And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
God will dwell with them;
they will be God’s peoples,
and God himself will be with them and be their God;

God will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3-6

The powerful words of Revelation 21, are a  source of comfort and strength for those who mourn,  with its promise, there will come a time, when tears and crying and pain will be no more. Most often, these familiar words are read at funerals or bedsides of the dying. They promise a new beginning, when we have reached the end of our earthly lives.

John of Patmos, wrote during a time a persecution in the first century. There must have been a great deal of pain, loss, and suffering in those early Christian communities. Scholars believe John was banished to Patmos, an island off the coast of Roman Asia, because of his Christian witness.

While we are most familiar with his comforting words, with good reason we are less familiar with, the rest of John’s thought, which continues,  “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. ” Revelation 21:9     For, who among us wants to be numbered among them?

Likewise, how many of us can say we have never taken the cowards way out, been less than faithful, and while we may not have been murdering anyone, hidden behind lies, to protect our place in the world? Nor have we been immune to forms of idolatry, worshiping the famous, powerful, and charismatic . . . Allowing them to become our gods.

John of Patmos words, are not only those of comfort but also of caution. He warns us there are eternal consequences to our actions and inactions.

We live in a time when forces of vengeance, retribution, prejudice, greed, self-centeredness, selfishness and arrogance are breaking our social contract . . . Creating grave injury and harm to all of us. The question comes to us . . . Will we stand up for truth? Will we defend the immigrant, the poor and the dispossessed? Will we shut our eyes and hearts to people who are being mistreated, or will we be forces of good, in an evil time? Do we care about injustice, for people other than ourselves? Do we have the courage to speak out, when confronted by evil, even when it comes from the mouths of our family and friends?

While John, exiled in Patmos,  pondered his response to a troubled world,  he heard God’s promise, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.” Revelation 21:7-8

May we live into the promise, trusting God will empower us to live with integrity and courage, and lead us to that place, where those who thirst, drink from the water of life, and rest in God’s embrace.