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"THE
LAST WORD"
TEXT: John 1:1-5; Revelation 21:3-7 It
began something like this. Through the years there have been other voices which have called me to reason, which reminded me of who I was, or more importantly, of who the other was-a brother or sister, not by birth perhaps, but brother or sister none the less. And what has been most painful has been the realization that with the call to be the one "making up" (so to speak) with my "enemy of the moment" I was also being called to do something much harder. I was being called to look inward to discover how I personally was going to handle the grievance suffered as opposed to focusing my attention on the wrongs of my opponent - regardless of how guilty that party may have seemed. To look inward meant that I was going to have to accept responsibility for the role which I had played in the situation. It meant that not only was I to be held accountable for how I responded to the one whom I viewed as my enemy of the moment but also accountable for any actions or attitudes, direct or indirect, which led to whatever the altercation between us might have been. In other words, regardless of how innocent I either believed myself to be or just wanted to paint myself, in order to make up with my enemy I would have to acknowledge my own complicity in the problem between us in order for us to return to an equal standing as members of the same family before God. I had to give up having the last word. As we have moved through the events of this last week, we have been mesmerized by the stories in which we have been participants and those which we have heard. Images of horrendous violence and terrific bravery, of selfish grandstanding and grand selflessness, of communities shattered and of shattered communities gathered. Of life robbing darkness and of darkness shattering light. We have heard over and over, if we have not cried out ourselves, "Why did God allow this to happen in my world?" And we have seen or heard , if we have not acted or answered ourselves, "What God can I do in light of these events, to make this a better world?" We have also wanted to know "who will have the last word in this?" It is a question raised by both those who regard themselves as people of faith as it is for those who would deny any role for religious faith in their lives. As persons who have come this morning seeking a word within the context of a community of faith I want to point you once again to the one who has the last word in this time of crisis for he is the Last Word. And in The Last Word I find both comfort in this time of crisis in our city and in our world, but also guidance as how to respond. The
Gospel of John begins with these words. Those words have brought me comfort in these days. You have visually witnessed the terror of the clouds of darkness which fell from the sky last Tuesday. You have seen the video images again and again, if not in person, of how the bright sky turned black as the cloud of smoke poured through the streets. Remember the image of the sun shining over and beyond the clouds as the camera angle pulled back. Remember the bright light which penetrated the darkness with rays of hope. Remember. Remember
the text. "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did
not overcome it." Similarly, the very Word of God is like unto such
a light. The
writer of the Revelation, perhaps the same John, recorded for us the words
of assurance from the angelic host and risen Christ, In other words, Christ, the Word who dwelt among us, piercing the darkness within which we live with the very light that he was, is both the First Word and the Last Word. The First Word called life into being out of chaos and declared that "It was good." Indeed, that it was "very good." This same Word came into the chaos of the kingdoms of our world and set about to repair and remake because its goodness has been overshadowed by the darkness of the chaos which humankind has created in our attempts to make ourselves gods. And this very same Word is, the Omega, the Last Word who will make all things new and wipe away all the sorrow which we have created and which we must shoulder. You have heard the litany this morning of scripture calling the children of God to "be not afraid." Again John has reminded us that "perfect Love casts out fear" and that that perfect Love is no other than the Alpha Word who was made flesh, dwelling among us, who will be the Last Word. So this morning I want you to go from here knowing that those who wrought the destruction which we have witnessed this week, and the heaviness of grief which we-as individuals, as a city, as a nation and yes as a world-are experiencing today in not the last word. The Last Word is a new city, a city not built on the backs of the oppressed, but rather built on the glory of our God. The light shines and the darkness will not overcome it. You can take that to the bank! And you can write it on your heart. Those are the words of assurance and hopefully of comfort. They remind us that though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us, and will continue with us until that day that we sit down for table fellowship on the other side of the valley. But those are not the words of the talking heads we to whom we have given our attention this week. With only a very few exceptions the talking heads have spoken other words. They have sounded like the endless argument with which I began this message. He hit me first, did not, did too, Until we have heard well we are going to hit you so hard that you won't know what hit you and that will be the end of the argument because that will be the end of you and all that think like you. What I am about to do is to stop preaching and go to meddling, but I am in good company for that is just what the Word did when he stood in the synagogue on that Sabbath long ago and read from the prophet Isaiah. Comfort they wanted to hear. Meddling they did not desire. The one whom we as Christians call the Last Word seemed to have a lot to say about our relationship to our relationship to those whom we call our enemy or on better days at least "Not our neighbor." This is the part I dreaded when dad had the "l"ast "w"ord . It's the part about sitting down to table fellowship in the presence of my enemy knowing that I have been called to discover that my enemy is my kin and that as kin we are not to be fighting one another. The words from the talking heads echoed through our newspapers and street conversations say get even, no don't get even, destroy because we are right and they hate everything we stand for and we only stand for that which is good and right. Christ taught us to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses, our sins, as we forgive those who have trespassed, who have sinned, against us." There is not a single word from the Word limiting the scope of that call to forgiveness, and that is the awful, heart and mind wrenching task before us in the call to table fellowship. Within my human constitution there is not a natural willingness to forgive, yet that is what my Father pointed me to so many years ago. "You boys straighten this out now, you hear me! David tell Jesse what you did and ask him to forgive you. Jesse, tell David what you did and ask him to forgive you. Neither one of you is innocent in this." Admitting that I needed forgiveness was hard when I wanted to justify my revenge. It was fear of that kind of vengeful attitude that prompted the young Muslim man from Morocco to seek refuge in this church last Tuesday. The sign on our door said "Open to All for Refuge and Prayer." "Do you mean that?" he asked as he literally shook with fear. As I bed him the peace of Allah, we assured him that he was welcome here. Our sanctuary was a place of God's sanctuary. He stayed that night and for several more. As he went to sleep following his prayers facing east in our place of worship I looked out over not only him but the family of Kurdish Muslim refugees, the four Russians, the Eastern Europeans, the young Jewish woman from Israel, the Germans, the British and the folk from New Jersey and cried. I could hear my father say, "You children quit fighting now-you are brothers and sisters." And for that night, at least, the lion and the lamb lay down with one another in peace. In an insightful article by British journalist Doug Morris this week entitled The Speech George W. Bush Could Give, he wrote: "We should not repress our anger and indignation at all hateful and callous acts, but our anger must be accompanied not by hate, but with love, and by the courage to struggle to create a more just world, and THAT my fellow Americans will require a major effort to question, understand, challenge, change and raise our national consciousness…. And here we must search our own policies, our own pursuits, our own impositions, and our own hearts…. We are the leading exporter of tools of death and destruction…. We have been committed to violence as a way to address international conflicts for many, many years…. Today we have experienced what we have sewn on much of the world. Today, as a country, we have learned that raining death and destruction on another country creates a toll far higher than simply destroyed buildings and dead bodies…." Yes, in our meddling we must raise a call from the Last Word-a call to humility. A humility that does not in any way diminish our grief or condone the horrific acts perpetrated against us, but a "humility that raises respect for, and dignity of, all people, a humility that allows us to celebrate all human life…. As a community of faith and as a nation, it is time that we joined the world, not as its major purveyor of violence and instruments of war, but as a peaceful participant who will work to end violence, end racism, end classism, end sexism, rather than increase or profit from them (Morris article)." This is not the time to seek vengeance. There is never such a time. But it is a time to seek the courage to forgive and to seek the forgiveness of others. It is time to invite Christ, the Final Word, to transform the power of our anger into power to be utilized in acts of love. It is time to let the words, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth" sink into the core of our individual and corporate consciousness so that our righteous indignation at these events which have transpired in our city may be utilized to transform the institutions of power, violence and greed, which we must sadly admit are centered in US and in the USA, so that as we have rallied to assist our local victims of this awful violence we may also rally to assist victims of our corporate kingdoms and nationalistic interests. Remember
that Jesus, the Last Word, has said: May
we find within ourselves the power of God's indwelling Spirit to follow
the instruction of the Apostle Paul:
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