The Revelation of Erik, the Very NOT Divine

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

‘See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.

‘It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.’
The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’
And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.

The one who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

Last Sunday of Easter.  Last sermon on Revelation.  Last recap.  Here we go.  It's a letter written from John to seven churches he knew.  Not our mail.  It contains his account of an Apocalyptic vision he had meant to give those churches some hope in a hopeless time.  AND… You'll never believe this, but last night it was my turn!  I was visited by seven spirits who gave me Scotch, chocolate (that in hindsight wasn’t JUST chocolate) and a pepperoni pizza and then put me to bed.  Needless to say after eating all that I had some WILD visions.  So, like John did, I wrote you all a letter.  

Erik, to the Church of What’s Happening Now that is in South County:  Grace to you and peace from the one who is and who was and who is to come… WHAT the actual WHAT?  Last night I saw Jesus talking to our church’s patron saint St. Michael the Archangel.  Who knew?  Jesus was asking Michael to let you all know he sees the abundant welcome you have provided to all people… rainbow chairs, Sheffield Pride, the Appalachian Trail, Hot Dogs, concern and fundraisers for the immigrant, the hungry, the homeless.  He sees and loves your sense of humor; the way you take your Corners of Kindness seriously but yourselves… not so much.  Then Jesus said, I have just one thing against them.  They sometimes shy away from making a leadership commitment, stepping up to the plate, putting their name on the “leader line” on a signup sheet.  Jesus told Michael he knows that life is A LOT right now.  Jesus sees how the cruelty, meanness, and the chaos of the world gives you pause to commit and how it wears on you BUT, Jesus told Michael, tell the folks to buck up, bear it TOGETHER, and jump in anyway.  Remind them that 91.36% of success in life is just showing up.  Woody Allen was off on that... and a few other things.  Remind them that the storm will run out of rain (Maya Angelou was 100% right on that one) and remind them that it will be TOGETHER that they will arrive at the day they will eat from the tree of life and drink from the river of life.  

(Crazy? right?  But hang on… then the pepperoni kicked in!)  Jesus then got up onto a judges bench and went “flippin’ tables crazy” on the evils he saw happening in “Babylon” which to me looked more “local” than Babylon but was I going to question Jesus while he was “flippin’ tables crazy”?  No I was not!  Jesus showed me the ones doing great evils, and in my wild Scotch and pepperoni fueled visions they looked to me like a gaggle of the strangest creatures.  There was one that was dirigible shaped who spoke words that fell from it’s mouth into a bowl like a tossed salad.  He had the number 8647.  Don’t know what that means. There was a zombie with a worm eaten brain who thought Riboflavin was bad for you when its just Vitamin B2 and an army of mindless walking tree stumps all wearing red helmets.  There were women with lips the size of bananas, and from their banana lips flowed a vile stream of bile colored, foul smelling liquid.  (I’m telling you… I’m too old to eat a pizza and go straight to bed!)  

Then Jesus reached beneath his judge’s bench and pulled out a small tin can, which grew and grew and grew until it was the size of an ocean going container ship.  Then I saw his judge’s gavel transform into a can opener and Jesus opened this can labeled WOOBAAZ (Aramaic maybe?) and then he totally went off on the evils of some having obscene amounts of wealth while others go without food and clean water, healthcare or education.  I could see what looked like fire racing out from the depths of this can as Jesus lost his ever loving mind because God’s gift of human intelligence had been given over to the idolatrous worship of rank stupidity.  Smoke from his ears blended with smoke from the can as he fumed over the self inflicted wounds of a nation that disproportionately hurt the poor.  Then I saw Jesus rail against taking healthcare away from the poor and the elderly.  I saw fire fly from his fingers with each pound of his gavel.  With each stroke of his justice-hammer sparks flew as he berated the people who treated stranger, the immigrant and the migrant so poorly.  Each tirade that flowed from the can or the gavel was announced by blowing trumpets and banging gongs, smoke and fire.  (It was a very loud dream.)

But then the vision changed.  (Maybe the “chocolate” took over?)  But it felt as if someone was gently turning my head from the flames and open can in a new direction and there in the distance I saw God’s Holy City.  A place where all of creation has enough… Enough food, water, security, purpose, healing, joy, and belonging.  Then out of the city flowed an overwhelming heavenly cavalry.  Seven mighty regiments mounted on unicorns of every color.  The first was led by Bruce Springsteen.  The second by Taylor Swift.  The third by Ru Paul and the fourth by Billy Jean King.  The fifth mounted regiment was led by Heather Cox Richardson and the sixth by Pete Buttigieg.  The last holy regiment was led by Kermit the Frog.  I know, unexpected, right?  But these holy regiments rallied the world and scattered the storm clouds until the sun shone and the monsters fled from the light.  

Then I woke up.  Well, I thought I woke up but Jesus was sitting right there on the side of my bed so I wasn’t quite sure.  But either way Jesus said to me, let your folks know I love them.  Let them know it will all be alright.  Let them know that kindness and compassion, love, and radical inclusion work like a river works on a canyon… you just keep them flowing and going and over time it digs really, really deep.  Let them know how important it is for them to COME here… to come and show up for each other each week.  COME and be nourished with bread and wine; ritual and community.  COME when their give-a-shit buckets run dry and get them filled again.  (Jesus’ words, not mine) Tell them to COME when their bucket is full and share their abundance with others.  Then he said, “Surely, I am coming soon” and I said, “Jesus, my name’s not Shirley” and Jesus groaned and I told him I couldn't help it, but seriously… Amen, Come Lord Jesus.  

A Good Reminder

Revelation 21:10, 22—22:5

And in the spirit [one of the angels] carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.  The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.  Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.  People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.  But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

We’ve talked about how the Book of Revelation was a letter written from a particular person named John to seven particular congregations located in what is now coastal Turkey.  It was THEIR mail, for THEIR time.  Period.  No secret woo-woo codes for us.  That said, we also acknowledged that reading our 70ish times great grandparent’s mail could be REALLY interesting and maybe even encourage us as we weather our own adversities in our own times.

We’ve talked about how this letter was written in a particular literary form called “Apocalyptic.”  “Apocalyptic” isn’t supposed to be scary.  It’s just a style of literature.  To show, that we looked at The Wizard of Oz which is also a piece of literature written in the Apocalyptic style.  Both have a dualistic view of good and evil.  Both use symbolic language, mythical characters, and fantastical action to pull back the curtain on the cosmic battle between good and evil (spoiler alert… Good wins!) and BOTH show how the consequences of the cosmic battle between good and evil are a reflected in the struggles of regular people in the real world.  

We’ve talked about how Revelation was meant, in part, to help the people in those seven churches hold onto the confession that Jesus is Lord even while the world around them was a full on dumpster fire.  That confession also explicitly meant that for them, Caesar was NOT their lord.

  

In today’s lesson from Revelation we see that this letter is not JUST a letter telling them to hold on tight, but is ALSO a letter meant to show the people how God INTENDS the world to be.  God intends, it turns out, a world with open borders and gates… a city without walls… a place that unconditionally welcomes ALL people.  A place where all means ALL!  It’s a place where there is no darkness.  A place where the One True God is on the throne (not Caesar!) and where all of the world’s darkness… in all the forms that darkness takes…  corruption, war, hunger, ignorance, nationalism, racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-semitism, transphobia and every other fear and hate fueled ugliness gets faded into oblivion in the radiant brilliance of God’s light and love. 

This letter shows that God intends for the world to be a place where justice flows like crystal clear water down the middle of the city’s public streets… PUBLIC… in other words, available for ALL to drink from freely.  It shows the Tree of Life, a tree always bearing fruit so that no one ever hungers, whether that be hunger for food or for justice or for equality or for dignity.  In God’s vision for the world, people are not snatched off the streets by masked goons in military gear for being hungry for an abundant life or thirsty for equal justice… In God’s vision for the world, the hungers and thirsts of all of humanity are fully and forever satisfied with abundance. 

When Jesus is LORD and Caesar is NOT… everyone has all that they need AND everyone has life in abundance!  When Jesus is LORD and Caesar is NOT… justice, peace, healing, and wholeness are available to all of creation and can be found as freely and abundantly as leaves on an evergreen tree and as continuously as water in a stream!  

Revelation was a letter of ENCOURAGEMENT sent to a people stuck in a system of chaotic fear, everyday violence, senseless oppression, and manufactured paranoia that led inevitably to anger, hatred and horrific inhumanities with no obvious way out.  It was a letter sent to a people ruled by a fearful ruler in a seemingly unchangeable system, enabled by people who thought they could manipulate the Beast they had created, but who all realize too late that they too will be consumed by it as well.  It was a letter telling the faithful to stay strong AND it was also a letter meant to give them a direction to walk, even when that direction meant walking through hurricane winds, and endless miles of knee deep sand toward God’s vision for the world.  This letter was written to a particular people trying to walk faithfully toward God’s vision for the world even while living under the thumb of an unhinged madman.  

But you know… even though it was someone else’s mail… It makes for good reading whenever people find themselves living under any sort of Caesar, President, or King who stirs up their minions of beasts and baddies to spread fear, anger, hatred and suffering into the world.  

It was other people’s mail, but it makes for some good reading when anyone needs some encouragement to hold firm to the confession that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is NOT.  

It was other people’s mail, but it makes for good reading when folks need a reminder that NO Caesar, President, or King nor any of their hate fueled systems will have the last word.  That as Maya Angelou says, "All storms run out of rain." 

  

It was other people’s mail, but it is other people’s mail worth reading when we need a reminder of what God intends for this world, because if God intends for the world to flow with justice, peace, healing, and wholeness as continuously as water in a stream for ALL people, then who out there is going to stop God from getting God’s way?  With that in mind, let's you and I then, keep walking God's Way together. Amen. 

Jesus Does NOT Have a Vacuum!

Revelation 21:1-6

1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

 “See, the home of God is among mortals.

 He will dwell with them;

 they will be his peoples,

 and God himself will be with them;

 4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

 Death will be no more;

 mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

 for the first things have passed away.”

  5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.”

In this sermon series on the Book of Revelation it would just be wrong if “The Rapture” was “Left Behind.”  See what I did there?  It is unfortunate, but when many people think about the Book of Revelation all they can think about is Jesus with one of those old fashioned, fully metal hoovers, vacuuming up the faithful to heaven, while the rest of us are “left behind.”  A large group of very loud people have hijacked the Book of Revelation with this toxic invention.  It’s been done so completely that there are countless stories of kids coming home from school to an empty house and immediately assuming their family had been raptured and they had been left behind. 

It should be “needless to say” but I’ve found over the years it is “absolutely necessary to say”…  The Rapture is neither Biblical, nor is it ancient, nor is it real.  It was invented in 1830 by John Nelson Darby, in Port Glasgow, Scotland, based on what he claims were the visions of 15 year old Margaret MacDonald.  His claim was that Jesus would return not once, but twice.  The first time, Jesus would return in secret to “Rapture” the church up to heaven.  The second time would be Jesus’ “official” return.  It is important to understand that the word “rapture” is not found anywhere in the Bible nor is the idea of a two-fold return of Jesus.  The only bit that Darby and other rapture proponents point to in Scripture is a passage in First Thessalonians, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.”   

What that verse from First Thessalonians is ACTUALLY about is the human reaction to the event described in the lesson we read from Revelation this morning.  You’ll notice that in today’s lesson people are not permanently vacuumed “UP” to heaven, but it is the New Jerusalem… God’s Kingdom… that comes “DOWN” to earth.  In ancient times when important people came to town, the locals, excited to see them, would go out of the city to meet them and then walk with them back into town.  The best example of that is what the people did for Jesus on Palm Sunday.  That’s all this is.  No one is vacuumed up to heaven to escape anything.  Paul was simply saying that when Jesus returns, people will be so excited to see him that they will all go out to greet him!  

Neither Jesus, nor John nor Paul (nor George or Ringo for that matter) ever said or wrote any of this Rapture Nonsense.  That idea, that God is an emotionally  manipulative, big brother just waiting for us to mess up and leave us behind, turns God into an abusive, rather than loving parent.  It’s an evil idea used by those in power to keep the powerless from seeing Revelation as it was intended… as a message of hope in the midst of hopelessness.  A hope, grounded in God’s steadfast love for ALL of creation and God’s intention to make ALL of Creation... ALL OF IT... New again.  To transform THIS world… our world… into a world where there is no more mourning, crying, or pain

  

The people who first heard the letter we now call “Revelation” read aloud in worship in their churches in what is now Western Turkey, were living in the shadow of the destruction of the Temple and as a people who functioned continuously as Rome’s minority scapegoat for anything bad that happened anywhere in the Empire.  This letter, written to these seven particular churches in that particular time, was meant to be a message of hope for the hopelessly oppressed… a message that God would NOT accept their situation as the status quo.

While you and I were not, and are not, the intended recipients of this letter from John, there are things we can learn by reading their mail 2000 years later.  The first thing is that Christians have seen impossible times before and have made it though.  Living through dumpster fire times IS possible!  The world may scream that Caesar is Lord and demand that we scream the same!  But our task, as faithful Christians, is to instead insist that for us, it is Jesus who is Lord… and that means that Caesar, no matter what name he goes by in the current world, is profoundly and absolutely NOT our lord… in any way, shape or form.  Ever.

The other thing that the faithful are called to in this letter we call “Revelation”, is to embrace God’s vision of radical and revolutionary justice and hope, not just for Christians, but for the entire world!  We are to embrace the vision of our world transformed into the New Jerusalem where those who are thirsty… whether for water or justice or peace… are invited to drink freely.  Then, once we’ve embraced that vision, we are to start driving whatever tiny part of this world we have the power to steer, toward that vision without delay… even while it is still just a dream.  We are to drive toward that place where there are no more tears, mourning or pain… where there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, brown or white, gay or straight, citizen or alien, but ALL are as God created us to be… ONE.  

The Book of Revelation is not about an angry, manipulative God with a giant cosmic vacuum for the good and a cosmic timeout of terror for the rest of us.  It is an encouragement to hold onto what we value as Christians… compassion, empathy, care for our neighbors, and the power of generous self giving love, even in the most trying of times.  And, it is also an invitation from God for the people of those seven churches… and by extension for people like us, reading their mail 2000 years later, to boldly move toward God’s vision of revolutionary hope for the future, even while the world around us still burns like a dumpster fire.  We are called to walk step by step in the direction of love and hope, regardless of what is happening around us, until we hear God say, “It is done.”  Amen.

The Apocalypse of Toto

Revelation 5:11-14

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,

 “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Last week we learned that the book of Revelation was a letter FROM a particular person, TO seven particular churches in their time.  When we read it, we’re reading THEIR mail.  It contains no secret codes or predictions of the future for us.  It was their mail for their time.  That said… we also recognized last week that reading other people’s mail from other times can be REALLY interesting AND Revelation is some super weird, funky, and interesting mail to read, for sure!  

Part of the reason Revelation is super weird, funky and interesting, is that it is an example of APOCALYPTIC literature.  I know that word, "APOCALYPTIC" sounds scary.  That’s because insecure and manipulative men have worked hard to make that word sound scary as a way of holding onto power.  BUT authors of apocalyptic literature don't write it with the goal of instilling fear!  They write this way in part, trying to give a cosmic, supernatural level of hope to the hopeless!  That said, I think that the Book of Revelation has been so mucked with that it might be easier for us to see what Apocalyptic literature is and isn’t, if we use a different piece of apocalyptic literature as an example of this genre.   

That story goes like this… There once was this young girl.  She, her dog, and her whole house got vacuumed up by a tornado and then deposited in a VERY strange land inhabited by small, mythical beings.  From there she journeyed toward a city made of precious gems to seek salvation.  Along the way she meets three additional mythical beings… one made of hay, one made of metal, and one with the face and tail of a lion.  Their journey comes into conflict with an evil being with a VERY unnatural face color (I know you’re thinking orange, but in this story its actually green) this evil being also has a bizarre, used footwear fetish and commands an army of mindless, evil, wing-ed monkeys who wear red hats.  

Eventually the group defeated the great, green, evil monster and in the Emerald City had a supernatural encounter in a giant room filled with smoke and fire and booming voices that seemed to come from all around them.  At that point, Toto, our hero’s tiny dog, pulled back the curtain that had separated the world of the supernatural from the world of the travelers.  That literal REVELATION, leads to another REVELATION that in spite of how things looked along the way, good has (and always will) triumph over evil.  Then our hero heads back home by way of a magic incantation and clicking the heels together of those fabulous, second hand, supernatural shoes.

THIS story, like the book of Revelation, is apocalyptic literature.  Both are based on visions or dreams.  Both point to a future end time when all that is currently wrong with the world will be made right again and a new era will emerge.  Both have a dualistic view of good and evil.  Both use symbolic language, mythical characters, and fantastical action that pulls back the curtain on the cosmic battle between good and evil.  (Toto did that literally!)  And BOTH show how the consequences of the cosmic battle between good and evil are a reflected in the struggles of regular people in the real world. 

Revelation was John’s Vision.  The Wizard of Oz was Dorothy’s.  John’s apocalypse ebbs and flows between terrible battles, bowls of plagues, terrible beasties and hope filled interludes.  (It is one of those hope filled interludes that we have in today’s second lesson.)  Dorothy's apocalypse also ebbs and flows between crisis and hope as well.  First a tornado, then a safe landing in Munchkinland and a new-to-her pair of fabulous shoes.  The loneliness of a journey into the unknown, then the relief of finding companions along the way.  Evil flying monkeys, then the discovery that evil is water soluble.  Then the final victory of Dorothy returning home surrounded by the entire host of characters from Oz and facilitated by a magical being and, of course, that pair of mystical, magical, amazing footwear.  

So now, after two weeks, what have we learned so far about the Book of Revelation?  First, its someone else’s mail, not sent to us or meant for us BUT when we read it we can see how it buoyed up the people of those seven churches as they lived their way through their fully involved dumpster fire of a world.  It worked for them in their time in the same way I find the Maya Angelou quote “every storm runs out of rain” works for us in ours.  BOTH give us regular folks some Good… really GOOD, God Level stuff to hold onto while our dumpster fire of a world rages all around us.

We’ve learned, thanks to Toto, that "Apocalyptic" just means to pull back the curtain.  We've learned that the Book of Revelation uses this unique literary devise to pull back the curtain between heaven and earth so that the regular people in those seven churches back then (and maybe regular people reading their mail today too) might be able to hear God clearly over the deafening din of their dumpster fire world say, "The day is ABSOLUTELY coming when myriads and myriads of angels, the elders, and all living creatures will once again sing out in full voice:  Alleluia!  We sing your praises.  All our hearts are filled with gladness.  The day is ABSOLUTELY coming when we will all once again feel like the place we are living… is home.  Amen.