KNU International English Church
Pastor Josh Broward
November 29, 2006
We’ve been talking about Revelation for 16 weeks now. Revelation paints a picture, lots of pictures really, of the ultimate victory of Jesus and his people. In the process of understanding this ultimate victory, we’ve had to talk about the darkness of evil, the battle plan of evil in our world, and evil’s ultimate defeat. Last week we talked about the total collapse of this world’s evil systems which are bent with selfishness and oppression. We heard God’s promise to judge this evil system and everyone who participates in it.
Today we learn three things about God’s judgment.
First, God’s judgment will be just. From this side of judgment day, and from our human perspectives, it is easy for us to question God’s justice in judging the world. What about people who have never heard of Jesus? What about people whose actions were good but never became Christians? I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I do know an answer to a more important question. Will God’s judgment be fair? Yes. Absolutely!
Seeing the fullness of God’s judgment on the world, the crowd in heaven cried out in praise: “Hallelujah! Salvation is from our God. Glory and power belong to him alone. His judgments are just and true” (19:1-2).
The second thing we know about God’s judgment is that it will cause us to rejoice. When we see the collapse of systems that have murdered and oppressed and deceived people around the world, we will be filled with joy – not because of revenge, but because evil is finally defeated. The oppression and the deceit are finally over. God has won! When we see that, when we realize that, we will burst out in song. In our short passage, heaven shouts “Hallelujah! Praise God!” four times (19:1, 3, 4, 6).
The third thing we learn about judgment today is that judgment will give way to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The great crowd gathered in heaven cries out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and the bride has prepared herself” (19:6-7).
One of my favorite movies of all time is My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding. Maybe this movie can help us understand heaven. I joyfully propose to you that the first scene of heaven will be The Lamb’s Big, Fat, Multicultural Wedding!
Remember the Lamb? We first met the Lamb in chapter 5 of Revelation. I know that was a long time ago, but think back with me. In chapter 5 someone says, “Look, the Lion of Judah is coming!” (5:5). We look, and there is the Lamb. He is a Lamb that has been killed but is now alive again. We look for the Lion, and we see the crucified Christ. Then, all of heaven and earth bow down and worship the Lamb and God.
In chapter 6, the Lamb sets God’s judgment in motion. In chapter 7, “a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language” are “standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb” (7:9). In a sneak preview of heaven, we see that “the Lamb will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe away all their tears” (7:17).
Then, we don’t hear much about the Lamb for 11 long chapters while John focuses on the dark side. But all the while, the Lamb is quietly present as the one who gives victory to those who trust in his life, death, and resurrection (12:11).
Now, finally, the waiting is over. The Lamb comes out of the shadows and into center stage. The Lamb is victorious, and it is time for the wedding! Like Jesus’ parable, the Father has “prepared a great wedding feast for his son” (Matthew 22:2).
The Lamb’s wedding will be big. John tells us he hears a “vast crowd in heaven shouting” (19:1). In a similar picture in chapter 7, John sees the crowd gathered in heaven, and he says there are too many to count (7:9). This wedding feast is going to be huge! Think of it. The current world population is about 6 billion people. 10% of that is 600 million. 25% is 1.5 billion people! And that’s only one generation! All of God’s people since the beginning of time will be gathered together for the greatest wedding feast of all time. There will be a bazillion people there! This will be a big, fat wedding!
The Lamb’s wedding will be multicultural. All kinds of people will be there, “from the least to the greatest” (19:5), big people and little people, construction workers and lawyers, cleaning ladies and doctors. There will be people “from every nation and tribe and people and language” (7:9). Every culture, every economic class, every language, every subgroup will be represented. This will be the single greatest multicultural event of all time.
Our church is becoming a sample or a foretaste of this great multicultural event. Our vision team recommended that we should “be intentionally multicultural in everything we do.” As a church, we are learning that it is hard work to be multicultural. Sometimes we misunderstand each other. Sometimes we hurt each others feelings.
Let me show you a scene that describes some of the difficulties of multicultural relationships. In this movie, the bride and groom are from different cultures, and in this scene their families are meeting for the first time. (Show chapter 13 of My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding. Run to 107:45.)
As we live together in this multicultural church working together toward The Lamb’s Big, Fat, Multicultural Wedding, we will have problems and misunderstandings. Someone will give us a Bundt cake, and we won’t have any idea what to do with it. Someone will invite us to a quiet dinner, and we find out the whole neighborhood has been invited. In a multicultural setting, our expectations are always being challenged. Part of the fun and the pain, is letting go of our expectations and moving toward a new reality together.
Anyone who has gotten married or helped with a wedding knows that weddings are a lot of work. That came as quite a shock to me when Sarah and I were preparing to get married. I proposed, but I had no idea what came next: invitations, cakes, bridesmaids’ dresses, preachers, music, churches, lists, suits, ties, food, decorations, and more. But possibly the single most important part of the wedding preparations (for the woman at least) is the wedding dress.
Watch this scene as the family helps Toula get dressed for her wedding. (Show chapter 15. Cut the motherly advice scene if possible.)
John says that the Lamb’s bride “prepared herself.” She was given “the finest white linen” to wear (19:7-8). I remember Sarah’s wedding dress, and I remember thinking how incredibly beautiful she looked in it.
In Jesus’ story in Matthew, the guests can’t stay at the wedding without wedding clothes (Matthew 22:11-13). John tells us these wedding clothes of white linen are a picture. They represent “the good deeds done by the people of God” (19:8). So do we get to heaven by doing good deeds?
Not quite. Earlier in Revelation we learned that the saints “washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white” (7:14). Our robes, which represent our lives, can only get white when we put our trust in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Then, then our lives are washed clean, and we are set free to live life God’s way. We are forgiven of our wrongs and empowered to do right. The clean, white linen we will wear at the Lamb’s big wedding come only by grace, but that grace involves living a grace-filled life. The Lamb has sent nice, white, clean wedding clothes to our house. Now our job is to get ready. Our job is to prepare for the heavenly wedding feast.
How do we do this? How do we get ready for The Lamb’s Big, Fat, Multicultural Wedding? Let me suggest three things we can all do.
1. Accept the invitation. God is giving us the invitation of a lifetime. He is inviting us to the greatest party of all time. Accept his invitation. Put your trust in Jesus Christ and follow him with all your heart.
2. Pass on the invitation. Everyone is invited. Note the radical hospitality in Jesus’ story (Matthew 22). When no one on his original list came, the King sent servants out to the streets to invite everyone they saw. The same thing is true for The Lamb’s Big, Fat, Multicultural Wedding. God is continually sending out his servants with the command: “Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see” (Matthew 22:9).
3. Get ready. Put on the wedding clothes. Live like heaven. Be a heavenly community. Start living now like you are already a part of the wedding party. Live with joy, love, acceptance, celebration, and service. Make sure everyone has enough food. Make sure everyone feels included. Dance. Have a good time. Cross those cultural barriers and make some new friendships. Live with joyful faithfulness!
Part of our vision is to show hospitality with open hearts. We are already beginning to do this. There is more and more joy when we worship. Our bake sale last week was a loud and joyful party. Last week, several new people said to me, “This place feels like home,” or “This church is really homey.” That is one of the highest compliments anyone could give us. Our Christmas Dinner is another way that our church is living like heaven. We are inviting people who are lonely and homesick to come get a taste of heavenly love and community.
We are beginning to live as a joyful, loving community. Church, I’m proud of you. We are beginning to live like heaven, and by God’s grace, we are beginning to change our world one life at a time. Keep it up, church! Keep growing in hospitality and joyful love. Keep reaching out and reaching across boundary lines, and we will find more and more that we are experiencing the joys of the wedding feast here and now.
Let’s watch one more scene of the wedding feast from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and allow the Spirit to fill your imagination with pictures of this kind of heavenly life of celebration here and now.
(Show Chapter 17 to 129:45.)
“Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. … These are true words that come from God” (19:9).
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