2022.05.29 | Washing Our Robes
“Washing Our Robes”
Rev. Pepper Swanson
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
7th Sunday in Easter
May 29, 2022
The Book of Revelation is a curiosity. There is no consensus among Christians about what it means and, despite being filled with beasts and dragons and horsemen, it has a long, long history of being treated as both history and a prophecy about the future, particularly the end time.
We don’t know where it was written or by whom. Most agree that it was written around 90 AD, possibly during the time of Emperor Domitian. Those who take a historical-contextual point of view believe it was written to help interpret the negative current events affecting the writer and his readers, who may have been either persecuted by the Roman empire or in the midst of an internal conflict about whether to separate themselves from non-Christians.
There is, however, agreement on this: the underlying Greek word for revelation is apokalypsis and it was used to describe a vision from God or the revealing of divine secrets. Though uncommon in other literature of the time, we find the word apokalypsis (revelation) or its verb form apokalypto (reveal) often in the New Testament, especially in Luke, Matthew, and John and extensively in the Apostle Paul’s writings as well as the Book of Revelation.
There is another apocalypse in the Bible, which is the Book of Daniel, and other apocalyptic literature in the Hebrew Scriptures, but it is the New Testament writings, particularly Paul and the Book of Revelation that cemented the meaning of divine revelation with images of the end-time and gave us our everyday usage of of the word “apocalypse.”
If I say, “It’s the apocalypse!” You would say: “We’re doomed!” And what you might mean is “There is a lot of crazy bad stuff going on at the same time!” We use apocalypse to mean, simultaneously, that there is bad news coming at us from every direction and the fact it’s occurring all at the same time may signal that the end is near.
I probably should have given you an apocalypse trigger alert before I started talking today: Caution, today’s sermon may contain examples of everything that has been happening since 2020 up to this very week, all of which together may appear to be the APOCALYPSE.
Today’s scripture reading, however, reminds us that in the Book of Revelation, what is revealed in the author’s vision is the ultimate end is pretty nice. In Chapter 21 immediately preceding today’s reading, new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem are described. New Jerusalem, with its pearl gates, comes down out of heaven above and both God and Jesus begin to live with humans, ending sadness, pain, crying, mourning, and death. Everything is made new. Everyone who thirst drinks and there is no more dark or night.
With that beautiful image of God dwelling among us here on Earth, Revelation concludes with a list of sayings from which today’s reading was extracted by the Revised Common Lectionary creators. These sayings are the final chapter of the final book of the New Testament, which begins with the divine revelation by angels to Joseph that Mary’s son would save his people from their sins. The sayings include:
Jesus announcing he will come soon, with reward to repay everyone according to their work,
Jesus giving a blessing on those who “wash their robes” so they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the City
The Spirit and City (the people) responding antiphonally for Christ to come and asking everyone to call to Christ and to come to the water.
To which Jesus responds, “Surely I am coming.”
And the people say, Come, Lord Jesus, Come.
It’s a very hopeful, almost exciting passage, especially for the early believers, some of whom added “Come, Lord Jesus, Come” to the end of their prayers long before we had our standard “For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory. Amen.”
Given its position and importance, the special blessing on those who wash their robes raises a puzzle for Bible scholars, with some speculating that robe is symbol of worthiness for heaven (ie if your robe isn’t dirty by Chapter 22 of Revelation, you probably held yourself out of the fray and might not deserve access to the tree of life).
Biblical scholar Paul “Skip” Johnson’s perspective is that “washing one’s robe” is an explicit instruction for those who are waiting, an instruction that points us away from sky gazing and toward the everyday work of the faithful. He says, “Doing laundry is not glamorous or exciting. It can be mundane and tedious labor. Yet it is necessary.” In other words, rather than get caught up in the glamor of Jesus’ return, we are to “concentrate on the tasks at hand and to be about the works of cleansing the world made unclean.”1
I thought a lot about Johnson’s interpretation of this passage this week as I was processing Tuesday afternoon’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. It’s natural and a good sign that so many of us are angry, upset, and seeking answers to what could have been done to prevent Uvalde and what can be done now to prevent future mass shootings, which are occurring more frequently than ever in the United States.
It’s pretty clear that the problem is guns and the lack of gun control laws. That is true also of homicides other than mass shootings including domestic violence and suicides by gun. That is true when you compare states and when you compare the US with other developed countries. Wherever there are more guns and fewer gun control laws, there is more death by gun.
I find it appalling that the vision pro-gun people have for America is that we will lockdown and lockup our school age children in “hardened” schools rather than adopt background checks, raise purchasing ages, ban the sale of military assault style weapons and high capacity magazines, and require gun safes and gun safety classes.
In contrast, my vision for America involves schools that are not locked down like prisons, where children play outside and inside with a sense of security, where women and vulnerable elders feel safe in their own homes and where the mentally ill do not have easy access to guns and no access to mental health services.
As I watched the news in the days following this mass shooting, I kept my ear tuned for how we might “wash our robes” — what task at hand might we concentrate on so we might be about “cleansing a world” that is unclean. Here’s a short version of the laundry list I came up with:
We are fortunate to live in a state that is a gun control leader but our friends and family may not. Over half of all states are either missing key laws or have weak or failing gun control system. We need either federal legislation or more states to make incremental progress. This is a federal issue and this is a state issue. We can support organizations that are advocating for change at the community, state, and federal level, such as Everytown For Gun Safety, The Brady Campaign, and Newtown Action Alliance.
We can support a public health approach to the epidemic of gun control. As with car safety, we need expert resources to make people more aware of the inherent risk of having firearms and put government resources into programs to address the risk faced by the most vulnerable individuals and communities. We need more public health research, solutions, and policy on gun violence. We can support the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and other Public Health programs to end gun violence.
We can support social and emotional learning. Otherwise know by its abbreviation SEL, social and emotional learning is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions. Recently under attack with Critical Race Theory by conservatives, SEL may be more and more important in our culture due to growing gaps of values, understanding, and communication between Red and Blue states. Even outside the classroom, we all play a role in helping children identify and manage their emotions and show empathy for others.
Last, we can keep on doing what we are doing at Eden Church. For the last ten years, we have made it a priority to provide food security to our neighbors, to accompany them through immigration and educational decision-making processes, to provide resources for parents and children, and to extend welcome, warmth, and a sense of belonging. While this isn’t about gun control, it is about addressing basic needs and building self esteem, two of the building blocks of raising children to be mentally-healthy adults.
You may have other ideas for how we can “wash our robes” on the topic of gun violence. I hope you will share them with one another as we continue our conversations after worship. We can all use a little help processing and acting to end gun violence in America.
I’d like to add one more before I close: despite its negative publicity lately as an ineffective tool when decoupled from action, I do hope you will continue to pray for our country and its children morning, noon, and night. We are not in an apocalypse yet but we are suffering from multiple and large divisions on critical issues in addition to guns, including abortion and women’s rights, the treament of transpeople and transchildren, immigration, racism, and even what it means to a democracy. We need God’s help to restore our vision of America as a place where people, the rule of law, equality, liberty, and justice all matter.
My friends, the Book of Revelation reveals another, better vision than any American dream. We long for Christ’s return because we want God to dwell among us and end all the bad this world is throwing at us now. For now, be strong, wash your robes, get this place in order, and every once in a while, remember to say, “Come, Lord Jesus, Come!”
“Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21: Pastoral Perspective” by Paul “Skip” Johnson in Bartlett, David L, and Barbara B. Taylor. Feasting on the Word. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, Year C, Volume 2, p. 536.