HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE CITY?
Hebrews 11:13-16; Revelation 21:1-4,15-27

A sermon given by the Rev. Richard H. Taylor
September 12, 2004 / Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

When I was young I did not particularly appreciate the epistle to the Hebrews. Much of its language is encrusted with ancient religious metaphor and – to us – unusual symbolism. When I was younger I simply didn't understand all of that, so I skipped over the book. Now I am older and have preached on many other parts of the Bible. The language and symbolism of Hebrews make more sense. And as they do, I have become more and more attracted to the book’s message. I found myself reading in Hebrews this summer, and several of the sermons I have brought back with me are on the Hebrews’ texts.

Yet today’s text could perhaps be my favorite: “God has prepared for them a city.”

The writer of the epistle – he or she – has reminded us of early people of faith – Jews like Abraham, and Sarah, and even people from pre-Jewish or primitive religiosity like Abel and Enoch. The apostle says “all of these died in faith.” They were all looking for a better world, a better place. They were hopeful for tomorrow. They desired a better country. They were seeking a homeland. Yet when they died this wonderful tomorrow had not come. The apostle says that God is not ashamed to be called their God. God recognizes their faith. “Therefore God… has prepared a city for them.”

There are many things I like about this text. One of them is that God is not ashamed of the faith of people who are not Christian. Now the letter to the Hebrews is a Christian book. The writer writes to lift up the evangelical message of Jesus. But, says the writer, God is ready to prepare a city which includes Abel and Enoch, even though they lived before the Jewish religion was founded. And God has prepared a city that includes the Jews. Some people will tell you that God does not love other religions; only their religion has got it right. But this apostle tells us for many faiths God has prepared a city. That is one reason why I love this text.

Another is that God recognizes that people often feel like strangers and sojourners in the passing of this human life. God realizes that many of us feel that we have not made it, that we reach sixty and we ask “what good has my life been?” Yet God is not ashamed of faithful people, and God prepares a city.

I have to tell you, I have been victim of some of that stranger and sojourner feeling lately. Even while I enjoyed my sabbatical, I also felt like a stranger. I began my trip by returning to the town in Appalachia where I began my ministry thirty-six years ago. The town looked tired. Empty lots had appeared. Stores were vacant, for rent. Where once there had been crowds of people and joyful children, there were now empty streets. Buildings appeared to be slumping, sagging. Our abandonment of downtowns, our economic games that use up communities as if they were refuse. Our moving of jobs like chess pieces, which causes upheaval for the young and lonely isolation for the aged are torturous. I am looking for a better world.

And have you been following what has been happening in Sudan? Christians have been being murdered there for many years. Only now do we seem to have caught notice, when war, famine, refugee status, drought, hunger, the ease of procuring attack weapons, prejudice, hate, the remainders of colonial boundaries all combine to extinguish life. I’m looking for a better place, aren't you?

Yesterday we remembered terrorism victims.

Now a thousand Americans have died in Iraq. How many more have been injured? And how many innocent Iraqis have died? How many children? And how many of them are injured? How many have lost their homes, or the respect of a job? How many have seen their sacred religious sites – the equivalent of our churches – bombed or looted? They too are seeking a homeland, a homeland not only of justice and democracy, but a homeland free of bombing, free of weapons, free of occupation, free of unemployed isolation, free of death.

It can be overwhelming. And then there are our own lives. A new school year begins. A new church year begins. It seems like we turned these wheels before. Some of us are tired. Some of us are bored. Is God really not ashamed of us? How is your life going? Are you making a difference? What will we remember when you are gone?

So God sees, and God prepares a city.

You know what that city is called: heaven. I've heard of a city called heaven. And that is what this sermon is about: resurrection. I have to tell you: I believe in heaven, I believe in life eternal, I believe in life everlasting, in life after death. I think that belief is less popular than it used to be. Some people say they are too sophisticated to believe in heaven. Others ask me why I am interested in pie in the sky when you die by and by. They say we should be interested in the here and now.

But what do you say to a Sudanese mother who has lost her child? Maybe we shouldn't say anything, it is too much of a tragedy. But I would rather be able to say “I believe in heaven,” than to say, “Sorry there is nothing more.”

Sure, I can’t prove to you the existence of heaven. But you can’t prove to me its non-existence. So since it is not a scientific issue, I’d rather go through life believing, saying there is hope. That’s how I’d like to live: believing in heaven. Believing there is a better city.

Now I could end here. There are many churches in this world who will report that hell is now, but heaven exists – so wait for it. There are many churches that teach long suffering, endurance, patience, and sojourn only in waiting, and encourage a passivity to this world. I could do that and end here.

But I can’t, and I can’t because I pray. Jesus told me to pray, and even gave me some words. I had faithful teachers when I was young who taught me to memorize the Lord’s Prayer, and say it every day. And so I have dutifully prayed. But part of that prayer – that intrudes into my mind every day – and maybe yours – is “thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” May the reign of God come into the here and now. May the imagination of God, the plan of God, the hope of God, the vision of God come on earth. There is a connection between here and there.

So if there is a city, that city should come here. Oh, it’s a beautiful city, isn't it? It has the tree of life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. It has the river bright as crystal. Oh, what a beautiful city! Have you heard of that city? Its streets are paved with gold. Have you heard of the city? Its streets are paved with gold. Have you heard of the city? Its streets are paved with gold. There are twelve gates to the city – Hallelujah!

Now you say to me, “preacher, you really are sounding like pie in the sky when I die by and by. You've told me about war, and death, and weapons, and Appalachia, and Iraq, and Sudan, what good is a city with gold streets? What kind of a vision is that? We want answers, not gold streets.”

But listen, my friends, understand what the apostle is saying. The reason the streets of heaven are paved with gold, is that they have no other need of gold. It is a city where no one is poor. It is a city where everyone has their needs met. People shall not want, (I shall not want), they have everything they need. There is no need to be miserly. There is no need to be stingy. There is no need to horde riches. You have everything you need. Use the gold to pave the streets! Have you heard of that city?

You know I have been troubled deeply these last three years. Each of these last three years in America the number of poor has grown in percentage and in actual numbers. The poor seem to have been forgotten in our current goals. But I’ve heard of a City whose streets are paved with gold, where peoples needs are met. And every day I pray that city to come on Earth. Have you heard of that City?

And that City – they say – is transparent as glass. Now why, you may ask do you want a transparent city. Well friends over the years I have watched Providence City Hall and the State House. And it seems to me that some money has changed hands in the dark. It seems to me there are smoke-filled rooms where people and power are bought and sold. It seems to be that jobs, and contracts, influence and power, flow in a dark subterranean sewer that people can not see, nor change. But I have heard of a transparent city. I have heard of a city without secret deals. I have heard of a City bright as crystal, clear as glass, and I pray “come Holy City.” Come into Providence. Have you heard of that City?

And why do you think the city has twelve gates, three on the east, three on the west, three on the north, and three on the south? Why is the City four square, equal on every side? Because in the cities of the past the gates, the gates were few, the moats were wide, and the towers to keep you out were strong. We had unequal cities. But I have heard of a city with three wide open gates to the east: China, Indonesia, Hawaii, you are welcome; three gates in the west: Cherokee, Hidatsa, and Narragansett, you are welcome; three gates in the North: Laplander, Eskimo, and Belgian, you are welcome, three gates in the South: Jamaican, Angolan, Brazilian, you all come. “And the gates will never be shut by day, and there is no night there.” Have you heard of a city with equal access for all, where none are excluded? I have heard of it, I pray for it, and if I pray for it, I must work for it. Thy reign come on Earth as it is in heaven! Have you heard of the City? The City, The City, The City.

I tell you, human nights can be misery. I know of little girls who have spent many a night terrorized in their beds. Terrorized that the shape-shifting enemies that inhabited their homes might come in at night and abuse them, hurt them, scar them for life. But I have heard of a City where there is no night there. No more terror, no more fright, no more abuse to women and children. I have heard of such a city, I pray for it and work for it. Have you?

I am tired of the illness, but I have heard that the healer lives in the City. Health care for all. I am tired of the battle scars, the mourning, the crying, the weeping, the pain. But in this City God shall wipe away all tears, there is no death, no pain, no fears, and they count not time by years, for there is no night there.

Have you been denied health care? I have heard of a City where that won’t happen. Let us pray and work for that City on Earth!

Have you been worried about War? Do you have a loved one in harms way? Are you concerned that assault weapons will now be available easily on American streets, available to criminals, available to subversive operatives? I have heard of a City where there are no weapons, for the Prince of Peace lives there! Have you heard of the City?

The Kingdom come on Earth as it is in heaven!

Meet me in that City! City four-square! Meet me in that City! Oh, what a beautiful City! Hallelujah!

Have you heard of the City?

Amen