Revelation 7:9-17
7:9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from
every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and
before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
7:10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God
who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
7:11 And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the
four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
7:12 singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and
honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
7:13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in
white, and where have they come from?"
7:14 I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said
to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
7:15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and
night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
7:16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike
them, nor any scorching heat;
7:17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he
will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes."
Christ is the shepherd who leads his faithful to springs of the water of life. Christ is also the lamb who vanquishes sin and suffering, in whose blood the saints have washed their robes and made them white.
The community who first heard John's vision, like many communities today, lived with danger and persecution. In this portion of the vision, people of all nations come together in worship and the Lamb/shepherd brings healing, protection, and freedom from want.
Like last week, we are again getting a glimpse into cosmic worship.
The song that is sung "Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." shows qualities that are possessions of God. Many times man (in our finate knowledge) try to claim these gifts for ourselves, this just doesn't work. Power and might are the Lord's, not ours! When we take and misuse something that is not ours, it leads to less than spectacular results.
As far as the ones clothed in white, while this is not real clear, and some can make logical arguments as to who it refers to, it shows some wonderful
consistencies with the rest of the Bible. They worship God and God takes ultimate care of them!
Thanks be to God!
Well, I thought I'd check back. I'm going with the Acts. Tabitha's sewing for the widows goes hand in hand with our yearly offering for the UM assisted living for the elderly.
I see this vision (no pun intended) as John's story. Interesting, and, for him, wonderful. I'm glad he shared it with us. (can you hear the 'however' coming?)
However, preaching it (at least the way I tend to preach) would involve reading things into it. I recall a woman's testimony once and she said, "I saw the most beautiful butterflies in such-n-such place ..." All I could think was, "oh, that's nice." She was describing her experience and it appeared to leave me out. I was glad for her experience, but it did nothing to draw me in to the beauty.
To give credit where due, though, John does a much better job of drawing us into the description of his vision. It culminates in the promise of v. 17.
An interesting thing to notice in v. 17 is that it says "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes," not "God will stop all tears from being shed."
Sally
For those of you who might come back, (like Sally although you have already settled on the Acts passage), I do think the parishioners are wondering about Revelations, and since it is our Scripture (whether we see them inerrant, authoritative, historical and/or informative) I think we should reflect on these Easter seasons Scriptures and see if there is some preaching there. Although this week I will be using another Scripture, I will be preaching for the next 3 Sundays and will be referring to the phrase found in verse 17, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
For some reason, I keep hearing that phrase and it is a vision for me, God wiping away the tears. I will be using it in next week's sermon as it is found in the "New Jerusalem" vision of chapter 21. I'm assume that John on Patmos was so worried about the problems in the 7 churches in Asia Minor, that he used the Apocalyptic writing to help them stay faithful, not to get caught up in "Roman and Greek" culture of the day, but keep worshipping the Lamb, to open their door to the Good Shepherd, and remain faithful.
Oh yes, I think he was hard on those who were trying to please "please the government" so they wouldn't be killed. And yes I think John, because he was exiled was a pretty angry guy, (but don't all religious leaders sometimes get caught up in righteous indignation), but that vision at the end if not taken literal to me is able to spark the hope for the future.
For some reason, that vision was important to me in November, 1998. I used it "God shall wipe away all tears." as a conclusion for my sermon at the 8:30 service while I was still in active ministry. So I sang a song with those words.
God shall wipe away all tears
There's no pain no death no fears
And they count not time by years
for there is no night there
I can't guarantee the exact time, but around that time, my mother who was getting ready for church, had gone into one of the rooms of her house, and felt a pain in her chest (this is a guess). Because of the pain, she laid down on the floor and laid her glasses on the couch that she laid beside, took a last breath and passed away.
Although I am not using this this Sunday, I'm trying to figure out how that can be used next Sunday for mother's day, (I will be concentrating on Festival of the Christian home), and using Revelation 21:1-6a
As I am writing this, I realize that my mother had a vision of a song when her mother died, she was only 9 years old, and hers was "Be not dismayed what ere be tide, God will take care of you" This song helped to wipe away her tears. Because of the variety of music among my children, I hope they plan alot of hymns, anthems and gospel songs at my service, and that God will wipe away their tears.
Shalom
Bammamma
One of the things I'm working on is the Utopian vision that is presented in this and in the 23rd Psalm. It seems to me that the more we are suffering the more these texts have meaning and the more we long for them. I confess that the 23rd Psalm doesn't have deep meaning for me but perhaps if I was in a dry desert being persecuted it would have a different meaning. Likewise in this passage the people are "they who have come out of the great ordeal". Perhaps these texts have more meaning when our ordeal is great.
KbinAb
A picture is worth a thousand words, but if you were not there when the picture was drawn, it may take a thousand words to make the picture understandable. This vision of John's is a picture, of and for a church which is triumphant in spite of persecution. They have seen their brothers and sisters in Christ killed because of their faith. Those revolting pictures of blood washing people clean have been seen out of context. We are a body that lives with paradox: The lamb that was slaughtered is the lamb that saves, the saint that is martyed /defeated for procaliming her faith is the one who is saved. The church needs to see that picture and have words given so that it can be appreciated. The church needs to see the picture of cosmic worship so that we know that we do not worship alone, but the worship in our local congregation is but a part of the on-going worship in all areas of the globe /universe and all times in history.
Parts of it are not a pretty picture, but a very important picture for us to see. If we, as preachers always turn away from the pictures we find in Revelation, because we do not fully understand them, or because we find them offensive or revolting, we do disservice to the church.
Fisher in TN
Just to set the record straight: I'm not avoiding this scripture because I find it offensive or because I'm trying to shield my congregants from it.
Yesterday I'd settled on Acts, because it spoke more to me and because I am aware that the only interpretations of apocalyptic literature I've been exposed to are those of the LaHaye ilk, and I can't go for that. I'm not concerned with the end of time; I'm concerned with TODAY!
This morning, however, a post by LF on the Acts page wove this scripture together with the Acts nicely. Though I don't know if I'll preach it exactly, it's entirely appropriate to view this in terms of a social justice issue.
So, my avoidance (which, thanks to the post by LF, I'm no longer avoiding this passage) is not about protecting my people, or because I'm personally offended by it (I'm not), it's because I don't know that I could do justice. It is as if I'm reading someone else's story and can't apply it to my (or any one else's) life experience - without guessing or making leaps that may or may not even be there! It's about my not having much experience in apocalyptic literature and knowing it and not being willing to make it up as I go along.
I heard a sermon once, by Bishop Bevel Jones, where he talked about an encounter with another preacher who wanted to start talking about when the end of time would come and what it would be like. Bishop Jones ended up preaching (I don't know if he replied to that man this way), "I'm not worried about the rapture; I'm worried about the RUPTURE - of our families today!" and "I'm not worried about the rapture; I'm worried about the RUPTURE of social justice!" and many examples like that. It was powerful for me because it made it OK for me not to be hung up on the end of time.
Sally in GA
When I was in pastoral ministry full time, I don't think I preach much from Revelations. I did teach a seminar on it at one church. The first session was full, but because I didn't try to give modern day explanations of what the symbols meant, but explained the historical situation, it was poorly attended after that. After that I left it alone
But when I looked at the Easter season lections this first year of my retirement, I realized my interest in Revelations, because I am in my "last days"(More days behind than in front). Now I'm glad I attempted that Revelation class, whether it was successful or not, because I remember there were persons in that class looking at their "last days."
As I'm reading through the pericopae (I think that is the right spelling) I’m discovering that the pictures, symbols, and speculations, are sparking my thinking about the hope of the future, and helps me live for today.
Now I know why there are so many Spirituals that dealt with the visions of Revelations and heaven. It helped the slaves deal with everyday.
Shalom
bammamma
