"The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads."

         One morning last week I was pulling out of my garage, and I noticed an animal slowly walking across the driveway. I first assumed it was someone's dog that had gotten loose, and then I looked more directly at it, and realized that it was not a dog. There was a fox in my driveway. Two things occurred to me about that. One, it is pretty unusual to see a fox, and if I had been in a hurry or had been preoccupied with my own agenda for the day, I could have missed it. The other thing is that the fox was out of place. I did not see a fox in the woods or in a wilderness area; I saw the fox leisurely walking across my driveway, where I would never expect to see one.

         So I stopped and watched it until he ran under a tree. I took a little time to think about why a fox would be there--about how we live in a condo development, but it is really quite close to the river, and to a pond, and some woods and wetlands. So there is really quite a diversity of life near to where we live. It caused me to think that maybe I am the one who is the intruder. Maybe it is not the fox on my driveway that is out of place. Maybe I am out of place. And if I take a little time to think about all of that, I might even question some of my assumptions about my life.

         Then I spent some time reading Revelation 21 and 22, a vision of the Kingdom of God that brings the Bible to a close. This vision is the goal or consequence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which we celebrated on Easter Sunday.

         As I took time to read this passage slowly, to sit and watch it, and not just hurry through it while thinking of everything else, I noticed some things about John's vision of heaven. There are some things here that seem out of place, like a fox in a driveway. There are some unexpected parts to this vision. There are some clues about eternity that you might miss if you are not willing to slow down and look.

When people think about heaven, I notice that there is a tendency to focus on the needs that heaven will meet in their lives.

•  People who face hunger look to heaven as a place of abundance.
•  People who are worn out by physical labor look to it as a place of rest.
•  People who grieve the loss of a loved one look for reunion with family in heaven.
•  People who experience chronic or severe pain look to heaven for freedom from pain, maybe even for pleasure. We sometimes say after one who has suffered has died, "He is in a better place."
•  People who have been violated by physical or sexual abuse. or who have been oppressed, look to heaven as a place of safety.

         All of these are true, and yet all of them are secondary to the biblical message about heaven. They miss the central point of the Kingdom of God.

         In Revelation 21 and 22, we are given a description of the New Jerusalem. It is a description that leads us to God. In heaven we will be in the presence of God, we will see his face, and we will serve him.

         Leon Morris points out that in the ancient world, criminals were banished from the presence of the king. They never got to see the face of the king. But in the Kingdom of God, those who follow Christ are able to see the face of God. "The vision of God is the apex of their experience." The Bible tells us that in heaven we will see God. That is the point.

         In the vision of the New Jerusalem we find some things described that are unexpected, surprising, maybe even out of place. If we pay attention to them, they lead us to God. Here is what John allows us to see. In heaven there is no temple, there is no sun or moon. The gates of the city never close. There is a river running through it. There are trees bearing fruit on either side of the river, and the leaves bring healing to nations. It is the servants of God who reign in the New Jerusalem.

         The first surprise is that there is no temple. Craig Keener writes that in traditional Jewish end-time expectation, a new temple was the central feature of the city. But in this concluding vision in Revelation, there is no temple. The temple and all its architecture, ritual and structures mediated the presence of God to Israel.

It is the same for us. We come to God through singing hymns, hearing God's word proclaimed, receiving sacraments, praying together, entering sacred space. In the Kingdom of God, all the mediating architecture, sounds, rituals and forms are taken away. What we are left with is the very presence of God. This is what everyone longs for at points in life: "If only I could see God. If only I could talk directly to God, or get an answer to my prayers that I could hear, then it would be easier for me to believe and obey."

In the New Jerusalem there is no temple, because the whole city is a temple, the dwelling place of God. God lives among his people, and they live in him.

         So, on the way to the Kingdom, we develop that heart relationship with God. We abide in him; we make room for him in our lives. We spend time in loving God, talking to God, seeking God. We hold somewhat lightly to mediating forms and structures, knowing they are guides and not ends. We make it our aim to know the invisible God, trusting our lives to him. One day it will be face to face. The death and resurrection of Jesus opens the way, allows us to be friends with God.

         In the Kingdom of God there is no sun or moon. Heaven is a place of continual light, and God provides the light. There is no night; there is no place for hiding, for sinful deeds done in darkness. The light of God is continual and glorious. It leads people to righteousness. There is no sorrow where the light of God shines.

         So while we wait for that glorious, continual light, we practice walking in God's light, in the light provided by God's word. Next Sunday we will place a lighted candle in the hands of each of our confirmands. They will confess their faith in Jesus Christ as they hold the light of Christ. Jesus is the light of the world. There is darkness in our lives and in the world. We hold tightly to Jesus, who is the light, until the glory of God becomes our light.

         The next thing we notice are the gates of heaven. They stand open always, they are never shut. There is unlimited access to the Kingdom. In Roman cities, there was entrance only on one side, and for protection and safety, the gate at that entrance was closed every night. But in heaven the gate is open. There is no darkness, and no enemies to fear.

But this is also a vision of access to God. Numerous times in the history of Israel, the Gentile nations trampled and destroyed God's temple. So various viewpoints developed over what God would do to these peoples. Some felt God would surely exclude all Gentiles. Others felt the nations would be in the kingdom, but only as servants of Israel. But in Revelation we find a welcome to all nations, tribes, languages and races. The nations will come to walk in the light of God, and be converted to God's way. They will offer their glory to God, forsaking idolatry.

         As we wait for such a kingdom, now is the time for evangelism. As we reflect on our own welcome into the Kingdom of God, and how that came to be, now is the time to welcome others, to spread the Good News of Christ.

         Finally, in the kingdom we see a river flowing through the middle of the city, and on either side of the river are trees, producing fruit 12 times a year. We sometimes focus on the description of streets of gold and walls decorated with precious stones, and that is there too. But a river and trees with fruit are very natural images. These are images found in many places in the Old Testament, and they speak of life.

         God is like a shepherd who leads his thirsty people to waters of life. In Ezekiel the river that flows out of the temple grows deeper as it goes along, bringing life everywhere, like irrigation in the desert. And it says of the river, "Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows." Ezekiel liked to fish.

I love these natural images of heaven. It is all about life: a drink of water, a field watered by a river, fruit trees in bloom every month of the year, a river full of fish.

         The source of eternal life is Jesus. "I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full."

         The resurrection of Jesus Christ leads us to God, to know God, to be cared for by God, to love God. There is a goal to our living, which is the Kingdom God. We wait for a great and glorious day. Waiting involves belief, trusting God with our lives. Waiting involves the obedience that expresses love to Christ. Let us be renewed by hope and live by faith.

         Amen.