Text: Revelation 7:9-17
Today in worship, we confirm and welcome twelve new professing members of our congregation and of God’s church. They will stand before us, confess their faith in Jesus, and promise to serve him in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races.
These twelve young people are taking their place as servants of God, followers of the Lamb, members of God’s kingdom.
They are joining in the multitude of those who are standing before the Throne.
In this Easter season, we are exploring together the powerful message of hope and new life that we find in the Book of Revelation.
It isn’t a book that we read a lot, probably because it is full of cryptic language and messages.
In fact, in the creed that our confirmands wrote, they describe the Bible as “confusing at times…” and this is a sacred text that even I, your pastor, have a hard time figuring out.
But as our students also proclaim, when we study God’s word, we are challenged and we grow in our faith and understanding.
What we have discovered so far in our study of this text are a couple of simple truths.
First – This is a book of hope with one consistent message: “Jesus is coming and he will sit on the throne… and the world and all its powers will not. Our work is to allow God to make us into a kingdom, to serve as priests, and give God praise.”
No matter where we look, no matter what chapter, this message helps us understand what we might read.
Second – as we talked about last week – the Book of Revelation also tells us about how God will transform the world as we know it into the world that God intends:
Not through violence and destruction, but through the sacrificial love of the Lamb.
Only the Lamb is worthy.
Only the Lamb is able.
As part of the message last week, I talked about these three cycles of seven that we find in the scriptures: the seven seals of the scroll, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls.
In this rendering from the Bible Project, we get a glimpse of how these three cycles repeat and overlap.
Each cycle starts with destruction and devastation – but the message that follows is a reminder that destruction and devastation will not transform the hearts of the people of this world.
People continue to be persecuted and suffer, hearts are hardened, the nations will not repent, everyone and everything is caught up in the chains of evil and by spiritual forces of wickedness.
What we need is someone to break the chains of sin and death and set us free.
Only the Lamb is worthy.
Only the Lamb is able.
Only the Lamb can lead us to the Day of the Lord and usher in the new heavens and the new earth.
But here is the thing… when the Lamb confronts the beastly forces of the world, he does so not with violence, but with love. With faithfulness. With sacrifice.
His robes are stained with blood… not from his enemies, but his own blood given for others.
His only weapon is a sword that comes from his mouth… a word of judgment and redemption.
There is no fight, only victory, and the army of the Lamb simply sings in praise.
In each of these three cycles, we find not just the Lamb, but we also find those who are faithful.
Chapter Seven describes the diverse community of the ones who are sealed, or baptized – and who follow the Lamb.
This group shows up again in repeating images of a battle between the beastly forces of evil, power, and oppression and the Lamb (12-14, 16-20).
Chapter Eleven describes two faithful witnesses, called “lampstands” – an image John has already told us is a symbol of the church. These witnesses show us the mission of the church – to imitate the loving sacrifice of the Lamb – even to death – and share God’s love and mercy with the world.
Today, as our confirmands profess their faith, we are going to look at what our job is as those followers of the Lamb and servants of God. So what, in all of this, is the role of the church?
With forces of evil and natural disasters and disease and death all around us – what is our role?
First – we have to make a choice.
God wants to make us into a kingdom, but that means that as individuals and communities, we need to reject the kingdoms of this world.
Rather than compromise and give in to the national, economic, and spiritual forces of the world, we are called to declare our allegiance to the Lamb.
And one of the ways we do that is through our baptism and our confession of faith.
Our baptism is described as a seal upon our foreheads, a mark of God’s love in our life.
It stands in contrast to the mark of the beast – or the ways we declare our allegiance and support of the powers of this world.
When we join the church, we stand in public and we renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of our sin.
But we don’t have to do that alone.
You see, we also accept the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.
War, famine, and disease?
Natural disasters?
Beastly forces?
Hate crimes and white supremacy?
Peer pressure?
Temptation?
Persecution?
“Who is able to stand?” the people of the world cry out when they are surrounded by the forces of destruction (Revelation 6:17).
The people of God can.
And that is because the Holy Spirit lives within us.
Because we have fixed our eyes upon the Lamb.
Because we chosen the way of love and mercy.
Second – once we’ve made that choice, we can be witnesses to all of the world of how God intends for us to live.
We are called to embody diversity, equality, and praise.
Last week, I talked about how John of Patmos heard one thing and then saw another.
He heard that the Lion of Judah would be the one to save us, but when he looked, he saw a lamb that was slain.
In the same way, chapter seven starts with one of these reversals.
John HEARS that the people who are sealed, who have chosen to serve God number one hundred forty-four thousand, and come from the twelve tribes of Israel.
He HEARS a sort of military census describing one ethnic group.
But then he LOOKS.
And as our scripture for this morning tells us, he SEES more people than anyone could count.
And they aren’t all the same.
They come from every nation, every tribe, every people.
It is a vision of Pentecost and Palm Sunday all rolled into one with the multitude before the throne waving palm branches and crying out their praises.
John SEES the church that Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races.
He has a vision of a community, as Magrey DeVega writes, “where all people, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, age, socioeconomic status, and background are included in this grand cosmic party.”
When we follow the Lamb, we work to become a community that welcomes all people and who intentionally reaches out and keeps expanding our circle of welcome.
But there is something unique about this diversity.
There is also a sense of equality.
Rather than clothed in their own garments, they are all robed in white.
There is no distinction between them.
No one is more important.
No one is above anyone else.
John has a vision of a community that acts, again in the words of DeVega, as “servants to one another, considering each other as equals, treating others as we would want to be treated ourselves.”
When our young people join the church today, they might not yet be able to drive, but they are just as much a part of the professing membership of this church as those of you who have been members for 65 years.
We are all called to do our part, to use our gifts.
And we are all called to celebrate and encourage and lift up the value and dignity of one another.
When we follow the Lamb, we work to become a community that reaches out to a world of hierarchy and division to proclaim that all are equal and all are children of God.
This community also has one more witness to offer to the world.
It is a community of praise.
They wave palm branches.
They fall before the throne.
They cry out in worship.
When they show up again in later chapters, they do so with music and song.
All of them are focused on the throne and the Lamb of God.
It is a vision of a church that DeVega describes as “clear about its priorities. Not becoming more club-like, but more Christlike… a church that directs the world toward the glory of the risen Jesus.”
In our vows of membership, we don’t just confess our faith in Jesus, but we promise to serve as Christ’s representatives in the world.
We commit to being living witnesses to the gospel, the good news of Jesus.
Now, you might do that through song or through words, but it might also be through your actions.
It might be through the attitude you bring to your work or the way you encourage others in your school.
It might be through the offerings we lift up for UMCOR that are used to make a difference in the lives of people around the world.
But in all that we do… inside and outside of the walls of this church… we do so in the name of Christ.
And part of what we proclaim is the truth of God’s will for us.
We read about it this morning at the end of chapter 7.
We believe God’s will for all people is that there would be no more hunger or thirst…
No more hardships or difficulty…
No more grief or tears…
And whenever we respond to natural disasters, or support refugees fleeing from war, or to visit with a family that is grieving, we are turning those praise and prayers into action.
When we follow the Lamb, we work to become a community that helps others to experience the love and mercy of God.
What we don’t find in these chapters is a promise that once you are baptized or sealed or become a member of the body of Christ that everything is going to be easy.
We are not immune to the challenges of this life.
Instead, we find we have the strength to go through whatever might come at us.
We can stand in the midst of it all, like a lighthouse, a beacon, a lampstand, giving others hope and strength.
And we do so together.
With one another and with God by our side.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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