Past, Present, and Future

Revelation 1:4b-8

4 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, 5 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, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Reflection

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.  Those are pretty strong words.  Maybe it's strong because you've heard it so many times.  Maybe it's strong because of who is supposedly saying it.  Maybe it's strong because of the sheer thought of some being who is eternal.  Maybe it's strong because, somehow, you believe it. 

This passage gives the reader lots to imagine: seven spirits, freedom from sins by blood, a kingdom and priests, glory, clouds, sight, wailing.  With all that excitement, the bearer of these words begins with a greeting of something stronger than any of that: grace and peace.  And, not just the kind of "grace" we say at the dinner table or the "peace" we claim outside of wartime.  No, this is grace and peace from God who is and who was and who is to come.  This is grace and peace from the seven spirits (the number seven represents wholeness...one could go on forever about the number seven and the seven spirits and what it could mean).  But, what I find most profound today is: This is grace and peace from Jesus Christ who is not only raised from the dead, but plays a major role in the current world--the ruler of the kings of the earth.  

God isn't only eternal.  If we think about God as trinitarian--that is the Father, Son, and Spirit, then God is more than eternal.  God is other-worldly and very much here, ruler of heaven and ruler of the kings of the earth.  God's grace and peace is so much more than a promise for the future, it's for here and now.  John uses this greeting, not like some mindless phrase, but like something awesome and real.

I know, you're probably thinking that things don't seem graceful and peaceful (well, I thought about that).  And, if you thought that, you're probably right.  We live in a world where--even when we want to be perfect mini-Christ's doing good for all humankind--we mess up.  We live in a world where when we want peace, our lives are upturned by joblessness, by disasters, by deaths, and by so much more.  Even-so, we live in a world where we get glimpses of this peace and grace.  

A glimpse of grace: A couple of weeks ago, I was rolling silverware at my restaurant job.  I saw a guy with one leg, scraggly hair, and a big bag, rolling uphill to our door.  I opened the door and he rolled up to the counter and asked for the manager.  As I went on to my work, I heard him ask the manager if she could give him any food.  Her answer was, "I'm sorry, my budget for meals is gone for the month."  A woman who was waiting with her toddler for a to-go order, witnessed the situation and offered to pay for the man's meal.  As she reached for her wallet, my manager said, "Wait, you know what, you can have my meal for today."  She called me to the register, I rang up the man's meal and gave him a fountain pop.  And, I witnessed God's grace pass from a customer, to the heart of my manager, and to the hungry, one-legged, scraggly old man.

A glimpse of peace: Today, I woke up feverish and with a massive sinus headache.  My alarm went off three times--which irritates the heck out of my husband.  But, my husband tucked me back into bed after giving me some ibuprofen and he even put an extra blanket on the bed so our 80 pound mutt, Loo, could curl up next to me to keep me warm.  He went to play guitar for worship and I went back to sleep.  When I awoke a couple hours later, there was a very quiet dog laying on the pillow next to me, looking right at my face.  I got up and took the dog out.  Down the way, I saw a HUGE malamute.  Knowing that Loo is usually only feisty and protective when my husband is gone, I was a little worried.  So, we stood back a bit off the sidewalk as the other dog approached and passed.  Loo didn't raise a hair.  In fact, he and the other dog just wagged their tails as they watched each other.  The other dog walker stopped and inquired about Loo, all the while the animals were quite at peace with one another.  Now, it wasn't a peace between nations or between political parties in one nation.  But, there was peace in my husbands understanding and care, and there was peace between two enormous dogs.

Sometimes, it's hard to see that the eternal God of grace and peace does rule on this earth.  But, I have hope that we will see grace and peace, Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.  Look! (You might just believe it!)

Back in the Saddle

Daniel 12:1-3

1 "At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Reflection
This morning, I am deeply sorry for leaving you hanging (that is...all three of you who sometimes glance at this blog because you're good friends).  As you can imagine, I've been very busy not having a "real" job.  Actually, I kind of have been.  I've been picking up hours at my part-time-in-between-job and also doing some pastoral stuff on the side--like preaching and praying at weddings.  Frankly, this latter part has turned me into an adult-sized, jealousy-ridden toddler.

See, I like my part-time job.  I am grateful for it.  I look forward to going to work, giving customers some good food, smiling, making a few bucks, and coming home.  I look forward to meeting people I know I'd never meet in the parish.  I look forward to working with people I won't meet on Sunday morning.  But sometimes, that novelty wears thin.  Last weekend, I had a chance to play pastor, to preach and teach.  In that experience I remembered why I went to seminary and why I went through this insane process the church has JUST to say that if a church wants me then I can be ordained.  I did all that because that's what I love.  I love meeting with people who love each other and want to live together and share God's love with their family.  I love sharing prayers and teaching creeds.  I love leading worship.  But, even more than those things, I love reading a text or a situation and finding that God's love is all over it.  I love that, ultimately, it's not about me.  I love that it's not about whether I made sure the right kind of chicken was on a dish or about whether I'm rolling silverware fast enough.  I love that, when it comes to pastoral stuff, I get to use the brains that God gave me and I get to openly testify to and witness God at work.

So, when I got to do that pastoral stuff, I realized that I am jealous.  I am jealous of every person who is doing what they have trained to do.  I am jealous of my pastor friends because of the solid place they have in the world.  I am jealous, because I know--or hope--that my name is written in that book, but I can't find the darn page!  I hear and feel a call, but I can't see it yet.  And, well, I want it now!  Enough about me, because you probably have had that feeling too.

This reading (above) from Daniel is apocalyptic.  This means that the person writing it was pretty sure that the end of the world was coming soon.  And, why wouldn't they hope for that?  In the end, God's people were to be saved from damnation and live eternally in the presence of God.  "At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." That's pretty awesome.  Really. Would you want to stay in a world where you were persecuted, where life sometimes really sucked, where people died--if you could hope for this end time, you would....well, I would anyway.

Put yourself into these verses.  Where do you find yourself?  In a time of anguish?  Mourning those who sleep in the dust of the earth?  Bursting at the seams with some kind of wisdom just waiting to shine like the brightness of the sky?  Well, there is good news.  Those who anguish, your people shall be delivered.  Those who mourn, your loved ones shall awake.  Those who have wisdom to share, you will share it and it will shine like the stars of the sky forever and ever.

That said, we are here, now.  The writer of this text surely thought that he and his people would see this end of times.  And, for them, it would not be just an end.  It would be the beginning of this better life with God.

Right now, I get that.  I won't lie, I am learning things in life right now, but I don't want to live this life forever.  No, I want to live in a place where I can share in everlasting life--where the greatest thing isn't that we've added pork to the menu.  It's not always easy to see that this will be over, that life will change, that things will be better than they are in the present.  It's not always easy to see that God is changing us now and in times of anguish God has delivered and is delivering us.  It's not always easy to say that God loves us, created us, and gave his Son to walk with us and carry us through those days when we feel like upset toddlers and infants.  But, those things happen.  We are delivered from anguish.  We live.  And, because we are delivered, because we live, we have hope that our names really are in this book.  We really do have a place in God's kingdom.

(I'm hoping that place doesn't involve rolling silverware.)

Prayer
God, give us strength and hope to grow out of our tendencies to want immediate gratification.  Help us to look to you so that we might be better signs of your love in the world.  Amen.