Lent Day 21: March 16

Lenten Reflection for Day 21

Date: Friday March 16, 2012

Author: Pastor Pat Harris

Bible Passage: Revelation 21:3–4 (NRSV)

³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; ⁴ he 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.”

Reflection:

I find that the Book of Revelation is one of the least understood and most misinterpreted books in the Bible. There is a lot of scary imagery in this Biblical book, which relates to the experience of early Christians who suffered much persecution at the hands of the Roman empire. This imagery has been interpreted literally and misused by overly zealous Christians to suggest that this is the fate that God will inflict on those who stray from God’s path.

However, if you take time to read the Book of Revelation, using some helps such as commentaries, to interpret the imagery, you will also find that there is much comfort in this book. This particular passage is one that I find very useful in comforting people who are mourning. The idea that God makes his home among us reinforces that our God is not a distant God. As “The Message” translation writes of the opening verses of the Gospel of John: “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”

For people who are grieving, the idea that “God will wipe away every tear”, is a tangible description of how God comforts us. The death of a loved one can be a very isolating experience. Hearing that God is present and physically comforting us, relieves a little of the isolation.

It also helps me to hear that “death will be no more,”—that there is a time in the future when death will be abolished—when God’s faithful of every time and place will be re-united. In this Lenten time, when we think on Jesus’ death and live in the hope of his resurrection, we remember that each of us is baptized into both Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Prayer:

Ever-present God, may I hear and feel these words that describe your presence among us and your tangible comfort for all those who mourn. Give me faith to believe that there will be a time when death will be no more, and that mourning and crying and pain will be no more. Amen