Text:  Isaiah 65:17-25                                                                                                  Sunday of Fulfillment

Coming Attractions

            In the name of our triumphant Savior and King, dear brothers and sisters in Christ:  If you go to the movie theater to see a recently released film, or even if you just rent a video to watch at home, you know that before you ever get to see the main feature, you are going to be subjected to about fifteen minutes worth of commercials telling you about upcoming films that will soon be released. They call these the “coming attractions”, and the film makers hope that by showing you little clips of these movies and telling you a little about the story lines, you’ll be interested enough to want to see the films when they come out.  I can remember when they used to show just one or two of these coming attractions before a feature (actually, I could date myself by saying that I remember when they didn’t have any at all; instead they’d show an animated cartoon while people were getting their popcorn, finding a seat, and getting settled – but that was a long time ago).  Now it seems they’re more interested in what will make money than in entertaining the audience.  And maybe it’s just me, but it seems that as time goes on, they’re showing more and more of these coming attraction clips and less of the movie you paid to see.

Anyway, about these coming attraction clips:  there’re good ones and bad ones.  Some are bad because the movies they advertise are bad.  There’s nothing they can do to make some films sound appealing (I’m actually grateful for these because they warn you which ones not to bother with).  But other ones are bad because they pretty much tell you the whole story and show off all the important scenes and special effects so that, after watching, you say to yourself, “Well what’s the point of going to see that movie?  I already know exactly what’s going to happen.”  No, it happens that the best ones are the real teasers.  They show you just enough to pique your curiosity without revealing too much of the action or the plot.  They whet the appetite, so to speak, letting you nibble without giving you a bite. That way you’re really motivated to go see the film.

And to a certain degree it seems that the Holy Scriptures use a similar strategy when describing to us the wonders and glories that await us in heaven. Oh, they are mentioned now and then, but never with very much detail.  All we get are little sneak peeks of the coming attractions.  And sometimes that’s a bit frustrating, isn’t it? Here, to get us there, our God sent his own Son to suffer and die for us, that’s where he’s called us out of this world to go, that’s where we’re all headed, that’s where we will spend all eternity—it’s obviously an extremely important part of our faith.  You’d think maybe he’d inform us a little more about what lies ahead.  I mean, I really want to know.  Don’t you? And maybe that’s part of the point: he’s got our curiosity thoroughly aroused.

But of course, it’s actually more complicated than that.  Perhaps the biggest reason we aren’t told more about the next life is that it’s not possible for us with our limited understanding, and more importantly, with our minds darkened by sin, to understand the glories of sinless perfection.  Oh, it’s easy enough for us to look around at this fallen world of ours and point out things that are wrong; but we really can’t conceptualize a place where everything is right.  It’s too foreign to our thoughts and experiences.  And there really is no point to attempting to describe something that cannot be understood.  Trying to accurately describe the coming life to us would probably be about as successful as trying to explain the theorems of quantum physics to your pet cat.  

            That being said, it’s not like the Scriptures leave us completely in the dark about the wonders of heaven.  But rather than tell us things we cannot comprehend, the coming attractions are couched in terms of things we can relate to.  The Bible describes heaven in various metaphors, or word pictures, that convey ideas we can grasp, even if we don’t get the details. And a good example is the wedding banquet used by this morning’s Gospel lesson.  The Bible often uses this picture to describe heaven because it’s very familiar to people and there are a lot of points of contact between it and the life to come.  Consider that in New Testament times, a wedding banquet was a weeklong celebration of feasting and music and merrymaking to celebrate a major change in life for the happy couple.  So, you’ve got the ideas of rejoicing, lavish abundance – perhaps even excess, a new beginning, a coming of age, a special close relationship being formed, and a new home and long life together all wrapped up in one.  And the Lord says, “Yeah, heaven is going to be like all that and more.”

            We get another picture of heaven in today’s Old Testament reading from Isaiah.  And it’s a little more complicated:  it’s one of those biblical nuts that’s harder to get the shell off of, but it’s worth the extra effort once you get inside.  You see, it’s a prophecy – a coming attraction clip – that operates on three different levels at the same time.  On all three levels, it speaks of a change, a transition; a moving from one inferior state of affairs to another highly improved situation.  And so on its most basic level, it refers to the restoration of the nation of Judah following its complete destruction in the sixth century before Christ.  The improvement there is obvious:  the people go from being exiles without a home, held captive in a foreign country, to being given a new lease on life in the Holy Land.  They can go home and rebuild their country under the protection of a very powerful king.  This aspect of the prophecy was fulfilled long before Christ was born, and so we won’t dwell on it today.

But on another, higher level, the prophecy speaks of the coming of the full revelation of the Gospel at the time of Christ and the subsequent creation of his church.  The improvement there is going from the old covenant of the Law, with all of it’s sacrifices and restrictions, to the freedom of the Gospel, and knowing that we are secure in the salvation Christ earned for us on the cross.  We are released from the captivity of the Law and ushered into the Kingdom of God’s grace.  On this level, the church is the new creation the text speaks of.  It’s the reality in which we now live; and here we know a greater level of joy, spiritual understanding, and closeness with the Lord than the Old Testament saints ever imagined.  Here we live with the constant assurance of the forgiveness of ours sins for Christ’s sake.  We also know that because we have come to faith in Christ, our eternal life has already begun; and as such, we have already started to work on our eternal homes and lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven.  The things we do know that are motivated by God’s Holy Spirit will endure forever.  And yet we recognize that as good as things are for us now in the church, the prophecy speaks of still better situation.

That’s because in it’s highest and fullest sense, it speaks of the life we will know in heaven when this age is done.  The church’s reality is mostly spiritual and it is seen primarily through the eyes of faith.  In the final state, all of creation, the physical as well as the spiritual, will be released from the curse of sin.  We will see and experience what we now see only by faith.

            And to do that, we are told, is going to require some drastic measures.  The Lord says, “I will create a new heaven and a new earth.”  It isn’t going to be just a patch job on the old creation – it’s going to be an entirely brand new model.  Just as the sinner must die to be reborn in Christ, so the creation under the curse of sin must be destroyed.  Elsewhere in Scripture we are told that the “sky will roll up like a scroll”, and that the very elements of the present earth will be melted down. Nothing here will remain – which is one good reason not to invest too much of ourselves and of our efforts in this world.

            But none of this is cause for alarm because we are told that whatever nostalgic feelings we might have had about this earth and our lives on it, they will be so eclipsed by the wonders and glories of the new Creation that the former things will never enter our hearts.  That’s not to say that we won’t remember; but rather that we will never have occasion to pine away for the “good old days” of existence under sin’s curse.  Nothing about this life, however good or desirable it may seem now, will be missed in the life to come.
 

            Instead, the prophecy continues, the new Creation will be a place of perpetual joy.  The gladness and delight we experience there will be endless.  That’s awfully hard for us to imagine now, I know; but I’ve actually had people say to me, “Don’t you think we’d get tired of being happy all the time?”  I’m not sure how you respond to that.  “Uh … no!  Do you think you’d be happier if you could be miserable now and then?”  I think the real problem is that we cannot imagine circumstances that would cause us to be joyful all the time – but the Lord says we will experience them in his new Creation.  And though we don’t know the details, two things we are told:  the first is that the Lord himself will be rejoicing and delighting in us.  This, I’m certain, will be the fountain and source of our own gladness.  When God is happy with you, you cannot help but be happy. Our problems all stem from being on the side of his displeasure.  The second thing we’re told is that all the sources of sorrow and sadness we know – everything that makes life miserable or painful: sin, death, sickness, want – all that will be removed.  There won’t be anything to interfere with your perpetual joy.

            And it will be perpetual.  The passage speaks of amazing longevity:  someone who dies at one hundred years of age will be thought of as dying as a child.  This does not mean that we will die in heaven.  Again, remember that the passage operates on different levels and that it conveys ideas rather than actual descriptions.  The idea here is long life – and of course, eternity is as long as you can get.

            That too is hard to comprehend.  We say the words, “live forever”; we know what the words mean; but imagining what that will be like is still beyond us.  And I think part of the problem here is that we cannot imagine what we will be doing forever.  I’ve often heard people say that they were afraid of getting bored in heaven; after all, forever is a long time and every pleasure grows old and stale in time. But again, the problem is thinking about it the way we do now.  Yes, it’s true:  in this life nothing brings complete satisfaction.  But that’s because nothing lasts.  Pleasures fade, friends and relationships change or end in death, proud accomplishments lose their appeal and eventually are either superceded or destroyed.  That will not be true in heaven.

            So, what will we be doing forever?  The Isaiah prophecy says we will be working: building homes and planting vineyards and so on.  That is to say, we will be busy and have plenty to do.  Some people may balk at that.  “What’s this about work?!  I’ve always imagined a life of pleasure and ease in heaven.”  And I think that’s why people fear they’ll get bored:  they can’t imagine reclining on a cloud, strumming a harp, and eating chocolate bonbons forever.  Fair enough – but then, that’s not what we were created for in the first place.  God built into us the capacity to find meaning and enjoyment in labor.  And I think that you can all attest that some of your greatest enjoyments have come through your accomplishments – the satisfaction of a job well done.  But here even our best work is hampered by selfish desires, competing interests, time constraints, Murphy’s law, lack of skill, and who knows what else.  Our work is flawed, and sometimes it’s just pure drudgery.  But imagine for a moment having the time to do everything right, and the ability and knowledge to do it, and the certainty that what you do will be appreciated and enjoyed by others – that’s what we will be doing forever:  serving and loving one another with what we do. And yes, I’m sure there will be time for pleasure and relaxation too – all in perfect balance.

            For we will be a people blessed by God.  And we will be in constant communion and communication with him; so much so, Isaiah informs us, that God will hear and answer our prayers even before the words are formed by our lips.  We will live in perfect peace and harmony with him and the entire new Creation – which the passage describes in picturesque language by saying that the wolf and lamb, and the lion and ox will all peacefully feed together. It’s an image that suggests that the all the conflict and strife of this world that we take for granted (as if it were natural) will be over.

            “But dust will be the serpent’s food.”  The final part of today’s glimpse of the coming attractions God has in store for us is the fulfillment of the curse God spoke to Satan when he deceived our first parents and plunged the world into sin and death.  Far removed from us and the light of God’s glory, he will be unable to harm any of us in God’s new Creation.  No longer will he bite the flesh of the living.  His head will have been crushed once and for all by our Savior, who redeemed us with his precious blood, and opened to us the gates of everlasting life.

            All in all, I’d say the coming attractions are very appealing.  And they have been given to us to help us to be hopeful and watchful until that day when the Lord releases the final feature.  Until then, may he give us the grace and faith to thank him and sing his praise, and tell everyone what he has done.  In Jesus’ holy name.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!