Revelation 1-3 (excerpts)

"The New Journey: Church"

A Sermon Preached by The Rev. Douglas M. Donley

April 10, 2005

University Baptist Church

Minneapolis, MN

Revelation is the most misunderstood and misused book in the Bible. When I say I like Revelation, people look at me suspiciously, like maybe I have lost my marbles or something. I confess that I have read most of the books in the Left Behind series. All of these books are at the least a distortion of Revelation and at worst accomplish the exact opposite of what Revelation seeks to do. For instance, the Left Behind series begins with the concept of the rapture. The rapture is based upon one obscure passage from the book of Thessalonians and has absolutely nothing to do with the story found in Revelation. Most responsible scholars believe the rapture is a metaphor, like most of Revelation. Our problem is that we have literalized the metaphor of the Bible with disastrous consequences.

This coming week, there will be a new TV miniseries called Revelations which deals with the supposed end-times signs. I fear that this will be another misinterpretation of Revelation designed to make us complacent with our own world. It will likely make us afraid of the wrong thing.

A Sacred Harp singing friend who was in church last Sunday said, "I need to find out why it is that you love Revelation so much." Well here it is:

Revelation is an anti-empire book. Revelation is a violent book, like most apocalyptic writings. Empire uses might and abuse to wield its sword against anyone who would disagree with it. Revelation paints this picture in graphic detail.

Revelation also acknowledges that there is another reality out there. As you read through Revelation, you constantly hear the refrain from the heavenly chorus singing things like "Worthy is then Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing." "Hallelujah. The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ and He shall reign forever and ever." "Holy, Holy, Holy is the God of hosts." And so on. These songs, this heavenly music reminds the readers that even when all hell is breaking loose on earth, God has already overcome. The long arc of history bends toward justice and the faithful witnesses will see the new Jerusalem. We’ll talk more about that in a few weeks.

Revelation is a book written to seven persecuted churches on the brink of extinction. It envisions a new way to look not only at the world, but also what churches need to be in the midst of apocalyptic hell on earth.

Listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches is the refrain offered throughout the book of Revelation. You can't notice it really by just looking at one passage out of context. But when you hear it over and over again, you realize that there is something that needs to be heard and paid attention to. It's like when someone who is telling you an awful pun or the punch-line to a joke, and that person just repeats, "do you get it?"

Those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Look at the Spirit gathered here, won't you? We have the trappings of church here, don’t we? We have the hard wooden pews. We have the organ. We have the preacher dressed in white. We have the education wing. But remember a church is not defined by its appearance, but by its actions and by its Spirit. Revelation calls us to be a people of action and faith when the rest of the world sees our faith as madness.

We are a church on the edge in a worldly sense. The things that make a church a church in many people's eyes are antithetical to what we have become. Our justice stance is out of step with what the media knows as Christianity. We are a church that some would send into exile. As such, we are a church that depends upon the Spirit. But it's not always easy to pay attention to the Spirit.

The writer of Revelation spoke in code to those churches because it was a time when churches were being persecuted. For believing the blasphemy that Jesus is Lord and not Caesar, Christians were being beheaded , drawn and quartered and persecuted in ungodly ways. Worldly Caesarian ways were the rule and it became hard to separate between church and state. Believers were being swayed by opinion polls and people were getting confused. Theose who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The hero of the book of Revelation, for example, is the lamb, which symbolically refers to Christ. The enemy is the beast, which likely refers to the Roman Emperor Nero. The beast does the work of the dragon, which refers to Satan. The lamb, of course, does the work of God.

However, the writer of Revelation makes it very clear that it is difficult for all but the most astute to tell the difference between the lamb and the beast. The beast appropriates the language of the lamb in order to win support and confuse the faithful. That is why it is so important to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. Don't listen to what the beast is saying. But it gets confusing.

Think of it these days.

Need we even talk about the way pundits and leaders have wrapped themselves around the flag and the Bible telling us that there is only one party that is God’s party. There is only one way to believe. There is only one way you will not be deceived. And yet, while the leaders say this, unchristian things are happening. The poor are continuing to get marginalized. The rich are getting richer and the poor are being sent empty away.

Gas prices go through the roof and there is little or no concern about the environment even thought they hide behind catchy names like the Clear Skies initiative. Look at some other examples of the double-speak:

No child left behind really means de-funding public schools.

Academic Bill of Rights means having only one thing being taught in school.

Clear Channel actually means monopoly control of media, making things less clear.

This is not new: The Christian Coalition uses the title of our faith and appropriates it to support partisan politics. Ten years ago, on the heels of the Contract with America the Christian Coalition came up with the so-called Contract With The American family. It had a great title. But we all know that it was a contract with white upper middle class heterosexual, nonimmigrant first world families. It was a contract against all of the rest of us and as such could not be Christian. The Clinton administration bought into this too, lest I sound too partisan, here. Remember Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and Welfare reform?

Those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The beast shuns inclusivity and embraces orthodoxy and litmus tests for membership. The beast has only one interpretation of one translation of one Bible and conveniently ignores certain scriptures about love, lack of judging, care for the poor, welcoming the stranger, and the list goes on and on. Those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Hear what the writer of Revelation lifts up as important: Bear the faithful witness. Have patient endurance and be not afraid.

Faithful witnesses are the ones who are willing to be faithful even when it could cost you your life. In Revelation, you have those who have exchanged their white robes for red. This means that they are beheaded for following the Gospel. That was the stakes in those apocalyptic times. Christianity was a matter of life or death in this world. If you were one of the few who could have the faithful witness, you might well be killed for it. Not a pretty sight, which is why the churches were so fragile and yet also why they were so vitally important.

Patient endurance is probably best translated as persistent resistance. The church community is where you can garner the strength and support to persistently resist the powers of empire with its creeping tentacles of influence and seduction. We need to be constantly vigilant against the powers that would distract us from the work of the lamb.

Finally, we are to be not afraid of the apocalypse that is around us. We are not to be afraid because the called out church, full or faithful witnesses and persistent resistors are on God’s side. God has overcome the world as the heavenly chorus reminds us throughout the book. The church, when we are at our best is the outpost of hope. It is the community of comfort, truth-telling and action which reminds us and encourages us to be the faithful witnesses and persistent resistors that will change and reclaim the world.

So, see if any of these churches sound like ours.

The church of Ephesus: I know your toil and your patient endurance. You know the difference between true and false prophets, but your love is lacking, and you need to reclaim that. In your righteousness, you have abandoned your love and your joy. You need that. Those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The church of Smyrna: I know your affliction and your poverty. But you are rich in Spirit! Watch out, because some of your members are about to be killed for what they believe. Don't sway from the truth, for the truth will ultimately save you. Those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The church in Pergamum: You are living in the belly of the beast. That's a hard place to live. Yet, you are holding fast to the truth. You have resisted the temptation to deny Christ. Good for you. But even within your own church you are divided. You need to still do healing inside your church. Those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The church in Thyatira: I know your works--your love, your faith, your service, your patient endurance. You are getting better all the time. But still, many of you are swayed by your own temptation. I will judge you on the basis of your works. So keep getting better and seek the word of God. Those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The church in Sardis: I know your works. I know your material wealth and your luxury make you feel great and alive, but you are really dead. Wake up and smell the coffee. You have some good folks in your church follow them and you will all be saved. But if not, woe is you. Those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The church in Philadelphia: I know your works. You have walked through the open door. You might think you have little power, but your patient endurance shows that you have lots of power. Because of all that you have done, I will save you. Those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

And finally to the church in Laodicea: I know your works, you are neither hot nor cold, How I wish you were hot or cold, but since you are lukewarm, I will spit you out. For you say, 'I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.' You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. I tell you to repent! Those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The writer of Revelation is not so concerned about converting outsiders to the church's cause. That is important, but it is not the focus of the book. The focus of Revelation is survival and being able to thrive amidst terrible distress. Those who follow the Beast, do not have ears to hear, often. But to those who do have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

So, Revelation is written to the righteous remnant to hear what the spirit is saying to the churches. The Spirit knows our works. The Spirit sees our struggles. The Spirit grants hope to those who through patient endurance keep the faithful witness. The challenge for us, then is to listen to the Spirit.

How do you listen to that Spirit, you may ask? Well, that is a lifelong process. It takes commitment. It takes humility. It takes work. But it is possible. The Spirit, we know, moves in many different forms and can be hard to discern. Paul Tillich said that the beginning of faith is doubt. Asking the right questions are vitally important. It makes sense to look at the most difficult places in order to find the voice of the Spirit. Listen to what scares you the most. Listen to your enemies and try to find what makes them think the way they think.

I was a t the capital on Thursday at Outfront JustFair Lobby day. I passed out numerous copies of our UBC statement supporting marriage in all its forms. At one point there were three dozen clergy standing on the platform to say that God loves all people regardless of sexual orientation and that all people needed civil rights, including marriage rights. I found myself sitting next to someone in the Senate chambers who disagreed with our statement. She and I got into a long discussion about this. I told her the stories of our church community and the hopes and dreams of my sisters and brothers. We both exegeted Scripture and tried to respectfully argue the key points. I was tempted to stay on the platform and amid the 5500 other people who thought like me. But the challenging place to be was bearing the faithful witness with patient endurance. I’m not sure I did such a good job there, but it was by far the most significant encounter of the day. It was important because it showed me a window into the hopeful future for which we all work—where we can discuss deeply held beliefs in safety and without fear. This is where we can find the truth for our future, I believe.

As we listen for the spirit, we need to be careful not to be defined by the agenda of our adversaries. We need to pray and listen to the stories of those who have struggled and are struggling. And of course, listen to the joy, the hope the pain of others. For that is one major place where we discern direction and hope for our world. In your discernment, don't be lukewarm. Lukewarm people are not good for anyone, and the Spirit wants to spit us out.

We have found that the Spirit has spoken to us most clearly in the midst and aftermath of adversity. When we are living as the church on the limb, we find the excitement, the joy and the hope which we all need.

I have to believe that when the early persecuted churches got together in their little masked churches and their storefronts or in their houses where they worshipped, that they sang and they laughed a lot. We need that. There is an utter joy in knowing the truth. It makes you free.

Today, as we gather here, we are listening again with new ears and we are all eager to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

So to all of you who have felt pain and struggle, you people who have questions burning in your hearts, you people who have needs so deep that you cannot handle them alone, the church is here for you. For through our laughter, through our enthusiasm, through this wonderful community, we will garner the very strength we need in order to face what this sin-sick world throws at us.

Whoever has ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Listen. Listen. Listen...