Revelation 2:8-11 Friends Don't Let Friends Misread the Apocalypse

Revelation 2:8-11

The Message to Smyrna

 ‘And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of the first and the last,
who was dead
and came to life:

 ‘I know your affliction and your poverty,
even though you are rich.
I know the slander on the part of those
who say that they are Jews and are not,
but are a synagogue of Satan.
Do not fear what you are about to suffer.
Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you
into prison so that you may be tested,
and for ten days you will have affliction.
Be faithful until death,
and I will give you the crown of life.
Let anyone who has an ear listen
to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
Whoever conquers will not be harmed
by the second death. 

Observation: John shares messages from Jesus for each of seven churches in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). To Smyrna, Jesus says that they have affliction and poverty, even though they are rich, and are facing slander from their fellow Jews, whom John calls a "synagogue of Satan." It's not clear what the background of this accusation is, because little is known about the Jewish community in Smyrna.

Application: *Sigh*. What a difficult text to be reading in the wake of yet another gruesome act of anti-semitic violence last weekend, in Chabad synagogue of Poway, California.

The Apocalypse (Which DOES NOT MEAN THE END OF THE WORLD, but rather is Greek for "Revelation") has been misused and misread for as long as it's been around. This particular passage has done an awful lot of harm in that history. For centuries, Christians have assumed, with little supporting evidence, that by "synagogue of Satan" John means non-Christ-believing Jews, and Christians have used that interpretation to do horrible violence to Jews in their own time and place.

It should go without saying, violence against anyone, let alone the very family of faith from which Jesus, all twelve apostles, and indeed John of Patmos came, is itself Satanic. I can't think of a more evil thing to do than  to walk into a house of prayer--any house of prayer--and take lives. If there's a real "congregation of Satan" today, it is any gathering of people of faith that would ignore or empower this kind of atrocity.

The call I hear from Revelation/"The Apocalypse", over and over, is to keep our faith even in times of horrific violence, and to stand in solidarity with those facing violence. To do anything less is to ally ourselves with the very forces of evil which John describes in such symbolic and poetic detail.

I grieve with my siblings in faith for the life, and the sense of safety, lost this weekend. I pledge to speak up and challenge interpretations of Christian scripture that lend any credence to those kinds of attacks. Always.

Prayer: God, I pray for the people you chose to be the first to know and follow you, the children of Israel. Help us to be good and faithful friends to them. Help me to be part of your congregation--the congregation that pursues peace and understanding in your name--and none other, even if it should bear your name or claim to follow your way. Amen. 

Acts 5:17-26 Upbeat Inspirational Devotion About Life

Proclaiming Jesus despite adversity? That's what's up.

Observation: Peter has been thrown into prison for telling the story of Jesus, by the same religious authorities responsible for Jesus' death. An angel breaks Peter out of prison, and tells him to go stand in the temple, again, and tell the whole story, again, which gets Peter arrested, again. This will lead right into our first lesson for Sunday, in which Peter will tell Jesus' story, again. And so it goes. 

Application: My kids really love the film, Teen Titans Go to the Movies. As kids' entertainment goes, I have to admit I like it, too. It is just the right kind of complete ridiculousness for my sense of humor. At one point in the movie, Robin, the protagonist, is feeling down. The solution? An "upbeat inspirational song," complete with 1980's keyboards and bizarre, happy rainbow-themed animations. This seems to do the trick for Robin. 

The problem is, when faced with serious obstacles and setbacks, most of us can't be turned around by just one song, no matter how upbeat or inspirational. We need ongoing relationships: people we know will have our back, even when times get tough. Most of all, we need friendship with Jesus.

Can you imagine the kind of strength it would take for Peter, who has just been jailed for his faith, to go right back to doing what got him thrown in jail? And this, after denying Jesus three times, running off into the night, and cowering in a locked room for fear of the very same authorities he now faces down multiple times? Do you suppose somebody sang him an upbeat inspirational song? Did he watch a really good TED talk about overcoming adversity? Or maybe....

Maybe Peter's behavior is a direct result of his experience of meeting the Risen Jesus. His 180-degree turn around is not of his own making, but 100% God's doing, through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

So...are you feeling down? Like you just can't do it today? Well, let me give you some insight: Most likely, you can't. But God can. My prayer for you--and for myself, because I need it today--is for at least one Jesus sighting. May you find just one sign of new life in the midst of sadness and frustration...just enough to spring you loose from whatever's imprisoning you, and to get you in the right kind of trouble all over again. 

Prayer: Jesus, I need you to show up for me today. I don't need energy or motivation or extra sleep. Well...I guess I need those things too, but what I need more than anything is for you to show up in my life, to break me loose from my spiritual prisons, to get me right back into the right kind of trouble for the sake of your Good News. Amen.  

  

Luke 24:1-12 Ode to Perplexity

Georges Braque, "Violin and Pallette," 1909

Observation: This was the Gospel text for Easter Sunday, so I've been looking at it a lot, but the word I see today that jumps out is: "Perplexed." The women, finding Jesus' tomb empty, are "perplexed."  Which might be the understatement of the millennium. Mark's gospel uses the word, "terrified." That sounds a little more similar to how these women would respond to this news, that just as Jesus said, he has risen from the grave, and death's hold on humankind has been broken. This isn't just "good news" to be greeted with a smile and a sigh of relief...at first, it is utterly shocking. 

Application: At Easter dinner at my sister-in-law's house, my ten-year-old daughter suggested we go around the table, like at Thanksgiving, and each say something we're thankful for. I said, "no, this is Easter. We should go around the table and each recount an utterly bewildering experience that made us question everything and took us years to process." Luckily we didn't do that. 

If our initial response to Jesus' resurrection is joy, then it hasn't really sunk in for us. Yes, Jesus' followers eventually rejoiced, but it took a whole lot of hard spiritual and theological work to get there. At first, there was perplexity, and lots of it. First century people may not have known all we know today, but they were well aware of how death usually works: probably more so than modern people, because they dealt with it in a more hands-on way. They knew what a dead person looked like. What they felt like. What they smelled like. To hear from angels that a man you buried is alive might eventually be a good thing, but at first, it's shocking. There's a reason why Jesus, when first appearing to his disciples, says "Peace be with you" several times.

The traditional art of Easter in the West seems to be glorious baroque paintings. Maybe it should be cubism. We often greet Easter with joyful, harmonious chorales. Maybe a better choice is jarring, avant-garde jazz. The resurrection is perplexing. It can't be domesticated. It's wild, and divine, and not readily understandable using our prior experiences, no matter what they are. If all we feel at Easter is happiness, I can't help wondering if we just hung around in the pretty garden, admiring the dew on the roses. Because if we had really poked our heads inside that tomb, we would have questions, and lots of them. 

Prayer: God, I say this in all reverence...what on earth is going on here? Help me really experience it as the women did, in all its perplexity. Help me resist the urge to make it more like the "happy endings" I know, and more like the truly new thing you began and continue in Jesus Christ. Amen.  

Revelation 12:1-12 A Big Story with a Simple Point

[MINOR CAPTAIN MARVEL SPOILER AHEAD. YOU SHOULD GO SEE IT. ]

Observation: Oh, boy. It's Tuesday after Easter, I'm drinking extra espresso just to get ready to dive back into ministry, and for devotions, here comes... Revelation. The observation I have about this text today is that despite the vivid, cosmic imagery, which many smarter readers than I have spent years trying to unravel, the point of the passage, and of the whole letter, is so, so simple. You'll find it in verse 11. "They have conquered him [the evil dragon/accuser/Satan] with the blood of the Lamb and the words of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death." John has many, many words about how God is dealing with the cosmic forces of evil, and the human forces of oppression in this world. But as to what ordinary Christians should do in response, just three words: hang in there. 

Application: Yesterday I finally got to see Captain Marvel, and it was so worth the wait. Carol Danvers is one of the biggest, baddest, 90's-raddest superheroes yet to inhabit the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She's loyal, gifted, persistent, strong, and it doesn't hurt that she has Superman-level powers to quickly dispatch most any evildoer. Reading Revelation this morning, I couldn't help thinking the Archangel Michael could do a lot worse than to have Captain Marvel on his team. Shoot, I'd pay to see it. I guess for now, Avengers: Endgame will have to do.

A defining scene in the movie, though, comes during the final battle as she is just discovering her immense power. The villain makes a pretty standard villain speech, challenging Carol to single combat, no powers allowed, to "prove her worth" or some such ridiculous gas-lighting nonsense. In a deliciously Raiders of the Lost Ark moment, scarcely are the words out of his mouth when she blasts him into barbecued villain-chops, and walks over to calmly inform him: 

"I have nothing to prove to you." 

The point of my little MCU tie-in today, though it may be a stretch, is this: reading a cosmic book like Revelation, Christians may sometimes be tempted to go all out on our special effects budget--to "prove" the truth of our faith in huge, grand gestures, lily-filled naves, trumpets, tympani, "pulling out all the stops" on our pipe organs (That's literally where the expression comes from)--but as big of a story as Revelation is, its point is quite different. We have nothing to prove to the "dragons" of our culture: to consumerism, militarism, imperialism, triumphalism, or any other idol of our present age. We don't need to match power with power, spectacle with spectacle...and these days, the fact is we really can't. Brie Larson is not going to come star in your Easter pageant anytime soon, and she doesn't need to. The kind of power that shows forth at Easter, the power John lifts up in Revelation, is lamb power: The power to share your story unflinchingly, to tell the truth to the world, no matter what the consequences, and to know that the truth will overcome the most awful atrocities the world can inflict. In Jesus, the Lamb of God, it already has. The tomb is empty, life has triumphed, and we, God's people, have nothing to prove. Our super-power is faith: the faith to do our little bit, to speak our truth no matter what, one day at a time, and leave the rest to God. 

Prayer: God, thank you for the super-power of faith. Help us to use it to its full effect, in hard times and even more so in easy times, when we would otherwise be tempted to forget you. In the name of Jesus, the Lamb of God, Amen.

       

Psalm 53: The Heart of a Fool.

Observation: This Psalm begins with the often quoted verse, "fools say in their hearts, 'there is no God.'" It's all too common that Christian believers proof-text this verse out of context, to use as ammunition against those who don't believe: "See? The Bible says you're a fool."

But if you keep reading even to the second and third verse, it says that God looks down to see if anyone is wise and seeks after God. The answer: "they have all fallen away; they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one."

Application: Here's a wild thought. it almost sounds like the psalmist isn't specifically calling out twenty-first century atheists, but rather pointing out that no one really seeks after God perfectly all the time. Consciously or unconsciously, we all sometimes behave as though we are the highest authority, answerable to no one. Maybe this text isn't a weapon to use on others, so much as a mirror to turn on ourselves: how have I put myself--my own opinions, desires and needs--in God's place in my heart?

Prayer: Lord, have mercy. When I have put myself first, I have said you are not there. Make yourself known in my life. Call me to account, and forgive my faithlessness. Amen. 

Leviticus 25:1-19 The Year of Freedom

Observation: Before the people of Israel move into the promised land, God gives them laws by which they are to live. One of the most fascinating is the law of Jubilee. Every seventh year, the land is to be given rest, and the people must eat what grows naturally. Then, on the fiftieth year--after seven times seven years are complete--there is a year of liberation, in which all people are to return to their family lands. It would be impossible to grab up land in perpetuity, because in the Jubilee, debts were forgiven and land returned. As the text says, in the Promised Land, it is not the land you buy, but "a certain number of harvests".

Application: This seems pretty idealistic. Historians question whether the Israelites ever fully celebrated the year of Jubilee. In our culture obsessed with acquiring more, where economic growth is enshrined as a prime virtue, it seems strange to think of hitting the reset button on an entire economy like this.

But I'll tell you something... yesterday, as Laura and I were going over our tax information (no judgement, we've still got two weeks!) I was struck by how costly it is in modern times just to live: to be born, to breathe, to be healthy, to have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and be in touch with the outside world. We work hard for all those things. I'm sure most all reading this do too.

 And yet sometimes it's hard not to feel we're losing ground. The conventional wisdom is our generation will work longer and retire on less than what our parents did, and our kids may struggle even more.

This is a devotional blog. I don't have all the answers to our society's ills. But as I read about the year of Jubilee--a year Jesus specifically declared as part of his mission in Luke 4--it reminds me that God cares for more than just our spirits. God cares for our security and financial well-being, too. And to those weary from working hard, God sees you and hears you.

Prayer: God, thank you for the vision of Jubilee. Help us see all our property as a long-term loan from you, our maker and ruler. Help us steward it well. Amen.