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A literary approach to Revelation Chapter 4+5
Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
This weekend, we are about to begin part three in our eight part series on the book of Revelation. And so far, we have yet to reach any of the really crazy stuff. So far, have talked about the guidelines for reading the apocalypse. And if you missed part one, I would really encourage you, if you have a chance, to jump on our YouTube channel or subscribe to our podcast through iTunes and catch up on that one. Because that message, in a lot of ways, sets the tone for how we're approaching this series.
Speaker 1:Especially, as we get to some of the more fantastical imagery that we're gonna start to hit tonight and then for the next five weeks. So, check up on that if you can. Last week though, Joel took us through chapters two and three, otherwise known as the seven letters to the seven churches. And even though we've only given one week for those, chapters, keep in mind, we've got eight weeks to go through 22 chapters, so we're moving pretty quickly. But even though we only gave one week to chapters two and three, that's really important to the overall message of Revelation.
Speaker 1:Because in those opening chapters, John is inviting all of us, everyone into the story. Joel talked about this a bit. But sometimes our tendency is to think of revelation as a book about the end times for the end times. Or at least a book that is for those who are deeply in the midst of severe persecution. And so if you're not, how do you relate to it?
Speaker 1:Well, what the opening chapters of the book tell us is that is not true, at least not exclusively. So to the church in Ephesus, John writes this, I know your deeds, your hard work, and your perseverance. I know that you have persevered and have doered hardships for my name and have not grown weary. To the church in Smyrna, he writes this, do not be afraid of what you're about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution.
Speaker 1:Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you life. So very clearly, there are people and there are churches that are suffering from persecution, and this letter is for them. At the same time, though, in the same section, John actually chooses to close the letters to the churches by writing to the church in Laodicea with this message. He says, you say I am rich. I have acquired wealth, and I do not need a thing.
Speaker 1:But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. So there are churches undergoing persecution and suffering in Rome. Some are enduring it well, others are not.
Speaker 1:But then there are churches that are suffering through blessing and complacency. They have what they need. Like, things are good, maybe too good. And so John writes to them to say, this letter, this vision, this repeat revealing is also for you. So this is not just a letter for those in the midst of persecution.
Speaker 1:This is a letter for all of us. And this is, in some sense, that spectrum that Joel talked about last week. That if you take the prophetic view of the Hebrew scriptures too far, you can start to think that material wealth automatically means spiritual wealth. Things are going well for you. God must be happy with you.
Speaker 1:Well, not necessarily, John says. Sometimes wealth and blessing and comfort can be its own curse if we're not diligent. So he writes to Laodicea, things are good, but God is not happy with you. At the same time though, on the other end of the spectrum, the apocalyptic worldview can be just as damaging if we take that too far. Because we can start to believe that we have nothing to contribute to God's story.
Speaker 1:That the world is going to hell in a half basket. It can't be saved. Let's just leave it to itself. And if we come away with that from Revelation, we will have equally missed John's point. Because for John, history is not doomed.
Speaker 1:The world is not disposable. And God intends through the revealing of Christ Jesus to make all things new again. And so this, as we begin the more apocalyptic language of the book of Revelation, is what we're looking for today. As we move into this more unfamiliar imagery, where in these pictures does John bring hope to his readers and into our conversation? And so that's what we want to hit tonight.
Speaker 1:But first, first, let's let's pray. Pray. God, we invite you to speak to us through your word, always. But in particular, as we speak of a book that is revealed with such artistry and such creativity. We ask your spirit to be with us, helping us to read and absorb, to contemplate and to understand what it is that you would say to us today.
Speaker 1:We invite you to challenge our assumptions and our presumptions. If we have too easily slipped into believing that material wealth automatically means spiritual health, then we ask that you would help us to slow down, that you would help us to give thanks to you for what we have, but also to listen for where you would discipline or rebuke, perhaps even heal our imaginations. Now we know that we have a lot to learn, and so we ask that our blessing is living here in Canada never get in the way of that journey. If we have too easily slipped into believing the opposite side of the spectrum that the world is lost, that history is beyond saving, that even your grace could not repair your creation, then we ask tonight tonight for your help in dreaming bigger, in believing wider, in trusting more completely in your power and your grace. And help us to remember always that you alone are sustaining and upholding all things with your grace and love.
Speaker 1:And so we ask that you grant us the peace to trust at once, that you are in control of history, but at the same time, that you have invited us to play a part in your grand reconciliation of all things. So in the strong name of the risen Christ, we pray. Amen. Now we have a lot to get through today, so we're gonna move quickly. But what I wanna do, to start is read a couple of verses to you from Revelation chapter four, and then I wanna spend some time unpacking the context and the imagery that John is going to be using in chapters four and five.
Speaker 1:So that at the end of the night, we can actually come back, and we're just going to read chapter five of the book of Revelation in the light of what we've talked about. Because I think that this is a really great section of Revelation that is a good example of how what may have seemed inaccessible at first can actually open up and make a lot of sense once we have some background in mind when we read it. So we're gonna start here in Revelation chapter four verse one. John writes, that after this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.
Speaker 1:At once, I was in the spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby, a rainbow like that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones, and seated on them were 24 elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumbling, and peals of thunder.
Speaker 1:And in front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. And also in front of the throne, there was what looked like a sea of glass clear as crystal. Revelation chapter four verses one to six. And now we're getting into some of the more prototypical revelation imagery.
Speaker 1:Things that are unfamiliar to us in our normal language. And from here, things are only going to get stranger. Because the next thing we're going to be introduced to in chapter four is four living creatures. Now not only that, but these are creatures that are covered with eyes. Each of them have six wings.
Speaker 1:One has the face of a lion. The second has the face of an ox. One has the face of a man, and the final one has the face of an eagle. And they come, and they praise this someone who sits on the throne at the center of this picture. And then we're told that these 24 elders that we just read about, they praise the one on the throne, and they take their crowns off their heads, and they lay them down before the one on the throne, and they say, you are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power.
Speaker 1:For you created all things, and by your will, they were created. So here we are. Thrones, crowns, elders, bizarre living creatures with wings and eyes all over. What is going on here? Well, the first thing we need to talk about are these four living creatures.
Speaker 1:And this is an image that comes actually from the book of Ezekiel. Now before I go to the book of Ezekiel, you should know this. That in the Hebrew culture, the images in Ezekiel were considered so bizarre and so powerful that the rabbis actually taught that anyone under the age of 30 should not read the first chapter of this book. So last series, we talked about the Song of Solomon and the prohibition on those under the age of 13 learning about Song of Solomon and the sexual imagery there. Ezekiel, according to the rabbis, is even more dangerous.
Speaker 1:So if you're under 30, put your earmuffs on because here we go. Ezekiel chapter one says, that I looked and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north. An immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. So similar kind of image. At the center of the fire looked like glowing metal.
Speaker 1:And in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance, their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their faces looked like this. Each of the four had the face of a human being. But on the right side, each had the face of a lion, and on the left, they had the face of an ox.
Speaker 1:Also, each had the face of an eagle. So a little different here. In John, the creatures each have one face representing the four. In Ezekiel, each creature has all four faces. But clearly, John is pulling from very familiar Hebrew image here.
Speaker 1:And that is not at all uncommon. There is a book called The Apocalypse of Abraham. Now, was not written by Abraham. It's a non biblical book, and it was written probably between the year '75 and January of the common era. So right exactly around the same time that John is writing the book of Revelation.
Speaker 1:And in one section of that book, the apocalypse of Abraham, the writer writes this. I saw under the fire a throne, and round about it the watchfulness of many eyes. Under the throne, four fiery living ones singing, and each had four faces. Each had the face of a lion, a man, an ox, and an eagle. And because of their four heads upon their bodies, they each had 16 faces.
Speaker 1:These guys are even crazier. And each one also had three pairs of wings from their shoulders, from their sides, and from their loins. So point is, this image of creatures with multiple faces, lots of eyes, and wings all over was actually a very common image in Hebrew literature. Shows up all over the place. And at its very basic level, what's going on in this fairly granted bizarre image is quite simple.
Speaker 1:This is an image of a rightly ordered universe. So the face of a wild animal, a lion. The face of a domestic animal, an ox. The face of a man in dominion over the animals, and the face representing the birds of the air complete picture of all creation surrounding God and giving him praise. Even the eyes all over, the watchfulness of many eyes, this represents wisdom and vision of what is right and true.
Speaker 1:So these creatures are wise enough. They see clearly enough to worship God perfectly. It's a very bizarre image, but it shows up all throughout Jewish literature, and it is a picture of a rightly ordered universe where the all of creation worships God. So John is pulling from a very established tradition of metaphor here. In fact, Christian theologians, came along, and they took these images of lion, ox, man, and eagle, and they ascribed them to the gospels.
Speaker 1:So a man named Saint Victorinus of Petruvium Petovium, actually, in the third century pointed this out. He said that God has given us four different images of Jesus that correspond to the different images in Revelation. Lion, ox, man, and eagle. And together, they give us a rightly ordered full picture of the Christ. K.
Speaker 1:So if the living creatures come from the world of the Hebrew imagination, where do these 24 elders come from? And this one is interesting because there is no real direct parallel anywhere for this in Jewish literature. John calls them elders here. In Greek, the term is presbyteroi. And that is a Christian term.
Speaker 1:It was used for leaders and overseers in the very early Christian communities. But this image of 24 elders who sit on thrones and who lay down their crowns before someone who sits on another throne. This is strange because this is not a biblical image at all. This is a Roman image. So we're gonna have to do some Roman history here.
Speaker 1:But just before the time of Jesus and well into the time of John, there was quite a lot of instability within the Roman Empire. Here on the screen is a list of the various Caesars and emperors who ruled over Rome. Now you've probably heard of Julius Caesar at the top, Not just from his orange juice, but because he went to war with the senate. And he won, and he declared himself the first emperor of Rome. And he was subsequently assassinated a few years later for his trouble, and this threw the empire into a long season of instability as people fought for control.
Speaker 1:Now eventually, Julius' nephew Octavian was able to defeat his rivals and declare himself Caesar Augustus. Augustus. And so that's why you see a gap between Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar. But Augustus, when he took control, was heralded as the one who had saved Rome. Because he had quelled the civil war, He took control of Rome and he brought peace back to the empire.
Speaker 1:Before him there had been a three way feud between all these different people who are claiming control of Rome. Augustus brought peace back to the empire. He was also a very shrewd leader and politician in addition to being a good military strategist. And so what he did was set about playing off his popularity to develop what we now call the emperor cult. Cult.
Speaker 1:And one of the things that Augustine was quoted as saying at his inauguration as empire emperor was this, I saw my father ascend to the right hand of God. What he meant by this was this, that his father, father Julius Caesar, who was actually his uncle, but we'll leave that aside for now, had not just been assassinated and forgotten, but that his father Julius Caesar had fulfilled his purpose on earth in establishing the role of emperor, and now he had taken his place among the Roman pantheon as a god. This made Augustus what? A son of a god. And this is how the emperor cult worked.
Speaker 1:The emperor was worshipped as the bringer of peace, the Pax Romana. The one who saved Rome, who saved the world, the one to which all knees should bow in service. In fact, there was a saying in Rome that we have printed on Roman coins that went like this. There is only one name under heaven and earth by which men can be saved. The name of Caesar.
Speaker 1:And so for Augustus, the emperor was not a god, but he was as close as one could possibly be. In fact, the emperor cult said that upon his death, the emperor would take his rightful seat among the gods. And so what this meant is a whole new economy developed in the Roman Empire. Because important cities, wanted to work to support and increase and maintain their trade relationships with Rome. And so they set out building new stadiums, new agoras, and new temples dedicated to whatever emperor was in power.
Speaker 1:We have records of a meeting in the city of Ephesus where delegates delegates brought brought golden crowns to Augustus at the dedication of a new temple. And they laid down their crowns as a way of saying that Ephesus was subordinate to Rome. Ephesus was in relationship with Rome. Later in the first century, by the time of Vespasian, it was almost assumed standard practice for the leaders of cities to do this. When Vespasian was acclaimed emperor in the year '68, he was given golden crowns from all of the cities across the empire that were inscribed with this, saying, our savior and benefactor, the only worthy emperor of Rome, Vespasian.
Speaker 1:However, during all of this time, the emperor remained a man. He wasn't a god. He was still a human being. You'll notice, however, there was another gap after Vespasian. Now Vespasian, when he took power, had actually taken steps to move the empire back towards a republic.
Speaker 1:So he gave a lot of power back to the senate, and he worked with making Rome more like a democracy. When he died, his son Titus took control. And Titus really continued in that direction. Now, Titus actually refused to take the title emperor for himself because he wanted to give more power back to the republic and the senate. But when he died, only two years later, unfortunately, his brother Domitian took the throne.
Speaker 1:And Domitian was something very different from his father Vespasian or his brother Titus. And the very first act that Domitian did as empire was to deify his brother. Even though his brother didn't want to be emperor, Domitian said Titus had joined the Roman pantheon and become a god. Then Domitian set about systematically dismantling a lot of the work of his father. He moved the center of government exclusively to what he called the imperial court.
Speaker 1:And so he made the senate openly obsolete and ceremonial. They had no, legislative function in Rome anymore. He saw Rome as a divine monarchy with him at the head. In fact, according to the Roman historian, Suetonius, and also to the Roman historian, Cassius Dio, Domitian gave himself the title, Dominus et Deus, Lord and God. And he required everyone to address him that way when he came in the room.
Speaker 1:And he set about ambitious plans to recapture what he saw as the glory of Rome under Augustus. So Domitian set about new wars so that he could expand the borders of Rome. He started massive construction projects in cities all across the empire, and he revived the emperor cult with a lot of renewed vigor. This time, however, with the emperor not simply as the son of a god, but as a living deity in Rome, dominus et deus. So massive changes under Domitian.
Speaker 1:In fact, in undoing the senate's rolling government, he emplaced them with what he called the imperial court. And it was a group of 24 counselors called presbuteroi, who represented the signs of the zodiac two times over. Over. And they would ostensibly advise the empire. But in practice, they were basically his own personal private choir.
Speaker 1:So they would travel with Domitian, and they would literally sing his praises when he entered a room. Domitian actually set up his own Olympic games. We all know the Olympics. They were around back in the time of Domitian, and there was an Olympic games while he was emperor. He felt like that wasn't enough.
Speaker 1:So he set up another set of games, this time called the Domitian games, unsurprisingly. And these were largely gladiatorial combat. But the opening ceremonies of the Domitian games involved imperial court dressed in white robes, wearing crowns inscribed with the titles of Domitian, leading the crowd in a song in worship to the emperor. This is what it said. Great are you, Lord and God.
Speaker 1:Worthy to receive honor and power and glory. Worthy are you, Lord of the earth, to receive the kingdom. Lord of Lord, highest of the high. Lord of the earth, God of all things. Lord God and savior of Rome.
Speaker 1:Now that's not enough. There was another fascination that drove Domitian, and it was not simply his power over the empire or just his ego being stroked by his imperial choir. Domitian was driven by a sense of destiny. Not his destiny, as if he had a plan or a vision, but the sense that he controlled destiny. So it was very common for the emperors to grant a major city the privilege of building them a temple.
Speaker 1:Now perhaps several temples would be built to the emperor all across the empire. But the emperor would choose or could choose what was called a Neo chorus. And that was a single temple that was the center of the worship of the emperor, the emperor called outside of Rome. It was essentially the officially endorsed temple. Domitian's neo chorus was in a city called Ephesus.
Speaker 1:And that is the Ephesus of the letter to the Ephesians by Paul. That is the Ephesus of the letter to the church in Ephesus from chapter two in Revelation. And Ephesus was a major seaport, a thriving trade center, and primarily known for the temple to the goddess Artemis in antiquity. But Domitian decides to build his major temple there. Not only that, he built it right on the water facing the seaport.
Speaker 1:And so capped off with the largest statue of any of the Caesars that we've ever found. It was the focal point to the entire city. It was the entry point into the gate and the central market, the Agora. And it was a massive two story building held up by 24 pillars. They're still part of the ruins that you can see today.
Speaker 1:Each of the pillars were carved into the likeness of a Greek god, and they all held up the roof on top of which was this enormous statue of Domitian. Here's an image of what remains of this statue right now. You can still find it. Just for scale, here is a poor tourist standing beside it who just happened to upload her picture to the Internet, and I found it. So there you go.
Speaker 1:But you see here, the head and the left hand of Domitian. Now, originally, in his left hand, he was holding a scepter. But one of the interesting things is that Domitian was generally depicted in all of his statues holding something in his right hand as well, and that was a scroll. So this is another statue of Domitian, and he is holding two things. One, a globe, and the second is a scroll.
Speaker 1:A scroll was an image in Rome. It was uniquely important to the Caesars because the scroll was a symbol of everything that would happen during the lifetime and the reign of that Caesar. So he's holding the globe to say he controls the world. He's holding a scroll to say he controls history. History.
Speaker 1:It was a reminder that the emperor alone writes history. And for Domitian, it was his will. It was his power that sustained and kept the world together. Once at the execution of an enemy, Domitian was quoted as saying, I cease to permit you to exist. That's what Domitian thought of himself.
Speaker 1:And so this is why this small tribe of Jesus followers that believed that the king of the universe came not in strength or power or displays of grandeur, but in humility and peace and suffering to the point that they refused to acknowledge any lord but Jesus, became a major thorn in the narrative of Domitian. Now it is not likely that Domitian unleashed systematic persecution and executions of Christians across the empire. We just don't have any historical evidence to make that kind of claim. Apparently, from John's opening chapters, we already know that some Christians were indeed doing fine under the reign of Domitian. Laodicea was fine, for example.
Speaker 1:But this was as long as they kept their head down, and they played by the rules, and they gave the emperor his due. For those that refused, however, the historian Ethelbert Staphauer writes this. Domitian was the first emperor to recognize that behind the Christian movement, there stood an enigmatic figure who threatened the glory of the emperor. So here's our scenario so far. We have a someone who's who we assume is God and who sits at the center of this scene on a throne.
Speaker 1:This person is powerful and strong. Flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder come from his throne. And around that throne, we have four living creatures covered with wings and eyes and faces all around, an e an image drawn from the Hebrew scriptures that represents all of creation. And, traditionally, these creatures sit in worship of God at the center, representing for us a rightly ordered universe. K.
Speaker 1:Good. This is what we're supposed to see. Right? This is what we expect in a Hebrew imagination of the world. Maybe those who say everything is okay is right.
Speaker 1:Maybe the Laodiceans are onto something. God's in control. We'll just keep our head down. Next though, we have 24 elders dressed in white wearing crowns of gold. This is an image drawn from worship of the emperor, in particular, the imperial court of the emperor Domitian and his 24 counselors.
Speaker 1:And as they take their crowns and they present them to the one on the throne, it becomes a little stranger. Now then they call out to the one on the throne, and they say, you are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things, and by your will, they were created. And it sounds beautiful, but it's also kind of eerily familiar to what we heard when we talked about the Domitian games. And so by now, we should be starting to wonder about our assumptions. What is going on in this scene.
Speaker 1:Because John is building an image bit by bit, piece by piece. And now what he wants to do is fully pull back the curtains in an apocalypsis to reveal what's going on. So let's go back to Revelation, and let's see how this plays out. And all I wanna do for you is read chapter five in the light of everything we've just talked about. And then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.
Speaker 1:And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll? But no one, not in heaven or on earth or under the earth, could open the scroll or even look inside it. And I wept and I wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, do not weep. See, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed.
Speaker 1:He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. So John hears about a lion, a powerful conqueror. Perhaps we wonder someone who can challenge the one who sits on the throne, but when he turns, that's not what he sees. Instead, he sees a lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne. Now encircled by the four living creatures and the elders, the lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Speaker 1:And the lamb went, and he took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures who represent all creation and had been worshiping the one on the throne. And the 24 elders who represent the power of government and had been throwing crowns down before the one on the throne, now they all fall down this time before the lamb. And they sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals. Because you were slain, and with your blood, you purchased for God persons from every tribe, and language, and people, and nation, and made them to be a kingdom of priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.
Speaker 1:And then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands, 10,000 times 10,000, to an uncountable choir. And they encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. And in a loud voice, they were saying, worthy is the lamb who was slain. To receive power, and wealth, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and praise. And then I heard every creature in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and on the sea and all that is in them saying, to the one who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and glory, honor and power forever and ever.
Speaker 1:And the four living creatures said, amen and the elders fell down and worshiped Revelation chapter five. But do you see what he's doing here? He's giving us an image of someone who sits on the throne. And at the start, we're meant to assume it's God. Right?
Speaker 1:God sits on the throne. But slowly, he makes us question that. He introduces unfamiliar images from Roman cultic practices, and we begin to wonder, maybe the emperor really is in control. Maybe Domitian is who he says he is. But just when we're ready to despair, just when we're about to weep, the lamb who was slain comes and takes the scroll, and he opens it up to read history to us clearly.
Speaker 1:And he shows us that in fact, it always has been God who's in control. God always has been on the throne. Domitian was never even part of the picture here. He's nobody. He's nothing.
Speaker 1:He doesn't even deserve a mention. See, this is not an image of confusion. And it's definitely not meant as a secret to elude you. This is John telling us in stark terms the emperor is not who he thinks he is. In fact, the emperor is not who we think he is.
Speaker 1:Because he is not a god, and he is not powerful, and he is not in charge, and he is not control of yours or anyone else's destiny. Real power may sound like a lion, John says. And we may describe it as terrifying. We may even confuse power at times for flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. But when we see it, when we really truly see power for what it is, it looks like sacrificial love.
Speaker 1:John says, to those who are either enamored with or terrified by the emperor and his cult, you are not the playthings or pawns held in the hands of an angry tyrant. You are the beloved children of the only one who is worthy to open the scroll and read your story back to you. This is how John begins his apocalyptic apocalyptic view of history. And it is not terror. It is not confusion.
Speaker 1:It is not bad news. It is the truth that love wins. That despite what you may see in the world around you as you go about your day at the very center of the universe is the undeniable truth that real power was never about being able to make someone do what you want them to do. That's not power. Real power is only ever about the ability to lay down your position and give up your strength, to set aside your privilege to even lay down your life for the sake of those that you love.
Speaker 1:And if that doesn't do something to your theology of God, then it should. Because what it says to me is this, that God is not worthy of our worship because he is the strongest, most powerful being in the universe. That is not why we worship God. God is worthy of worship because he is love. In other words, we don't worship God because he looks like Domitian, because he's bigger and stronger than the emperor, because he's more powerful than us.
Speaker 1:We worship God because he looks like Christ. And so perhaps, the challenge facing you today is the struggle to believe that God really is in control of history. ISIS is perpetrating unspeakable acts of barbarity in the name of God. World economies seem so inherently fragile and unstable right now. Politics, even in Canada, appears intractable as we retreat into partisan corners and refuse to speak honestly and openly with each other.
Speaker 1:And maybe it's about closer to home. And the price of oil is dropping. And all of a sudden, your position at work seems a lot less secure than it used to. Maybe relationships seem fraught with danger right now. You tried really hard, but you just dropped the ball on Valentine's.
Speaker 1:I don't know. Maybe cancer. Maybe debt. Maybe hurt, worry, anxiety. John is not trying to deny your pain.
Speaker 1:He's not telling anyone to pretend everything is okay or asking us to imagine that our struggle isn't real. In fact, John is acutely aware of just how hard life can be. Go back and read chapters two and three. As he speaks to the churches about how hard it can be to stick with the truth. And yet, for John, the universe, when we see it clearly, is full of hope.
Speaker 1:Because what he wants to sink deep into your heart to the spirit of God right now in this moment is despite what your eyes or your ears might tell you when you open the paper and you read about our world. He said at the very center of a rightly ordered universe is the sacrificial love of the one who came to make all things new. This is where the apocalypse begins. Not with dread and despair, but with the reminder that there is more care, there is more concern, there is more generosity, and there is more love in the universe than we could possibly begin to imagine on our own. And my prayer, as we begin to unpack these images over the next few weeks, is that you would be enlivened not to fear and confusion and dread and destruction, but enlivened to the spirit of God speaking grace and peace to your heart in the midst of your struggle just the way that John intended.
Speaker 1:For you to know that this is the revelation of Christ Jesus. And it is the reminder that love changes everything and makes all things new. Let's pray. God, help us in all of the ways that we look out on our world and we're confused by them. We see struggle.
Speaker 1:We see pain. We see anxiety. We see evil. And sometimes our temptation is to retreat away from the world to imagine that it can't be saved, that there can be nothing good in the midst of that. That the powers that be really are stronger than you.
Speaker 1:That the evil in this world can't be overcome by love. And yet in the midst of this image that John gives us, we are reminded that as crazy as things seem, at the center of a rightly ordered universe is the lamb who was slain, the sacrificial love of God. Help us to trust that that really is what reality is So that we can sink it so deeply into our hearts and our bones and our sense of reality. That we could be able to live out of that courage and that hope and that generosity and that love. That we could imitate your sacrifice, that we could model your generosity, that we could follow in your footsteps in the way that you love, and thereby participate in the grand narrative of reconciliation that you have begun in Jesus.
Speaker 1:God, for all the ways that we have misrepresented you or we have misimagined you in our heads. And we have thought that you are worthy of our worship because you're bigger than us, you're stronger than us, you're more powerful than the most powerful thing we can imagine. Help us to be reset and re centered and realize that you are worthy of worship, not for any of the things we could compare you to another leader or ruler about. But you are worthy of our worship because you are love. You are sacrifice.
Speaker 1:You are the one who comes to show us the truth of that. And so help us both to act rightly in this world in the light of your story, but also to worship you well for what you have revealed to us in this letter. In the strong name of the risen Christ, we pray. Amen.
Speaker 2:This is a podcast of Kensington Commons Church. We believe that God is invested in the renewal of all things. Therefore, we wanna live the good news by being part of the rhythms of our city as good neighbors, good friends, and good citizens in our common life. Join us on Sunday or visit us online at commonstrips.org.