The Story concluded last week with Revelation and the end of time, but the end of this world is just the beginning of the next. The promises of Scripture give us hope not just for this life but for the life  to come. That hope is not grounded in us or anything we do, but by the initiative of God alone, whose promises are our hope.

Jesus has done it all, and all means all. We hear Paul in Romans say it clearly:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.   —Romans 8:1

This is the very heart of what makes the good news good. We are rescued by Christ’s entrance into human history—through his atoning death and resurrection—and for which we can do nothing to earn or deserve it.

So what then should we do with our time here? If we are now spared—as Paul says—the agonizing struggle of making ourselves acceptable to God, what value does our present actions hold?

BRASS RINGS

There is a gorgeous, old merry-go-round in Spokane, Washington that has been in service since 1909. This carousel was beloved not only by my older siblings, but by my father, who rode it in the late 1920s.

It’s one thing to pick a horse and spin around time after time, enjoying the whirling speed and movement of the great machine, but some merry-go-rounds, like the one in Spokane, have an added feature: you can go for brass rings loaded at arm’s reach (as long as you’re on a horse at the outer edge).

This gives another purpose to the ride, an added goal to accomplish. My older brother was crazy about trying to get those brass rings, and he did so many times. The point of it was questionable. At one time, getting a brass ring would net you a prize or a free ride, but after some years, nothing: you just returned the brass ring, period. What was the point? To do it for the sake of doing it. It was fine if you just wanted to go round and round, but there was an extra credit challenge if you wanted a little more.

Similarly, the Bible tells of four crowns that are awarded to certain disciples. These are not required for salvation; they are just extras—brass rings—and something for us to think about and draw encouragement from.

2 Timothy 4: 6-8

CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

There are two types of crowns mentioned in Scripture: diadems and stephanos’. The diadem is the ruling crown—the “round metal hat” as Jack Handy puts it. The other, the stephanos, is the laurel wreath given to Olympic champions and others. All four of the crowns mentioned below are of the stephanos variety.

The “crown of righteousness” from Timothy refers to a prize to be received following this life. The word for righteousness can equally and always be translated as justice. What might it mean were we to read this as a “crown of justice”?

For sure, this life does not always see justice done. Evil people prosper and decent people suffer. If the only promises were for justice to be done within our days here, then the disappointment of good people suffering would obviate justice entirely. The crown is not given here and now, but in the afterlife in the presence of God Almighty.

Notice as well, that the author does not say that he’s earned, merited, or deserved the crown. It is given. It is a gift. This is exactly the way we receive God’s grace in the here and now. We too are given the righteousness of Christ—underserved, unmerited, unearned—by grace. Baptism is the sign that we belong to him.

In Romas 8:1 above, Paul puts it clearly. When you and I stand before the judgment seat of God, he will not see us in our sins; he will look at us and see his beloved Son Jesus, because we are covered by that grace.

We come before the throne and the mighty Judge sees us. We have every reason to fear and tremble over our sins, but Jesus speaks up on our behalf and says, “No, no, no—she’s with me!” And we pass into glory just that easily.

The second crown comes form  James 1:12.

James 1: 12

CROWN OF LIFE

Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

This crown is awarded to those who endure temptation, which may be more than you think on the surface. This is not just about not sinning in the simple sense. Taking that last cookie, exaggerating on a tax return, surfing forbidden territory on the internet—all among things which we know we ought to avoid or ought not to do—but getting through temptations also means going back to God again and again despite the fact that we never stop sinning.

It’s a great frustration of the new life in Christ; we have the Spirit and the gifts, yet we fumble at the 1-yard line, or run toward the wrong goal, or keep returning to the forbidden tree to eat its fruit.

Enduring temptation also means enduring its persistence. Therefore, we return to God again and again. Whenever we worship—whenever we even pray—we have much to confess and rightly ought to do so.

This crown isn’t for perfectionists; it is for those who find their only comfort in turning to God again and again in response to every darkness we carry within us. Again, the crown is unearned. It is a gift given us as we continuously train our hearts to long more completely for God and for God alone.

1 Peter 5: 1-4

CROWN OF GLORY

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away.

This crown is meant for those in church leadership, specifically elders of the church. In the New Testament, the words for elder and overseer are utterly interchangeable. Every “presbyter” is an “overseer” and vice versa.

Since that time, we have created a mighty and vast hierarchy of leadership. The word for overseer is episcopos, from which we get our word episcopal. The word is translated through Latin as “bishop,” but bishops are really just elders.

Every elder of this church is a bishop—an overseer of the spiritual health of the congregation. I am one as well, with no superiority over the other elders.

So where did we get all the big, pointy hats, flowing robes, golden rings, and elaborate staffs? As we said a couple weeks ago: it is all manmade elaboration, all just barnacles that have clung to the hull.

Jesus tells us to call no man “father,” for we have one Father, and no man “Rabbi” or “Teacher,” because we have only one teacher. The Church has ignored this. I am even uncomfortable with the word “pastor” because it means shepherd, and we have only one shepherd. Pastors may be deputy shepherds, but it really teeters on the brink of superiority, which isn’t what Jesus wanted.

I think of it differently. Church leaders are not little “shepherds,” for only Christ is our Shepherd. We are more like sheepdogs. As called by the Shepherd, we go where he says and lay down our lives for the sheep as he would have us do. We nip at heels and often lead the sheep where they do not wish to go, but only fulfill our destiny correctly when we most simply obey the Shepherd. We do what the Shepherd tells us to do, and have no need to do anything more. 

The crown of glory goes to the sheepdogs who do not play high-and-mighty (it’s time to throw away all the big, pointy hats and flowing robes, you guys). The crown is for the humble-and-obedient servants of the Shepherd.

The fourth crown comes from Revelation in the letter to the congregation at first-century Smyrna.

CROWN OF LIFE 2

Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

This is the hardest crown to receive and perhaps the greatest. This crown goes to those who endure persecution—even death—for the name of Jesus. Revelation was written while the Roman Emperor Diocletian had mounted an extensive campaign to wipe out Christianity once and for all. John writes from Patmos during this wave of persecution.

Just to be a Christian in that day meant the potential loss of one’s business, the division of one’s family, imprisonment, torture, and death.

No matter how strong-willed most people may be, and despite what you’ve seen in the movies, under real torture people can be made to say most anything.

When Jesus teaches us how to pray, he instructs us to implore God not  to lead us into “temptation,” which really means a time of major trial against our faith. We are taught to ask God to protect us from torture, death, and all of the most wicked forces in this world that might shake our trust in Christ.

Be faithful unto death, says the text. To endure persecution and more comes with this promise: that a crown of eternal life awaits us.

They can take our goods, our families, our human dignity (remember Job?), but they cannot take our soul, and for that we can always trust in Christ unconditionally.

AWARDS BANQUET

We have to imagine a great awards banquet—bigger than biggest Nobel ceremony—in the completed Kingdom of God. The Messianic Feast will take place and Jesus himself will finally eat and drink with us. Then, at some point I imagine, the crowns will be handed out by the Messiah, our Lord Jesus.

What shall we do with them then?

In his book Leaving Home, Garrison Keillor tells a fictional story about a family from Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. Grace Tollefson married Alex Campbell, who turned out to be a ne'er-do-well. They had three kids: Earl, Marlys, and Walter. Then he left her, took all the money, and she was forced to move back home and live off the kindness of folks there, enduring the relentless I-told-you-so's of her mother and living off the charitable donations from the Lutheran church. It was humiliating. Then, "One day they got a letter from a man in Philadelphia doing research on Scottish nobility who asked who their ancestors were, so he could look it up." Grace wrote back, and a few days later another letter came.

She opened the envelope. It was addressed to Mrs. Grace Campbell, but the letter began with "Your Royal Highness." He wrote: "Today is the happiest day of my life as I greet my one true Sovereign Queen," and went on to say that their branch of the Campbell family was first in the line of succession of the House of Stewart, the Royal Family of Scotland.

Another letter soon came with a complicated genealogical chart with a line in the corner leading right straight to them: Earl, Marlys, and Walter. The Royal Family of Scotland living in Lake Wobegon in a green mobile home, furniture donated by the Lutheran church. They were astounded beyond words. Disbelieving at first, afraid to put their weight on something so beautiful, afraid it was too good to be true.

And they were different people. Their surroundings were the same, but they were different. When the kids at school spoke down to Earl, Marlys, and Walter, they no longer felt the need to react. They felt no need to fight for themselves, for inside, they knew who they were: the royal house of Stewart. They knew a day was coming when they would be revealed, and all would know that they were in truth royals.

One day, once revealed, they would stand on a great balcony in Edinburgh with thousands of proud Scots cheering at the top of their lungs.

Brothers and sisters, you and I too are royals. We are children of God, adopted siblings of Jesus and co-heirs with him!

Endure, be cool, and know whose you are! The day is coming when we too shall be revealed with Jesus, and the whole Creation groans together for that day to arrive.

After the banquet, something wonderful will happen. Revelation tells us that we shall cast our crowns back to the throne of God. We shall return all the glory back to him! Which is only right, because God is the source of all glory and God alone deserves all glory. 

Let’s stand and sing that  song I am sure we will sing again well into  eternity: “Holy, Holy, Holy.” †