Readings (Year C):
Acts 14:21 – 27
Psalm 145:8 – 9, 10 – 11, 12 – 13
Revelation 21:1 – 5a
John 13:31 – 33a, 34 – 35
Reflection: We can start right now
It’s easy to get lost in doomscrolling. The accessibility of news from all over the world, 24/7, can be a gift, but it can also be completely overwhelming. It can feel like everything is getting so much worse from day to day. In some corners people speak about the “end times”—which often includes the idea that God is going to intervene and fix it all for us. This can be a strangely comforting notion, this belief in an easy fix that’s out of our hands. And some religious folks point to the book of Revelation as proof that this is what’s going to happen.
But John, who wrote today’s text from the book of Revelation, wasn’t writing about some far-off future. He was, according to tradition, a follower of Jesus, living under Roman occupation and exiled to an island for upsetting the political powers of his day. In response, he wrote this book, not only as a book of prophecy, but also as a way to inspire his own community to hold onto hope and resistance, right then and there, living under that same empire.
The vision of a new earth as depicted in Revelation wasn’t just about some future time but was anchored in his belief that in Jesus—God—was already doing a new thing. God was already making things new and anyone who was willing to give their allegiance to Jesus could be a part of that newness. In fact, people who gave their allegiance to Jesus were tasked with the work of bringing about the Kingdom of God, on Earth as it is in heaven.
What does that Kingdom look like? A world where all have enough. Where there is no more sorrow. Where every tear will be wiped away.
It’s easier to believe in God fixing it all. It lets us off the hook. But the more hopeful message, actually, is that we can be a part of doing a new thing, right where we are now. We can look out for our neighbors, we can feed our community, we can comfort the grieving and stand with those who are oppressed. We are not at the mercy of the world; we are agents of change in the world.
We don’t have to wait. We can start right now. The only question is, are we willing?
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