"Come join the choir!" Angie pleads. "The more the merrier!" she declares, "It doesn't matter how well you sing!"
"Yeah, right," I've heard some of you respond, "Angie only says that because he hasn't heard me sing. You know that guy that Simon Cowell made cry on American Idol? Well, compared to me, he's goooood!"
Now whether you love to sing in public, or only in the shower or in the car where no one else can hear you, or if you don't like to sing at all, the truth is that everyone will sing a song about Jesus at some point in their existence. That's a bold claim, I know. But it's true. When Jesus is revealed as King of the Universe every person who has ever lived or ever will live will sing one of two songs. They will either sing a song of praise and thanks to Jesus (and whether they're on key or not won't matter) or they'll sing a song of mourning and woe as they lament his coming.
That's what the apostle John tells us in our portion of God's Word for consideration this morning. We will sing to the King! But let's be sure to sing to him a song of praise and thanks. And we have every reason to, because he was pierced for us, and because he will come for us. Listen now to John's encouragement in Revelation 1...
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
I. Because He Was Pierced for You
When Jesus returns to this earth, there is no doubt, we will know it. Every person will know that Jesus is here. "Every eye will see him," John writes, "even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth" that is, everyone who's chosen to live for themselves, all those who have been apathetic to Jesus, all who by their sins have nailed Jesus to the cross, well, they "will mourn because of him."
Literally, the word translated "mourn" here means to sing the songs of public grief and pain, like a dirge or a lament sung at a funeral. Why? Because at that time it will be clearly revealed that they have chosen to separate themselves from the one true King.They will have chosen to reject his kingdom and will therefore be left out of that kingdom for all of eternity. Those who chose to live without Jesus here on earth, whether by hostility or by apathy, will live without him in hell. What a sad, desperate, and pitiful song that will be!
And who will sing this sad, sad song? Those who have pierced him. Those who choose to live without him. Well, thank God that's not me, right? Wrong! I have chosen to live without Jesus every time I've put my desires above his and told him, "Jesus, please leave the room right now. I don't think you'd appreciate what I'm about to do... or say... or think." Jesus was the "faithful witness" who spoke the truth no matter what. What a contrast to my witness… or, too often, lack thereof, because I'm afraid of what people will do, or sometimes just what they'll think. Jesus is the King. But all too often I've rebelled and said, "No, Jesus, I think I'll be king of my life, thank you." And by my actions, by my words, by my thoughts I have pierced Jesus. I put him on that cross. I nailed him there. After all it was for my sins that he went there… and for yours. You put him there too.
How I deserve to sing the most pathetic wailing song of terror when he comes! Maybe it would be called, "O What Great Woe is Me! The King I Pierced I See!!" How you deserve to sing a song of mourning. Maybe it would be entitled, "The King is Near; My Doom is Here." I don't know if it's true, but I once heard that the inventor of the bagpipe was inspired by a man carrying a squealing pig under his arm. What a beautiful sound that must be compared to the sound of the hell that we deserve, as Jesus described it in Matthew 13(:42). He said of hell, "there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
That's what we deserve. But instead, we'll sing a very, very different song! Most scholars believe that the second half of verse 5 was an ancient doxology, that is, a song of praise, which early Christians sang in their liturgy. "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen."
How is it that we – horrendous sinners that we are – will be able to sing a song of praise at Jesus' return instead of a song of mourning? Well, the first line of the song itself tells us. He loves us. How much? So much that "has freed us from our sins by his blood."
Back in 2009, an ecstatic Fernando Bermudez left Sing Sing prison amid a flock of reporters. It turned out that new evidence that had just surfaced proved his innocence of the crime for which he was imprisoned. He clearly did not kill the man he was sentenced for killing. So he was finally released to be reunited with his wife and three children after spending seventeen years in prison for a crime that everyone now agreed he didn't commit. Can you imagine the joy he felt? I wouldn't be surprised if he even burst into song!
But you and I, dear friends, have been freed from a far worse prison that held us for the crimes we did commit. We were prisoners of hell, once chained to our torment by every sin that earned the punishment we deserve. But Jesus took every one of those sins on himself. And though we are the very ones who pierced him, he was pierced for us. As Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 53(:5) "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." He paid the penalty we owed when he endured hell itself and shed his blood on the cross. And by his blood, he cut the chains that held us captive. He has freed us from our sins.
That's why John doesn't just wish "Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come," but states it as a fact, "Grace and peace [are yours] from him who is, and who was, and who is to come." You have peace. You have peace with God because of the grace that he's given in Jesus who died for you. Man, do we ever have reason to sing! "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood... to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen."
And, what's more, Jesus didn't stay dead. He rose again. That's why John called him, "the firstborn from the dead." Jesus lives! And he's coming back! He's coming back not to punish you, but to rescue you… from the financial stresses, from the physical aches and pains, from the emotional wounds you suffer and the scars you still feel, from all the burdens of this life. And if there was ever any reason to sing, besides the fact that he was pierced for us to free us from our sins by his blood, it's this: He's coming back to rescue us from all suffering and pain, to take us to be with him in heaven forever!
II. Because He Will Come for You
John wrote, "Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him." And yet, he ended that otherwise frightening line with an excited, "So shall it be! Amen." How come? Because John knew that when the Lord said he was, "the Alpha and the Omega… who is, and who was, and who is to come," that he was coming to rescue John. Because Jesus had freed John from his sins by his blood, John knew which side he was on.
Do you remember how God appeared to his people time and time again in the days of Moses? It was in the pillar of cloud. Exodus 33:9-10 say, "As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent." Perhaps John was making an allusion to this spectacular event when he recorded this preview of Jesus' glorious return: "Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him..."
When the Israelites saw the pillar of cloud or the pillar of fire, they weren't terrified, but excited, moved to worship even in their homes, "each at the entrance to his tent." For even though the presence of the holy God of the universe was right there in their midst, they knew of his grace in promising to care for them, protect them, preserve them, and deliver them from their slavery, from their suffering, and from their sorrow.
When Jesus returns, again "with the clouds," we need not fear. For the "the ruler of the kings of the earth" is coming to take us to his Kingdom –the Kingdom of Heaven! This is our comfort, this is our joy, and this makes us sing for joy! "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood… to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen."
And in the meantime, while we wait for him, what now? Well, he gives us work to do. In the middle of that doxology, that song of praise to the King, John reminds us that the one to whom sing, "has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father." We don't just sit idly by waiting for Jesus to come back to rescue us. Instead we get busy as his priests.
What does that mean, that Jesus has made us priests? Are we to sacrifice goats and bulls and sheep? No. Of course not. Paul tells us in Romans 12:1, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship." We don't take a life as our sacrifice to God, but give our lives in service to him. We don't kill for God, but we live for him every day.
But where our job is much like that of the Old Testament priests is our task of sharing the message with others. We may not sing about Jesus as we walk down the streets, but we let our lives of selfless service to him and to others sing for us. And as we show others the impact of Jesus' love in our lives we will be "faithful witnesses" just like Jesus. And as we show how we're different, we'll have the opportunity to share the reason why; that it's because of our King! We can tell them that "he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him." But we can also tell them that they need not fear because he "has freed us from our sins by his blood" and he's freed them too.
Serve as faithful witnesses, dear friends. Serve as faithful priests. And keep on singing! Whether it's in the choir or not, whether it's on key or off, whether it's with your voice or with your life, sing to the King! And share the good news with others, that they too might come and sing to the King! Now, "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen."
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