Easter 7C, 2025

Text: Revelation 22:1-21

Title: Come, Lord Jesus

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

How often do you think about the coming of Jesus Christ?

Is it something that you long for, that you pray for, that you deeply desire?

Or is the coming of Christ something that you don’t think about a whole lot?

Maybe at the end of the church year or during the Advent season, when we hear Jesus’ words about the end of the world, but that’s probably about it.

Overall, I don’t think that the return of Jesus is a big part of our lives.

I don’t think its something that we are longing for, praying for on a regular basis.

There are probably two big reasons why that is.

Let’s think back to why the Book of Revelation was written in the first place.
The Christians in Asia Minor were suffering. They were living in places where they were expected to worship Caesar, the Roman Emperor, as a god.  If you refused, you were not being a good citizen, and you could be jailed, you could be tortured, and you could be killed.

The people felt powerless.  They felt like God had abandoned them.  They felt like their world was out of control.

And even within the church there were false teachers leading people astray, teaching them that doing whatever you want sexually was okay, or that you could mix worshiping idols and worshiping Jesus if you needed to fit in and survive.

Their situation was bad.  Really bad.

And so this revelation is given to them to show that in the end, it will be better.  Much better.

Because Jesus was truly in charge, and He would come and make it better.

So, if you don’t really care if Jesus comes to make things better, it means one of two things.

Either you don’t think things are that bad now, or you don’t think that Jesus will actually make things better.

To the first point, we live easy, comfortable lives.  You don’t have to worry about being imprisoned or executed for your faith.

You might have to deal with minor inconveniences from time to time, but overall, life is good.

Think about your plans for the summer.  What do you have in store for the coming months?

A bit of vacation?  Some time with family?  Getting some work done around the house? 

Your plan for the summer is probably not, “Make it through the day.” “Stay out of prison.” “Be alive when the sun rises tomorrow.”

If you were truly suffering, if you were in physical, mental, or emotional agony to the point of wanting it all to be over, then, perhaps you’d be ready for Jesus to come.  You’d say to yourself, “I’m ready.  Come, Lord Jesus.”

And even if it doesn’t seem like your life is that bad, and even if you’re not at risk for persecution for your faith, the world in which we live has become increasingly evil and opposed to Jesus.

People no longer know the difference between a man and woman and what it means to be married.

If you’re on board with that, if you’re looking forward to celebrating “Pride Month,” then perhaps you’re not looking forward to Jesus coming and changing things.

But if you are saddened by the way that God’s gifts of marriage and sexuality have been twisted and perverted, if you have young people in your life who have been led astray and embraced these anti-Christian ideologies, then perhaps you’re ready to pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

And if you look at the state of the church, and you’re okay with people disregarding God’s Word and teaching whatever is popular and likely to draw a crowd.  If it doesn’t bother you that people claim to represent Christ and at the same time say the opposite of what He said, then you might not be anxious for Jesus to return.

But if you look at chaos and confusion within our churches and you have family and friends who have been led astray by false teachers, and no longer believe that God’s gift of baptism is for all people, including babies, who no longer believe that when Jesus says, “This is my body,” that He actually gives you His body to eat in the Lord’s Supper, who no longer believe that when the Lord says through the Apostle Paul that salvation is a gift, and there’s no good works that you could ever do to earn salvation, if you’re struggling with this day in and day out, then perhaps you’re ready to pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

The world is evil.  Even now.  Even in Naperville.  If you’re not praying, “Come, Lord Jesus,” it may be because you don’t see or experience this evil.

Or perhaps it’s because you don’t truly realize what an amazing place the new creation is going to be.

Some folks think that heaven will be boring. “Who wants to sit around on a cloud all day playing a harp, surrounded by a bunch of goody-two-shoes?  Hell is where all the cool kids go to party, right?”

Eternal life isn’t merely a spiritual reality. You aren’t just absorbed back into the universe or something. 

When you die, your body is laid in the ground and it returns to the dust from whence it was made.

Your soul does not die.  Your soul has been joined to the risen Christ in Holy Baptism and in the Lord’s Supper.  Not even death can separate you from Him.  Remember what Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

So, your soul goes to be with the Lord.  But the Lord loves your body, too.  He made it.  He’s done great things with it.  And you’re not done with it.

Jesus rose from the dead with a real, physical body. A body that could be touched.  A body that could eat.  And when Jesus comes back, He will raise your body to be just like His.

It will be a body that never gets sick or hurt in any way.  It will be a body that will not suffer or die.

And you’ll have a whole new world to explore with that body.  John saw a new heavens and new earth.  Not just clouds.  But a city, a river, a tree.  All these will be unlike anything on this planet that you’ve ever seen or experienced.

Imagine the best summer vacation ever.  Imagine a vacation where everything goes to plan, in fact, better than you expected.  Imagine a vacation where you see and experience new and wondrous things every day. Imagine a vacation where you aren’t fighting and bickering with your family.  Imagine a vacation where everything is free and there are no limits on what you can or can’t do.  Imagine a vacation that will never end, and you’ll never have to go back to school again, because you’ll know everything already.

If that’s what you’re looking forward to, then perhaps you’re ready to pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.” 

This world is evil, and so we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

The new world will be incredible, and so we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

We long to be with Jesus and with the saints who have gone before us, and so we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!