| Grace to you and peace from him
who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven
spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ,
the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and
the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves
us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made
us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father,
to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see
him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all
the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. ‘I
am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God,
who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
(Also see 2 Samuel 23:1-6) |
|
| Revelation 1:4b-8 |
| I, like John, had an experience at the Holy Grotto of the
Revelation, on Patmos Island, Greece. Unfortunately mine was
one of queasiness. It was the fourth day of the Footsteps of
Faith trip and we visited the Grotto immediately after a very
hot and rough 3 hours at sea on a small, old, run down, exhaust
spewing hydrofoil. Having thought we were on a larger, faster,
better smelling boat, I didn’t take any motion sickness
medicine. The grotto was filled with the aromas of powerful
incense and clouds of smoke, which added a new dimension of
pain to my stomach’s misery. |
| Even with an unsettled stomach to deal with, the mysterious
aura of the little cave in which the writer of Revelation is
said to have received a revelation from Jesus Christ and penned
it to the church, conveyed to me a palpable presence of the
sacred. It also became vividly clear to me from the history
of the cave and the island that the vision given in Revelation
came in a very different context from our lives today. |
| For the Christian in exile on Patmos, a man at the mercy
of the Roman Empire, (a man called John by church tradition),
the experience of Christ recorded in Revelation was one of
comfort. The Revelation John received, and Jesus Christ’s
return as recorded within, heralded good news of God’s
triumph over all that threatens to destroy God’s creation.
Yet the Book of Revelation disturbs rather than gives solace
to many Christians today. There is no reason for the apocalypse
of John to disturb us. We believe that Jesus reigns with God
and the Spirit, over all that ever has been—all that
is and all that will be. |
| The “medium is the message” in Revelation! (1) The vision was given to John and John accepted it as good news,
as a revelation to rejoice over. Today we need to understand
Revelation in its historic context. Many images allude to events
of the first century world. But the notion that it is full
of codes, now broken, that tell us exactly what will happen
when Jesus returns is an attempt to make Revelation into something
it is not! It is a vision of good news, of God’s power
manifest in Jesus return, of all wrongs made right. Revelation
is not an exact map of “the end” in the scriptures.
It’s a vision of what the end means instead. |
| Novels like the Left Behind series relay a theology that
a few lucky believers will be taken bodily into heaven just
prior to a Tribulation period, and will be spared some horrible
fate awaiting those left behind on earth! This teaching is
fiction by scriptural standards, which tell us all will be
judged by our just and merciful Savior. Premillennial dispensationalism,
or rapture theology, is the creation of the nineteenth century
fundamentalist C.I. Scofield (1843-1921). Scofield popularized
the ideas of J.N. Darby (1800-82) who first introduced the
doctrine. Premillennial dispensationalist theology has only
dominated Christian prophetic belief in the second half of
the 20th century to today. |
| So what I want to know is why do we fear, why are American
Christians so enraptured with rapture theology, when we know
that it is Jesus Christ who will return to continue his reign
of truth and justice? |
| Dr. Barbara Rossing who has written a book The Rapture Exposed:
the Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation, was asked in
an interview, “Did you grow up hearing about the rapture?” She
replied, “I grew up Lutheran, so I never encountered ‘premillennial
dispensationalist (or rapture) theology.’ My first exposure
to it came in college, where I was intimidated by the people
who referred to Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth.
I didn’t know how to respond to the Christians who were
saying, ‘If you don’t believe this you’re
going to get left behind.’” Later in an interview
Rossing was told, “On 60 Minutes LaHaye (one of the authors
of the Left Behind series) referred to your Jesus as a ‘wimpy
Jesus’”. Rossing answered, “If a loving Jesus
means a wimpy Jesus, then Christianity is in trouble. But I
don’t think it does. We have to refute those who equate
a loving Jesus with wimpiness. The Jesus in Revelation is very
powerful, but he conquers in a different way—not by killing
people but by being killed, by giving his own life.” (2) |
| It is true that the scriptures share with us in numerous
ways that all of humanity and all of creation will be judged—and
we believe judged by God in Jesus Christ. What exactly will
the judgment look like? The truth is no one knows. We place
our trust in a sovereign, loving, merciful God. |
| Reign of Christ Sunday focuses us on the good news of Jesus’ rule
over all as we wait for Christ’s return. One of the Monday
Morning Bible Study’s readings told us, “the Feast
of Christ the King was instituted by Pius XI in 1925 to celebrate
the kingship of Christ as a way of combating the destructive
forces of this age.” (3) Sounds like something we need
now just as much as the church needed it in 1925. The commentary
went on to say that looking toward Jesus’ return is intended
to teach us that we are “drawn together in Jesus’ Spirit
and we press onward toward the consummation of history which
fully corresponds to the plan of God’s love: ‘to
unite all things in Christ Jesus, things in heaven and things
on earth.” |
| When we read Revelation we have to engage our imaginations.
Can what was given as a holy vision, a revelation, be broken
down to mark the exact way God will bring about the reconciliation
of all that is—when scripture, including Jesus’ testimony,
refuses to state exactly how the judgment will happen? |
| King David’s last recorded words express his confidence
that through his house Rulers would arise “who rule over
people justly, ruling in the fear of God” and those who
rule this way are like “the light of morning, like the
sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on
the grassy land.” The One who fulfills David’s
kingly line to rule with ultimate justice and righteousness
is the One we see in John’s “Look! He is coming
with the clouds!” |
| As our moment for meditation states, there is not an area
of our lives that Christ does not reign over. From our creation
to our death and living in God’s eternal care, we are
in the compassionate and loving hands of our savior, Jesus
Christ. We have nothing to fear as we anticipate Jesus’ return
to fulfill God’s saving plan for the world! |
| In the meantime, it is our vocation to recognize and live
like we trust the One who said at the end of Revelation, “Behold,
I make all things new.” |
| We live trusting God with our lives and for our death as
Jesus did. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” The
God “who is and who was and who is to come” is
the holder of our lives. We are in good hands. |
| “Here at the end of the church year, after living through
another cycle of hearing the story of Jesus' life, of being
taught by him in miracle and parable, we come to (give thanks
for the reign of Christ over our lives). After another year
of living our lives, burying our dead, baptizing our babies,
marrying and divorcing, struggling and thriving, we bring all
of the year's experiences to the climax of this day. We lay
it all back at the feet of the one enthroned on the cross,
giving thanks. It's great to be a people ruled in love and
mercy.” (4) |
| Amen |
| Beth E. Godfrey - Novenber 26, 2006 |
| Central Presbyterian Church, Geneseo, New
York |
| (1) The New Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary in
Twelve Volumes, “The Book of Revelation” by
Christopher C. Rowland. |
| (2) “Living Joyfully in an Apocalyptic Time: End
Game” by Barbara Rossing, in The Christian Century,
November 14, 2006. |
| (3) Fred B. Craddock, John H.Hayes, Carl R. Holladay, Gene
M. Tucker, Preaching Through the Christian Year: B (Trinity
Press International: Harrisburg, PA, 1993) 474. |
| (4) “Royal treatment” - Living by the Word – The
Christian Century, Nov 15, 2003 by Mary W. Anderson. |
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