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The Finis
by The Very Rev. Frank F. Limehouse, III
Year C, 7 Easter, Revelation 22:12-21
May 16, 2010
unedited
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
“It was an interesting book” a friend said to me the other day, “but I didn't like the ending.” How many times have you heard something like that, or how many times has it happened to you, that you've seen a movie or read a book, and the ending left you empty, cold, disappointed, troubled?
When you pick up and read the Bible you're reading the greatest book ever written, to say the absolute least. Indeed, we Anglicans have a distinctive historic tradition, a commitment to the absolute priority of the Bible. The Reformation battle cry was Sola Scriptura, “Scripture alone.” Article VI of the Thirty-nine Articles attests to this historic tradition: Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.
No wonder it's been called “The Good Book.” And what about its ending? We have before us this morning in the Book of Revelation the last page of the Bible, the finis. Certainly that should give us a sense of great solemnity to be reflecting on the concluding Words of God, the end of The Good Book. Instead of leaving us empty, cold, disappointed, troubled, the ending should lift up our hearts in overwhelming gratitude and great adoration. Unlike the final words of one like Buddha, whose last words were to “strive with earnestness” and work out your own salvation with diligence; OR even like the Old Testament, which concludes (Malachi 4:4) with a solemn admonition and exhortation to all of Israel to keep the law given to Moses on Mount Sinai, we have here at the end of the Bible an invitation to partake in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and take the “Water of Life without price.”
In this sermon I'm focusing on these amazing final verses of the Bible because it should never cease to marvel us that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ should be the theme of the final Amen!
I immediately think of C.S. Lewis reflection on a precious moment in the life of his beloved wife Helen. Lewis write, “Long ago, before we were married, Helen was haunted all one morning as she went about her work with the obscure sense of God (so to speak) ‘at her elbow', demanding her attention. And of course, not being a perfected saint, she had the feeling that it would be a question, as it usually is, of some un-repented sin or tedious duty. But the message was, ‘I want to give you something' and instantly she entered into joy” (from A Mind Awake, pg. 103).
Isn't that the essence of grace and the Christian life and faith in one beautiful little nutshell? “She had the feeling that it would be a question of some un-repented sin or tedious duty. But the message was, ‘I want to give you something'… ”.
The written story of mankind's relationship with God begins, of course, in Genesis, the beginning book of the Bible. You know the story. We were in the Garden of Eden, in Paradise. But we fell out of favor with God when we partook of forbidden fruit of the Tree of Life. Now at last, at the end of the great drama of the Bible, it is written, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life…”. In other words, because of what Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection, “God's people may return and legitimately enjoy the blessing from which he was banished for illegitimately desiring” (Preston/Hanson).
In the meanwhile, between the beginning and the end, throughout the whole of Scripture, every possible encouragement is offered sinners to turn to the Savior. “‘Look to me and be Saved all the ends of the earth', saith the Lord” (Isaiah 45:22). We could spend hours reviewing the texts throughout Scripture in which sinners invited to turn to God and be saved. And here with just a few verses left, it is as if the Lord said, “One last time… I'm going to write this one last time!” Verse 17: “Come… The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price'.” The Spirit is the Lord, the Bride is the authentic church. The church speaks the word of the Lord, “Let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price.”
Notice not only the urgency, but also the freeness of this invitation. The word “take” is easy enough for a very young child to understand. “Let him who desires TAKE the water of life without price.” The gospel is priceless, but it's there for the taking without money. “In my hand no price I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.” Here at the close of Holy Writ, with pleading earnestness, there is no reference to your past, to your holiness, no credentials required, no letters of recommendation. Just, “Let him who is thirsty come.” Yes, just a few verses earlier Jesus said, “Behold I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done.” But don't be mislead. He's talking about what we have done with the invitations! The Bible does not teach that we can gain salvation by doing good works. Any religious person who can think clearly and who has not utterly fooled himself, knows he or she is not inherently able to do good enough to stand before God at the great last day.
There is a wonderful, marvelous simplicity to the way to salvation- just “Come!” “Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me… O Lamb of God, I come.”
It's a pitiful shame and distortion of the Christian faith, when especially ministers, ask people to clean up their lives before coming to Jesus Christ.
I was once asked to speak to a young woman, a senior in college, who was in a relationship with a married man. She knew she it was wrong; she was carrying guilt all day every day. But she was in a kind of bondage and not emotionally able to break the relationship. One of her close friends asked If I would be willing to speak to the girl because several weeks earlier she had gone to her own pastor in her home town. She told the pastor the whole painful truth. The pastor said to her, “I just want to ask you a simple question. If you die tonight while you're in this relationship, do you think you could go to heaven?” The pastor said, “I want you to think hard about that question and come see me again in a week,” or something like that. The poor girl was devastated. Well, when I heard this I was angered, to tell the truth, and I wish the girl would have asked the pastor right there on the spot, “Pastor, tell me, if YOU die tonight in the self-righteous state that YOU'RE in, do you think YOU'D go to heaven?” Well, I never got the chance to talk to her, but I prayed for her, that she come to Jesus just as she was. “Let him who is thirsty come…”. If there ever was a thirsty person, it was this girl.
The invitation is directed to the thirsty. If you know your sins and feel the burden of guilt, if you desire pardon, then you are thirsty and your name is on the invitation to come and take. What God does with you from there on is God's own business in God's own time. I just know what he said. He said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise (under any circumstances) cast out” (John 6:37). I lift up to you the cry of the Christian faith, summed-up in one word, a simple invitation, Come.
I was flying two weeks ago from Newark to Chicago to Birmingham. The flight to Chicago was overbooked and the departure gate was jammed packed. Ten minutes before departure the attendant called out a name, a Mrs. Henderson, who was on stand-by. Well, Mrs. Henderson was standing off to the side and kind of behind me. And when her name was called out over the speaker, she about knocked me over making her way forward. A petite woman, you should have seen her pushing and shoving her way through the crowd. Nothing was going to hinder her!
That's a silly way of saying, nothing should hinder us from accepting the invitation. Hear the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And by the way, you're not asked to check your baggage. Au contraire! Come, just as you are, personal baggage and all.
That's the amazing end, the finis. One last time in the sacred pages of the Holy Bible God reaches out to sinners, “Whosoever is thirsty, come…”.
It is not a question… of some un-repented sin or tedious duty. But the last written message from God is, “I want to give you something.”
May God draw reluctant hearts, and now give doubting souls courage to believe this for Jesus' sake. Amen.
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