These concluding words of the Book of Revelation are a blueprint for the future mission of the Church:

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the former heaven and earth had passed away. I saw a holy city coming down out of heaven from God. I heard a voice saying, ‘Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. God will dwell with them, and they will be his people, for the old order has passed away.’”

A new heaven and a new earth. A new city. A new order. This is the blueprint for the mission of the Church.

Acts chapter 14, in the first reading, tells us about Paul and Barnabas. They’re coming back from the city of Lystra, where they led many people to become disciples. Something interesting happened while at Lystra, crippled man was healed as he was listening to Paul preaching the word of God. And then the Book of Acts tells us:

“When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they cried out, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’ They called Barnabas ‘Zeus’ and Paul ‘Hermes.’ The priest of Zeus brought oxen and garlands to the gates of the city, for he and the people wanted to offer sacrifice to them. But the apostles shouted, ‘Why are you doing this? We are human beings like you! We proclaim the living God, who made heaven and earth. In the past, he allowed all nations to go their own way, yet he gave you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons.’”

But even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowd from offering sacrifice to them.

Paul preaches a new order. It is no longer necessary to offer sacrifice to the gods who everyone thought controlled the rain and the seasons. There is no need any longer to fear the power of the gods. That is because the order of creation has been established by a God of love — who upholds this order and who empowers human persons, created in the divine image, to understand it and to care for it.

A new order begins to emerge in human history. As God is revealed to us more fully, we come to know ourselves as created in the divine image and we are able to go from cities build on mythic understanding motivated by fear, to a city built upon God’s revelation, motivated by love.

Recall that everyone at the time of Jesus understood the world as composed of different levels: heaven, earth, and some kind of underworld. Life was spent trying to figure out the way to escape from earth to go up to heaven. That is the old worldview. The mission of Christ can only work within a new worldview; a new heaven and a new earth.

Paul later writes to the Corinthians:

“Whoever is in Christ is a new creation. The old things have passed away, and new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and given us the ministry of reconciliation.”

In this new heaven and new earth, the renewal of creation depends now on us — and Jesus gives a new commandment to make that possible: Love one another as Jesus has loved us.

Eternal life is not found in a place above the earth. Eternal life is found in relationships — relationships of love — sharing in the life of God, who is love, a communion shared by Father and Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit. We are called to worry less about where we are going to end up, and to be more concerned about who we are going to care about and who we are going to love — because that is eternal life.

The Bible begins and ends with the image of creation and city building. First in Genesis, there is the image of humanity living in creation as a garden — the ideal image of humanity in all our potential, working in unity to care for all of creation.

Then comes the description of humanity in the condition of sin. Genesis 4:17 tells us that Cain was the first city-builder. But Cain does this after the murder of his brother, so the first city was founded on violence, motivated by the condition of sin. From this we have the building of the city of Babel, with its tower reaching to the heavens. It was a city set against the garden — as the image of the growth of human sin.

This poses the question: Can humanity grow and develop without hurting each other? Can we build civilization without violence? This was one of the concerns of the Second Vatican Council:

“The human race is passing through a new stage of its history. Profound and rapid changes are spreading around the world, triggered by the intelligence and creative energy of humanity… While humanity extends our powers in every direction, we do not always succeed in pursuing our own welfare… Although the world today has a vivid sense of its unity and of how one person depends on another, it is torn apart into opposing groups by conflicting forces.”

The power of the Risen Christ comes into this reality. Jesus says: “This is how all will know that you are my disciples — if you have love for one another.” This is how you will build the new city, the new civilization. But this demands courage. Love is not easy.

To love the way Christ has loved us means that we cannot use charity as an excuse for avoiding the challenge of confronting our problems. It is easier to give someone on the streets a dollar than to find ways to help them overcome the obstacles that led them there. It is easier to donate used clothing the poor and needy without having to think of what structures need to be provided so that they have an opportunity to come out of poverty.

Loving others as Christ has loved us means that we have to be honest with one another, as Jesus was honest with us. Out of love, we have to sit down as members of a family and discuss our frustrations. Husbands and wives have to strive for open, honest communication. Children have to be honest with their parents. Parents have to listen to the dreams and struggles of their children.

Loving others as Christ has loved us means that we cannot let anger become the occasion for violence. Especially, loving others as Christ has loved us means that we must replace all forms of violence with love. We must replace condemnation with forgiveness. We must replace criticism with encouragement. We must replace defensiveness with understanding.

Loving others as Christ has loved us means that we must be people of integrity. In our workplace, we have to represent justice and fairness in our dealings with others. We have to take the side of people who are being treated unjustly.

The apostles were not under any illusions about how difficult this was going to be. After Paul and Barnabas returned from their preaching, they met with the disciples and shared their experience. And they said: “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” Because loving others as Jesus loved us is not easy. It’s not easy to strive for honest communication. It’s not easy to be positive and encouraging all the time. It’s not easy to be just and fair all the time. But, this is how the new city is built. This is how the new order comes into being.

The new order is described in Revelation this way:

“Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. God will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order is passing away.”

As people who live within the reality of a new heaven and a new earth, we believe that it is possible for humanity to develop without hurting one another. We believe that we can build civilization without violence. We build the new city as we love one another as Jesus has loved us. We take the risk to love — even though it may be rejected. And we take the risk of dialogue — even though it may be misunderstood.

Friends, to love the way Christ has loved us, while it may be difficult, it is a choice, one that you and I need to make every day. It is worth taking because we are confident in the power of the Risen Christ working in us, for “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation. The old things have passed away, and new things have come.”