Welcome Home--June 28, 2024

Welcome Home--June 28, 2024

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let everyone who hears say, 'Come.' And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift." [Revelation 22:17]

At the end of the story, the Spirit welcomes us home.

And yet maybe that welcome is also a welcome to God to meet us in that place, a place that is somehow "home" and yet which is new and unfamiliar yet, somewhere we have never yet been.  Maybe the scene here in the last moments of the last book of the Bible is a mutual welcome--of us calling to Jesus, and of Jesus, by the Spirit, inviting us, too.

I don't think I had noticed that before, in all the times I've read these words at the end of the last chapter of Revelation over the years.  The invitation points in two directions: both to Jesus, as risen Lord of all the universe, and to us, who are invited to receive "the water of life" for free as a gift, simply because we are "thirsty."  That is to say, simply because of our need.  Both invitations are here, to Jesus, and to us--to all.  

The book of Revelation, like the New Testament as a whole, speaks of a hope that there will be a day when Jesus comes in glory--like a slain but risen Lamb--and when all the powers of evil, death, and sinful empires are broken and thwarted for good.  And so you'll often find voices in the book of Revelation calling on Jesus and calling on God to hasten that day. "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" they say. And Jesus, for his part, promises, "Surely I am coming soon" (see Rev. 22:20).  So when the text says, "the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come,'" at one level that seems directed to Jesus, calling on him to come and complete the Reign of God and the new creation.  And indeed, then the next line summons all of us, "everyone who hears," to join in calling on Jesus to come in glory.  (Note, too, while we're on the subject, that the imagery in the book of Revelation is of God in Christ coming to us/earth, not of us going "up" to some distant other place called "heaven.") So, yes, this verse from Revelation is about all of creation, and even the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, all calling on Jesus.

But at the very same time, all of us are being invited to "come" and receive the living water for which we are thirsting.  And it's a pretty wide invitation: "everyone who is thirsty," and "everyone who wishes" is welcome.  So, is this about us inviting Jesus to come to be with us, or about Jesus speaking God's welcome to us to be where he is?

The answer, I'm convinced now, is both.  We are praying for Jesus' coming in glory to renew this world, and Jesus is inviting us to join him in the new creation--which is not another world, but this one, made new. That's possible because, as a scene just a chapter earlier in Revelation says, "The home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; and they will be his peoples..." In a sense, we are both welcoming each other home.  We are both the inviter and the invited, into a new home that is still somehow strangely familiar to both us and to God.  The Spirit prompts us to call out to Jesus, "Come soon, Lord!" and the same Spirit calls to all of us, "Let anyone who is thirsty come."

I am remembering now, as I write, what it was like a little less than a year ago, when my wife, my son, my daughter, and I all pulled into the driveway of the house that we had just closed on as we prepared to move to Ohio from Pennsylvania.  In a sense, it was the job of the "grown-ups" to welcome the children into their new house, and in a sense we were being welcomed into our new home as well.  When we walked in through the front door and said, "Welcome home,"  it was to each other and from each other.  We would, together, make this place our home--and it would be both new and familiar at the same time.  The faces would make it home, and of course, soon enough, our belongings would show up and make the new-to-us walls feel like what we knew from before.  The paintings and photos would go up on the walls.  The familiar utensils would go in a new kitchen.  The miscellaneous odds and ends from the old junk drawer would seed a new junk drawer (everyone has one, right?).  And so, as we stepped across the threshold, we were both being welcomed in, and we were inviting the rest of the family we loved to share this space.

That's the scene at the end of the Bible.  That's the moment we close out on at the tail end of Revelation--and the Spirit is all over that moment.  The Spirit is the One who draws out our voices to call to Jesus, just as we've seen over this past month's devotions how the Spirit enables us to call on God as "Abba!" as Jesus did.  And at the same time, the Spirit is the One who calls to each of us to receive the water of life "as a gift," simply because of our own need and thirst, not our earning or achieving.  

At the end of the Bible's story is a new beginning, a welcoming home for humanity, for all of life, and for God--a whole new creation, in fact.  And it is worth remembering that, while in the meantime we do our best to make good choices, love our neighbors, water the flowers, and do justice in the place where we live now.  We take care of one another now, at least in part because we'll all be sharing living space with one another and with the living God in the new creation.  We care for the world around us the same way you take care of the wall hangings, tables, and chairs of your current house before a move to a new one--they'll be there at the new house, too!  We believe, in the end, not that Jesus is going to whisk us away to a cloud somewhere as if this world didn't matter, but rather that Jesus is coming to make God's home among us in a renewed creation, where this life and this world are not obliterated, but remade, whole and good.  

On that day, we'll open our eyes wide with tears of joy and find ourselves saying to one another, "Welcome home." Until then, we hold onto that hope while we work through the nitty-gritty and often messy work of living in the world as it is now, even when we feel alone... even when it feels like the bullies and blowhards are winning the day... even for all the suffering around us.  We keep going, caring for one another with a sweat and tiredness here, because we know we'll be welcomed to the faucet at God's New House to share a drink of water to refresh us, and we'll find ourselves along with Jesus himself at home in a renewed creation. There will come a rest and a time to set down our labors. We keep doing good in this life, we keep showing love to people around us even when they're stinkers, and we keep seeking for justice and righteousness to be done, because above all the noise and meanness around us, we still hear the Spirit's voice calling to us all--and through us, calling to Jesus, and saying, "Come. Make yourself at home."

Lord Jesus, come and make all things new.  And keep calling to us by your Spirit to answer your invitation to receive your gift of life forever like flowing water.