On the Way to Wonder

Revelation 2 and 3 addresses seven churches in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyratira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.  I doubt few of us could say where these churches were without looking at a Bible map or the Internet.  We don’t know them but Jesus addresses each one personally, “I know…” about their strengths and their weaknesses and challenges them to repent and grow.  He says, “I know your deeds,”  “I know your afflictions,” “I know where you live,” “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance,” “I know your deeds and reputation,” “I know your deeds,” and again “I know your deeds.”

         God knows and sees what is going on in our lives and in our churches.  He knows if we are off track in our theology, sloppy in our care for each other, or guilty of gossip and favoritism.  God’s knowing is not just head knowledge in order to judge us or like the way we know the driver’s manual to pass the test but it a personal knowing of realizing the forces we struggle against, the good we attempt and the future we are facing.

         One of the famous verses of Revelation comes out of chapter 3, verse 20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and will eat with that person and they with me.”  A painting of this scene will often show a Christ-like figure knocking but there will be no doorknob because the person inside must open the door and invite Christ in. Jesus does not force himself on people nor force us to become Christians but the invitation is always there. 

         So perhaps the question we could ponder this morning is whether there are doors in our life that we would prefer not to open and let God into that room of our house– the room where we keep guilt over failures, pain over losses, habits that seem more in control of us than we of them.  When guests come we clean and put all the “mess” away in closets out of sight but not yet dealt with.  We don’t want friends to see those messes, much less God.  Perhaps spend a few moments meditating on whether there are places in your life where you need God’s help to clean up.  Even as God knows what is going on in those seven churches, he knows what is going on in our lives.  Not only does he know but he also cares. Blessings as you declutter!

Revelation 1.  We are coming to the end of The Essential 100 readings that summarize the epic story we call the Bible.  The epic hero, God, and the epic villain, Satan, unfold a story that began with creation, was complicated at the Fall, and gave a hint of hope in the formation of a nation through Abraham.  Slowly the plot has unfolded as God has worked in subtle and seemingly insignificant ways with ordinary flawed people like you and me. The hero seems determined not to be defeated.

         The story culminates at the cross with the death of Jesus Christ and the hope for a promised Messiah seems lost.  But hark, on the third day the tomb is found empty and it would appear that God has walked through death demonstrating to those who follow him that he is the true epic hero able to save.  The story does not end, though.  The few followers of Jesus who experience the resurrection spread the news and a new kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, begins to form in the shape of the Christian church.  This is not a top down story like assembling a Lego set but a grassroots emersion seen in changed lives, letters written from prison, triumph over persecution and through theological debates.  Our epic hero is still working.

         The last book of the Bible, The Revelation, is the most read book of prophecy talking about the future.  Its meaning is debated and its symbolism is not straight-forward.  Revelation 1 gives the basics.  It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ (1:1) written down by the Apostle John, now age 90 in exile on the isle of Patmos.  John writes about the near future and then about the far future, which is far more symbolic.  John sees a vision of the glorified Jesus who is dictating the book to him.  His worship experience confirms that God is present and John sees keys in his hand.  Jesus holds the keys of death and Hell.  When Jesus comes again he will come not to save but to judge and bring justice.

         We are going to read themes about the final unfolding battles between good and evil and there will be hints about what heaven will be like.  Many have tried to untangle the symbolism but most of us wait in faith.  Interestingly, we are promised a blessing for reading.

         As you think of a future where justice is restored, where you would live being able to directly experience the presence of God, and where you will be reunited with those you love, how do you envision it?  I usually end up with more questions than answers for it is beyond me even as the symbols are.  I love C.S. Lewis’ book 6 in Tales of Narnia, The Last Battle, when he describes the children arriving in heaven and yelling to each other, “Higher up and higher in!”  as they race to a better reality than today.  May we be encouraged as we look at the themes of Revelation this week.  Open our ears, Lord.  Open our eyes, Lord.  Open our hearts, Lord.  We want that blessing. Amen!

As I ponder the readings of this week, it feels like we returned to the basics or foundational tenants of Christianity.  Paul spoke to the nature of real love in 1 Corinthians 13.  Much of life will disappear but “faith, hope and love abide but the greatest of these is love.”  Indeed we see through a glass dimly and often act as children.  We are tasked with a ministry of reconciliation – bringing people and God into a dynamic relationship.  Peter called this relationship a “priesthood of believers,” “living stones” in a building for all and not just a testimony to self.  James reminded us of the tension between faith and works.  We can talk all we want but the proof is in our life and actions.  John ended the week and brought us back to love as the characteristic of Christians but a love that is not like the world loves but a love that is willing to sacrifice like Christ on the cross.  The test of faith is if we can say that Jesus Christ, Son of God, came in the flesh.

         “The Church’s One Foundation” is an old hymn written by Samuel John Stone in 1860 in response to a schism between two Anglican bishops of South Africa.  The case came to England.  Stone’s response is based on the third article of the Apostle’s Creed, “I believe in the holy Christian church…” and based on 1 Corinthians 3:11, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

1 The church’s one Foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord;
she is His new creation,
by water and the Word;
from heav’n He came and sought her
to be His holy bride;
with His own blood He bought her,
and for her life He died.

3 Tho’ with a scornful wonder,
men see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping,
their cry goes up, “How long?”
And soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.

5 ‘Mid toil and tribulation,
and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation
of peace for evermore;
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great church victorious
shall be the church at rest.

6 Yet she on earth hath union
with God the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with Thee.

1 John 3:11-4:21 is our reading today.  It is a tough read as the word “love” has been so used and abused in our world today that for many of us, we read with a deep cynicism.  The author of the three short John epistles, letters, is the apostle John.  He is famously depicted as leaning on the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper.  He wrote Revelation that we will look at next week.  From the cross, Jesus asked John to care for Jesus’ mother. 

         John is very clear that one of the characteristics of a Christian is the love of God.  That is not the gooey stuff of Hollywood or the dopey stuff of the flower children and certainly not the manipulative stuff of dates that ask for love but mean sex.  He talks about the love of Christ that sacrificed for others, that loves brothers and sisters with their warts, wrinkles and sins.  Love is not an excuse to endure abuse but love does cover a multitude of sins.

         If the characteristic of a Christian is love, John says the test of a Christian or even of a spirit is the ability to say that Jesus, Son of God, came in the flesh.  Jesus was true God and true man.  We don’t understand and can’t explain but we do believe.  We believe God is love for he loved us.  “This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (4:10)”  “We love because he first loved us (4:19). That love casts out fear.

         Those are big statements that take a lifetime to get our hearts and minds around and trusting them is an always a growing dynamic. How would you describe love with your five senses?

         Love smells like _________________________

         Love tastes like _________________________

         Love feels like __________________________

         Love sounds like ________________________

         Love looks like __________________________

Remember these images when you are tempted to doubt God’s love for you.  He is here in the world around us, reaching out after the cross to love us.  Blessings.

James, the half brother of Jesus, was the pastor of the church in Jerusalem and wrote the New Testament epistle, James.  James 1,2 is our text for today.   James was pragmatic.  He is famously quoted for writing, “Faith without works is dead. (2:26)” We might say today, “Put your hands where your mouth is.”  Our faith is evident and grows as we live out our beliefs.  He rejected favoritism because of wealth.  He rejected subtle evils like gossip.  He encouraged his people to remember that God controls our days.  Our lives will not be evaluated by our brilliant sermons (most of us are not preachers!) but by simple deeds like helping widows and orphans.  Our lives are living testimonies.

         James opens his letter by encouraging early Christians to “count it all joy when you encounter trials.”  Christians were persecuted and killed for their faith.  That is not a happy experience for all involved and for families deeply impacted by the terror.  Perhaps we might say, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”  Hard times clarify our values, involve community, and make us realize how short life is.  In truth, though, our problems shift our focus onto ourselves and we are tempted to think we are the only person struggling, in fact, all people have trials.  No one lives happy ever after, only in children’s stories.  James assures his readers that God is always willing to give wisdom to those who seek it but they must not doubt.  They are not abandoned in their hour of need.  That is comforting.

         The tension between faith and works is always present.  Our government is debating how much to spend on the Reconciliation Bill. Do we raise the debt ceiling?  How do we live in community and responsibly with all the problems impacting our lives today?  I love the reminder, James 1:16,17, “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  God, not government, gives good gifts, not temptations.  God’s love does not change like shadows.  He is light.  Perhaps you can think of three blessings God has given you, that give you hope for the light at the end of the tunnel.  Blessings as you face trials.

1 Peter 1:1-2:12 is our reading for today.   Peter, the loud, boisterous disciple who denied Jesus at his trial, was one of the first to see the empty tomb and was there behind closed doors that first Sunday evening, meeting the risen Christ.  He knew Jesus was alive.  He became the spokes person at Pentecost.  He was the one who visited Cornelius and spoke at the Jerusalem council for Gentiles, you and me, to stand on equal ground as believers with Jews who believed.  Peter writes this letters to Christians spread all over and gives us two beautiful pictures that have guided Christians through the centuries.

         1 Peter 2:2 “you also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  We are living stones, strong, solid, contributing to a building that will stand for eternity.  This house is a priesthood, a place to draw people to God and to perform sacred rituals like birth, baptism, marriage, and funerals.  To stand between God and people, bringing them together. Our lives are not random but have purpose.

         Peter continues 2:9 to say “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  The mirror on the wall will never tell us that, or our checkbook, or the evening news, or a report card.  We are living stones and chosen people, called from darkness into light and tasked with leading others to light and caring for their spiritual needs.  We may not all be pastors, evangelists, Sunday school teachers or missionaries but we are all important and part of a building being built.  We are all in the plan.  We all have purpose.

         What kind of building do you think of when you think of the spiritual church – a grand cathedral from Europe, a little church in the wild woods, a home cell group meeting in a living room?  Church is not the building, not the structure.  Church is you!  You are part of priesthood, praying for others, sharing hope to our poor world, and pointing others to a better way of life.  Blessings as you are a living stone in a growing building.  Blessings.

2 Corinthians 4:1-6:2 further describes “the Gospel.”  Gospel means “good news” and through the centuries we have developed little phrases that try to explain what we mean. In 5:18 Paul talks about Christians having “a ministry of reconciliation.”  What does that mean? 

         We cannot see God who is spirit.  We see evidence of God’s existence even as we see evidence of the wind in branches swaying.  We as people are separated because of our sin.  Sin spelled with a big “S” is our state of separation and sin spelled with a small “s” are the actions we do that separate us from each other, from ourselves and from God.  In this journey of looking at The Essential100, we started at creation and have been tracking an epic story: the battle between an epic hero, God, and an epic villain, Satan, over the souls of people.  In the cross, Jesus “paid for our sins.”  Practically, for me, that means that Jesus by walking through death and by resurrecting demonstrated that God is stronger than death and wants all to be in relationship but he will not force us. 

         We also see in these further writing that God is building a new kingdom, we call the kingdom of heaven, to be created where people live by his guidelines and are not hurt.  A ministry of reconciliation refers to those who believe, who call themselves Christian, being charged to share this news that reconciles people and God, puts us on the same team.

     We are ambassadors (5:20) or representatives to others who do not understand.  What came to mind was the recent news story of the ambassador of Haiti leaving the USA in protest over how the Haitian refugees were being returned to a country that was devastated and had no way to receive them.  He put his life and reputation on the line for his people.

         If others were to look at our lives today, what would they think we are representing?  Are we indistinguishable from everyone else or are we living out a message of reconciliation?  That is not just words and preaching and judging – I’m in and you need to join – which has become the stereotype or do we live like ambassadors, willing to put our life and reputation on the line for others in need?  Early Christians without TV, without government protection, without even written Scripture were able to change their world.  Let’s think of one thing we could do today to help another.  Blessings.

1 Corinthians 13, coming from Paul, is one of the famous chapters in the New Testament that has deeply impacted Christian thinking.  I remember singing songs as a young adult based on the words.  The chapter talks about love.  “All the world needs now is love, sweet love!”

         This week we will look at five such famous writing from Paul and four other writers: 

• Peter, the preacher on Pentecost who first explained the Gospel and explained the implications of being “born again,”
• James, the brother of Jesus was the first pastor of the Jerusalem church and explained some practicalities of faith,
• John, the beloved disciple spelled out implications of the love of 1 Corinthians 13.

         We’ll start with Paul.  Love is a word we throw around these days and which Hollywood has made lots of movies about.  Many of us have been scarred by dreams broken, hopes unmet, and promises not lived out.  We have cried with our children and grandchildren who have been hurt.  Empty words without love are like clanging symbols. Actions and knowledge are empty if there is no love or relationship. And deeds of bravery done selfishly are not laudable.  We look for love at the core of relationship.

         Paul lists many characteristics of love but summarizes that love does not fail.  Faith, hope and love are important but “the greatest of these is love.”  “For now we see only a reflection in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”  Only God loves perfectly and we only experience love now through the lens of sin but one day we will meet God and we will know true unfailing love.

         Perhaps you can think of someone who showed love to you.  What might be three adjectives to describe that experience?  How did it impact your life and change you?  Is there someone who needs your love today?  We might be rebuffed but let us still try.  Blessings.

This week we looked at Apostle Paul’s writing to his young mentor Timothy.  Paul was in prison but he wanted to write to his young friend who did not have a Bible to guide him, did have roving evangelists with partial knowledge confusing him, and did live as a minority faith group.  When I had my first job as a teacher I used to sing this old hymn written by Frances Ridley Havergal in 1872.  She was one of those early British hymn writers at the end of the Victorian era.  At age 7 she started writing verses and songs!  Unlike many, she focused on her personal relationship with God and the reality that the future of the church depends on us passing on our faith to the next generation.  That has not changed.  We do pass on history but more importantly we pass on awareness of potential relationship with a risen, living Savior.

May you listen to the words and let them soak into you and encourage you.  Blessings.

1 Thessalonians 4:12-5:11 tackles questions swirling around in Christian circles about end times.  Even today people ponder what follows death.  Many heard Jesus say he would return.  Some thought he had.  Others speculate about dates and times.  Each generation has catastrophic events that raise the question, “When Lord?”

         Jesus will return with those who have died and who are with him, assures Paul.  Just exactly what happens between death and return is not clear in Scripture and we could spend time conjecturing but we know that somehow they are with Christ.  Paul says Christ and Christians who have died will return and living Christians will meet them in the air.  It will be a big celebration and we will be with him forever.  We believe justice will be accomplished.  The return will be sudden like “a thief in the night,” not expected.  It will be like the coming of day.

         Paul ends, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”  The return of Christ, the promise of a new world that is just, and the reunion with loved ones gives great hope.

         So what thoughts bring you hope today?  I am not very hopeful that whatever party is in power will truly establish justice for I believe an eternal perspective is needed – a God who understands all and has experienced our pains.  We can march but it often feels like the hardships of life are so many.  But then a dawn comes that spreads color and visibility across the horizon that was cloaked in darkness.  Perhaps today we should make an acrostic of hope. 

         H is for _______________

         O is for _______________

         P is for _______________

         E is for _______________

I might say: health, opportunity, peace and eternal.  How about you?  Blessings.