2 Easter Yr C

For the Sundays after Easter we have an odd sort of thing happening with our readings. We will hear semi-continuous passages from Acts, from Revelation, and from John. It is an opportunity to hear quite a bit from each of these stories. I’m going to spend some time talking about Revelation for the next few weeks, as well as some from John.

I think many of us shy away from Revelation, assuming it is just too hard to understand or too scary maybe. Currently, Revelation is my favorite book of the Bible; it is filled with Good News for us today. So today I’ll begin with a little background.

First of all, it is the Book of Revelation, not Revelations. Jesus is the main character in Revelation. The book’s opening line, as we heard read this morning, tells us that it is an “apocalypse of Jesus Christ.” Revelation’s primary purpose is to tell us the story of Jesus, not to predict end-time events. Let me just repeat that. Revelation’s primary purpose is to tell us the story of Jesus, not to predict end-time events. Revelation and its synonym apocalypse, mean unveiling. Apocalypses pull back a curtain to unveil or reveal some deep truth about the world. When Revelation was written, apocalypse was a popular type of literature for Jews and Christians. Apocalypses were easy for ancient readers to understand because people were familiar with the structure and imagery, just as we are familiar with science fiction and horror movies today. People in the ancient world were drawn to the drama and mystery of apocalypses.

One typical element of Revelation and many other ancient apocalypses is the visionary journey. This is what we have before us. Revelation’s talking altar, multi-headed beasts, woman-cities and other fantastic creatures are not at all unusual for an apocalyptic journey. And in a typical apocalypse the traveling visionary returns from the journey with an urgent message for us about what he or she has seen, usually a call for repentance and faithfulness, perhaps also a political critique. Other examples of apocalyptic literature are contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and also the biblical book of Daniel.

Even Charles Dickens wrote about an apocalyptic journey in A Christmas Carol. As we all know, A Christmas Carol is a morality play in which the miserly Scrooge is taken on a visionary tour of his life. A hair-raising visit from the ghost of his dead business partner gives Scrooge the first warning of what his future may hold if he does not change his life. Subsequent visitations by three spirits show Scrooge his painful past and what his painful future may look like. He also sees a scene that inspires hope for him, the warmth and the love of the Cratchit house. These contrasting visions prove to be a wake-up call for Scrooge. Scrooge is changed by these visions in this story. In the terrifying moment when he sees a vision of his own grave, Scrooge repents of his ways, asks for forgiveness, and is transformed into a caring and doting uncle, employer, and friend. Scrooge commits to walking a different path. We may even say that our encounter with A Christmas Carol, in some way helps to transform us as well.

The Book of Revelation is like that. Jesus is the main character, and we may say that the story is to call us as individuals, and as the community of faith, to repentance and faithfulness. John, the author of Revelation, is taken on a series of visionary journeys on behalf of his seven churches. Transported out into the future, he is shown contrasting visions of two cities. He sees the evil whore called Babylon, whose merchants and kings lament the loss of all their wealth. He hears that Babylon sits on seven hills, identifying Rome, and he hears the voice of an angel calling Christians to reject Rome and all that it represents. Finally John sees an alternative city, God’s wonderful paradise like world, descending from heaven like a bride, inviting us in. This is the citizenship Christians are to hope for. The urgent message is that Christians must be faithful in worshiping God and renounce Babylon which is Rome, in order to participate in God’s holy city. Revelation’s primary purpose is life-changing; it does not predict literal events. The book’s goal is to exhort us to faithfulness to God by means of a new vision.

That brings us back to the beginning of Revelation, and our main character who is Jesus, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. So what does that mean? We have just been through the wilderness with Jesus, we have been to the cross, and we have witnessed the resurrection. Jesus, the firstborn of the dead is indeed about what happens in resurrection. We believe that the work God does in Jesus on the cross and in the resurrection is to inaugurate the new kingdom, and we will hear all about the new kingdom in this Book of Revelation. The Easter reality is that death does not have the final word. The Word of God has the final word, who is Jesus. And the new kingdom, the new creation, has begun. You and I are new creations because Jesus is the firstborn of the dead; the church is a new creation because Jesus is the firstborn of the dead. We are a body, a mystical, incarnate, flesh and blood body because Jesus is the firstborn of the dead.

Scrooge commits to walking a different path as a result of his visionary journey. You and I have that opportunity as well as we hear Revelation, and as we hear this story of Jesus who visits his friends after the resurrection in John’s gospel. What difference does all this make for us today? It makes all the difference. All the readings we have heard put some flesh on what it means to be citizens of this new kingdom, to walk this path of discipleship. It is also important to remember that this isn’t about just you or me. This is about God’s renewal of our entire world, our community, our families. As we read further in Revelation we’ll see that more clearly, the new kingdom, the new earth, is about God dwelling with us right here, recreating this fragile earth, our island home.

The story of Thomas in John’s gospel points us to the different path we disciples of Christ are to take. We have heard so much about the story of Thomas being a story of doubt, but maybe that’s not it at all. Maybe, what John is doing is addressing us, the readers, who do not have the opportunity of direct sight that Thomas has, to engender belief in us that will result in the sort of transformation that leads us to the path of generosity and forgiveness, citizenship in the new kingdom.

Citizenship in the new kingdom that Revelation describes calls us to forgiveness and to reconciliation; as individuals, as a community of faith, and yes, as country. Citizenship in the new kingdom calls us to show the world a way of that is very different than what we have been experiencing lately. Citizenship in the new kingdom calls us to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Citizenship in the new kingdom shows us that the respect we owe to God should be reflected in the honor and respect we show to each other in our common humanity, particularly in how we speak to each other. And citizenship in the new kingdom calls us to recognize in humility that we are limited and that there may very well be a diversity of rightness. We have been made new creations in the death and resurrection of Jesus; we have been born again as citizens of the new kingdom that God has begun in Jesus. The time is now for us to live the full measure of our citizenship.

Alleluia, The Lord is risen indeed: Come, let us adore him. Alleluia!

The work on Revelation is from The Rapture Exposed, by Barbara Rossing. The work on John is from Conversations with Scripture: The Gospel of John, by Cynthia Briggs Kittredge.