“In the context of eternity”
Revelation 1:1-8 (November 24, 2024)
This sermon was intended for Eternity Sunday. I pray we will hear it this week, in light of all who’ve had a special place in our lives. We grieve when they are gone. We also give thanks for the life we’ve shared.
We listen for God to speak to us – a word that comes from beyond our living. A word that speaks to us of unseen things, bringing healing and hope. Can we hear it?
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Our scripture reading introduces the book of Revelation. In Greek, the title is “apocalypse.” We sometimes think of that as another way of saying “disaster.” We might call a deluge of rain an “apocalyptic” weather event.
The death of a loved one can be a disaster. But apocalypse is not that. Instead, the word means revelation. When all seems lost – God gifts us with a revelation.
Apocalyptic literature in the Bible arises in a time of crisis. This writing is meant not to scare us, or confuse us, or send us down long roads of speculation about its strange symbolic language. No, none of those things! For the early Christian community, the book of Revelation was meant to rekindle hope!
“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy. And blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it. For the time is near,” the writer says. It’s not about something far off and far away. It’s about finding the courage to live faithfully in a dangerous time.
And make no mistake, those early years of the church’s life were dangerous! The fledgling communities of Christ-followers faced all kinds of trial and tribulation.
By confessing that Jesus is Lord, Christians implied that the emperor was not. By refusing to participate in the worship of false gods, they alienated themselves from others in powerful places. I guess you’ve heard what they did to Christians in the Colosseum. It was a terrifying time!
Yet the book of Revelation brought hope, and still does, that all beastly powers, even death, will be defeated. Darkness will not prevail. There is one Lord who is sovereign over all.
And the saints of God – those who remain faithful – will emerge victorious. The loving sacrifice of Jesus will, ultimately, win the day.
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This passage brings us back to where we need to be: In the presence of God, whose authority knows no limit. Whose love will never end.
“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come …”
The words remind me of an encounter that Moses had in the wilderness, years before, when he came across a blazing bush. It was the strangest thing – the bush was aflame yet not consumed! Out of the bush, came the voice of the LORD, calling to him.
When Moses asked who was speaking, this is what God said: “I am who I am.” Tell the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14)
That’s a wonderfully cryptic name, don’t you think? “I am” – the power of sheer existence, standing outside of human time and space. We can hardly get our minds around it. Everything, for us, has a past, a present, and a future. But in God’s realm it’s one and the same. “I am who I am. I will be who I will be.”
Faith pulls us into a bigger world, beyond the clouds that darken our temporal sky. Beyond the present moment of hardship or pain or sorrow. The book of Revelation sets the trials of our time against the broader landscape of God’s eternity.
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“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
I guess you know that Alpha and Omega are letters from the Greek alphabet. One is at the very beginning, like our letter A. And the other comes at the very end, like our letter Z.
I picture it this way: like a pair of bookends, with all the chapters of our human lives gathered in between.
God is with us, at our beginning. From the beginning of creation, when God said “Let there be light.” And the beginning of each individual life, as we are born into the world.
And this life-giving God will never leave us!
“Where can I go from your spirit?” writes the Psalmist. “Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. …If I say, ‘Surely, the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you …” (Psalm 139: 7-12)
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God is there at the beginning of life. And God will be there at the end of all our days. This is the hope we cling to as people of faith. The great specter of death does not mean the end of life with God.
Our lives have many beginnings and endings. All through life we start new things. A new program, a new residence, a new job, a new relationship. After a time, many of these run their course. And so we let them go.
But those endings always open doors to new beginnings. We are invited to walk through those doors and experience what waits for us on the other side. Why should death be any different?
Our scripture passage names Jesus as the faithful witness and the first-born of the dead. The power of God’s love raises Jesus from the grave. Jesus has entered a new reality beyond anything we can ever experience in this life. And he invites us to come with him.
This is a classic Easter Icon, a religious image that depicts the resurrection. Notice that the tomb is smashed, the floorboards broken. The risen Christ is pictured grabbing the hand of the original man, Adam. And what is he doing? Jesus is pulling him up, out of the grave, to share his resurrection life.
Jesus is the firstborn from the dead. He is the beginning of a new humanity. Easter is a promise given to us all.
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“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord. The beginning and the end.
And also – listen now – the God who is with us in the messy middle. God at our beginning, God at our ending. And this is crucial: God in the hard and difficult days that fall between those two poles.
Grief can be an isolating experience. When we lose a loved one who is close to us, we feel very much alone. Not only do we miss that person, but we sense that no one else in all the world can be feeling the things that we are feeling. And it’s true.
But God is with us in that grief. God knows, as no other human can ever know, the deepest, most secret corners of our heart. God is with us. Everywhere, all the time. There is no place we can be where God is not!
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The Australian theologian, William Loader, writes, “In the beginning: God; in the end: God;
in the midst of life: God.” And then he goes on to observe something: he writes, “These are less statements about time and place as they are statements of hope and trust.” [1]
Remember, I said the book of Revelation is meant to give us hope and trust. In a falling-down world, it invites us to put our faith in a God of never-failing love. A God whose purpose will prevail.
That invitation is always with us, but somehow it becomes even more meaningful when you’re treading a difficult path. “Let me take hold of you.” says the Lord. “Let me be your saviour. Let me lead you to new life.”
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This last Sunday of the church year is sometimes called “Reign of Christ Sunday,” or the feast of Christ the King. Have you heard of that?
It’s a relatively recent innovation. By recent, I mean 1925. The first world war was over but nothing seemed to be resolved. Tensions abounded. Secularism and nationalistic movements were on the rise. Authoritarian leaders were taking hold. In light of all that, Pope Pius XI called the church of his day to direct their attention to the Lord of all lords and King of every king. Worldly leaders may have their time. Politicians come and go, but they do not last forever.
I don’t know how you’re feeling about your life, or the state of the world today. John Pavlovitz suggests that many of us are grieving loss.
“It may be your idea of God or country or family.
It may be your belief in the inherent goodness of people.
It may be a relationship with someone you once felt fully at home around.
It may be your sense of optimism about the future.
It may be the lightness you used to feel when you woke up in the morning.
It may be every single one of these things, and more that you can’t quite name right now.
You are in good company,” he writes.[2]
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Here and now, in the messy middle between the alpha and omega, the beginning of creation and the consummation of all things, we are invited to put our trust and hope in the risen Lord, who sits at the right hand of God, his heavenly father.
He is with us – over all, in all and through all. And of his kingdom there will be no end. On Eternity Sunday we’re called to put our hope in him. And to live each day in the light of his love. Amen.
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[1] "First Thoughts on Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Easter 2, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
[2] Quoted in email from John Pavlovitz, Copyright © 2024 The Christian Century, All rights reserved.