Cleansing
This week is a short one (yeah right) on Revelation 22:12-15:
I was reading through Revelation last week and these verses struck me as an interesting way of settling the whole "faith versus works" debate. Jesus is speaking to John, who is writing down the whole vision that makes up the book of Revelation. We're saved from hell by grace, but Jesus talks about giving to each person according to what they have done, and urges people to clean their garments. If Jesus does all of that without us having to do anything, then what is he talking about?
Jesus always says he's coming soon. These revelations were written down almost two thousand years ago, so soon is probably relative to something other than that date. Still, it expresses a sort of urgency. Are you more likely to pick up your room when your parents are in town buying groceries, or are you more likely to do it when you hear their footsteps coming up the stairs? In the sense of our lives on earth being all the time we have to take care of our growth that takes place on earth, Jesus is coming soon, whether he comes tomorrow or eighty years after we die of natural causes. We don't have much time to work with in the eternal sense.
Jesus is going to hand out rewards according to what people have done. That lines up a bit with the parables about the managers entrusted with money, and with some other stories in the Bible. What we do on earth with our time and money and skills does matter. We're saved from eternal torment in a lake of fire when we believe in Jesus, but what are we going to do with that? Are we going to live in a walled compound with servants while people are starving and diseased outside its walls? Are we going to continue to do things that God hates even after he's given us such a precious gift? God is abundantly clear about what he likes in terms of character and actions, and about what he hates, in those same terms. If he's handing out rewards in eternity, based on what we do now, isn't it time to get moving? The clock is running down!
"Blessed are those who wash their robes." Another translation says they are to be envied. Don't you want to be blessed or envied? Washing our robes is going to Jesus and setting aside our sins. It's an action on our parts as much as it is a power that is wholly his. It's like when you wash your clothes in America. Nobody washes their clothes by hand using soap they have made themselves. You bring them to the laundromat, pour in soap that was probably made by poor people thousands of miles away and designed by people with fancy chemical degrees, and then you have a machine do all of the work. But nobody would argue that you've never washed your clothes because you use those things that were available to you.
When we discover our robes are dirty, we should wash them. Maybe we discover we're cruel and stingy, or have a problem with Internet porn, or keep cheating on our taxes or our spouse. When you figure that out, it's time to do something about it. The soap is free! Why not toss them in the machine and be ready for Jesus? You'll gain access to the tree of life, entry into the luxury of heaven, etc. Isn't that worth the effort?
Jesus continues and says that there are people who aren't going to be allowed into that blessing: "those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." Other translations render "practices falsehood" as "those who live a lie and love lying" or "those who cheat on things." Given that he just gets done talking about laundry, I'm guessing that these are all things you can be cleansed of.
It's also interesting that Jesus doesn't just list every sin out there. There'd be a few chapters of just that, if he was doing that. Instead he hits the consistent ones you see elsewhere as being particularly harmful: "those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." All of those people either put something in the place of God (sorcerers, idolaters) destroy his creation (murderers) reject his truth (liars) or pervert the sacred design of marriage (the sexually immoral). They're all clearly crimes against God himself. Think federal crimes as opposed to state or local.
So he wants us to get clean with him over everything, but those people are the ones who have a dangerous problem and really should prioritize it. Paul mentions a list almost exactly like it and describes them as "men who will not inherit the kingdom of God." In other words, if we're on that list, our priorities are dangerously skewed.
So, today is a day of change. Jesus' holy laundromat is open and you can bring your robe to be cleansed for free. Are you up for it? Isn't it worth whatever effort is required to gain the reward offered by our eternal God?
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
I was reading through Revelation last week and these verses struck me as an interesting way of settling the whole "faith versus works" debate. Jesus is speaking to John, who is writing down the whole vision that makes up the book of Revelation. We're saved from hell by grace, but Jesus talks about giving to each person according to what they have done, and urges people to clean their garments. If Jesus does all of that without us having to do anything, then what is he talking about?
Jesus always says he's coming soon. These revelations were written down almost two thousand years ago, so soon is probably relative to something other than that date. Still, it expresses a sort of urgency. Are you more likely to pick up your room when your parents are in town buying groceries, or are you more likely to do it when you hear their footsteps coming up the stairs? In the sense of our lives on earth being all the time we have to take care of our growth that takes place on earth, Jesus is coming soon, whether he comes tomorrow or eighty years after we die of natural causes. We don't have much time to work with in the eternal sense.
Jesus is going to hand out rewards according to what people have done. That lines up a bit with the parables about the managers entrusted with money, and with some other stories in the Bible. What we do on earth with our time and money and skills does matter. We're saved from eternal torment in a lake of fire when we believe in Jesus, but what are we going to do with that? Are we going to live in a walled compound with servants while people are starving and diseased outside its walls? Are we going to continue to do things that God hates even after he's given us such a precious gift? God is abundantly clear about what he likes in terms of character and actions, and about what he hates, in those same terms. If he's handing out rewards in eternity, based on what we do now, isn't it time to get moving? The clock is running down!
"Blessed are those who wash their robes." Another translation says they are to be envied. Don't you want to be blessed or envied? Washing our robes is going to Jesus and setting aside our sins. It's an action on our parts as much as it is a power that is wholly his. It's like when you wash your clothes in America. Nobody washes their clothes by hand using soap they have made themselves. You bring them to the laundromat, pour in soap that was probably made by poor people thousands of miles away and designed by people with fancy chemical degrees, and then you have a machine do all of the work. But nobody would argue that you've never washed your clothes because you use those things that were available to you.
When we discover our robes are dirty, we should wash them. Maybe we discover we're cruel and stingy, or have a problem with Internet porn, or keep cheating on our taxes or our spouse. When you figure that out, it's time to do something about it. The soap is free! Why not toss them in the machine and be ready for Jesus? You'll gain access to the tree of life, entry into the luxury of heaven, etc. Isn't that worth the effort?
Jesus continues and says that there are people who aren't going to be allowed into that blessing: "those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." Other translations render "practices falsehood" as "those who live a lie and love lying" or "those who cheat on things." Given that he just gets done talking about laundry, I'm guessing that these are all things you can be cleansed of.
It's also interesting that Jesus doesn't just list every sin out there. There'd be a few chapters of just that, if he was doing that. Instead he hits the consistent ones you see elsewhere as being particularly harmful: "those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." All of those people either put something in the place of God (sorcerers, idolaters) destroy his creation (murderers) reject his truth (liars) or pervert the sacred design of marriage (the sexually immoral). They're all clearly crimes against God himself. Think federal crimes as opposed to state or local.
So he wants us to get clean with him over everything, but those people are the ones who have a dangerous problem and really should prioritize it. Paul mentions a list almost exactly like it and describes them as "men who will not inherit the kingdom of God." In other words, if we're on that list, our priorities are dangerously skewed.
So, today is a day of change. Jesus' holy laundromat is open and you can bring your robe to be cleansed for free. Are you up for it? Isn't it worth whatever effort is required to gain the reward offered by our eternal God?
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