The book of Revelation is Glee. You know, the TV show. It’s a musical, a grand drama of depth and stunning images that drive the plot along, interspersed with musical interludes that frame the story and seek to drive the reader in. I actually wish I was gifted enough and had a choir of thousands at my disposal to direct a stage production of the book of Revelation – I think it would actually help us to understand the message of the book. Well, I am not gifted enough, so we are going to throw that idea out, but we are going to try something a bit different today. It’s going to be a little right-brained today – next time I speak, it will be for you left-brained people who like charts and timelines. Today – music and art. We are going to have a Revelation sing-along. You are going to be the heavenly choir, and the book of Revelation is going to provide for us the order of our worship service today. Our service will consist of four movements, in each of which we will get a sense of how the story line of the book moves forward, hit on a key point of reflection, hear the song being sung in the text and then respond to God’s Word in worship of our own.
As Paul returned to the churches, strengthening the souls of the disciples, notice what he taught them: through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. That is why he needed to encourage them to continue in the faith, because they were facing tribulations, and would face tribulations, and it would be through many tribulations that we enter the kingdom of God. This was part of the instruction that was laid down in churches by the apostles, and I think it is very necessary to keep this teaching in mind as we come to the book of Revelation. Revelation is a difficult book to read, but I think the main reason why it is hard to understand is because we have approached it from a Western mindset in which the church occupies a privileged station in our society, rather than what has been more normal around the globe and in the early church in which the church and culture relationship is not one of privilege but conflict. As the church in Canada and USA rapidly loses its position of privilege, I believe we will need to rediscover the message of Revelation and it will become a powerful guide to lead us in uncertain times.
As you know, we’ve been traveling a little this month, so it’s always good to pick up some light airplane reading. I got the book, How to Lose a Battle, a litany of military blunders throughout history. As I read through some of the stories, two ideas started jumping out that I had never connected before – overconfidence and cowardice. I had never connected the two – in fact, in a way I would have thought that they were almost opposites. I don’t think of cowards as confident people, much less, overconfident. But they are connected - in fact you could say that overconfidence breeds cowardice. If you are over confident, then you have no need for courage, because it doesn’t enter into your mind that you could be touched. So when the unthinkable happens and you are attacked, you’re not prepared mentally for the fight and you flee. I think this is probably an apt description of how many of us approach our enemy the devil. We are overconfident cowards. We go through most of our lives, not realizing the strength of our enemy, until he attacks one of us, then we freak out and forget that Jesus has taught us how to fight him.
The Bible teaches that there are three forms of evil influence that exert their power over the lives of people to lead them into sin and away from God. These are the Unholy Trinity. The first influence is the world (following the course of this world). The second influence in the passage is the devil (following the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit). Finally, the passage directs us to the third influence, our own flesh (in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind). The World, the Devil, the Flesh. We see this tripartite description of sinful influences elsewhere in scripture, for example James 3:15 says of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, “This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” Earthly (The World), Unspiritual (The Flesh) and Demonic (the Devil).
I understand that for at least half of us in this room, the first thing I need to convince you of is the reality of our spiritual warfare. In a sense this is Paul’s main concern in introducing the concept of spiritual warfare to the Ephesians in chapter 6 when he counsels us to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might and put on the full amour of God to stand against the devil, for – and here is his explanation – for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Be strong, for, or because, you in fact are engaged in a spiritual wrestling match against the forces of darkness. You must be strong in the Lord, for this is the reality of your situation. This is not a choice for the Christian – you can’t opt out of this struggle, there is no dodging this draft.
Let me tell you about this king. Pharaoh Thutmose I, the third king of the 18th dynasty – the Golden age of Egyptian prosperity. Thutmose was not born to be Pharoah, but was born a commoner. Thutmose was a military genius, rising in the ranks to become the right hand man of the Pharaoh before him, staging a series of military campaigns that solidified the dynasty and establish Egypt once again as a world power. He was rewarded with the hand of the Pharaoh’s daughter, placing him next in line to become the most powerful man on the face of the earth. This commoner went on to become Pharaoh, revered as the son of God among his people. History validates the Biblical picture of this Pharaoh, a builder of great cities, yet as many who come from nothing to rule everything, becoming increasingly paranoid that his power would be taken away just as quickly. This military genius knew the danger of having a great population in his midst (estimated at 2.5 million Israelites at this time) that did not know him as God and king. Therefore, he dealt shrewdly with them and placed greater and greater burdens upon them, keeping them in fear of his great might. He would be their Lord.
Can you imagine the burden of knowing that one of your children may save the world? Imagine knowing that it could be one of your kids who could grow up to be the deliverer – the savior? Think of the expectations, the pressure. As parents, having that promise from God, how could you resist watching your children, looking for signs – is he the one? Is it his brother? Imagine pondering these things in your heart – and then imagine what it might do to your children. Every sign of obedience and spiritual zeal would be noticed, praised and encouraged and reinforced – its him, it’s got to be him. Every act of disobedience or hint of rebellion would disappoint – it can’t be him. Inevitably, possibly unintentionally, but inevitably nonetheless, you as a parent begin to think you have a pretty good idea which child is the chosen one. Although you may not mean to treat him any different, how could you help from doing it? One of your kids is going to save the world! You’re only human after all, how could you help from treating him differently from favoring him? As you can imagine, being the family of the promise is indeed a blessing, but it would be a very heavy burden – something that could in fact strain even the most united of families.
The first thing to notice about this “promise of renown” is that God will do it. “I will” God says 5 times. The fulfillment of these promises to Abraham is totally dependent upon God’s faithfulness. This is “according to his purpose that he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ”. This plan cannot be thwarted and it does not hinge on man, but on God alone.
