The Challenge of Seven Churches

"John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him

who is and who was and who is to come."

(from Rev. 1:4-8)

 

I am fascinated by the Revelation of John.

But I want to qualify how I understand Revelation:

    First, it was to the seven churches in Asia, not us.

    Second, John writes apocalyptic literature designed to reveal what's hidden.

    Third, he was persecuted and imprisoned on the island of Patmos for preaching about Jesus. The churches were experiencing persecution, so the visions were for the churches.

    Finally, Revelation is about a battle between the power of Rome and power of God.

The challenge John of Patmos faced was encouraging the seven churches to remain faithful to God as Jesus did.

In order to get his writing out to the churches without being seized, he used Biblical language, images, and symbols Roman readers wouldn't understand.

 That's what you do when you want to get notes past authorities. 

 For the seven churches, Revelation is a handbook about resisting Rome's power and remaining faithful to God's power.

 For them, the letters were not about the end of the world but how to remain faithful to Jesus in their world.

 For us, God's Word in Revelation is about Christians living faithfully in a broken, confusing world facing our own everyday experiences, struggles, and successes.

 For us God's Word in Revelation is living with an absolute conviction of Jesus Christ's truth that death does not have the final say.

 Revelation says to us that through Jesus Christ, "who is and who was and who is to come," we are given hopeful expectations for a future God has created.

 The New York Times reported the churches in Lviv were packed. They were there remaining faithful to Jesus and the God they trust who has given hopeful expectations for the future.

 Thanks  be to God, the Alpha and Omega.

Misunderstood Thomas

Then he said to Thomas,

“Put your finger here and see my hands.

Reach out your hand and put it in my side.

Do not doubt but believe.”

Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Thomas’ story is quite dramatic.

The drama begins when Mary arrives at the tomb.

There’s no body!!!

She tells Peter, who runs to the tomb.  

Sure enough, the linen, but no body!

Fast forward to a group of frightened disciples, except Thomas, gathered in a locked room.

Hearing unconfirmed rumors of a resurrection they don’t understand leaves them perplexed.

Jesus arrives standing among them saying, “peace be with you,” exactly what these disciples need to hear.

Jesus appears showing his hands, side, and scars.

Realizing its Jesus, they celebrate!

Here the misunderstanding occurs.

Thomas just wants to see Jesus’ wounds and scars end experience; peace and instructions to forgive.

It’s not about doubt; he just wants what the others experienced.

Jesus stands among them, scars and all, inviting Thomas to touch his wounds saying, “Do not doubt, but believe”

Doubt is an invitation along our faith journey.

The word “believe” translated from the Greek is Makarios, best translated as an adjective like “happy”, “content”, “at peace”.

Thomas has a revelation and praises God saying, “My Lord and My God!”

Today we lived in turned over worlds.

Some worlds turned over by their doing; scattering communities, broken promises, betrayal of a loved one.

Some worlds turned over create victims; alienated by wavering public opinion, persecuted and tormented by unsupportive, broken systems, demoralized by future hopelessness.

The message is: Sunday after Sunday by Word, Table and Spirit, Jesus shows up in our turned over worlds.

God's New Creation

But on the first day of the week,

at early dawn, they went to the tomb,

taking the spices that they had prepared.

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,

but when they went in they did not find the body.

Easter Sunrise services were a varied experience for me.

My first experience was an ecumenical group gathered in the town park on a chilly morning. 

Other experiences included worship in fog and drizzle on a hilltop outside a city; a small group gathered around a campfire reading scripture, prayers, and singing; on a hilltop standing in the snow with flurries drifting.

Often a light breakfast followed at a nearby church both for fellowship and thawing out.

A few hours later these people were in an Easter service at the own church filled with the excitement of Easter Lilies, enthusiastic disciples, and Easter hymns.

Easter Sunday creates a sense of God's New Creation.

Although each Sunrise service has it’s unique meaning, the group of us gathered around a campfire on a cold, somewhat dismal morning had a special meaning.

This Sunrise service represents the beginning of God’s New Creation in Jesus’ resurrection.

After worship and breakfast, we knew our mission was going forth and proclaiming the gospel to bring people hope.

When we live as Christ’s New Creation in a world seemingly headed for destruction by violence, abuse, death, and destruction, we are a sign of hope beyond the present.

The mission of Christ's new community is praying for and seeking the renewal of the world.

Easter is an annual event, but every Sunday is a “little Easter,” a weekly celebration of the day of resurrection  and a reminder that God's New Creation is a living certainty.

Every Sunday the Church claims the resurrection promise that God is making all things new.

 

Ride On, King Jesus

“Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it

you will find tied there a colt

that has never been ridden.

Untie it and bring it here.

If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’

just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”

(from Luke 19:28-40)

Ride on, King Jesus,
No man can a-hinder me,
Ride on, King Jesus, ride on,
No man can a-hinder me.

I was but young when I begun,
No man can a-hinder me,
But now my race is almost done,
No man can a-hinder me.
Ride on, King Jesus, ride on,
No man can a-hinder me.
(Songs of Zion 77)

The highway image is common in the Bible.

 For examples are Isaiah 35:8, the Way of Holiness; Isaiah 40:3, the highway in the desert for God; Matthew 21:1-11, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem riding a donkey.

Nicole Hill’s, The Donkey Elegies, describes donkey’s burdens too heavy for people, pulling carts loaded with dead soldiers or pallets of bricks.

American slaves experiencing brutal treatment could easily identify with Jesus’ suffering so a king that could not be held back was a sign of hope.

Jesus’s Way of Holiness, his brutal suffering, his cruel death, and astonishing resurrection, as the Son of God is a sign of hope.

American slaves could relate to Jesus as both divine and human and saw Christ’s suffering in a personal way. 

King Jesus understood their suffering experience and was their sign of hope.

King Jesus is our Way of Holiness when our burdens seem too heavy; when we’re trying to move unmovable loads; or when our race is almost done.

Ride on King Jesus inspire to us to be unhindered disciples who tell this story of hope!

Ride on King Jesus, ride on!

Lent 4: Yearning for God

"O God, you are my God; I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land

where there is no water. "

(from Psalm 63:1-8)

Elaine and I spent a lot of time walking and hiking in Acadia N.P.

We climbed several mountains, chose our favorites and climbed them again.

We hiked many of the carriage roads, including one two miles in and two miles out.
Those days are gone and we miss them.

It's a major effort to walk half a mile up the street, turn at the cul-de-sac and return home.

Sure, we could grieve our inability to repeat those walks and climbs, but God gave us the gift of celebrating our adventures.

So, we remember our past uplifting memories as we talk about the stunning views and the presence of God.

Just as we yearn to return to Acadia and climb mountains and walk carriage roads, so we yearn for God.

Yearning for God is a human experience along with the thirsting of our souls; our flesh fainting for God, as in a dry and weary land without water.

It’s possible David wrote this Psalm after Absalom, his son, organized a uprising against his father and was killed in the revolt’s battle.

David, yearning for God, wrote psalm 63 in the Judah wilderness expressing this longing and thirst for God's presence, power, and glory, during worship in the sanctuary.

Declaring God's steadfast love is better than life itself, he praises God aloud finding spiritual satisfaction and joy in meditating on God's goodness.

The assurance in these verses is in recognizing a profound sense of trust and God's strength and support when we face times of difficulty.