Book of Revelation – Salvaged Faith

All Things Renewed

Posted on May 22, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Revelation 21:1-6, 21:22-22:5

Many of you know that I love to garden.

Digging in the dirt is a spiritual practice for me.

Pulling weeds is cathartic.

There is nothing better than an afternoon spent tending and nurturing life in my yard.

And enjoying the fruits of that labor – whether the beauty of a flower or the taste of a fresh tomato – is nothing short of holy.

This year, my garden is being renovated.

Well, the entire back yard is being renovated.

Our retaining wall had started to buckle outwards and our deck was beginning to rot. Both needed to be replaced.

And so we found some experts to help us out and they have brought in big machines to tear everything out and recontour the land and prepare for what is to come.

Only, this has been a very weird and wet spring.

It was too muddy to work for weeks.

The new deck was completed in between storms and we are almost, finally, just about ready for the new retaining wall to go in.

Perennials were moved around in order to prepare for all of this work and most of them have found a temporary home in what had been my vegetable garden.

So right now, that space holds irises, black eyed susans, salvia, strawberries, herbs, and one gigantic pile of dirt.

I have spent much of this spring itching to get busy and get dirty and get to growing.

And I must admit, there are times that I feel a bit impatient waiting for it all to get done.

I can imagine… sort of… what it will look like when it is all finished… but we aren’t there yet.

Throughout our study of the Book of Revelation, we have kept before us a couple of truths:

Jesus is coming and will sit on the throne… and the powers of this world will not.
Only Jesus is worthy to transform the world as we know it into the world as God intends for it to be. And he does so not through violence, but through love.
Our job is to allow God to make us into a kingdom. The role of the church is to be a community of diversity, equality, and praise. We serve the Lord and witness to his glory.

John of Patmos looked around him and saw all sorts of problems.

Christians were being persecuted by Rome.

Churches were giving in to the lure of empire and siding with economic and national powers.

Or, they lost the energy and fire of their faith and grew lazy and comfortable in the world around them.

They didn’t see or respond to the needs of their neighbors.

They forgot to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who were grieving, oppressed, or lonely.

In some ways, they were like my retaining wall and deck… starting to fall apart, sagging, rotting.

And the vision that John of Patmos received is that the world as he knew it…

The world as we know it…

Needs to be renewed.

Renovated.

Made new.

I must admit that in the past I thought of this process in the Book of Revelation as wiping the slate of everything that was and starting from scratch… just like God created everything in the beginning from nothing.

I had a picture of everything being totally destroyed.

But the Greek word kainos is also used to talk about transformation, renewal, and renovation.

Eugene Boring writes in his commentary: “This world, God’s good creation, is not replaced but redeemed.”

The substance is the same, but it has been freshened up and it is better than it was when it started.

In other words, I’m still going to have a deck.

I’m still going to have a retaining wall.

I’m still going to have a garden.

But it is going to be way more amazing than it was before.

Today in our scripture reading, John of Patmos is given the blueprints, the architect’s rendering, a picture of what it will look like when all of the renovations are complete.

We aren’t there yet, and we have to use our imaginations, but we are at least given an idea of the process and are reminded what the key features have always been and always will be.

First: God dwells with us.

He is our God and we are his people.

And we have to remember that this isn’t anything new.

It is how God has intended it from the beginning when the Lord walked in the garden with Adam and Eve…

and led the people through the wilderness.

God became flesh and lived among us, the gospel of John tells us.

The Holy Spirit is poured out upon us and lives within us.

And in this newly renovated creation, God moves into the neighborhood and is intimately connected to our lives.

There are times we might forget this or turn our backs on God to embrace the powers of this world… but God has never left our side.

In this new creation, this truth will be so apparent that the glory of God will shine over every part of our lives.

We will not be able to hide from God’s light, but it will always be seen, always accessible.

In the world as we know it, there are places where things might stand between us and God, casting shadows.

There are times of night that feel like separation, but all of that will come to an end, and the radiance of God will known by all.

Not just morning by morning, but every day and night in every time and place.

God reminds us that these words are “trustworthy and true,” because God has always been faithfully present in our lives.

Second: There will be an end to sorrow, pain, and death.

We are shown a crystal clear river and a Tree of Life planted on each side, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and whose leaves will heal the world.

This image takes us back to the garden.

In the beginning, God gave humanity everything we needed to have abundant life.

But our sin, our turning away from God, our striving after what we thought we wanted, had consequences.

The pain of childbirth.

The violence of brother against brother.

The sweat and labor needed to produce basic necessities.

Death itself.

Magrey DeVega describes the promise we find in these chapters in this way: “God will not stop transforming the pain, heartache, and dark places of our lives until the moment with the transformation reaches ultimate completion in glory… All that humanity has lost in its downward spiral of sin is reclaimed and transformed by the power of God’s grace and power.”[1]

The curse, the consequence, is brought to completion.

God intends, as God has always intended, for there to be abundant life and health and joy.

Third: it is all happening right here and right now.

There is another theme that has been pretty consistent throughout the Book of Revelation that is important to remember.

On one hand, all the nations gather within this holy city, a multitude that cannot be numbered.

The gates of the city are always open.

But there is also a sense of exclusion.

There are some things that just don’t belong in the new heavens and new earth.

The message here is not one of eternal condemnation by a fierce and angry God.

After all, the Lamb of God has died for his enemies, defeated the spiritual forces of wickedness, broke the chains that held us captive to sin and death.

We now have a choice.

Just as John of Patmos wrote to the seven churches, we can choose the powers of this world or we can choose to live as servants of God.

If we choose to worship this world – its power, its practices, its glory – then we have separated ourselves.

Or as Christopher Rowland writes: “Rejecting the lure of the beast and Babylon is the criterion for inclusion in the new age. Sharing the diving reign is a key feature of the eschatological future. This is something already glimpsed by those who share the life of Jesus and are a kingdom of priests.”[2]

We choose to follow the Lamb.

We can reject the powers of this world.

We not only pray the words Jesus taught us: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” but we act upon our prayers.

Theologian C. Wess Daniels reminds us that “revolution and redemption do not happen someplace else, they take place right here with the material of the world we live in.”[3]

In other words… the world as we know it is not going to go away.

It will not all be destroyed.

And we don’t get a golden parachute to escape out of here… beamed up to some heaven light years away.

God is in the business of redemption and restoration and revolution!

The first will be last and the last will be first.

Nations and kings will be toppled.

The lowly will be lifted up.

And these promises are about the real people and situations that we are experiencing in our lives today.

This passage of scripture doesn’t say that God has made everything new, as if it is done and over with.

It doesn’t say that God will make everything new, at some point in the future.

God is making all things new.

It is happening all around us.

And as servants of God and followers of the Lamb, our work is to embody God’s presence among our neighbors.

It is to share God’s love and mercy with all we encounter.

Our job is not to hunker down, turning inward, but to reach out as disciples of Christ and work for the transformation of this world.

You know, my back yard right now is a mess.

It is a work in progress and not yet complete, but it is being transformed and even in the midst of the chaos there is work of tending and weeding and watering to be done.

This world is a mess.

There are nearly ten million people who have been displaced by the war in Ukraine.

We have lost one million neighbors to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Families in Buffalo and Milwaukee and Laguna Hills are grieving and entire communities are filled with fear because of the hatred and violence that stems from white supremacy.

The world as we know it is broken and bleeding.

But God is with us.

And God is at work transforming the pain and sorrow.

And God is calling us to be servants of that new creation right here and right now.

It is the work that we share through UMCOR – together we have allocated millions of dollars through grants to United Methodists in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania to welcome and care for refugees.

United Methodist camps in Estonia and the Czech Republic are being transformed to care for those who have fled the war.

Our Love Beyond Borders initiative has helped to supply 4.1 billion COVID-19 vaccines across the globe in 2022 through UNICEF and other Covid-19 responses have helped 300 partners in 57 countries provide equipment, education, and basic needs assistance to vulnerable communities.

Work within our denomination and conference, and even small group discussions in our church around anti-racism is equipping us to respond to hate, to take responsibility for our complicity, and to work towards a future in which all of our siblings can live without fear.

God knows we aren’t there yet.

But we know where we are going.

And with our eyes fixed upon the Lamb, each day we are taking one step towards that reality.

We are living more and more each day in the light and love of God.

And we do it with God at our side.

[1] A Preacher’s Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series Vol. 2, p. 202-203.

[2] Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 2, p. 489.

[3] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-of-easter-3/commentary-on-revelation-211-6-5

The Army of the Lamb

Posted on May 15, 2022Leave a comment

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.

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/revelation-1-11/

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.

The Center of the Universe

Posted on May 8, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Revelation 5: 11-14

Last week as we gathered for worship, we focused on the basic message at the core of the Book of Revelation:

“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.”

As John of Patmos receives this vision, this revelation, he also receives a word for seven churches.

The number “seven” we talked about last week can also mean completion, or totality, or all that is heaven and earth.

So in many ways, this is a message for all the churches.

There are some who started faithfully, but as they faced trials, they got tired and worn out.

Some who are going to be facing intense persecution.

Some who are torn apart by false teaching or who have a wishy-washy lukewarm faith.

Some who are on the brink of death and need to be resuscitated and others who are holding on even though they have nothing left.

And we are invited to see ourselves somewhere among this lot.

In the midst of the powers of the world that are competing for our attention are we serving God… or have we given in?

Are we as faithful and energized as we were at the start… or have we given up?

Are we sharing the love and message of God with the world… or have we embraced some other kind of message?

This opportunity to reflect and to hear a word of truth about our ministry is followed by a vision of what God ultimately desires for us.

https://www.fullofeyes.com/project/revelation-4

And so chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation give us glimpse of heaven itself in all of its weird and wonderful splendor.

We are shown the throne of God and the scroll that will show us how everything will come to pass.

It is a vision of what Craig Koester calls “a rightly ordered universe in which God is at the center.” [1]

Four creatures, full of eyes and wings represent all of creation and the elders represent the community of the faithful.

But not just these representative figures… the text goes on to talk about all living creatures.

Magrey DeVega describes, “dogs, elephants, hyenas, praying mantises, muskrats, and turtles… all of them… also human beings… regular, ordinary, common Joes and Janes. Not just one or two, but a legion of them… what John is painting here is a picture of concentric circles… and it all centers on a focal point.”[2]

And all of them join their voices in worship…

They understand that God is at the center of the universe… and they are not.

They relinquish power and turn it into praise… or as the familiar hymn reminds us:

Holy, Holy, Holy, All the saints adore thee, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea.

In our scripture for this morning, all of creation fixes its attention the throne and the one who sits on it.

All of creation erupts in praise.

God is the center, the source, the creative force of all life in this universe.

And that means that you are not.

That might be an obvious kind of statement, but how often do we act as if the world does revolve around us?

How often do we trample on the needs of others for our own comfort?

How often have we used and abused this creation, plundering its resources, rather than seeing it as a gift we are called to steward?

How often have we rallied around our own positions and policies – lifting them up as gospel truth?

How often has our nation declared itself a savior, the light of the world, the beacon of liberty?

How often have we claimed that our economic system is the only one that can truly bring happiness and wealth?

How often have I turned inward and focused on my own selfish desires rather than think about what I could do to bless my neighbor?

In the message to the seven churches, we are called to take account of our place in this world.

Are we serving ourselves? Or are we faithful to the kingdom of God?

Have we turned our gaze towards the powers of this world? Or are we focused on the one on the throne at the center of all creation?

This isn’t just about the ultimate end of the world as we know it… it is about the attitude and attention that we embody right here and right now.

There is only one who sits on the throne… and it isn’t you or me.

All throughout the season of Lent, we focused on the words of the Lord’s Prayer… the prayer that Jesus taught us.

We prayed for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

We prayed for God’s will to be done.

And within these chapters of Revelation, not only do we see the throne, but we also catch a glimpse of God’s will.

There is a scroll, closed up with seven seals, that represents the message, the story, of how we are going to get from the world as we know it… full of disease, disaster, and death… to this reality.

An angel cries out – “who is worthy to open the scroll?”

I don’t know about you, but I have this image of the sword in the stone, or Thor’s hammer… everyone is waiting and anxious and worried that no one will come, that none will be worthy.

But the faithful elders remember the promises of God.

One of them leans over to John and whispers – “Don’t weep. Look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has emerged victorious so that he can open the scroll…” (5:5)

So… John looks!

And what John sees is not a powerful lion, not a victorious king… but a lamb.

A lamb that has been slaughtered.

A lamb with seven eyes and seven horns.

A lamb who takes his place with God on the throne.

Worthy is the lamb.

Eugene Boring calls this “one of the most mind-wrenching reversals of imagery in all of literature… the one who has conquered did so not through violence, but by sacrificing his own life. This is the power that enables him to take the scroll from God’s hand and execute its contents, the divine plan for bringing history to a worthy conclusion and establishing God’s justice.”[3]

The one who comes to save us, to unite us with heaven…

He does not come with violence or power, but with mercy and sacrifice and love, poured out for others.

Only the Lamb that was Slain can answer the prayer “Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”

Now, I mentioned to you that we aren’t going to really dive into all of the difficult, weird, messy, complicated details of the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls.

But in many ways, the echo the chorus of the new song that all of creation is singing in Revelation chapter 5:

Only Jesus is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals.

Jesus is worthy because he was slain and by his blood he bought us all.

By his love and sacrifice he ransomed us all, redeemed us all.

And he made us into a kingdom so that we might serve and worship God on earth.

What we find repeated in the message of the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls is actually the story of how sacrificial love and mercy is what will transform the world.

It is not the four horsemen who unleash disaster and death…

It is not the plagues and locusts…

As the story of God’s people in the Old and New Testment show us – judgment and destruction do not lead people to repentance. They harden their hearts and continue to follow the powers of the world.

They are caught and tempted by the spiritual forces of evil and simply cannot escape.

God wins, empires fall, evil is defeated, not by the sword but by love.

Sacrificial love.

Jesus dies for his enemies.

And God’s army, the faithful ones, the witnesses, they are the ones who imitate the sacrificial love of the lamb and show God’s mercy to others.

They will know we are Christians by our love.

It is the power of God’s love that helps us withstand disaster and famine and overcome violence and war.

It is the power of God’s love that helps us hold on to hope in the face of threats and destruction and terrible news in the doctors office.

It is the power of God’s love that helps us focus on the Lamb, rather than the beastly forces of this world.

And it is the power of God’s love that will ultimately usher in the new creation – the new heaven and the new earth.

And the good news is, we don’t have to wait until the end of the world in order to live in the power of God’s love.

It is here, right now, all around us.

As Easter people, Jesus believe Jesus is coming and he will sit on the throne… and the world and all its powers will not.

Our work… right now… today as the church… is to allow God to make us into a kingdom, answer the call to serve, and to pour out love into this world.

May it be so. Amen.

[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/preaching-series-on-revelation-2/commentary-on-revelation-41-11

[2] A Precher’s Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series Vol 2, p. 199

[3] The New Interpreters Study Bible, p. 2221