“Entrance requirements”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, June 1, 2025
Revelation 22: 12-21 (Forward, p. 34) CEV p. 1314
It is odd, and rather puzzling, that while we easily accept that nations may have visa or passport or work or study requirements for visiting or staying in their countries, or that entertainment venues may require tickets, or that private functions may require an invitation, we find it troubling that God, and heaven, may also have some stipulations. I guess that it comes from the all too frequent ‘fuzzy’ picture of God as being a grandfatherly sort who accepts all and overlooks our ‘misadventures’. Or from our rather warped view of heaven as a welcoming, open to all place where everyone is accepted and tolerated regardless of what their lives on earth might have been like.
Here, by way of contrast, in today’s passage, we hear of two groups that won’t make it, who won’t be accepted:
-the first lists people guilty of certain practices: dogs, witches,
immoral people, murderers, idol worshippers, liars, and those
who love to do wrong. (According to a footnote in the Annotated
Oxford RSV translation of the Bible, a ‘dog’ is not meant literally, but
is an impure, lascivious person—see also Philippians 3:2)
-the second group are those who add or take away anything from
this book, presumably just the book of Revelation.
While this may well sound undoubtedly nasty and not at all the feel-good ethos our modern world likes to portray and promote, there is a counter acting piece of good news, namely with regards to those who ‘will’ make it:
-those who have ‘washed their robes’, that is, cleaned up their lives,
or, more to the point, have allowed Jesus to do this for them, have
allowed Him to renew them and make them into new people in His
image.
-those who are thirsty for life-giving water and are willing to come to
Him to receive it.
In other words, there is no one who is automatically excluded, only those who, by their own choice and decision, have refused to come to Him for the renewal and refreshment that all of us, by our very nature, so desperately need and require. In other words, the visa or passport, the ticket, the invitation is just there for the asking, just there waiting to be received. Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift” (verse 17b).
“On a summer vacation to Colorado when my daughter was young, we stopped for an afternoon in Manitou Springs. This mountain town near Colorado Springs is known for its healing waters. There are self-guided tours for the eight naturally carbonated mineral water fountains located in and around the tourist shopping area.
“My daughter was delighted at each stop. She splashed and played and drank from all the fountains. We knew the taste of sulfur or other minerals in the water might not be to her liking, but she insisted on trying every single one we came across. She wrinkled her face in displeasure at particularly strong tastes but was never dissuaded from trying the next offering. She saw each fountain as a gift and approached it joyfully to drink deeply. Children are so often the reminder we need to accept the unexpected gifts from God when they appear and find the value in them all.
Moving Forward: “Do you joyfully accept the living water as a gift? If not, how can you work toward this childlike sense of adventure and delight?”