Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

Text: Revelation 21:1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

No more sea

One of the highlights of my childhood was the annual holiday at the beach.  People love the sea – sailing, surfing, swimming, scuba diving, and of course, fishing.

Maybe you like watching the sun go down over the sea and admiring the magnificent colours in the sky and the reflection on the glass-like sea surface.  

The sea also has a more sombre side to it.  I have walked on the edge of the sea at ANZAC Cove and Normandy and reflected on those soldiers who died in the water and on the sand of those beaches.  The sea can be a terrifying thing mercilessly swallowing men, women and children across the centuries. 

For those who are into the scientific aspects of the sea, our world could not exist without the sea.  The sea regulates the temperatures of the continents.  Without the sea there would be no rainfall.  Sea creatures provide our world with 50-80% of our oxygen.  It has been said, “The oceans are not just water—they're the earth’s lungs, thermostat, and life-support system”.

Today we heard John’s vision from God, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth”.  

In amongst all the descriptions of heaven, of God sitting on his throne, the voice proclaiming “I am making all things new” and then following on with the description of the magnificence of the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming out of heaven, the announcement that God is now dwelling among his people, and the proclamation from God, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. … I will be their God, and they will be my children”, in amongst all this there is this one little phrase that can be easily overlooked, “and there was no longer any sea”. 

A peculiar thing to add in here, don’t you think?  “There was no longer any sea”.  Maybe some of us don’t care that God’s new earth will no longer have any sea.  I can imagine my brother-in-law saying in disgust, “What!  No fishing or crabbing in heaven!” 

The statement “and there was no longer any sea” is not intended to answer our questions whether we will be able to snorkel or surf or sail or fish or enjoy the beach in God’s new earth, rather it is language that intends to convey to us in a symbolic or figurative way God’s Good News.  In other words, this is not a statement about the geography of the new earth, but it has important truths to tell us what it will be like to be in God’s glorious presence. 

Remember, the Book of Revelation was written for Christians whose faith was being severely tested by anti-Christian rulers and communities who had no sympathy for the followers of Christ.  They were being persecuted and killed.  This book was written to bring comfort and encouragement.  So how does this comment “and there was no longer any sea” help those fear filled and troubled early Christians.

Firstly, we need to understand that the Hebrew people were landlubbers – not seafarers.  They had no interest in sailing out into the ocean.  For the Israelites the sea was a scary place.  They knew how frail ships were when at the mercy of the ocean’s angry storms.  There was no hope for those caught in a wild sea. 

The sea is seen as a place of evil.  The Bible refers to the sea as a place of turmoil, trouble, chaos, danger, ready to swallow those caught in its wild waves (e.g. remember how afraid the disciples were in the storm on the Sea of Galilee). 

The sea cannot rest, always churning, always surging, always pounding.  The Israelites saw it as turbulent, wild, violent, destructive and ready to destroy.  Psalm 46 talks of the sea out of control roaring and raging.  And so, it becomes a symbol of evil.  In Isaiah we read, “The wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud” (57:20).

To drive home the point even further, the demonic force of the sea is symbolised by sea monsters.  Job describes very vividly the power of this monster and “when it rises up, the mighty are terrified, they retreat before its thrashing” (41:25).  These evil sea monsters oppose God and bring chaos and terror into the people’s lives.  More reasons to stay away from the sea. 

The sea is a symbol of separation and isolation.  The sea separates people and nations.  If you have family or friends living overseas you know how the sea forms a barrier between you and that person or family.  It takes quite some effort to cross the sea and embrace those separated from you.

For John, the writer of Revelation, the sea was a personal barrier.  He was in exile on the Island of Patmos.  The sea separated John from his friends, his beloved fellow-believers, his family, everyone he cared for. 

The sea with its chaos, disruptive and destructive ability, with its turbulent and evil ways is symbolic of what happens in our relationships.  The sea symbolises the barriers that we build between each other; barriers that are impossible to surmount; currents and chaos that we can’t overcome. 

It’s like we have fallen overboard from a boat in a storm.  We are floundering to overcome the power of the waves, the currents, and the wind.  They are barriers to being reunited with those on the boat.  But the sea is too strong.  We struggle but the stormy sea is still between us and everyone else.  Our pigheadedness, our pride, our self-righteousness are the wild waves that trap us in a sea of misery and despair and chaos.  We need help.

The same can be said about our relationship with God.  To use John's imagery here, the sea becomes a barrier between God and us.  We have been made new through the work of the Holy Spirit and the water of baptism, but somehow the chaotic water of daily life threatens to drown us.  We wonder if God’s power can heal cancer, protect the victims of domestic violence, shield the innocent in war, help me when I need him the most.  Maybe our own personal temptations keep getting in the way and duck us under the flood of shame and guilt again and again. 

Maybe we can identify with the disciples in the storm on the boat on the Sea of Galilee.  We know Jesus.  We know how much he loves us.  But we are afraid.  The wild waves of chaos and fear and hopelessness loom above us.  The roar of the sea overwhelms what we know about Jesus.  Will we drown in the murky waters of the sea?  Who will rescue us?  “Jesus, don’t you care?”

David said in Psalm 69, “Save me, O God!  … I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me”.

To hear “and there was no longer any sea” would have been music to David’s ears.  Whatever chaos, trouble or evil was about to dunk him under for the last time, no longer exists in the new heaven and earth.

And so, we come to what it means that “there was no longer any sea”.
There will be no more chaos and disorder and turmoil –
no more wars,
no more crime,
no more violence,
no more political upheavals,
no more of anything that causes disorder.  Only peace.

There is an end to the fear and terror about what will happen in the future – about sickness, danger, violence, death, persecution, loss of loved ones.  We are calm because our God is the Beginning and End, the One who knows all things.
The power of evil and temptation to control us and cause us harm like a sea monster has come to an end.  Christ has defeated all evil in his death and resurrection.
Separation and isolation have come to an end.  The barrier between God and humanity has been torn down.  We hear, “Look!  God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3). 

God says, “I am making everything new!”  That includes every person and every relationship.  Here we see the perfect fulfillment of the new commandment that Jesus spoke about, “Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another”.  In the new heaven and new earth there will be no disharmony, no separation, no turmoil, no hurtful disagreements, because God has made everything new.

The things that divide and separate, that cause suffering and pain in the old earth have been done away with.  The result of this is amazing.  We read, ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4).

God says, “It is done”.  (Revelation 21:7). 

It is done.  It is complete.  It is finished.  God’s work of clearing away all chaos, evil, divisions, turmoil, restlessness and death has been completed.  He has created something new – a new relationship with God, with one another, a new earth and a new heaven.  God says, “Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God, and they will be my children” (Revelation 21:7).

We might be tempted to think that this vision into heaven is something that will happen some time in the future.  That it’s not particularly relevant right now.  When Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross he was declaring that “the old order of things has passed away” – something new has begun.  Easter is that new thing and through his life, death and resurrection he says to us, “You are mine.  You will inherit eternal life.  Today you will be with me in Paradise.  I will be your God, and you will be my people”.  We don’t have to wait until the coming of the new Jerusalem in the future. 

While we are in this life, there is a crossover between the old earth and the new earth.  You might say we are members of the new heaven and new earth now but until the day we experience it in all its glorious fullness as described in Revelation, we must endure the restlessness, chaos and turmoil and evil of this world.  We are waiting for the day when figuratively speaking “there will be no more sea” and everything that this phrase means.

It's a challenge for each of us to live the new life of God’s new heaven and earth right now.  We want to love like Jesus.  We really do.  But the evil in us and in the world around constantly draws us away from doing this.  We are in the new but must still suffer in the old as we look forward to the day when the sea of sin will be totally evaporated. 

“And there was no longer any sea” is small and seemingly insignificant detail about the new heaven and new earth but it gives us a whole new slant on how we view what we might call the chaotic and troublesome and fearful times in our lives.  We can look forward with hope to that time when there will be no longer be any more sea -  
no more death,
no more pain,
no more weeping,
no more chaos and destruction of sin;
only the joy of being in the presence of our God.

In the meantime, we keep our eyes focussed on the grace of God that keeps on promising us every day, “Look!  I am your God who dwells with you.  I am with you and making you new every day.  You are my child.