Listen

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples. God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:1-4

Think

You know that people die. You know that when they die there is sadness and grief. What is this Bible passage about?

When I was a sophomore in high school, a classmate a year ahead of me was killed in a car accident. She was not a close friend. It was the first time I came face to face with the reality that bad things could happen to good people. Death and sadness are part of our reality as human beings.

The passage for today, though, says that death will be no more. Writer Anne Lamott says, “we are Easter people living in a Good Friday world.” This line gets at the heart of today’s passage. Yes, we experience suffering. Bad things happen to good people; that’s the Good Friday part. But we have hope in the midst of sadness because God has given us the gift of new life – resurrection – after death. This hope is long term. The passage also says that God will be with us, wiping every tear from our eye, walking beside us.

Susan Sytsma Bratt

Pray

Sustaining God, give me signs and glimpses of your hope today. Amen.

Go

“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.”

Anne Lamott