he will take you if you run

he will chase you because he is the lord

First sermon in the series on Revelation

Last summer or the one before, I’m not sure anymore; during one of those hot, dog days of summer, I was making a visit at the Burlington Care Center.
The member and I chatted for a bit, but it was stuffy in her room, and I could tell she was getting sleepy. So after a few minutes, we had communion.  As I was saying the words of institution, I noticed she was nodding off… 

…Truthfully, it was a little discouraging. I couldn’t help but think that it certainly wasn’t what I imagined when I took the vows…

But then I noticed two things; an employee, a woman in the hallway vacuuming; and the sound of the birds chirping, coming in through the window. 

And then I was suddenly filled with this knowledge that there was more happening that I had known. Then, it was as if the light falling in through the doorway came alive. And everything around me had it’s own energy. The air seemed to tremble. That’s the only way I can describe it. 

In a stuffy room, with some old words and heavy eyelids, I caught a fleeting glimpse of everything that was really happening. 

I kept on with the communion liturgy; and in another moment, it was all over.

That’s what a revelation is, sisters and brothers. 

And I’d be willing to bet more of us than we know have had similar experiences, haven’t we? Because truthfully, the book of Revelation is not as odd as we make it, as we’re afraid it is. 

What John’s Revelation is, what it aims to do, is rattles us awake. Get us to see what’s really going on. 

To see the forces that resist God for what they are. To see all the ways God refuses to leave us to those forces. To take stock of what really happens when we gather here to sing and pray. And, what’s at stake when we fail to… 

Because let’s be honest, these days there is a lot to keep us from gathering, isn’t there? 

There are all the obligations. There’s the pressure we feel, if our children aren’t in this or that activity, that maybe they’ll miss out. Maybe they’ll resent us. Maybe we’ll be judged if we don’t give our kid every opportunity. And then there’s the very real temptation to get at least one blessed morning off.

And look, I’m not giving this examples to set up straw-men or to make anyone feel guilty. I’m listing these things, because they’re real forces in all our lives. 

And I use the word forces intentionally. 

Because John wants us to wake up and see life for what it is. What’s at stake. What we’re up against. And John knows, none of these forces are trifling. 

You know, we tend to think these are new problems, don’t we? That the trials and tribulations the church faces in 2017, are unlike anything the church has ever known before. 

but that couldn't be further from the truth. Death and Hades have always arrayed their forces against God’s purposes. God’s people. 

In fact, it only took one or two generations after Jesus’ ascension for the luster to come out of the shine of Christianity. 

The daily grind of living together over the long haul had set in. These Christians were having to learn the hard lesson of putting up with each other month after month, meeting after meeting. 

And that’s not all, either. Because aside from the internal struggles, there were external ones, too. Being back then a Christian then was met with suspicion…

You see, the early Christians weren’t entire resigned to the idolatry they saw all around. 

For instance, although the legal tender of their day had fine words on it, ‘In God we trust;’ the images on these coins wasn’t God - but local political leaders. Or, at civic events, they way everyone would gather around a symbol and offer their allegiance. 

These Christians, familiar with the first commandment as they were, weren’t entirely sure about al that.

But to onlookers, these concerns seems to be mere scruples. And what’s more, they were scruples over the very fabric of society! 

The official charge brought against these Christians was “atheism;” a refusal to blindly follow the gods of the day, the gods society and culture…

And all that; the hard lesson of life together, the pressure to fit in, the wight of suspicious looks; was taking its toll on these Christians. 

Little by little, inch by inch, these Christians toned down their witness. And it wasn’t long before the gap between their coffee hour talk and their mission statement got to be pretty conspicuous…

Their pastor, John, must have done all he could to try and gin up these Christians. But to no avail. 

In fact, for all his efforts, all he had to show for it was his exile. 

One way or another, John landed on the wrong side of the wrong people. He was stripped of his call and made to live on a small island off modern-day Turkey; exiled on Patmos island. 

One Sunday as John was praying, though, everything changed. 

John heard something; the voice. And not just any voice, but The voice. The voice of the risen Lord, Jesus Christ!

And as John turns to see The voice; he sees Jesus as he had never seen him before! Not merely as a humble Galilean. Not simply as teacher of morals. And not just as a religious leader, either. John sees Jesus as the exalted King of the cosmos. Jesus in all his glory!

And seeing Jesus as he is, John say something else, too. 

Seeing Jesus as he is now; John sees his congregations as they were. Not as frustrating, all-too-often, half-hearted followers; but as lampstands in heaven.

And, seeing Jesus as he is now, John sees himself as he was. Not as a disgraced pastor, without a call anymore; but as the preacher to those seven congregations still; and what’s more he was given a sermon to deliver. 

And a pretty darn good one, too…

By God’s grace, in the midst of everything; the compromises and the trials, they all still had a vocation. To be a people of God. 

To be the people of God in the midst of hot summer days. In the midst of another person shelling up when they find out you go to church. In the midst of wondering if you should tel the next person you go to church. In the midst of another meeting spent figuring out how to replaster the walls or repave the parking lot.

The call to bear witness to Jesus abides through it all because in the midst of it all, as John saw, there is Jesus. In the middle of the seven lampstands, the churches, stands the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, himself. 

In the midst of his church, Jesus Christ stands! 

In the midst of everything we face, Jesus stands. That is Jesus’ revelation for us today, because John’s revelation is no less true for Ephesus then, as it is for us, today! 

John’ Revelation means to wake us up to all that’s going on. All we’ve grown dull to. All we fail to see. 

What we think is just the ordinary, dull, push and pull of daily life; Jesus declares is the very stuff of God’s invasion. Because he incarnation didn’t end in the humble stable. And it wasn’t over on the terrible cross. 

It’s still happening. Happening here. Happening at yet another church clean-up day. Happening at one more church meeting. Happening right now as you sit there, going over your to-do list!

Sisters and brothers, more is going on than we see or know. 

God hasn’t left us to our own devices. God is not the clockmaker who builds the world and then steps back to let it run on it’s own. 

And what’s more, what we should also know is that although Jesus defeated Death on the cross; Death doesn’t just go away with a shrug. Even now, the forces of Death still rage. 

But we, bleary-eyed, hungry and distracted, hoping our child doesn't roll off the pew again; are all too often blind to it all. 

So Jesus gives us his revelation. Jesus calls; you with ears, listen! Wake up! Jesus shows us that in the midst of it all, he still shows up in the middle of his church. 

Jesus has a message for us today, he’s in our midst. 

In the chaos. In the headlines. In another meetings. As your stomach growls. In the to-do list. In the midst of it all, Jesus Christ himself stands. 

So when we go to the meeting, when we share the peace, when we sleep-in; all the forces that oppose God may do battle. But what Jesus tells us today is that, not just that he has overcome them, but that he has come here. 

In the middle of this, in the middle of us. We are not alone. Jesus Christ is here.

Those with ears to hear; listen!