The Easiest Decision

May 2, 2004 (Fourth Sunday of Easter)

By The Rev. Benjamin J. Newland

- Acts 13:15-16,26-39
- Psalm 100
- Revelation 7:9-17
- John 10:22-30

(From The Lectionary Page)

It seems to me that there are two marks of the post-Easter Christian highlighted by today’s readings from scripture. The first is from Revelation:

These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

The second is from Psalm 100:

Be joyful in the LORD, all you lands; serve the LORD with gladness and come before his presence with a song.

The first mark of the post-Easter Christian, as described in Revelation, is work that makes one rested. The second mark, found in Psalm 100, is joy.

In the reading from Revelation John is witness to “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages”. Every member of this great multitude is robed in white. John is then told that the multitude has washed their robes in blood, which is why they are so white. This doesn’t make a lot of sense. Then again, very little in the Revelation to John makes a lot of sense when you first read it. Can you imagine the laundry detergent commercial based on this verse of Revelation? “Tide with color-safe bleach will get your whites white, and Ultra Tide will get them even whiter, but if you really want sparkling whites, fill your washing machine with the blood of the lamb!”

Of course, this isn’t a laundry commercial, it’s the book of Revelation, and in the book of Revelation things aren’t supposed to be the way they seem. You could even say that one of the major themes of Revelation is that things are not as they seem, and the world as it seems to be run by the current powers that be, is not how God is running the world at all.

And so it is that robes washed in blood are not stained, but clean and white. And so it is that work makes you not tired, but rested. It may be just a simple turn of phrase, but the verse said that the multitude washed their robes, not that the robes were washed for them. They did the work, and now they rest easy in the shelter of the Lord, without hunger or thirst. The first mark of the post-Easter Christian: work that makes you rested.

The other reading I’d like to mention is the Psalm appointed for today. Psalm 100, also known as the Jubilate, is a favorite of many, and features prominently in the daily office of Morning Prayer. It is called the Jubilate not because of anything to do with steamed milk or espresso, but because in Latin the first word of this Psalm is Jubilate: Be Joyful!

The whole Psalm is only four verses, and it only has that one thing to say. Be joyful. God is good, and merciful, and faithful; so be joyful, and thankful, and full of praise. The second mark of the post-Easter Christian: joy.

And now I have pointed out to you my two favorite bits of today’s scripture. And I have drawn from them some insight in the form of two identifying traits that we can ascribe to the post-Easter Christian, which all of us are. What now? Surely you have heard these bits of scripture before, nothing new there. And if you have hung around churches enough surely you have heard that our faith can tend toward the paradoxical, and work that leaves you rested instead of tired isn’t too much of a leap as far as paradoxes go. What about Joy? Well, we just had Easter three weeks ago and that whole thing was about joy wasn’t it? So what is there left for me to say?

Only this: I want to try and convince you that this is easy. In under ten minutes I want to convince you that being a post-Easter Christian is easy; that you can work harder than you ever thought possible yet end the day rested; that you can be joyful. I want to convince you that, contrary to popular belief, Christianity is easy.

I’m going to do it by telling you about a part of my life. Unless you are visiting here for the first time, you have probably heard that I’m getting married next month. This is a good thing. I am very excited about it. Apparently when you are engaged to be married people like to ask you if you are excited about it. I get that question a lot. Yes, I am excited about it.

The other question I get a lot is another standard engagement question: are you nervous? No, I am not nervous. I am not worried, I do not have cold feet, I am not celebrating my last days of “freedom”. As I told a friend last week, deciding to marry Jieun was the easiest decision I have ever made.

Not easy meaning no work. I know it will be work. It is work already. But it is work I undertake gladly; work that leaves me resting in her. No, not easy because it is not work, but easy because there simply wasn’t any other decision that made any kind of sense. Deciding which car to buy is hard. There are a lot of choices and more than one choice could be the right one. Deciding to marry Jieun was easy, there are no other models in her class, and while you might decide not to buy a car, deciding to be without Jieun would be like deciding not to be me anymore. It doesn’t make any sense.

So why do I mention all of this, besides the fact that I’m madly in love, and being a member of the clergy like to hear myself speak anyways? I mention it because I think there’s a direct parallel between my deciding to get married and the decision to be a faithful, post-Easter Christian full of work and joy.

The decision to really be Christian, to become one of the post-Easter people full of joy and working in God’s kingdom is even easier than my decision to get married was. Again, not easy in terms of involving no work. There is plenty of work, but we already went over the part where the work leaves you rested, not tired. Rather, easy in the sense that there’s just no other choice that makes any kind of sense. There’s no other choice you can make without not being you anymore. What will you decide, to ignore that part of yourself that is spiritual, that transcends your physical self and makes you the creature of God that you are? Would you choose to deny that? I guess you could-I suppose some have-but why?

Deciding to be a post-Easter Christian is easy. It will be work, but it will bring you joy. So much joy in fact that you will serve the Lord with gladness-you will do the work of God’s Kingdom without getting tired, and you will dwell in the presence of God easily, singing a song of joy.
You’ve already made that decision of course. You wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t at some point decided to choose God, to be a member of God’s post-Easter extravaganza. But it’s easy to forget too. That’s why I’m reminding you, as I have been reminded by events in my life lately. When you get right down to it, this whole Christianity thing isn’t that hard. It is work, but the work is worth it, and the joy that comes of it is the drink of life itself to the thirsty soul. AMEN.