Revelation 21:1:   ‘… and in heaven there was no more sea…’

All agree – a wonderful Flower Festival this year.  And our thanks go to our Floral Artists, led by Dorothy Butcher once again.   And to all the back-up volunteers of the Festival, our caterers and stewards, sponsors and book sellers – all of whom have been organised by our Gearbox Group.  Well over 100 people have been involved in making our Festival a success and we thank them very warmly.

As a theme this year we took the national commemoration of the Trafalgar bicentenary, called Sea (S-E-A) Britain, especially because of our strong Nelson connections here at St Mildred’s, where Nelson’s daughter and only child Horatia lived in the Vicarage for over 30 years.   We have tried to explore the theme of the Sea in the Bible, and all around you in church today you will observe watery stories.

The greatest miracle of the Old Testament, the crossing of the Red Sea on dry land, is depicted here in the central aisle of the nave.  It was truly a perilous moment as Pharaoh’s army gathered to attack the Israelite escapees.  Were the people of God going to be slaughtered or drowned?  But Moses raised his staff and the Sea parted to the right hand and to the left and they passed through in safety – unlike the Egyptian army.

We heard in our Gospel reading about another dangerous moment when the disciples of Jesus thought they were about to drown on the Sea of Galilee, where sudden storms were and are notorious.  Jesus performed an amazing miracle as he commanded the wind and the waves to be calm.

Elsewhere in the church  you may see depicted the shipwreck of St Paul, described in the Acts of the Apostles.  In fact many were the times when Paul was in danger on the Mediterranean Sea as he carried out his great missionary journeys as an apostle of Christ – ‘three times was I shipwrecked, and once I spent a day and a night in the open sea’ he writes in 2 Corinthians 11.

So we deduce that in the narrative of the Bible the Sea is understood as a volatile and dangerous element.  And last December we had our own agonising experience of the same thing when the Indian Ocean tsunami killed a quarter of a million people in a few hours.

For this reason, in the penultimate chapter of the Bible, the 21st chapter of Revelation, St John the Divine suddenly says – in his great vision of heaven – that there was ‘no more sea’.  Incidentally, I sometimes wonder what congregations attending funerals make of these words when this favourite passage is read out – no more sea – what does that mean ?

Well, perhaps we can understand it better now.  The sea, beautiful and wonderful though it is, is also a symbol of the challenges and dangers facing the human spirit.   It is a symbol of the buffeting storms of suffering and loss that we have to go through – very often suddenly and unexpectedly – as we go forward on our earthly pilgrimage.

Perhaps worst of all, the sea was understood as a place of parting from loved ones.  As the ship sailed away across the broad ocean, it symbolised the wrenching grief of earthly farewells.  Perhaps the modern equivalent of this is the railway station as our loved one slowly moves away from us as the train departs.  Or the airport departure lounge, the final hugs before the long-haul flight to the other side of the world.

So when St John says there will be ‘no more sea’ in heaven, it is also a promise that there will be no more partings from those we love, but rather love-made-perfect in a timeless joy.

But as for now, in this life, there still is sea – in a physical sense and in a symbolic sense.   Sometimes we shall feel trapped and helpless on the brink of a vast ocean, like those ancient Israelites – no way out.  At times like this we must pray to Christ for the gift of faith, because this is what faith really is – the strength to carry on believing in the power and possibility of God when all seems helpless.

Sometimes we shall feel tossed about, battered and confused by the events of life, like the disciples on the lake during the sudden storm.  At times like this we must pray to Christ for the gift of courage, that in our lives too the storm will calm and we shall see our present dilemma through.

Sometimes we shall feel drained and empty like Paul felt on his missionary journeys – ready to give up the great struggle we have committed our lives to.  At times like this we must pray to Christ for the gift of perseverance that we may fulfil our vocation in life.

Sometimes we shall yearn for a loved one who has died and gone before us from this earthly life – at times like this we need to pray to Christ for the comfort of His love.   And then one day, when Christ will call us, we shall share the joy of Heaven with those we have loved on earth.

Faith, courage, perseverance, love – these will be Christ’s gifts to us as we sail across life’s earthly seas.  With his help we shall not be ship-wrecked or defeated.  For he has promised:  ‘Come unto me – and I will give you rest’.

Amen.