The Victoria Day long weekend launched the camping season for all weekend warriors. Journeys were made (and will continue to be made) to enjoy the bold and beautiful of God’s creation. This is how we relieve cabin fever, to get out and away from life’s demands in the city.
This is when we encounter a puzzle. John, the beloved disciple, has this vision of life beyond: “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Rev 21:2)”
When we imagine life beyond this earth, we typically imagine a garden like paradise, an unspoiled wilderness, and scenic natural landscape. And, there seems to be biblical precedent to it. Didn’t man’s sin expel him from the initial paradise? Shouldn’t salvation be a restoration of it? An Eden 2.0. Or, as we like to describe it, a bit of heaven here on earth. A city, nor city life, just doesn’t fit into this view of paradise.
Why in heaven does John see a city? Cites are noisy with the self-assertion of people rushing here and there, among darker things. The first city on earth, Enoch, was built by the first murderer, Cain, and destroyed by the flood. The second city, Babel, was built in arrogant pride to invade heaven, which was left in a confusion of varied languages.
And then, of notable mention – we have Jerusalem. Sure, it was the sight of some great temple building, some great worship, and some great preaching. And yet, the backdrop of biblical history says otherwise. It was dishonored by adultery and murder. It became infamous for child sacrifices and sorcery.
All of our earthly cities are quarried after the brother-hating Enoch, the God-defying Babel, and the Christ rejecting Jerusalem. That’s because they are all populated by fallen mankind. No matter how far we try to get away from the city, we cannot escape how we’re part of its carnage of vice and corruption.
We’d be lost forever if Jesus didn’t make a very important trip to a city. Many times it is told of how Jesus “set His face to go to Jerusalem.” It was fraught with opposition. He suffered in that city, only to be crucified outside of it on a heap of garbage. Jesus came to the city to redeem it – to redeem you. Only he can wash you of the city’s stench of sin.
The biblical heaven is not just a lush paradise far removed from the stress of city life. It is the invasion of the city by the CITY- the HOLY City. We are received into the life beyond not by escaping city life on earth, but by the sanctification of the place that God placed us – in the city.
St. John’s vision of heaven is not just escapism that helps us endure city life. St. John’s vision of heaven is not just a view of a long (eternal) weekend. By John’s revelation, the holy City of God transforms, intensifies, and heals all that is brother/sister hating, God-defying, and Christ-rejecting. In that through you and me, our towns, cities, and communities become brother/sister loving, God-affirming, and Christ receiving.
I grew up on a mixed farm not too far from Edmonton. There were those times as a child when my parents decided to take us all and head out on a holiday. At those times, what do you think? Did my dad say to my mom, “Ruth, pack up the trailer. It’s time for us to head out to the bush, make our meals over a fire, get our butts wet sitting around a picnic table, and relieve ourselves by walking to a nearby outhouse.”
How often do you think that happened? It didn’t. If my parents wanted a break in leaving the labor of the farm, where did we go? To the city. Urban centres. And why? Cities are exciting places of architecture, theatre, galleries, festivals, and restaurants. Cities are also places of commerce, industry, and higher education. Lots of enterprising and innovative things happen in cities – including Stanley Cup playoffs.
In living faith we are the holy city Jerusalem. A city is not a city without people, and the garden like paradise is still there. God will create a new heaven and a new earth. When resurrected in this life to come, we will walk the golden streets of the holy city Jerusalem. We will dip our hands into the river of the water of life, which runs through the middle of the street of the city. And, on each side of that river, we’ll enjoy the fullness of the tree of life.
Within this city your horizons will expand way beyond your imagination. That existence is refined to purity, sanctified in grace, and glorified by your ascended God and King, which is patterned after this life. There will be lots to learn, lots to explore, which is only bound by eternity and infinity. All praise and thanks to You, Lord Jesus. •
— By Pastor Neil Stern,
Grace Lutheran Edmonton, AB