Among our readings for last Sunday, we had the vision of the heavenly Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from heaven “prepared as a bride and adorned for her husband,” which I find it hard to visualize what the writer of the Book of Revelation was trying to convey.  This week, we hear more from the Book of Revelation about the holy heavenly city (Revelation 21:10, 22 – 22:5) – a city where there is no temple, for a temple is representative of the presence of God, but in the heavenly city God is fully present with no need for anything else to represent that presence. 

There is no sun or moon either, because God is light – the source of all light including the sun and moon – “the glory of God is its light, and the Lamb is its lamp.”  God is depicted in the vision as the “Lamb,” clearly symbolic of Jesus, the one who gives up his life for others.  The imagery is very deep and mysterious, and I suspect that, like a great work of art, we’ll see something different each time we look at it.  Perhaps the clue to hearing its message is to try to observe the feelings that the words give rise to in our hearts, rather than trying to create a picture in our minds.

What does it mean to live in the eternal presence of the one who has somehow given up life so that we might live, and yet continues to live?  What does it mean for God to be the Lamb?  To enter into the consciousness of a human being.  To know weakness and suffering.  To know what it is to grow and change.  To make mistakes and learn.  To change one’s mind.  To feel shame, as well as euphoria.  To die and yet live again.  What does the water of life mean for us, and the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, and its leaves for the healing of the nations?  And how we long for the healing of the nations, which seems further away now than ever.  As usual, I have no answers, just lots of unsettling questions!

In our other readings, we see St. Paul bringing the Gospel of Jesus to Europe for the first time after having a vision of someone in Macedonia asking him to “come over and help us”  (Acts 16:9-15) He lands at Philippi and goes out of the city on the Sabbath to a place by the river where he supposed ex-pat Jews might meet to pray, and he meets Lydia who becomes the first Christian convert in Europe, and so the story continues, the message spreads, and the church expands.  As a European and as a Christian, this story makes me think of how everything depends on such small details… what if Paul hadn’t gone out to the river that day?  Or if Lydia hadn’t?  I guess something else would have happened; someone else would have been the first Christian in Europe.  But everything would have been different.  How different we cannot tell, of course.

Psalm 67 is a song of praise to God and a prayer for God’s blessing, and the fact that the two come together makes me think that perhaps the blessing is found in the act of praise, or rather the disposition of praise and gratitude that changes how we see life and the world, and therefore how we experience them.

In our Gospel reading, John 14:23-29, I hear an echo of the reading from Revelation last week when we heard that the home of God is among mortals.  This week the Gospel reading begins, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”  A reflection perhaps of this week’s vision from Revelation about the God (the Father) and the Lamb (the Son) dwelling with all those “written in the Lamb’s book of life.”  Jesus then goes on to tell the disciples (during the last supper) that although he is going away, he will send the Advocate (one who speaks on behalf), the Holy Spirit, to continue to speak the words of the Father to them as he has done while he was with them (“the word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me”).  These words then set the stage for our next two Sundays: next Sunday, June 1, Soul Food Sunday, when we will be thinking about the ascension of Jesus (Jesus going away); then on the following Sunday, June 8 we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost when the promise of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled among the believers gathered in Jerusalem for the festival.

So, there’s a quick snapshot of this week’s readings and sneak preview of what’s coming up.  Come on Sunday – in person or via livestream – to find out more!  I look forward to being with you all.

Blessings+ to you as we come to the end of the end of the very merry month of May,

Angus

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This Sunday May 25, 2025 will hosting a Traditional Service

Here is the link to the downloadable bulletin:
Sunday May 25, 2025

Presider and Preacher: Rev. Angus Stuart
Our Summer Guest Musician is Heyjung Oh and Choir

To access the livestream, click on the button below.
Previous livestreamed services and sermon notes can be found on the website here.

Image: "Apples" by Worthington Whittredge, 1820-1910, Vanderbilt