We have been listening to a particularly beautiful and highly poetic vision of the eternal life which awaits those who follow Jesus. These words have inspired various people to try and represent them through a number of art forms:

• Edgar Bainton wrote a glorious musical anthem based on the words. This text inspired him in a way which nothing else ever did; and as a result Bainton is known and admired as a composer purely on the basis of this single piece. Those of us who visited York a few years ago may recall that this anthem was sung at Choral Evensong during our visit.
  
• Frederick Weatherly adapted the words to become the lyrics of an incredibly popular parlour song called 'The Holy City'. Some of you may remember that we gave a very vigorous rendering of it at a joint event with Chrysostom's last year.

And yet, we do have to remember that we are dealing with words which are both poetic and visionary. There are deep levels of meaning behind the words we hear; and the picture they paint is a dreamlike prophecy. The story is a way of representing something too profound for ordinary words; a way of pointing towards a truth too full of meaning for our daily language. This is one of many Bible texts which doesn't wear its meaning on the surface of its words and, until we truly absorb that fact, we can get sidetracked from what the visionary is trying to communicate to us.

We also need to know the context in which the words were written. For example, when we read the poetry of the 1st World War poets such as Laurence Binyon or Wilfred Owen, we really need to know the backdrop against which the imagery, the characters and the author's message are placed. We need to understand the horror of the war to feel the horror reflected in the poet's words.

So we need to ask, 'What was the backdrop against which the author of Revelation compiled his book?' And in particular, why did the author's world - thought to be dated at around 80 to 85 AD - why did his world need the promise of a new heaven and a new earth, the assurance that death would be no more, and the affirmation that God would dwell among God's people?

Two dominant themes underpin much of the book of Revelation. The first is that the Christian communities of the time were suffering persecution. They were oppressed minorities, with few rights, and daily life was a constant risk. For them, life in this world was unbearable and inescapable. They desperately needed to hear the reassurances - which John gives - that freedom would eventually come and that something better awaited them.

The second theme is that Rome, as the occupying authority, sometimes described in the book as Babylon and sometimes as Satan, was the principal cause of the oppression suffered by the Christians. The broad vision of Revelation is that the followers of Jesus will eventually be freed from oppression by Rome and will achieve the unique relationship with God which Jesus promised to his followers.

Another factor to consider is that, by the time John of Patmos was compiling his book, the Temple in Jerusalem had already been destroyed by the occupying Romans in 70 AD. The Jewish faith had been seriously bruised and battered by the destruction of its most sacred icon. This left an unanswered question among the Jews and its rather odd offshoot, those who followed a prophet from Nazareth: with no Temple, where did God dwell now? With no physical temple, God's people needed to have a spiritual answer to that question.

And so, towards the end of John's great poetic vision he offers a glimpse of paradise - a place where all the pain of foreign oppression and domination would be in the past. We are invited into his vision of God's continual renewal of God's covenant with humanity when all things are made new. And we are told that God now dwells with God's people. There is no temple mentioned in that New Jerusalem because there is no need for one: God is no longer high, lifted-up, living apart from the people, separated by a veil. God is everywhere present in the new heaven and earth.

There are times when we need to feel that those things which distress us are past; when we need to experience our relationship with God being renewed and refreshed; especially we sometimes need to feel that God dwells among us and will wipe away the tears from our eyes. And we find such reassurance in these words from Revelation. But do we always remember that these are part of one man's vision arising from the experiences of his time?

Surely our challenge is to interpret these visions in the context of our own understandings, perceptions and experiences as today's disciples dealing with today's issues.

Is John's vision still to come, or is it something we are slowly bringing into being through our own lives and journeys of faith?

• Every time we bring a little more freedom and justice into our world, are we not moving an inch or two towards a new heaven and a new earth?
• Every time we commend a loved one to the love of Jesus in their continued journey through death into a further experience of God, are we not showing that death is no longer the end but a new beginning?
• Every time we take up the challenge to show that God's love is all-inclusive and all-embracing, and that all are equally valued, are we not affirming that everyone is a child of God because God dwells within and among God's people?

What John described in his vision as the New Jerusalem, using the language, culture and imagery of his time, we would now call the New Realm of God, using the language, culture and imagery of our time. And this is the Kingdom whose coming we will pray for when we say the Lord's Prayer in a few minutes' time.

By looking deeper into John's words, and moving beyond the poetic language and the cultural bias of his time, we can still share his vision of the New Realm of God. It can inform our vision for our community whom we serve as a church, where the experience of being a persecuted minority is a familiar parallel with those early Christian communities. But above all, it allows us to share in the hope which John's vision offered to a despondent and dispersed group seeking a new relationship with God - a relationship which, in the fullness of God's time, can bring about a new heaven and new earth for the whole of creation: the New Realm of God.

Amen.

(Philip Jones)

This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.