SUNDAY SERMON: How will it end?

By Rev. Stephen Baldwin

NT: Revelation 21.1-6

How will it end? How does the story of this life end? How does the story of this world end? 

This is a question we often ask ourselves and our friends. About that book we’re reading together. Or that show or movie we are watching. How will it end? We see where things stand, and it makes us deeply curious how it will end. 

One of my best friends growing up was Tom William Buckberry. Brilliant guy. He has this uncanny ability to see how things are going to end–books, shows, relationships. He is a walking and talking spoiler alert. Which makes watching movies with him difficult. He will watch for a little while and tell you how it is going to unfold, how it is going to end, and he is usually right. 

In the spirit of Tom William Buckberry, spoiler alert. I’m about to read what happens at the end of the Bible. If you haven’t read this chapter or this book or seen the previous episodes, spoiler alert. This is the ending.

Revelation 21.1-6. 

For some folks, the ending of the Bible is rather…unexpected. Jesus doesn’t come back at the last minute. The devil doesn’t have the last word. God doesn’t destroy us all. In fact, the opposite of destruction happens. 

There is a new heaven and a new earth. Where is it? Right here. Verse two says it comes down out of the clouds and verse three says God comes here to live with us. 

The vision at the end of the Bible is God reuniting with the whole creation. Not in some distant universe. But here. Among us. The Bible begins with God creating us, and the Bible ends with God joining us. 

“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,” says verse four. 

To be clear, there is a verse right after today’s reading, verse eight, which says that some will be judged unable to join the new heaven and the new earth. At the same time, it says God is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, and only God makes those judgments. 

So back to our question. How does it end? How does our story end? Revelation says it ends with a new heaven and a new earth, right here. God among us. Creator and creation united like never before. It’s a happy ending. A hopeful ending. A reason to celebrate. 

When you know how a story ends, doesn’t it change the way you experience the middle? If you know the main character is going to die, doesn’t it make the life experiences in between seem more tragic? 

We know how our story ends. A new heaven and a new earth where the creation is united with the creation like never before. Doesn’t that give hope to the way you experience everything that happens in between? 

On All Saints Day, it also makes me think about all the fine women and men who have given us glimpses of that hope over the years. Our better angels who are in that new heaven, who we hope to see on the new earth one fine day. 

Let’s say their names out loud. Name your saints who have gone to be with God, who remain in your heart forever: 

Let us pray: 

You are making all things new.

A new heaven 

A new earth 

A new way of thinking 

A new way of being. 

You are making all things new.

No more Death 

No more mourning 

No more crying 

No more pain. 

You are making all things new.

Renew our minds 

to renew the world 

by living out your 

commandment of love. 

You are making all things new.

Thank you for the saints, those dear souls who’ve shown us glimpses of your goodness. May they live on not only in our memories but also in our actions, as we honor them with our example until that fine day when we meet again in the new heaven and the new earth. 

You are making all things new, and we are grateful. Amen.