. The hum of the crowd is more like a roar but it
doesn’t bother you; it’s not an unruly noise but a comforting surround sound of
pleasant speaking, singing, music, and enjoyment.
A host named Mike welcomes you cheerfully and by
name, as if he knows you. As he escorts you toward your seat you notice the head
table and count six chairs on each side of where the bride and groom sit. Oddly
enough, the wedding party filling those chairs doesn’t include any bridesmaids,
only men, and for a split second the scene reminds you of that painting of the
Lord’s Supper where the disciples are seated at a table on each side of … Jesus!
He’s … it’s … him! Glorious … glamorous … groom! “Here,” Michael says,
interrupting your awe, “this is your seat.” He motions you to a chair and you
nervously slouch hoping Jesus doesn’t spot you and ask for explanations of all
the bad things you did in your life. At least you can hide a little bit here and
hopefully duck his attention.
“Welcome,” says another voice, a familiar voice.
You look up to see Jesus. Except he’s not at your table, you’re at his
table! The head table! He extends a scarred hand, helping you up as the banquet
hall hushes to a silence. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, you righteous
ones who are servants of God, citizens of my kingdom, and saints of heaven, I
introduce to you my beloved …” And when he says your name the hall erupts in a
Hallelujah chorus like you’ve never heard! Echoing cheers and thundering praise
to Jesus for choosing you as his eternal companion! And you realize this wedding
reception is … yours. This is heaven! And you are
Just Married - to Jesus!
Like a wedding photo album gives a glimpse back
to what has been, today’s section of Scripture from Revelation displays pictures
of a wedding reception giving us a glimpse ahead to what will be. The best part
is this isn’t someone else’s photo album, but your own! You’re in the picture!
At the head table! Next to Jesus!
Did you know that the book of Revelation does not
contain one, single quote directly repeated from any other book of the Bible but
it does utilize more than 500 Scriptural paraphrases, pictures, and parables to
focus believers on Jesus? The book of Revelation stands alongside – not apart
from or above – the rest of Scripture. It doesn’t introduce any new teachings
foreign to the rest of God’s Word but reinforces what has already been said. One
of those truths of Scripture it reinforces is that Jesus is married to his
bride, the Holy Christian Church – all believers of all places and all times.
“As a groom rejoices
over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you,” the Old Testament prophet Isaiah assures believers.
(62:5)
“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, cleansing her by the
washing with water through the word … to present her to himself as a radiant
church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless,”
Paul writes in Ephesians 5. The point is that no matter who you are, how
sinfully you’ve behaved, how much you’ve doubted or struggled or drifted in your
Christian life, Jesus promises you his holy love forever. Today’s message
focuses specifically on the wedding banquet
of Jesus in heaven. Let’s note some details in the picture of your
heavenly wedding reception, starting with the groom.
“For the wedding of
the Lamb has come,” the great multitude
cheers. Funny, isn’t it, that the saints in heaven don’t use some other
description for Jesus in this moment of revelry and joy, something stronger and
more glamorous like a king or warrior or lion? No. The greatest joy of believers
is not just the strength of Jesus but his weakness. Jesus’ greatest act of his
love for people was not an act of power but an act of submission. Like a
helpless little lamb, a silent victim, innocent to such a deadly destiny as a
slaughtered escape ticket from
Are you glad that you are married to Jesus? Maybe
you have married friends who aren’t always glad they’re married, and sometimes
express it in disappointing terms. “That’s my wife calling. Don’t answer it or
she’ll just gripe that I’m late and send me on some errand” … “Romance? Are you
kidding? My husband falls asleep in front of the TV every night!”
Maybe you aren’t always glad to belong to Jesus.
If you weren’t so intimate with Jesus you wouldn’t have to keep yourself pure
from sexual sins, you could enjoy yourself by being intimate with your
girlfriend or boyfriend. If you weren’t connected to Jesus you could be free to
curse whenever you wanted and dress however you wanted and listen to whatever
you wanted. If you weren’t so close to Jesus you would have more money to spend
on yourself instead of giving it away in offerings or in paying tuition. If you
didn’t belong to Jesus you could get hammered on Saturday night, sleep in on
Sunday morning, say what is really on your mind, work overtime or play golf or
shop till you drop without the slightest twinge of guilt. You could live life to
the fullest if Jesus wasn’t holding you back.
Are you always glad to belong to Jesus? There has
never been a moment when Jesus wasn’t glad to belong to you. He is, after all,
your heavenly bridegroom. And he is faithfully committed to you forever.
You may have been so committed to your future
spouse that you drove hundreds of miles to see her or spent hours on the phone
talking to each other (or texting each other) or even waited for him to come
home from the war. Your heavenly groom is so committed to you his bride that he
traveled the distance between heaven and earth to get to you. He has fought off
a red dragon, a roaring lion, and an ancient serpent to protect you. He has
commissioned his angelic servants to stand guard around you. He allowed himself
to get beaten up, spat on, whipped and crucified for you. He loves you so much
that he went through hell and back to rescue you. He loves you so much he died
and wouldn’t stay dead.
He loves you enough to give you the right
clothing to wear to your wedding. You wouldn’t think of getting married in a
tank top, ripped jeans and flip-flops. You want to look your best for your
wedding day. Jesus has gotten rid of your old clothes ripped and torn by
suffering. He has washed you clean of the filth of dirty living. “Let us rejoice
and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his
bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given
her to wear.” That’s you. Clean! Spotless! Radiant! Right and ready for your
wedding reception in heaven because your outfit of right thinking and righteous
living has been bought and paid for and given to you by Jesus. Not wearing
clothing manufactured by your behavior; not won by playing the odds in some
spiritual lottery. Given. Like a groom gives his name to his bride to wear for
the rest of her life and that’s her new identity. So Jesus has given us a new
name – Christian; his bride; his chosen one. Live like it now and into eternity.
One of the great joys of the wedding day is the
meal. Not celery sticks and broccoli spears, either. Real food! Sirloin steak,
pork ribs, roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy – lots of gravy, corn, carrots,
fresh bread – and then cake – wedding cake.
We will leave this meager table of earthly
suffering and painful persecution and poor economy and lost jobs and failing
health. It will be a real banquet table! Jesus says we are the guests of honor –
his bride – at his heavenly wedding reception. “Blessed are those who are
invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” We will be seated at the table, our
heads will be anointed with oil and our cup will overflow. (Psalm 23:5) It will
be the feast of victory for our God. (CW: 265) It will be the Lamb’s high feast.
(CW: 141)
Betty was diagnosed with cancer and had been
given three months to live. Her doctor advised her to start making preparations.
She contacted her pastor and asked him come to her house to discuss certain
aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the
funeral service, what scriptures she would like read, and what she wanted to be
wearing. Betty also told her pastor that she wanted to be buried with her
favorite Bible. Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave
when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.
“There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly.
“What’s that?” asked the pastor. “This is very important.” Betty continued. “I
want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” The pastor stood looking at
Betty not knowing quite what to say. “That shocks you doesn’t it?” she asked.
“Well to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request,” said the pastor.
Betty explained. “In all my years of attending
church socials and functions where food was involved – and let’s be honest, food
is an important part of any church event, spiritual or otherwise – my favorite
part was when whoever was clearing away the dishes of the main course would lean
over and say ‘you can keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part because I knew
that something better was coming. When they told me to keep my fork I knew that
something great was about to be given to me. It wasn't Jell-O or pudding. It was
cake or pie. Something with substance. So I just want people to see me there in
that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder ‘What’s with the
fork?’ Then I want you to tell them, ‘Something better is coming so keep your
fork too.’”
The pastor’s eyes were welling up with tears of
joy as he hugged Betty goodbye. He knew this would be one of the last times he
would see her before her death. But he also knew that that she had a better
grasp of heaven than he did.
“Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding
supper of the Lamb!” And bring your fork. Amen.