|
|||
 |
The book of Revelation has often stood as an ominous, mysterious,
unapproachable book. Honestly, what are the feelings that surface or the thoughts
come to mind when you think about the book of Revelation? I’ve put that
question to different groups across the years and the answers are fairly predictable.
There are basically two answers that emerge to that question. One has to do
with fear. The feelings of fear in regard to the book of Revelation come primarily
from those persons who were raised in the church and can remember the evangelist
coming to town. Invariably, on Saturday night of revival week they would all
preach their hell sermon, usually out of the images of Revelation. I can well
remember as a child being so scared by those sermons I was literally afraid
to go to sleep at night. The other basic answer to the question is kind of
a blank. Many people in our churches don’t have the above-described experience.
They probably know more about the Left Behind series than about the book of
Revelation.
If we approach Revelation with an eye only toward establishing
timelines, fixing dates, and specific events and identifying symbols—we
stand in danger of missing altogether the triumphant message of this wonderful
book. It’s a message that speaks to a very real question being asked
today: “Who is really in control here?” The more we experience tragedy
and pain in our world, the more we begin to question whether or not anybody
is really in control. The shocking events of the past few years, from Waco
to New York City, leave us wondering, “Is anybody really in control of
this world or is it just spinning wildly out of control?”
Actually, in our congregations, the question gets much closer
than that. When the ravages of abuse come close to our homes, when companies
play political games with one another and in the process people lose their
jobs, when people we know and love are stricken with serious illness, those
are the times we wonder about who is really in control.
When the revelator was writing these words the church was asking
just those kinds of questions. Jesus had promised that in him the kingdom
of God had come. He had been victorious in his mission. He defeated death
and dying in his glorious resurrection and his parting promise to them was
that he would return to bring the inaugurated Kingdom to its full fruition.
They believed it. They staked their very lives on it, and the infant church
exploded in growth as people responded to the gospel.
They looked for the imminent return of Jesus, believing that
it would happen within their lifetimes. But the years rolled by, the decades
passed. They were being persecuted. Many had been imprisoned, some martyred
for giving unwavering witness to the Christ who had redeemed them. They steadfastly
held to the confidence that Jesus would keep his promise and complete the
coming of God’s kingdom. They continued to look for the day when the
curse of sin on the world would be finally and completely cleansed from creation.
But in the realities of life, the questions began to surface. Is it really
true? Is God still accomplishing his work in this world? Is it still worth
being faithful, in spite of the pain, in spite of the persecution, in spite
of the threat of death? Is God still really in control?
John was dealing with these questions. He had been banished
to the prison island of Patmos off the coast of Asia Minor, sent there by
the Romans because he had faithfully preached and taught the good news of
Jesus. In this place of isolation comes the revelation of Jesus Christ to
John. The basic message is: God is still at work to accomplish the redemption
of the world. This work found its crowning achievement in Jesus Christ and
continues even to this day and will continue until it is completed. This text
then, is a beautiful summary of that work.
These very great promises are made to the one who overcomes
the temptation to fall away because doubts creep in, or the temptation to
stop believing because it just doesn’t seem to be working out. There
is sometimes temptation to give up because we just can’t understand what
God is doing, but the promise of the text is, “He who overcomes shall
inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son” (v.
7).
(for a complete manuscript
of this sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons”)
Two issues seem critical for preparing to preach from this text. One is to
deal with the “congregational blocks” that come up whenever the
preacher takes a text from the book of Revelation. It would be important to
spend at least some time “answering” those congregational blocks,
the presuppositions, misinformation, and fears that people have about studying
apocalyptic literature. The other important issue is to allow the text to
refunction in the minds and hearts of the contemporary hearers as it likely
did for the original hearers. That is, to give a word of hope and encouragement
to remain faithful even when the circumstances of life and the world begin
to call into question the wisdom of placing one’s faith on the work of
God in Christ.