The Bible's Non-Ending--June 4, 2025

The Bible's Non-Ending--June 4, 2025

"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)

The Bible closes, not with a thunderous "The End" of finality, but with an invitation.  There is no rolling of end credits against a black screen like at the movies; neither does Porky Pig come out, a la the old Looney Tunes cartoons, saying, "That's all, folks!"  I suppose you could say it's not really much of an ending at all--rather, the final scene here in the last book of the Bible feels more like the beginning of something.  These open-ended words, which many of us heard in worship this past Sunday, sound like the start of a new story, the beginning of a new adventure, the welcome of a new gathering.  

It's rather like the way C. S. Lewis famously ends his Chronicles of Narnia.  After more than seven hundred fifty pages of stories, on the last page of the last of his seven books in the series, the final paragraph of The Last Battle goes like this:  

"And for us this is the end of all the stories, and so we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has ever read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

Lewis, of course, was telling his own version of the Scriptures' own great Story, and there at the end of his tale of Aslan the Lion he sees a new beginning, just like the book of Revelation.  And that new beginning involves God's own invitation to "all who are thirsty"--a group defined, not by their accomplishments or achievements or winning record, but by their need.  The offer is made to "the thirsty"--the ones who are lacking water and need it to quench their thirst--rather than to "the winners" or "the successful" or "the best-behaved boys and girls in the class." The gift is offered freely to "anyone who wishes," not "just those who have earned a spot on the varsity team or made the honor roll."  In other words, the Bible ends, not with an award ceremony for the top gold-star winners, but with an open-ended invitation to needy people simply on the basis of their need, which means we do not need to spend our days constantly worrying if we are good enough to make the cut or get inside the pearly gates, but instead joyfully confident that we have been invited into the next adventure by none other than the living God.  Julian of Norwich was right when she said, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be made well."  That's how the story ends for us--with a beginning into which we are all welcomed: "anyone who wishes."

If we are in on the open secret now and we know that's how God's invitation will go at the last, who might we invite... today?

Lord Jesus, we are thirsty souls daring to trust your invitation to come to you for what we most deeply need.  Give us the vision and faith to bring along as many friends, neighbors, strangers, and enemies, as we can, to receive your good gifts and share in your unending life.