The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place, and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
Revelation:1:1-8 (NRSVue)
Blessed is the one who reads the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
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 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 all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.
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.
My sermon from the 2nd Sunday of Easter (April 3, 2016) on Revelation 1:1-8.
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Did anyone this week say something that, after you heard it, you wished you thought of that? Or maybe they shared an insight we’ve had before but expressed it in such a way that left us a little bit in awe? Well, this week, that happened to me. I was looking over the gospel reading today – this story about a disciple named Thomas who wasn’t there when Jesus showed up to visit his friends. And someone else, looking at this text, shared a thought I know I’ve had but one I’ve never articulated in 140 characters or less. They looked at Jesus, visualized him, made an image of who he is in this text – and they saw that Jesus today, “doesn’t show up with scars. He’s still wounded.” Even after his resurrection, Jesus’ wounds from the crucifixion are still there. And all I could think was “I wish I thought of that.” Because they’re right. It isn’t enough to only say that Jesus is still wounded. When we share that Jesus doesn’t have scars either – we uncover a little bit more of just who this Jesus is. He is the Son of God. He is resurrected from the dead. He is fully alive but the wounds inflicted on him during his life are still there. The signs of his life – a life lived with brokenness and joy, laughter and trouble, temptation and holiness – those wounds are still there. This isn’t an image of a resurrected Jesus who looks like his best self. He’s still broken; he’s still pierced. But his wounds don’t have the final word on who he is. The image of Jesus in this gospel is a Jesus who, after his death, still carries the signs of death. But he is now so full of life, his story doesn’t end. And that’s image of Jesus – a Jesus still wounded but now more than alive – that’s the image we need with us, in our back pocket, when we start to take a look at one of the strangest books of the entire bible – the book of Revelation.
Now, for the next six weeks, our 2nd reading will come from the book of Revelation. It’s the last book in our bible, written by a guy named John while he’s living on an island called Patmos, located a little bit off the coast of modern day Turkey. Now, tradition says that this John is the same John who wrote the Gospel according to John but that’s debatable. There’s not a whole lot in the gospel or in Revelation that hints that both authors the same. Instead, we have two authors for two works and one of them is named John, and he’s sitting on an island. And while he’s on that island, feels compelled to write a letter to seven communities, seven churches, that he has a relationship with. So that’s what the book of Revelation is: a letter between friends, a letter between a pastor, teacher, disciple and the churches he knows and loves. And John starts his letter by painting a picture of just who his Jesus is.
And we see that in the titles for Jesus that John uses. What follows isn’t only a vision from the Son of God. This Jesus is also the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler over all the other kings on earth. This Jesus who died and was resurrected is still active, using messengers, angels, and even a guy named John to connect with God’s people on earth. Jesus is that faithful witness who never turned back from his calling to show the world just how much God loves it and its many peoples. Jesus was also the first born from the dead – but he won’t be the last. And finally, there’s no king on earth, no general, no Emperor in Rome, more powerful than he. This is an image of Jesus that is strong – mighty – pow