They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace –
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
Alice is marrying one of the guards
“A soldier’s life is terrible hard”, says Alice.

They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace –
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
They’ve great big parties inside the grounds
“I wouldn’t be king for a hundred pounds”, says Alice.

They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace –
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
We saw a guard in a sentry-box.
“One of the sergeants looks after their socks,” says Alice.

They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace –
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
A face looked out, but it wasn’t the King’s.
“He’s much to busy a-signing things,” says Alice.

They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace –
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
We looked for the King, but he never came.
“Well, God take care of him, all the same,” says Alice.

They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace –
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
“Do you think the King knows all about me?”,
“Sure to, dear, but it’s time for tea,” says Alice.
—”Buckingham Palace”, From When we were very young by A.A. Milne (1924)

Christopher Robin went all the way to Buckingham Palace and didn’t see the King. Not much use going to the palace if you don’t see the King. But he asked the right questions didn’t he? “Will we see the King?” “Doesn’t he know about me?” Let’s not be distracted, as Alice was, by socks and supper. Let’s be visionary! Let’s see the King! That’s what the reading from John’s Revelation leads us to think about.

John was carried away in the Spirit and saw the city of God! What a sight!

I’d like to share with you some thoughts about the city of God, about the city in the new heavens and the new earth, and our vision for the city of God, here and now.

As Buckingham Palace was, the city of God is the place where the King is! It was important to Alice and Christopher Robin that the King lived in Buckingham palace. That was the point of their being there. Without the monarch, the palace is just another fancy building – no different from any other.

Notice the importance of the city’s foundation ” 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. … 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire … ” The foundations were apostleship (that’s what apostles do – build and lay foundations). The foundations are precious. We proclaim the faith built on sure foundations – the chief of which is Jesus Christ, the chief cornerstone, as He is called.

The foundations remind me of Abraham. Remember Hebrews 11? ” By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. . . . For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

The city is a place of light, glory and honour. Rev 21:23bff, “God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it.”

The City of God is a place of life and refreshing. After John has seen the city the angel showed him the river of the water of life “as clear as crystal, flowing down from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (22:1)

This echoes Psalm 46:4: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.”

The city of God is proclaimed much in OT psalm and prophecy. Some of this refers to Jerusalem and in particular to Mt. Zion within Jerusalem, the place of worship and kingship. For example, Psalm 87: ” He has set his foundation on the holy mountain; the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God [..] Indeed, of Zion it will be said, ‘This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.’ ”

As well, though, the Old Testament texts prophecy of the city of God to come – the “new Jerusalem”.

We could take this idea of the glory of the city I just mentioned as an example, by taking a favourite quotation from Isaiah 60: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. …”

Let’s look forward to the that great day when we shall see Him in his great glory, when we shall be part of the great city and kingdom of city of God, beautiful, pure, glorious and holy. Indeed, the proclamation of the kingdom, is one of the characteristics of God’s people. Let’s observe the work of God in building his city, his kingdom in our midst.

Just as we can have a vision for the city of God which is to come, let’s have a vision for the glory and holiness of Jesus to be seen in his Church here and now. A vision for the glory and beauty of the Church is an excellent thing. Like Christopher Robin, do we want to see the King? Do we want to see the glory of Jesus revealed in the church, in us, as well as his beauty and compassion?.

As we work, worship and pray together,

… let’s honour one another, as building stones in God’s house,
… let’s have a love for God’s family, because we see, acknowledge and respect the work of God,
… because we are a people of vision,
… a people who see God at work,
… at work building a city
… the glorious city of God revealed in us,
… a city revealed in a people whose light is Jesus Christ the light of the world