Revelation 5:1-13
“Visions of Love”
06 August 2017 St.
Andrew’s Military Chapel
Last week I made a passing comment
about how apocalyptic literature, specifically Revelation, can seem more like
science fiction than reality. Tales full of mythical creatures and fantastic
scenes that defy reality and sometime exceed our imagination. Just as those
tales describe deeper truths and ideas represented by the characters and
settings of the story, so too Revelation needs keen interpretation.
This chapter is where the allegory,
or representation of deeper truths with fantastical elements of writing really
begins to take off in Revelation. So, I want to again describe the posture I
take in reading Revelation. Because of the nature of the imagery and the many diverse
ways people have interpreted the meaning of the symbols, images, numbers, and
characters in this and the following chapters, it is vital to define the
posture we bring to reading Revelation.
If you are anticipating tales of
how Revelation will predict the collapse of governments, impending wars that
will devastate the world, predictions of how God will snatch people straight
out of their clothes, or how those left behind will face unbearable trials and
fight to save the characteristics that define humanity, I fear you will be
disappointed over the next few weeks. This chaplain doesn’t read Scripture,
especially Revelation with that expectation. If that is what you were expecting
I will point you to theologians who share that reading. However, I will also
ask that you give another reading a compassionate ear.
When we read Scripture in its
entirety we find a story of a loving God repeatedly calling humanity to walk
with the divine in a personal way. Unfailing love towards humans that
frequently fail and disappoint sometimes even defacing and humiliating the one
that transcends everything on earth. In Genesis, God pronounces creation as
good but shows humanity’s special place in God’s heart by decreeing humans as
very good. We were the apple of God’s eye from the beginning. God wants us to
succeed and will always love us despite, and in spite of, our flaws of which
there are many.
God called Abram out from Ur not to
the exclusion of others, but rather as the vehicle from which all will be
exposed to and included in the unfailing and unbounded love of God towards all
creation. It’s the reason all of creation, everything that has breath praises
the Lord. Praise which we vividly saw in the Scripture passages the last two
weeks.
As we continue to read Scripture we
see humanity failing to love God and follow God’s guidance to include and love
all in response to the love we have received ourselves. Despite our attempts to
hoard and hide God’s love (including yours truly), it always shines through in
the most unexpected places. God’s love always wins.
And that is what we see in
Revelation. Despite the darkest foe, the darkest power, the darkest side of the
force, God’s love wins. Darth Maul, Darth Vader, the Emperor, Kylo Ren are no
match for the light of God shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot
overcome it.
When we understand God’s desire for
us in this way and read Scripture in a way that describes God’s desire for hope
and inclusion, Revelation is revealed as a beautiful and pastoral vision of the
Kingdom of God and its ability to overcome the darkness of power politics,
death, destruction, and exclusion.
With that in mind, let’s take a
look at the images we see in today’s passage.
The scroll for whom it is difficult
to find a being that is worthy to open represents God’s plan for humanity which
is hidden from us until God is ready for us to understand and see that plan.
Because of the magnitude of such a plan, it is only fitting that the individual
chosen to open and look upon that plan be of a certain makeup and character.
It’s also not surprising that John weeps bitterly at the realization that no
one was found worthy to open the scroll.
We all want to know our purpose and
reason in life. If we were in the presence of the document, item, or person
that could shed light on the arc of our lives most of us would experience a
strong desire to hear of said plan. John has been drawn into a heavenly vision
where he is expecting a revelation of God’s plan of, in, and for humanity. It’s
right there in front of him, yet will his vision fail to provide the answers he
desperately seeks? John’s reaction is completely understandable.
So is his surprise when the one
found worthy to open the scroll is the Lamb. Human nature has an expectation
that only the powerful can change the world. That power comes from human ideas
and notions of strength and vitality. Yet, in this vision, just as in the
Gospels, power is turned upside down. We expect a lion to come roaring in and
save humanity through military might and typical notions of power. However, the
one who is worthy of seeing and revealing God’s plan for humanity is the lamb
that was slain by its own choice.
Throughout Revelation we see Christ
represented as a lamb, counteracting the expectations of the mighty lion ruling
over the kingdom. And this vision of the lamb in Revelation echoes the Passover
Lamb from Exodus as well as the lamb we read about in Isaiah 53. Christ came
not as a conqueror but rather as a self-sacrificial savior of all. Christ’s
self-sacrifice is the only power that matters in the cosmic drama unfolding in
this vision, in the drama that enfolds us each and every day.
This sacrifice was not for a small
number of people. Christ’s sacrifice was for everyone in the world, regardless
of nation or creed. Just look at hymn sung about the sacrificial lamb in verses
9 and 10, “for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and people and nation; you have made them
to be a kingdom and priests serving our God.” Christ’s sacrifice brought forth
God’s Kingdom on earth from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Again, an emphasis
on inclusion rather than exclusion from participation in God’s Kingdom and plan
for humanity in the cosmic drama we see playing out in John’s vision.
We have seen in this chapter a
vision of how God will include humanity in the plan for creation. In fact, we
have seen how only Christ through his self-sacrifice for the world is the one
being able to see and understand God’s plan for creation. Through Christ and
his sacrifice for us we are invited to participate in God’s plan for all of
creation, for every living thing. This isn’t a small plan for only a select
few. Rather, this plan is for everyone that desires to be part of God’s
Kingdom, for there are myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands singing
God’s praises and participating in this ultimate plan for creation.
This is also a vision of hope. In
the midst of John’s despair that all was for naught and that no one would be
found worthy to handle God’s plan for creation, Christ stepped forward to see
and reveal the plan. While we’ll never fully know the plan for creation on this
side of eternity, we can look towards and model the life of Christ to get a
glimpse of what the Kingdom of God does in the world and to begin to understand
our role in creation.
It is a way of life that seeks
peace, unity, love, mercy, grace, inclusion, care for all of creation, not just
humans, hope in the certainty of God’s benevolence and ultimate victory over
the dark side of the force, and inclusion of all into the plan and eventual
praise and thanks for the goodness of God.
If that sounds like a lot to take
in and understand, it is. After all we are dealing with eternal and
transcendent things in Revelation. Nothing is too small or too large to be
discussed and included in God’s plan of redeeming creation and bringing creation
together in harmony. Perhaps the hardest part is the waiting and not knowing if
we are on the right path. It is for that reason that Christ came to earth, to
show us the way. To guide us and give us a glimpse into the heavenly plan of
which all of creation will play a part. The Gospel is that we all will play a
part because God loves us and wants to include us in the wonder of creation.
That is our hope and joy in life.
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