Yellow: How is Your Friendship with Jesus?
Revelation 21
Have you ever wondered why cicadas wee?
If you've ever been on a bush walk in Sydney, you've probably been weed on by one without even knowing it. But there's a reason they do it. And it's got everything to do with joy.
Cicadas live underground for seven years. Seven years in darkness, in the dankness and yuckiness of underground, sucking sap out of tree roots, thinking there's no other life. Then one day, something changes. They dig up. They emerge into blinding light, so bright they can't see at first. They crawl up a tree, stay there, and their body starts to change. Their chrysalis falls off. Wings grow out of their back.
And they fly.
And then they wee. Out of pure joy.
If you'd been crawling around in the dark for seven years and suddenly you could fly around in the sunlight, you'd be wetting yourself too.
That's what becoming a Christian is like. You don't have to live a life stumbling in the dark of your own sin. There's life above ground. There's a world of light.
The Final Colour
We've been working through the Colours of Life over the past few weeks, five simple colours that tell the entire story of the Bible.
Green: God created everything, and it was good.
White: God made us to be His friends, to live in the light of His ways.
Black: We rebelled against God. Sin entered the world and darkness fell.
Red: Jesus died on the cross, shedding His blood to pay for our sin, taking us from enemies to friends with God again.
Yellow: Heaven. Eternal life. Being with God forever.
Don't Go Back in the Hole
Here's the thing though. Once you've come out of the ground, once you've become a Christian, there's a temptation to look back down at that hole and think about going back in.
Sin is sweet for a season. When you open a jar of honey and take a big spoonful, the first taste is wonderful. Like flying around when you've been in the dark all your life. Take another spoonful, you'll enjoy it. Another one, you starting to think it's a bit much. The fourth spoon starts to get sour in your mouth. Finish the jar and you might end up on the toilet.
That's sin. Particularly for young people. It's enticing. Your friends say, "We're having heaps of fun, come with us." And sure, be friends with people outside of church. But be careful who your friends are.
Why do people go back in the hole? I've been a pastor for over 35 years, and the biggest reason I've seen people leave the church is they have better friendships outside the church than inside it. Or they take the church for granted, "I might miss this week, but it'll be there next week." Or they slip into thinking church is like a petrol station. "I can get my fill of God anywhere."
The truth is, we can grow as Christians by reading our Bibles and praying by ourselves. But it's a lot harder.
We're herd animals, most of us. The question is: who are you going to herd with? If you don't herd with your church, you'll herd with other people. And whatever herd you're with, they'll herd in the direction they're going. The great thing about a local church is that herd will be herding with Jesus.
I had a friend from school, we got confirmed together. He listened to the same sermons we all listening to week to week. But he went back in the hole. Recently he passed away from liver cirrhosis. He didn't just go back into the hole, he went right back down.
When I once read Revelation 21 to another friend, he said "There's no more ocean? I'm a surfer. I don't want to go to heaven forever where there's no ocean."
I said, "Well, you don't really have any choice. If you're right and you're an atheist and you cease to exist, no surfing. Or if you go to hell and the lake of fire, no surfing either."
Don't go back in the hole. You either go back down or you keep flying. There are no Christians who are above ground and below ground at the same time.
What Is Heaven Actually?
Revelation 21 gives us the picture: "I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away."
A new heaven. A new earth. Everything made new.
"God's dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with Him and be their God."
God living with us. Not far away. Not behind a curtain. With us.
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
No more death. No more mourning. No more crying. No more pain. The old order, completely gone.
"He who is seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new.'"
The city itself is extraordinary, walls of jasper, gates of pearl, streets of pure gold as transparent as glass. The glory of God gives it light. The Lamb is its lamp. No sun needed, no moon needed.
But here's the thing: it's not really about the streets of gold or the walls of jasper or even the fact that there's no more pain.
It's about who we're with.
It's About Who You're With
I try to explain to people:
It's not about what we do in heaven, it's about who we're with.
Jesus' blood brings us back to God. Jesus changes everything. Jesus is the light who shows us the way back to God. Jesus didn't sin, so His death on the cross pays for our sin and rebellion. He rose from the dead so we can too.
We can't get to heaven by our good works. By saying sorry and turning away from sin and not going back into the hole again. It's by trusting in Jesus that we have forgiveness from God, a gift of grace.
Because of Jesus, God adopts us as His children. We belong to a new Christian family. God gives us eternal life, secured forever by the Holy Spirit who helps us live in the light, God's way again.
The yellow bead is our version of flying around in the light, weeing ourselves out of joy. We're living in the light again. And now we care about other people too.
That's why we share the gospel. Not because we're trying to sell something. But because if you've ever come out of the ground and felt the sun on your face for the first time, you'd want everyone else to feel it too.
"Hey Tim, come out of the hole, man. I love you. I'm on my way to heaven. I don't want to go there without you."
How Are You With Jesus?
So here's the question. How is your friendship with Jesus?
If you've been hanging out with people who don't like hanging out with Him. If you've been looking back down at that hole and thinking you'd rather stay underground. If you've started wondering whether you even want to hang out with Him anymore.
Maybe tonight is a great chance to say: "Hey Jesus, can I hang with you again?"
And do you know what He'll say?
"I never left you. I'm always here. And I love you."
This sermon is part of the Colours of Life series, telling the gospel story in five simple colours. Soul Revival Church gathers across the Sutherland Shire [Kirrawee, Yarrawarrah, Miranda, Cronulla] and Ryde.