We need prophets not saviours; leaders not new messiahs.

More wise words from Jim Wallis from his blog  GOD'S POLITICS

Today, Sojourners is launching a new project called Emerging Voices, and it’s one of the most exciting things I have been involved with for a long time. It aims to mentor, develop, and promote the most dynamic up-and-coming communicators — speakers, preachers, and teachers — who so clearly are called to lead and publicly articulate the biblical call to social justice.

The vision for this project is exciting and something to be celebrated. It also calls to mind a critical observation: Our world often wants saviors, not prophets; new messiahs, not leaders.

We want heroes with superhuman strength who save the day, not mere mortals who speak the truths we typically don’t want to hear. Even the modern-day giants of social justice — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, and Mahatma Gandhi, for example — were at best prophets, but never saviors.

It’s easy to slip into the mentality that one person, one voice will rise up in a generation, and that he or she will change the world as we know it. Perhaps we even think, “Maybe I will change the world.”

King spoke of this temptation as the “drum major instinct.” This is the basic desire of humans to lead the charge, and ultimately, reap the recognition — or, at the very least, to place our confidence in a single human being.

Two months before his assassination, King warned his listeners at his home church of Ebenezer Baptist:

“When the church is true to its nature, it says ‘Whosoever will, let him come.’  And it is not supposed to satisfy the perverted use of the drum major instinct.  It’s the one place where everyone should be the same, standing before a common master and savior.”

However, King understood that even if he were able to overcome, or at least suppress, this instinct within himself, others would still submit their wounds and place their dreams upon him. Envisioning his funeral, he said that if he were to be remembered as a drum major, then he would like to be remembered as a drum major for justice, for peace, and for righteousness.

The role of savior has already been filled, and the cross Jesus bore is the ultimate rejection of this human drum major instinct. That’s where Christians must always start.

Nevertheless, we still need prophets, leaders, and voices who point us in the direction of this hope. The whole 11th chapter of Hebrews is essentially a long list of “shout outs”  to the men and women of the Hebrew scriptures who persevered in their faith despite not, in their lifetimes, receiving what was promised to them. Individually, these men and women are saintly celebrities, but together they form a “great cloud of witnesses,” which still inspires believers to run the race of faith and seek the finish line of the Kingdom.

After 40 years in public ministry, I am feeling an urgent and personal call to help raise up and support the next generation of faithful leaders — a new cloud of witnesses — who are boldly and creatively heralding the biblical call to social justice. More and more of my time is spent mentoring these emerging leaders.

Placing our hopes in a single drum major has never been a faithful response, and it is also increasingly ineffective. The world is changing. Notably, in the United States somewhere between the years 2040 and 2050 we will no longer have a racial or ethnic majority. We need a multitude of fresh and culturally relevant voices that can address the challenge of faith and the common good within our diverse and complex society and, in particular, issue a prophetic call to the churches and to our society. In the Emerging Voices project, we have formed a very hopeful and impressive circle of young leaders and we have already had a retreat together, which proved to be an extraordinary time.

I strongly encourage you to take a look at these communicators on our brand new website, www.emergingvoicesproject.org. Look at their faces, hear their stories, read what they have written. Consider inviting them to speak at your church, school, or public forum; join the conversation on their blogs; and glean insight from their books.

Ultimately, Emerging Voices aims to be unlike any other speaker platform that already exists. It’s intentionally diverse, particularly along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, and gender; it’s collaborative as it seeks to build a community among its participants; it’s equipping as we want to help the participants to develop their unique calling and skills; and finally, and most importantly, it’s elevating a common vision of biblical justice, not through a single voice, but through many.

I believe the Emerging Voices project is crucial for the future of the church and the world. Spending time with these emerging voices was deeply encouraging — both to me and to them — and gave me a powerful sense of the leadership they are already accomplishing. We all walked away with a real sense of hope and excitement about continuing our journey together.
Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: A Guide for Economic and Moral Recovery, and CEO of Sojourners. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimWallis.

Prayer training in Mukono

Given the numerous problems faced by people everywhere in society and spiritual challenges which tend to drive people into evil worship, the Diocese has established the "FAITH EMPOWERMENT PRAYER MINISTRY". The main work of this ministry is to guide people to being committed witness for the Lord, who are deeply rooted in the scriptures. The Ministry also equips Christians with skills of interceding for people with various concerns and also trains them on how to encounter various threats in the Christian life.

Rev. Canon James Christopher Batte -Faith Empowerment; Prayer. Diocese of Mukono, Uganda

Seeing God in the Church

We are constantly moving from an area of darkness and futility in our minds and we are learning about being like Christ (apprenticeship) not simply just being a deposit of knowledge. You need lots of people feeding you to help you on this life journey, whether you are a minister or elder.

God’s kingdom is God’s journey with the creation. It is

very much the point of the books of Moses. Jaweh is

king of the created order. Israel was always waiting for

the right leader or king. The Old Testament writers

point us in this direction. In the book of Judges there is

a cycle of sin, rejection of God’s word, then release

from their captives for a time.. cycle went on for 400

years.. end of the book is about dark times. In those

days there was no king in Israel and everyone did what

was right in their own eyes. Ruth tells the story of

Naome.. things are bad for her…but in an incredible

way, God restores her life primarily by providing offspring.

The Book concludes with incredible celebration

and a geneology, leading up to David. So despite the

darkest of times, God was still working. God makes a

covenant with David saying there will never be a time

when his house will not be king.

Today we are also in tough times. What will happen to

the kirk? Is God really the King?. The Old Testament

stories all tell us that God is moving even when we may

not think he is. However, often when God comes to us,

he pauses and says wait just a bit longer...what seems

like darkness, what seems like silence! Remember that

his timing is different from ours.

We knew he was at work with David and it was great

with him but afterwards things did not go so well. What

happened to God’s promises? What did Daniel say to

us? He tells is that Nebuchadnezzar was not really the

king. Similarly today, in the middle of the Kirk appearing

to be broken apart God is working. The prophecy of

Daniel is that, even though kingdoms will come and go,

God is still working and the blessing of God’s kingdom in

its fullness will come and will be amazing. In the book of

Luke restoration of the kingdom is in Jesus. Jesus inaugurates

the kingdom of God on earth and during our

time we await his second coming. The kingdom is something

that we are still longing to see in its fullness. We

see more of it now that Jesus has come but we are still

on a journey.

The church and the kingdom are not equivalent. The

church is part of it but the kingdom includes much more,

such as the created order, time and eternity (Colossians

chapter 1).

The Church should never point to itself, its forms or its

polity. It must always point to Jesus Christ.

Foretaste.. look and see that the Lord is God. It is like

looking at new bread. It looks nice, smelling is better, but

tasting is best. Don’t just know! Let it nourish you! What

if our churches were places which were so close to God?

Surely people coming into them would be able to foretaste

the kingdom of God.

The church then has to be a sign and foretaste of the

kingdom so that people join us on this pilgrim journey. A

sign points the way. The church is a pointer to Jesus .

How do we do it? How do we represent the kingdom?

With earthly kingdoms, rulers even today use images of

themselves everywhere and they did the same thing in

early times too. Why? So that people would be reminded

of the king. For God’s kingdom, however, we are told In

Genesis 1.27, that male and female were created in his

image so humanity bears the image of God. But it became

a flawed image because of sin. And today, sin has messed

us up so the image is not easily seen. So what do we do

about that?

God sent the ultimate human in Jesus himself. He is the

image of the invisible God (Colossians). We are created to

be like Christ. Now the image is being restored again

through Jesus Christ. We are all little images. The image

of God must to be so clear that when people walk into

church they see God. That is how critical this is!

Can they see it? Surely, they can’t if we are huddled

behind closed doors. Can they hear if all they hear is of the

church and its controversies. Can they taste and see…not

if they are fed platitudes and cliches rather than the bread

of life!

There are three ways we can achieve this:

1. Community :

Read the Sermon on the Mount and what it says about

community. The establishment of a community which

looks like and behaves like God. It is very easy to come to

church and hide. Adam and Eve did not have to hide from

each other. Yes they were naked but they had no shame.

There was nothing to hide from each other.. There was

honesty and integrity. Now because of sin we often hide

and some of us are hiding in the Lord’s work. But, we must

remember that in Christ we are new creations. We may

be still learning not to hide and we learn this through

community. It is not that we don’t sin but we have forgiveness

and learn. We develop a sensitivity to those

outside the church. We look at them as fellow pilgrims

just that they have not entered the journey yet. It is

nothing to do with being in or out of the club! So with

them, we talk to them about our sin but not with shame

but with an honesty and integrity. Christ has taken away

our shame. I have been forgiven and I have been restored.

When we develop this sense of community we experience

a freedom from the drive to be affirmed by others. In our

weakness, we often want to be affirmed by others and so

we hide our struggles. But this is completely unnecessary

in the kingdom of God.

Jason Curtis Presentation Two at day conference for SEECAT

Food for the journey

'My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work'. said Jesus.'

'If you want more of God, you'll find him in the act of service. Discovering more of God is not so much about asking him to bless our desires, but aligning our longings with his desires. It's really about finding out what he's doing and then having the courage to join in. Only this kind of faith is ever truly satisfying and sustaining.' (Steve Chalke/ Jackie Pullinger)

Surprised by Tom Wright!

Tom Wright's  book Surprised by Hope is a must read.  I have only recently discovered it an am not yet finished reading and will certainly want to reread it when I do. I was pleased to find a splendid review  on the Fulcrum website and am sharing some of it here-(but do look up the original there's more good stuff where this came from!)

Surprised by Tom Wright: How ‘Surprised by Hope’ is changing my whole outlook on life and death

by Mari Williams

co-published on Resistance and Renewal

 What is the Christian hope? What does the Bible say about life after death? What are the implications for life before death?

Tom Wright tackles these and other questions in his seminal book Surprised by Hope. It’s dense but engaging, rooted in Scripture, and it’s changing the way I think, pray and act.

I won’t attempt to summarise the book, but just to give a gist, Wright explains that the Bible doesn’t teach that Christians go to heaven to be with Jesus forever when they die. Rather, after death comes a period of rest (a conscious state where people are held in the love and presence of Jesus) after which there will be a new life, and new embodiment – ‘life after life after death.’

Heaven is not the final destination

Contrary to what many Christians believe and sing about, heaven is not the final destination. Instead, our bodies will be resurrected into the transformed, glorious likeness of Jesus as part of a ‘new heavens and new earth’, when Jesus returns again to judge the world and put all wrongs to right.

This is an amazing hope, and not just for the future - it has significant implications for how we live now. In Jesus, God’s kingdom has been launched on earth as in heaven, evil has been defeated and the new creation has begun. Jesus’ followers have been commissioned and equipped to put that inaugurated new world into practice through mission to the world, and care and stewardship of the world.

So, how is this changing me?

1)      Its changed my understanding of salvation

I’ve always been uncomfortable with evangelism that just aims to get people to ‘pray the prayer’ as some sort of ticket to heaven. But I’ve struggled to articulate or fully understand what the right approach should be, other than to ensure that conversion must be followed by discipleship.

My understanding of salvation has been both expanded and consolidated. Salvation is about being embraced by God’s worldwide purposes to make everything new – that’s incredible! Wright still emphasises the fundamental importance of individual repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation to God through Jesus’ atoning death on the cross, but argues that salvation goes so much further than this: it’s about the whole cosmos. We’re saved for something, not just from something, to play a part in God’s work of renewing the world, anticipating that act of final renewal that God will do when he creates the new heavens and new earth. I find this both mind-blowing and exhilarating!

2) Its changed my view of Easter

I want Easter to become the highlight of my family’s year. I want as much excitement, gratitude and celebration in our household for Easter, as we remember Jesus’s resurrection, as there is for Christmas. Wright suggests champagne for breakfast – I’ll go with that!

3)  Its deepened my passion for justice

I used to work for Tearfund and spent 5 years campaigning and lobbying for justice in global trade. We saw several successes, but many things we called for didn’t happen. The global trading system is still grossly unjust.  So was it all a waste of time?

Before, I’d have said no, it’s still right to challenge injustice – whatever the outcome. Now, I’d still say that, but there’s more.  According to Wright, actions such as working for justice for the poor, done in love and obedience to scripture, in the power of the spirit, will be completed and fulfilled in the new Kingdom.  They are not wasted. Now THAT is hope!

4) Its deepened my commitment to environmentalism

I’ve been passionate about environmentalism for some years, believing that the Bible commands us to love the poor, and as environmental degradation hurts poor people, we should live sustainably and campaign on environmental issues. Again, I still believe that, but the argument goes so much further and deeper. To quote Wright: ‘If it is true … that the whole world is now God’s holy land, we must not rest so long as that land is spoiled and defaced. This is not an ‘extra’ to the church’s mission. It is central’.  

I’m still working this all out – both the doctrine and application. But I’ve discovered a hope that I have in Christ, for both now and the future, that I was only partially aware of before. I highly recommend reading it!

Jesus in the Gospel of John

In the magnificent prologue to this Gospel, God who spoke creation into existence by the Word is now speaking salvation into existence. This time God’s Word takes on human form and enters history in the person of Jesus. Jesus speaks the Word and it happens. Jesus who is one with God, active in creation, full of life, light and power became human and shared our life; Jesus who made the world and came to redeem that world was rejected by many, but transformed the lives of those who did believe him so that they too could be born of the Spirit and become children of God. The other gospels commence the story with a human birth; John (I take the Apostle to be the author), tells a story of cosmic proportions and in this prologue, this first chapter, we are introduced to all his themes and the Jesus he presents could not be more significant-God Creator, God’s Word, Life-Light, Redeemer, full of God’s glory enabling those who believe to become God’s children.

And into this great hymn of praise are two bits of prose which tell how one called John, at God’s command had been prepared to identify the Word, the Life-Light, to tell everyone ‘This is the One’.(1:6-8,15). John’s role is significant, like the warm-up act before the star appears on stage. By the time Jesus comes on scene there is a great furore of expectation, with multitudes being baptised and reporters arriving from Jerusalem to investigate. (1:19) (1:15, 29-34, 36)  He testifies to them all that he is but the forerunner to proclaimed that Jesus is the Anointed One of God who is baptised by the Spirit and will himself baptise others in the Spirit. He introduces Andrew and another (John?), who finds Simon. Jesus then calls Philip who fetches Nathaniel and so on. Each recognises Jesus’ as their Messiah amazingly quickly (1:41, 45, 49). Throughout the gospel we find others who believe. An unnamed Samaritan woman is convinced and witnesses to others (4:29) who also believe that ‘this man really is the Saviour of the world.’ (4:42) and a certain Royal official and his family believed (4:55). Simon Peter speaks for the Twelve (4:69) and some others were convinced in Jerusalem (7:41, 8:30, 9:38). One of the best known declarations is by Thomas who in the end worshipped the Risen Jesus (20:21). Jesus is recognized as the Christ, Anointed One, at the beginning and as God at the end.

By the end of the first chapter we have an abstract or summary of the Gospel, beginning and ending in God, full of the significance of Jesus. Just as the witness of John and the first disciples develops throughout the story, other main themes are also developed in more detail in the rest of the Gospel. Jesus is identified as the Messiah (1:41), the Son of God (1:49) and speaks of himself as ‘Son of Man’ (1:51). There is continuity from creation in Genesis, through the preparation of Israel for the Messiah, to his coming, by allusion to Moses and the Law twice (1:17& 44) to Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb twice (1:29 & 36), and to Jesus who ‘tabernacled’ among us (1.14) and to Bethel (1:51). As Kleine says Jesus in this gospel, is presented as the new Moses.[i]

The titles Messiah (Christ), Son of God and Son of Man are all titles used for Jesus by John.  In Jewish messianic tradition messiah refers to a ‘future King of Israel from the Davidic line who will rule the people of Israel and herald the Messianic age of global peace’. There had been many who had falsely claimed to be Christ and no doubt there was some surprise that the Baptist denied he was either Christ or the Prophet foretold by Moses(1:19-21). It is a title used especially by the disciples when they first meet Jesus and later by the Samaritan woman (1:41, 4:25); otherwise the Greek form ‘Christ’ is used as when the  people of Jerusalem puzzle over his identity (7:25-42). They are also watching out for the Prophet foretold through Moses (Deut. 18:18, 1:21, and 7:40) who is, it transpires, not John the Baptizer, but Christ. For John, Jesus is the Christ, not a human King to fight the Romans, but the Son of God (20:31). However it is not a title Jesus uses of himself.

Son of Man –son of Adam-is not in itself challenging as it can just mean man or ‘mankind’ (Ps. 8:4) but Jesus uses it of himself in a way that is synonymous with Son of God (3:13-17, 5: 25-30). The reference is probably to Daniel’s vision of one who looked like a man but was gloriously of God (Dan. 7:13-14). Jesus seems here to be identifying himself in his humanity, the one whose life will be given –lifted up on the cross (3:14) - to save the world (7:17, see also 8:28)

Son of God -or sons-is also used generally on occasion, as when peacemakers are called sons of God (Mat 5:9) or the curious reference in Genesis (6:2) but in this Gospel concerns Jesus the Son of God who brings life (20:31) the One and Only who came from the Father (1:14) Jesus is clearly speaking of his relationship to his Father God (5:16-23). God as Father is mentioned over 100 times in this Gospel and Jesus says ‘my Father’ 39 times.[ii]

One way in which John confirms that Jesus is the incarnate Son of God, the one baptised in the Holy Spirit, is in his description of the man Jesus exercising Divine power. John describes every miracle of Jesus as a ‘sign’ (Gk semeia) in order to indicate that there is a special power at work in each miracle.

1          Water changed to wine; His power over quality (2:11)

2          Healing of the nobleman’s son: His power over space (4:46-54)

3          Healing of the man at the pool; His power over time (5:1-15)-

4          Feeding of the five thousand; His power over quantity (6:1.15)

5          Walking on water; His power over nature (6:16-24)

6          Healing of the blind man; His power over misfortune (9:1-41)

7          Raising of Lazarus; His power over death (11:1-44)

Some omit the walking on water (5 above) and include the draught of fishes (21:6) retaining the same number of signs. This bit may have been added later but it does suggest that post resurrection Jesus is recognised by the Disciples by his power in a miracle and his sharing of a simple meal with them.

In biblical numerology ‘seven’ has meaning as ‘spiritual perfection’, so John is deliberately using this to show the spiritual perfection of the ‘signs’ that Jesus is the Christ. This use of seven appears more than once.

‘I AM’ is the name by which God is known in Judaism. (Ezekiel 3:13-14). When Jesus refers to himself in this way his hearers know this; his enemies cried ‘blasphemy’! There are seven examples of Jesus using this name to describe himself.

He says ‘I AM :-

The Bread of Life (6:35)

The Light of the World (8:12)

The Door (10:9)

The Good Shepherd (10:11

The Resurrection and the Life (11:25)

The Way, the Truth and the Life (14:6)

The True Vine (15:1)

These statements in particular remind us again that Jesus is presented as the new Moses in this Gospel, the mediator of the new covenant of love and obedience to God; where Moses was God’s agent, now it is God himself in Jesus who has come to save. Moses wrote down the Law of God, the Torah, and Jesus comes to fulfil it. The layout of the Tabernacle and the materials of its construction where specified in great detail to Moses by God and this becomes a picture or foreshadowing of the reality of the truth in Jesus Christ. So Jesus is the Door or entrance, the Lamb who is sacrificed, the water for washing clean, and for life, the Light and the Bread through to the Holy Place, so in this account, Jesus shows himself to be the reality of every item in the Tabernacle.[iii] He is also the Priest (his baptism by John is as a Priest). Moreover His own reference to the significance of his coming death refers to Moses lifting up the snake in the wilderness (3:14)

The Covenant promise to love God and to obey God underlies the whole Gospel. Allan Smith states that ‘John’s Gospel may justly be called the ‘Deuteronomic’ Gospel, for many of its major verbal themes are imported directly from the book of Deuteronomy’.[iv] He goes on to quote John Prior showing that in this Gospel ‘love for God is always demonstrated by covenant obedience’.[v]

Jesus as the Son is one with the Father (10.30, 38) He is also one with the Spirit. The Spirit prepares the way as He identifies Jesus to John and empowers Jesus at his baptism.(1:32-34).The Spirit is linked with Jesus in a number of ways. They both give Life (1:12, 3:11,3:34). Jesus is the Truth and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and the Truth which the Spirit is concerned with is that Jesus is the Son[vi] 

 In an extensively researched article Chambers concludes that ‘The Holy Spirit in John’s Gospel works to glorify Jesus, as the Son of the Father. More broadly, we note that Jesus’ role is to make the Father known. The Spirit and the Son thus operate together so that the world may know the Father and in knowing him, may become his children.’[vii]

This Gospel is so rich even as we read it, but how much richer when mined in its depths. Each story has so many layers. For example Jesus more than once invites people to come to him for the ‘living water’ of new life.  Spiritually speaking, in the Bible, there is a link between water and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the woman at the well to drink of living water (John 4:7-14; 6:35). This relationship between water and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit  is contained in the symbolism of pouring out water. Isaiah 44:3 links the pouring out of water with the pouring out of God's Spirit and there are a number of references linking water with the Holy Spirit (e.g. Joel 2:23,28; Ezekiel 39:22,27-29, Zechariah 14:8)

But if we look deeper into John 7 we find that his invitation to come to him to slake our thirst is made in the context of the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Chumney tells us that  Hoshana Rabbah  (literally, the great hosanna) is the seventh day of Sukkot (Tabernacles) It was a time when the priests poured out water from a golden jug.  ‘At this season of Sukkot, Isaiah 12:3 was often quoted, as it is written, "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." Yeshua (Jesus) in Hebrew means "salvation."  On the seventh day of the feast, the people circled the altar seven times. That is why the day is called Hoshanah Rabbah, as the cry, "Save now!" was repeated seven times. Yeshua's statement in John (Yochanan) 7:37-39 was said on Hoshana Rabbah’[viii].At the ceremony of the water drawing, the people's attention was focused on the pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth (Jn.9:1-7). According to Chumney this was on the last day of Succoth. Indeed ‘Jesus is the real focal point of the Festival, inviting people to ‘come to him and drink’, to give him the place which YHWH himself would normally take in their worship.’[ix]

Jesus is the new Adam, man as we were created to be, full of God-Spirit, completely full of love for God the Father and for us and in his complete obedience to his Father, he has redeemed us to love and obey as his brothers and sisters- surely he is fully both Son of God and Man.

---

[i] Melanie Kleine The Structure of Biblical Authority  quoted by Allan Smith

[ii] www.peterboroughbibleproclaimer.cagospeljohn.htm

[iii] Martyn Barrow in www.domini.org

[iv] Ralph Allan Smith The Trinitarian Covenant in John 17  Legitimacy of Covenantal Interpretation

[v] John W. Prior  John the Evangelist of the Covenant People pp 161-63

[vi] Carl M. Chambers Pneumatology in the Fourth Gospel

[vii] Op cit.

[viii] Eddie Chumney E. http://www.mayimhayim.org/Festivals/Feast9.htm

[ix] N.T.Wright Worship and the Spirit in the New Testament

Jesus Christ in the Revelation to John

The  Revelation of John at the end of the New Testament gives us 'the last word on Christ, and the word is that Christ is the centre and at the centre.' (Petersen p28) This vision of Christ in the first chapter is a glorious one. He is dressed as a priest; is a bridge between us and God, he brings together the human and divine. Christ is mediator.

    His head, ‘white as snow’, shows him to be pure and holy as well as forgiven and forgiving. He is purifying. The eyes like ‘flame of fire’ penetrate and purify. Fire is often associated with the holy- as in the ‘burning bush’and ‘pillar of fire’- and with purification, as when Isaiah was purified by the burning coal to his lips or as when metal is purified. Christ’s gaze penetrates and changes us.

In contrast to the flawed feet of the ‘great image’ in Nebuchadnezzar's dream as described by Daniel, Christ’s feet are of burnished bronze. Bronze is a combination of iron and copper. Iron is strong but it rusts, copper does not rust and is flexible, so the combination of these metals preserves the best quality of both, the strength of the iron with the endurance of copper. Christ rules a kingdom which is securely founded and magnificent, unlike the succession of kingdoms on earth which rise and collapse.

In his right hand Christ holds seven stars, which would be the seven known planets-the un-fixed stars. It was thought that the stars ruled men’s lives, so astrologers who studied and interpreted their movement were valued and had high status. Christ holds them in his right hand as though ready for action, as one would a sword or knife. He is ready for action. In fact his action is to control the cosmos. The planets do not control us, Christ rules. The stars are also angels or messengers of God (Rev 1.20). They are not as the pagans thought, gods and goddesses.

Christ’s word is like a two-edged sword. In Hebrews 4v12 we are told that God’s word is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart’. Here the sword is not for military action. Christ’s word is power and he overcomes evil by the power of his words. 

Later (ch. 5) Christ is described as a conquering Lion and a slaughtered Lamb, by whose death/blood a multitude of people (not just Jews) are ransomed to form his kingdom on earth and by the end (ch. 19) evil is conquered and the redeemed are with their Lord in glory.

The vision of Christ is glorious. John is overwhelmed with fear and awe at first and as the vision proceeds he sees all heaven and a huge multitude praising and glorifying Christ the redeemer King.

Yet this glorious Christ is seen by John not as remote and above it all. He is standing among the seven churches of John’s pastorate, with all their messy struggling humanity. The seven lampstands around Jesus in chapter 1 represent those churches.

Most of those who knew the apostles, the first generation of Christians had gone, including their ageing Pastor, John. The younger third generation were wondering whether it was worth it, to be a persecuted minority for what purpose? They had been told Jesus would come again but where was he? In the meantime some had fallen away or fallen into sin and they were a depressed bunch of people, lonely and disheartened.

John himself is also a lonely, depressed Pastor, worrying about his people but cut off from them and at the mercy of the cruel power of Rome. Yet by virtue of this vision John is empowered, and while still cut off from his little flocks is now envisioned by the Spirit that has given sight and direction to Christians ever since. This is a vision which tells of realities, not a dream about happy endings. God’s people suffer, are persecuted and killed but beyond the veil of mortality Christ is present, victorious and reigning- and knows each one of us so that we too have a share in that glory.

When John’s pastoral letter is read in the seven churches they will know that Christ does love them and is there as their Spiritual Director. For each he has a commendation, a warning and a reward if they will ‘pull their socks up’. The vision is a glorious one swirling in eternity not our linear time; the battle has been won, it is still raging and will be won. The letter however,  is primarily a pastoral letter. The glorified Christ is judging not the Roman Emperor, but the seven churches of Asia themselves. Each of the churches receives its own individual accounting, which recognizes how each has responded to its precarious situation.

Those who remain loyal and obedient to Jesus will face opposition and persecution as our Lord did, but here we see that He is always present with His people not with an instant rescue plan but with empowerment in His Spirit to endure and with assurance that their suffering will end and they will share His glory.

For us too there is encouragement, warning and a promised reward. When we see how the Spirit has swept through China, Africa and South America and how people have responded to the Gospel in the face of persecution we give glory to God. There are more Christians, and more Christian martyrs in the last century, than ever before and the story of the persecuted church in China mirrors that recorded in the book of Acts. We in the West stand accused of having forgotten simple words like ‘sin’ and ‘repentance’ mean. We have too often avoided opposition and compromised the Truth.

The message is that if we are following our Lord obediently in His love, we will face opposition and persecution but have assurance that He is right in there with us and we will share in His victory and enjoy Him for ever.

Bibliography

John Drane INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
Eugene Petersen REVERSED THUNDER,
Virginia Stem Owens intro to Revelation of John in SPIRITUAL FORMATION BIBLE
Brother Yun THE HEAVENLY MAN