Uncivil Worship & Witness

Alright folks. I’ve been excited about this week for much of this year. For the next season, leading up to Advent, we are going to take a look at the final book of the Christian New Testament, the Revelation of John.

Truly, I’ve never preached on these texts. It’s pretty easy to want to avoid working in Revelation, because, well…it’s kinda weird. This is an apocalyptic text (that’s a word we’ll clarify in a moment). It is a text that is filled with rich imagery, wonderment, cosmic forces, and, the good news of Jesus Christ.

Today, lets get a little more acquainted with this text, and, hopefully, we can start to appreciate the oddity and wonder, as we come into greater knowledge and love of God’s faithful witness, Jesus the Christ.

So, buckle up.

And, may we take on a posture of curiosity and engage our imaginations. Some literature can be read as factual narrative, some lyrical poetry, some stories, and sometimes, something other entirely. So open your minds and hearts as we engage this last word from our Scriptures and mine it’s depths for good news, of which there is much!

Let us pray.

God, reveal to us your will and good news through the faithful witness, Jesus your son. Help us to pair away what is unnecessary, cling to what is good, and hold hope for the day when you make all things new. The grass withers and the flower fades, but your word, O Lord, stands forever. Amen.

A couple more quick things before we read the opening of Revelation 1.

First, the Revelation is a letter. It’s the longest letter in the New Testament. And it’s written as a message to the churches spread across Asia — at this stage, this means much of the early churches that have been planted by early Christian missionaries.

And who’s the author? They are identified only as John through the book. Vs. 9 of Ch. 1, which immediately follows our reading, notes that John is an exile on the island of Patmos, a place of exile. John is thought to have been kicked out of what we call modern day Turkey for his faithfulness to Jesus and resistance to the Roman empire. It is there that he has this vision.

Revelation 1:4–8 NRSV

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Before all and through all and in all — God is faithful. Beginning and end. Alpha, being the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Omega, the last.

John opens his letter with this statement — proclaiming the faithfulness of Christ, announcing his arrival.

This is, in the first place, an opportunity for us to exercise imagination. Can you picture this, the Christ, revealed before the whole world. Imagine those clouds being rolled back, as the hymn says, like a scroll. Imagine the Light of the World, descending, bringing a great revealing of God’s judgement and mercy.

Imagine.

Apocalyptic literature

And here’s where I want to define another term. Apocalypse. Apocalyptic. While we have lots of connotations to this word, like tears in the fabric of reality or epic weather or somehow the “end of things,” what apocalypse really is is an unveiling. Pulling back the curtain. Revealing what was previously unclear or unknown. The Scriptures are actually quite comprehensive on their inclusion of Apocalyptic literature. The Old Testament prophets, like Ezekiel or Daniel, have long sections of their texts that are styled this way, with wonder, strange images, words from on high, and a revealing of God’s purposes. Similarly, there are sections of the Gospels, especially Mark, which include pieces of apocalypse — the revealing of God’s divine power, the wonderment of when and how things will come to pass as the old world changes and is renewed.

Why do we need these kinds of texts? What purpose do they serve?

Apocalypse stories are incredibly effective in critiquing the world as it is, the powers that be, and shine a light on what is unseen or unknown.

In the case of the Revelation of John, this apocalypse is a revealing of the downfall of empire, evil, and the triumph of the faithful witness, Jesus.

Practically, many people through the years have tried to map the goings on of Revelation to particular world powers or even people. There is imagery through this book that echoes of the many empires that had run through the region of Palestine and controlled it over the years. The Babylonians, for instance, are referenced repeatedly. Babylon is code or image for empire.

And of course, when John receives this vision, he is under the wordly authority of Rome. Roman emperor Domitian was carrying out a campaign of persecution against Christians, which resulted in John’s exile and the deaths of other apostles and followers of the way.

Uncivil

In his study on the book of Revelation, Michael Gorman uses the subtitle, “Uncivil Worship and Witness” to describe the kind of community and way we must follow Christ amidst the powers of the world.

Uncivil? But wait, aren’t we supposed to submit to civic authorities? Aren’t we supposed to be civil, use our manners, be respectful? So, uncivil?

Yes, uncivil. Because the civil powers are persecuting the faithful followers of Jesus. Because Emperors like Domitian required fealty from the population, to the point of casting themselves as a deity, divinely appointed by God to lead the people however they choose. Domitian is known by scholars to have demanded the title, Dominus et Deus, Lord and God.

Civil authorities are requiring religious devotion and worship.

Chosen by God, divinely appointed, power through position and title. This sounds oddly familiar. As Christian Nationalism tries to dig in in our country, we must be uncivil in our worship, not succumbing to a religion of the state or the power of the emperor.

And so the uncivil act of the church, and namely, John, is to take a stance of eschewing the empire and emperors requests for devotion.

When the emperor calls themselves divine, and you instead witness to the Alpha and Omega, the one who rules over the kings of the earth, well…emperors have short tempers.

To be uncivil is to resist the domination of the empire. It is to worship and witness to the goodness of God, in the face of all that is destructive, power-hungry, ego-driven selfishness.

Through the centuries, Christians have come to understand our role as being prophetic and truth-telling to the powers that be. It’s not just Rome. It’s been empires, lords, kings, rulers, who through the years seek to supplant God’s rightful place in our lives. To be worshiped, honored, venerated as if they were divine.

I find it especially helpful to look at this content from the perspective of a historian. We have, through even just the last two thousand years, seen the rise and fall of a number of empires and lords. It was the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, for instance, that opened the cracks for World War 1 to happen and the outcomes of that conflict which could then give rise to things like Nazism and Facism in the 20th century. We’ve seen empires like Britain, Spain, and France, as they set out across the oceans to take land and rule over indigenous peoples wherever they went. Even in this moment of history, we have empires and powerful (mostly men) people, warring to secure power and domination around the globe. The United States empire stands most firmly in the historic succession of power today, but we also can think of Russian and Chinese influence. Empires want to control, want the power.

To be a faithful witness is to look to Jesus, not to Caesar. Who is your Lord?

And so, with our text today, we have a powerful rebuke of empire, as we hear John’s description of God and Jesus, being revealed. If nothing else sticks from this study, hear this: to be a faithful witness to Christ is to forsake all other allegiances, empires, structures — all things that hunger for our hearts and minds. We worship Christ and Christ alone. Beginning to end.

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Alright, I’m going to go through a few more nuts and bolts to help us get context for where this is heading.

I’ve had fun studying this book over the last 6 months or so. But this hasn’t been my first foray into Revelation. Let’s zoom out to see some of the cultural impact of this book and how it shapes our Christian imagination.

I used to sit in my bed with a flashlight and quietly, carefully, open the pages of this book. There was a lot of mystery surrounding the Revelation. People didn’t know how to talk about it. And as I read it, I grew more confused, perhaps even a little scared. Is this what the end of the world looks like? Are the secrets to heaven and hell buried in this text?

Growing up, I had a number of encounters with the book of Revelation through the lens of trying to predict the end of the world. There are whole communities of people who spend time trying to piece cryptic messages, numerology, and social upheavals into some kind of a indication that the events of this book are at hand. Earthquakes, storms, wars, disease — all markers of doom and destruction.

Early Christians were invested in knowing when Jesus would return. He had promised them, after all.

And Christians through the years have continued to study and wonder at that time. When will it be? Sadly, we’ve had a track record of trying to predict Christ’s return through the centuries. It started back with some of the earliest Christians, the church in Thessolonica, where a bunch of people moved up to the top of a mountain to await the coming of the lord. It didn’t happen in their lifetimes and people were getting a little preturbed.

Of course, there have been countless others who attempted to predict the end of the world through texts like revelation. One of my dear aunties was incredibly invested in figuring out timelines and real-world individuals that might be represented in Revelation. Charts. Timelines. Left Behind. The Late Great Planet Earth. Lord, have mercy. Because, no one has been right. What if trying to predict the future is an exercise in missing the point?

Instead, perhaps simply ask: what images and possible ways do we see power and war playing out in our lives? What might it mean to see and name that which is “anti-Christ” in our world today? Are there dragons and lakes of fire? No, not literally. But are there deeply evil and malevolent forces that play out in our daily lives? Yes. Do systems or even individuals embody these spirits of malice and destruction. Yes.

So how will be faithful in the face of such things?

Openness and wonder

Earlier this year, we went through the “narrative lectionary,” where we looked at the whole arc of the Scriptures, from the stories of Creation to the resurrection and ascension of Christ and the ministry of the early church. We looked at it through a lens of myth. Not myth in the sense that it’s fiction. But myth in the way this overarching story shows us the character of God, as revealed in creation, but also full of mystery and wonder. Myths that are true, I like to say. Because these wild, sometimes mythological-sounding stories, they reveal (again, apocalypse) something true about the world. They tell the truth through imagery, metaphor, and fact.

As I mentioned at the outset, I encourage us to keep this posture of wonderment. To be open to what these images might reveal to us.

Here’s a quick example from our text. John writes to the seven churches of Asia, and he opens by talking about the seven spirits before God’s throne. 7 churches, 7 spirits. What if John is setting the stage for a drama and linking the real-life Christian communities with spiritual advocates who sit in council with Christ. Can you imagine this? I caution us to not take everything at face value, but wonder at how these metaphors and images can inform us about what God is like. John is saying that the letters, to these churches, come in voice of the spirits before God’s thrown.

The idea that comes to mind is actually from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The ghost, Christmas-past-present-yet to come…these are representative spirits of particular phases of Scrouge’s life. Are they real? Maybe. But that doesn’t matter much, actually. What matters is what they represent. The spirit of days gone by, the spirit of the age, the spirit of what is to come.

So let’s not get too hung up on what the 1-to-1 relationships are and see the grander workings of the story.

As we go through the book, there will be imagery that directly connects to real-world issues: war, disease, environmental destruction. And there will be imagery that, for instance, draws on ancient symbols and stories that would spark and connect to those real-world issues. We critique the lust of Babylon — but what we’re really doing is differentiating ourselves from and criticizing Rome.

Ok, I hope this has set a little more context for what this book is about.

And let me say this, as a clear, plain takeaway from this opening of the Revelation: Jesus, the faithful witness to God’s love, will one day be revealed in all glory, honor, and power to us. The clouds, perhaps literally or perhaps in a fantastic cosmic opening, will part and our eyes will be opened.

And another clear, plain takeaway: We don’t have to understand everything in order to receive God’s love and grace. There’s a lot in here I don’t get. It’s strange. And through my life, I hope I can keep unpacking little bits of meaning from such texts, so that I can know more deeply the love of God which is above all and in all and through all.

In short, the outcome here is that God’s love has already won the battle. In Christ, death’s power has been undone. It is a revelation of God’s truth. And now God’s people faithfully await the promise of peace, shalom, life together in unity with Christ.

That’s where we’re going. And today, we even get a clearer picture. At the table. Communion, eucharist, the sacrament of bread and cup. Remembering Christ, proclaiming his love until he comes again. We talk about the act of Communion as a foretaste of God’s fulfilled kingdom, the meal of God’s people for the life of the world. We become that united, loving community. We share with one another, holding hope of God’s restoring way among us. And so, the invitation is to come, as you are, to the table of God’s abundant love, as a foretaste, a foreshadowing, of the heavenly banquet in the presence of the Holy One.

Let’s journey through this text together. We won’t get to a lot of the deeper content, but I hope we’ll get a sense for the shape of this letter. Why it is important to our lives today. What it means to have hope in the face of crushing imperial power. To be faithful witness to Christ, through it all. May it be so with us.