Luther didn't think it should be in the Bible (at first). Thomas Paine referred to Revelation as 'a book of riddles that requires a revelation to explain it.' And it has been described in various ways as 'curiously trippy'. At the time when this mother Julie put her head in my office, the trouble in Waco at the Branch Davidian complex was not that far back. She was a mild-mannered Episcopalian who loves Jesus, classical music, regular study, and loving service as a core of her discipleship. NOOOOOO soapbox brimstone whatever. We love the mystery and the sacraments and organized processions; and we really like a solid dose of reason and clarity. We like way less firey judgy speculation, and so the book of Revelation, well, we tend to read with oven mitts on.
I suggested that a few exploratory questions (basically conversational Lectio) so she could try to learn more. The next Sunday Julie came up to me and said, 'I talked to Tommy. The reason he likes the book of Revelation is that it reminds him of the book The Last Battle' in the CS Lewis Narnia series. And I have to tell you she was completely calmed down by that reason. Book of Revelation - yikes. CS Lewis children's Christian fantasy novel - jolly good and alrighty. I have thought about that conversation a lot over the years, mostly because of how right Tommy was.
If you don't know the Narnia series it is absolutely a young person’s fantasy series intended to invite the hesitant of all ages into the 'deep magic' of the Christian witness. And there's a phrase in the Last Battle - which is supposed to be rather like a last chapter of the last book - like what we heard bits of today. The Last Battle has an echoed phrase about the journey with Aslan (absolutely a Christ figure) is further out and further in all at the same time. (Actual quote is: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!”)That is the same big picture that the Revelator is trying to show us.
We are at the beginning of the last chapter of the last book of the Christian Bible. And it's reveling in the symphonic sacred conclusion of the God in Christ being further out and further in: Alpha and Omega, from the tiniest grain of sand to the furthest Morning Star. It is all radiating with the same good news that we know in Jesus Christ. That's really what Revelation seems to be about, however, I will not deny that its intent may remain Until kingdom come, its own mystery.
It was probably written a good 60 years after Jesus's life, death, resurrection, and ascension. It is written to the second and third generation Christians of a rapidly expanding and often threatened young church, or more accurately networked Jesus movement. Revelation is a kind of performance art, Imax before Imax, a mixtape extravaganza dance through the Hebrew scriptures. Here is a creative expression of how in Jesus so much more is revealed than just what happened in the human life. Such a truth is not explained in a simple equation or an outline. It takes art to share and open hearts to whisper - yeah.
Part of the way that the Revelator does this is by an massive layered and twisting and turning sampling, mostly from the book of Psalms, as well as Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and much the Book of Daniel. Over half of the 400 something verses in the entire text of Revelation have at least one if not multiple Hebrew Scripture allusions. For the Revelator the good news of Jesus is the good news of Jesus, but it is so much more than what is in the Gospels. It is so much older and so much more forever.
There are three things I would like you to leave here today understanding about the text of Revelation. One - it is a text to be heard not read word by word. It has of course been translated from its not so great Greek into English, and so some of the word portraits that it's trying to cast are going to get lost in translation. Just as importantly, like most of the Bible, it was written for people in times when most people had no reason to know how to read. Therefore most of the Bible is written to be read aloud in community. This spoken intention also means that it is certainly not a code with secret final answers.
Secondly, the Revelators primary method is not analogy it's not this equals that. The primary mode is metaphor. Over and over the equivalent of the words like or as appear, playful words we use when we're making a metaphor or a simile. This is the language that the Revelator is crafting with - it is parabolic language it means that it is literary art. Made not for the surface meaning but to pull us further out and further in into a 'deeper magic' and meaning.
The third and final thing I hope you remember about the text of Revelation is that it is intended as wisdom and assurance for people living through fiercely troubled times. These feel like troubled times, but there are ways in which this isn't trouble that all compared to the daily trials of our neighbors who we share this globe with. Our blessing of easy-going mild-mannered security does not dismiss our responsibility to the people Jesus has solidarity with. The people for whom this revelation art is crafted were and are people whose life and death struggle with vicious adversaries and tremendous violence are all the time. They strive in the hope of Jesus who is our morning star and they persist in faithfulness through the terrible for the sake of his final call to our eternal home.
So I wonder how is the Holy Trinity: Father Son and Holy Spirit, how are they drawing you further out of yourself into bravery you didn't know you had, and/or into solidarity and belonging that is beyond the rational or everyday? And how is the same Holy Trinity leading you further into the heart of God into glad centeredness and servant listening for every tear that is cried? If you haven’t ever responded to the call of Jesus to go further out and further in, is now not the time to try something just so brave?
The call from the Revelator throughout the nearly two thousand years is a summons to to see and feel and know Jesus the Christ as the love of all in all. Today the Revelator pushes us to remain faithful to God, and to resist abetting the cruelty of the powers-that-be. We are to be a Jesus focused community that controls our fears and sustains our mission with the hope of the Morning Star. If that's not a story you easily find when you listen to the performance art of the text of Revelation then let me suggest to you for your summer listening or reading pleasure the accidental suggestion of my young friend Tommy (although I suppose he's not so young anymore.)
Maybe it is time to open the Narnian doorway found in a wardrobe in a spare room - again, or for the first time. Their motives - the Revelator and CS Lewis - their intentions and approaches are very much the same - however, I am also not saying that Narnia is the same thing as studying the Scriptures. Both are a creative invitation into the life-changing love and challenge we know in the freedom of Jesus Christ.
This Christ-event is something that is more than just that concrete life way back whenever. It is a spiritual journey for you now - our union with God in Christ will not be earned by coloring within the lines or being nice and keeping our heads down. Union with God who is Alpha and Omega it is a gift an undeserved gift due to his boundless commitment to us. The Revelator is holding open the gate, leading us further into the peace of God that is within us all; and pushing us on a path further out into the mission of Jesus that is to All All all. Further out, and further in. Where we go in the world, what we do in the world, what we say in the world, in the name of Christ.
Grace Episcopal Church
Pemberton, New Jersey
June 2, 2019
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