Westwood Presbyterian Church

August 23rd, 2009

197 Browning  Boulevard, Winnipeg, Manitoba  R3K 0L1

REV. PETER BUSH's SERMONS

Revelation 15:1 to 19:10  - "Showdown at the OK Corral"

 

From Babel in the book of Genesis to Babylon in the book of Revelation, cities are problematic realities in the Bible. Why?

Let's think about cities for a moment. When people gather together and begin to build a city they start singing the same refrain, "we built this city". And in that there lies a pride - we made this place by our ability, by our know-how, by ourselves. Cities become places that feed human ego and pride, creating a belief that all of this was done without God. The ethos of the city is: if we don't do it no one will help us. The city believes that it is capable of addressing its problems with what it has, just need to figure out the way to put the pieces in place to make it work.

This is very different than the country where farmers know there is absolutely nothing they can do to stop the rain except pray - and suddenly they are no longer the masters of their own destiny, no longer pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. In the face of nature, in the face of space that that has not been tamed by humans, has not been managed and controlled by humans -' there is less space for pride and arrogance. Why is it that one of the most effective ways to bring transformation in the lives of tough urban youth is to take them into the wilderness? Because the self-sufficiency and pride of being in control evaporates in the face of the untamed creation.

Since the city is the work of our hands - we built this city - it is easy to make the purpose of the city - and therefore the purpose of life to be about me. If I built this city ­then maybe I also made me. And so I forget - and the whole city invites me to forget ­that I am not my own, invites me to forget that I do not belong to me, but that I have been marked by the waters of baptism as belonging to God. And even before that that the miracle of our births is about God's action who gives us life.

So the city is a problematic place not because of crime, for crime is no higher on a percentage basis in a city then in rural areas. No, the city is problematic because it feeds human pride. The city enhances our belief that life is all about us. The city says self actualization is good.

We will get back to Babylon a little later, but there are few things in these texts that we need to unpack. Revelation chapters 15 and 16 give the account of the 7 bowls of God's wrath that are poured out on the earth. And we are brought to a grinding halt ­ because God is a God of love - who forgives sin - so what is this stuff about the wrath of God being poured out on the earth.

Human beings were made with freewill, made able to choose between following God's pattern, recognizing that they are not their own - recognizing that they belong  body and soul to God OR they can choose to believe they are self-made, and pursue their own way in self-pride. The choice is completely theirs - completely ours - to make. But there are consequences with each choice.

Following God's pattern means there are things we can not do - thing we would not want to do - but we are limited to some extent in the patterns of life we might choose. The upside is that following God's way means living a life that is rich in meaning and purpose for it fits into the big picture of what God is doing in the world.

Following our own defined - self-generated - way of life also has consequences. It looks like there is freedom to do our own thing independent of what God might think ­like the ads on some busses in Britain -- "God probably does not exist, so go ahead and enjoy life." But the down side of that view is - if in this life we have not wanted anything to do with God - then in the next life we would not be happy being around God - and God will give us our desire. We will not need to be around God for we will not be in heaven.

Now back to God's wrath - God's wrath has two purposes. First, right up to the end God hopes that if he sends enough warnings, sends large enough catastrophes, some people will see that they need to make a change and will turn to God. In our own experience we know that sometimes hitting rock bottom, recognizing the horrible results of our actions, or a crisis in life can cause people to turn back to God. This has been a refrain throughout the book of Revelation - God acts and hopes against hope that people will turn because of the obvious sign of His power and majesty - but sadly people do not turn, do not change. So purpose I of wrath is to bring people back to God.

The second purpose of wrath is to bring justice to the earth. God is a God of justice ­who hears the cry of the oppressed and dispossessed - who hears the cry the persecuted and the downtrodden. God hears the cry - "This is not right." God hears the cry - "This is not fair." God hears the cry - "How long, 0 Lord, how long?" Those who have oppressed and persecuted - those who have done works of injustice - those who have placed self over others - those who have done these things and have not repented - have shown no desire to turn from their actions - they will face the justice - the judgment of God. God can not - God will not - simply sweep under the carpet the injustice of the world - God will deal with it. And since there will be people who have no desire to turn from their destructive ways of life - they will face the consequences of their actions. Justice will be meted out.

And so in 16:12-16 - those who have not turned to God in the face of the plagues - in the face of God's obvious action in the world - they come together to try to defeat the forces of God. And they meet in a place called Armageddon to do battle against God. True colours are seen - the forces loyal to God on the one side and the forces opposed to God on the other and there is a battle.

Now for reasons I do not understand people are interested in pinpointing where this place is - also they are interested in determining who the armies that will be fighting against God will be. I will say this again at the end of this section - the name Armageddon appears exactly once in the Bible - so the Bible does not think that this is the most important part of the book of Revelation - so we should not make it an important part of the book. What does strike me about the many interpretations of this passage is that they assume that the armies who are going to stand against God include Russia and Iraq and China - but never the United States or England. The passage is clear - the armies of all the world are drawn up here. There is no country who can claim that it is so close to following God that it does not have individuals who are prepared to fight against God. And who even now are fighting against God. Nor can we say that there is any country that is so opposed to God that there is no one in that country who will not be among those who even now are seeking God's kingdom to come on earth.

And here we are going to stop talking about Armageddon for I have already in this short section said more about it than the Bible does. And that is always a dangerous position to be in - saying more about something than the Bible does - for it opens us up to misrepresenting what the Bible is saying - opens us up to reading things into the text that are not there.

John, the author of Revelation, wants us to understand that the thing that really matters is that God wins - the Lamb conquers the forces arrayed against him - and those who are with the Lamb are called and chosen and faithful. In the midst of chaos and confusion, in this midst of fear and uncertainty, this truth rules over all - those who have been called and marked by the sign of the Lamb - the Lamb will keep safe to the end so that we may be at the banquet feats of the Lamb. That is the piece that matters.

John is clear-eyed enough to see that Christians are going to be going through these challenges along with those who do not follow the Lamb. There is in this book no rescue of the rapture - at least not before Babylon falls - not before the Lamb has won the victory. And so Christians will not be saved from the horrors of destruction in this world. Let us think about our own time - the Christians in Cambodia were not suddenly rescued from the horrors of the killing fields - did they believe that was the tribulation - so of them probably did - and would they have been right to think that - yes for them it was the tribulation. Or Christians in Rwanda - did they believe they were living through the tribulation - many of them did - and they would have been right - because for them it was. And today in Indonesia where the Muslim paramilitaries run raids into Christian villages burning entire villages to the ground and killing some of the inhabitants - is that tribulation - I would say "yes." And for our Christian sisters and brothers - they are living through this and they are not being rescued. But they live in hope that those who persevere - will be declared by the Lamb - "These are my children." They have heard the Lamb whisper in their ear - "I have called you and chosen you, you are mine." And in that they stand firm.

Come what may, it matters not what humans may do - it matters not what the forces of evil throw against the followers of Jesus - this is true - "Nothing can snatch the called and chosen and faithful from the hand of God."

And we circle back to where we started - the city of Babylon which is fallen. A city ­hear humanity - hear prideful, arrogant humanity - that believed it was self-sufficient ­would never know grief - would never lose its position of power and influence - would never be destroyed. That city - full of self-esteem and certainty in its own ability - that city is no more.

Listen to the words of those who mourn its death - its destruction - the merchants and the kings weep as much for what they have lost as for what Babylon has lost.  The luxury and excess which the merchants fed had made them rich - and had made political leaders powerful. But it had no depth. It was based on the buying and selling not only of things but of human lives. And in that soul destroying reality there was no recognition of who was really in charge. For everything was based on what could be bought and sold - and nothing and no one was not able to be bought.

There was nothing in this city which was about relationship - nothing in this city was about self-giving - it was all about getting. Nothing in this city honoured a power beyond itself. And in the end all that wealth and beauty and luxury is meaningless - is wiped out - for it stood on a foundation of greed and self-centered living.

As I read this description in chap. 18, I sense an ambivalence on John's part. A city built on self-centeredness and greed must be brought to its knees - a city that buys and sells human lives must face justice - a city that proudly declares its invincibility is asking for trouble. And so justice must come. But John knows, as we know, that in the city - in any city there are thousands of people, hundreds of thousands, millions of people who can not see the destructiveness of their way of life - can not see that their ego and pride is eating them out from the inside - can not or will not see the transforming power of God that is waiting. And when we see that our hearts need to break - break for those who have not turned to God - who do not see that there is a different way - another way to follow. We join with Jesus in weeping over our city - weeping for those who do not hear the voice calling them - who do not see the hand reaching out to them in love and grace - do not understand the love poured out for them.

Yes, we want justice to come - but we weep for when it comes the price will be high.

The triumph of the Lamb is a good thing - and until that triumph is fully realized we plead with tears asking our city, our neighbours, our co-workers to respond to the loving call of God.