Weeping in Heaven


Sermon by Ed Hartman on December 29, 2019 Revelation 5

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I invite you to take your Bible and turn with me to Revelation chapter 5. If you’re using the Bible in the rack in front of you it’s on page 1030. We’ll read the whole chapter. 

“Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’ And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,

‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’

And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.”

This is God’s Word. 

Weeping in Heaven 

Just a few moments ago you heard Beverly Harmon quoting her father saying that country music is an oxymoron. I don’t know how you feel about that style of music. Two things, two words that don’t go together at all – country and music – but I can say this. The title of our brief meditation is at bare minimum a paradox – weeping in heaven. How can that be? Weeping in heaven? Is it possible that we would find weeping there?

It strikes me that the weeping begins as a question is asked for which there is no answer. A mighty angel in verse 2 proclaims with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. “And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open it or to look into it.” Very simply, a question was asked for which there was no answer. John weeps because something is missing, something is blocked, something is lost, something is wrong. Putting it another way, John weeps because a mystery remains unexplained, a longing goes unmet, something precious has been lost, a goal has gone unrealized and a new crisis has emerged. 

Have you found yourself there in the last days or months or years? I don’t know what’s missing or blocked in each of your lives. Some of your lives, I know what’s missing, I know what’s being grieved, I know what’s been lost or what you fear losing. But John’s in the same place. Something precious, this scroll, cannot be opened, and he weeps. Not quiet sobs, but loud sobbing, weeping. “I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy.” 

To understand this weeping you have to go back to chapter 4 where in verse 1 you realize that this is the very throne room of heaven. “After this I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven and the first voice which I had heard speaking to me light a trumpet said, ‘Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the Spirit and behold, a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne and he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.” And it hits you. He’s in the very throne room of heaven, he sees the King of the universe seated on the throne, and the only descriptive he gives is “He had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.” That’s all he can bring himself to say. Two precious stones in that ancient world and that’s all he uses to describe Him. And yet He’s on the throne. This is the King of the universe. The throne, which is repeated over and over in these chapters – sixteen times in Revelation 4 and 5 – is a picture of rule, sovereign, majestic, unstoppable, unrivaled rule. He reigns upon that throne. 

And as he does describe Him in chapter 5 verse 1, he says, “And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne” – not a sword, not a scepter, which you would expect to find in the hand of the King of the universe, but instead He holds something far more significant. He holds the scroll. Which, this isn’t the first time in the Bible you read about the scroll. The scroll, you find repeated several times in throne room scenes. The scroll representing God’s plan for judgment and for justice, God’s plan for the healing of the nations, God’s plan to restore, redeem, and make right what’s been made wrong. John tells us that it’s written on the front and the back, meaning that it is complete. You cannot add anything more to this plan that God has for His people. And sadly, it’s sealed, meaning the seven seals – it’s profoundly authoritative, yet at the same time it’s completely inaccessible. And so he weeps, because what he desperately wants to hear, the message of God’s redeeming, restoring, rescuing plan, is inaccessible to him.

You see that the opening of the scroll means not just the revealing of God’s majestic and sovereign plan, but it’s actually the launch of the plan. It’s the progressive accomplishing of what is written there, the accomplishing of God’s gracious redemptive plan for His people. And so in verse 2, the mighty angel calls out, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” and no one is found and John weeps in the very throne room of heaven, the place that we are told there will be no weeping. Yet there, he’s weeping. 

Worship in Heaven 

We don’t know how long the weeping lasts, but the voice comes and in verse 5, everything shifts. A voice comes and says, “Weep no more. There is someone worthy, one who has conquered. Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, he has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And so John raises his still tear-filled eyes and he looks around to find this victorious lion and instead his eyes fall on this vulnerable lamb, one who still bears all the visible marks of the violent death that He’s suffered. And this Lamb, this Lamb who has conquered by what He suffered, He approaches the throne and He takes hold of the scroll that is in the hand of the King of the universe, and all heaven breaks loose. A worship that carries us through the rest of the chapter erupts, and singing like has never been heard before, begins – unrestrained, exuberant worship. It’s the crescendo of the new song that all creation has been longing to hear. Verse 9, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Verse 12, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” Worthy is the Lamb!

Here’s the point. If you belong to Jesus, if you are trusting Him with your entire life, then this song, “Worth is the Lamb,” is your song. It will be your song for all eternity. My song for all eternity. Why? Because this Lamb will not only reveal what is in the scroll, but He will accomplish, He will complete, He will finalize everything that is written in it. What that means is this. Every place of our weeping, every place where we find ourselves saying, “This makes no sense. This cannot be right. How can anything good come out of this,” every place of our weeping, He will make right. Absolutely and completely right. The longing will be satisfied. The loss will be restored. The crisis will be resolved. The wounds will be healed. The mystery will be explained. All of it will be made right. More beautiful, more complete, more whole than you can ever possibly imagine, so much so that in Isaiah 65:17 God Himself says, “See, I will create a new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” All of our wounds, every last one of them, will be erased. 

Tim Keller refers to this when, quoting The Lord of the Rings, says, “Everything sad will one day come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost.” You understand, don’t you, that for all eternity when we are in the presence of this Lamb, none of our wounds will be remembered, none of them will be visible. The only wounds which will be visible and remembered will be the wounds of the Lamb. Only His. We’ve sung it, haven’t we? “Rich wounds yet visible above, in beauty glorified.” Only His wounds remain; our will come untrue, as if they never were. And yet at the same time, they will make everything more beautiful than if it had never been broken or lost. That’s the promise. So what does that mean for us today? It means that in every heartache, every loss, every place of grieving, we are invited to say, “The Lamb is worthy. Truly. The Lamb is worthy, not just to take the scroll and to break its seals, but the Lamb is worthy of my trust, even trust through tears.” Why? Because He has fulfilled God’s plan and He is fulfilling God’s plan and He will one day finalize everything in God’s plan. Nothing will be missing.

Many of you know Nancy Guthrie or at least know of her. You probably know that’s she’s written several books on grieving. Nancy and her husband had two children, each born with a rare genetic disorder called Zellweger Syndrome. And each of those two children died after just six months. Imagine two of your three children buried within the first year of their life. In a recent interview she was asked what was most important to her, what she learned in those seasons of grieving. And her answer was, “The six most important words I learned about my grieving and through my grieving are these:  I can trust Jesus with this.”

That’s really what we’re saying when we say, “Worthy is the Lamb” – “I can trust Jesus with this. I can. I can trust God with the way my loved one died and the timing in which he or she died. I can trust God with the unknowns about my future. I can trust God with my unanswered questions until faith becomes sight. I can trust God to heal the hurt, to fill the emptiness, to illumine this darkness. I can trust God to restore joy to my life. I can trust God to speak to me through His Word.” Why? Because the Lamb is worthy. He’s truly worthy. 

Last image. I remember – and I’ve shared this story with you a couple of years back; you may remember it – the last time I spoke with my mother face to face was in 2005 as Emily and I and our children were at the airport preparing to leave to start something brand new, to launch a church planting ministry in eastern Europe, in Romania. And we had visited with my parents, my mother had cancer and she had just entered her final decline from multiple myeloma, bone marrow cancer, and I think she knew that she was in her final decline and she wondered if this was our last face to face visit. And she hugged Emily, she hugged each of the four kids, and she hugged me last. And as she wrapped her arms around me and held me tight I felt her body shaking as she began sobbing silently. I’m a pastor. I’m supposed to know what to say at those kinds of times. I’m about to be a missionary in Eastern Europe. I should know what to say to my mother who is dying of cancer. And my mind raced and my heart began pounding because I did not know what to say to her, until very quickly she pulled away, grabbed me by the arms, held me out at arm’s distance, looked me in the eye and said, with tears streaming down her cheeks, “The Lamb is worthy.” And she turned around and walked to the car and that was my last face to face conversation with my mother. 

Here’s the question. Would your words say the same thing in your place of weeping? The Lamb is worthy. Would your heart express those same words in your places of grieving? The Lamb is worthy.

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