We who are Christians need not look to the consummation of God’s rule in fear and trepidation. We too can shout, “Hallelujah!” for our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The ZigZag Café
We will be convening here at the ZigZag café, Suisse, on Thursdays for conversation and dialogue.
I invite you to stop by every Thursday for the question of the day. Your thoughts and participation are most welcome. Pull up a stool, avec un café, un thé, ou un chocolat chaud, et un croissant, and join in here on Thursday at the ZZ café.
For today:
How do you see imagination pertaining to your belief in God?
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Spiritual Rhythms of Life for Today
Christ died at a particular point in history, but since the resurrection on Easter Sunday he lives forever. The crucified and risen One brought about the new exodus, solving both the problem of Israel’s failure to be a light to the nations and our bondage to sin and death, by opening the way to redeemed life.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Living Apocalypse - Part 2
For the next few weeks I'll be posting on Revelation 2:1-3:22 - the Seven Letters to the Churches - out of my new book Living Apocalypse: A Revelation Reader and A Guide for the Perplexed.
Please join us and share your comments and insights.
Who are these angels? (see previous post)
Many today put forward the latter suggestion, however, it may not be the most accurate. While it is true that the word ‘angel’ almost always means messenger and is found over sixty times in the Apocalypse, not including these letters, it is noteworthy that each of these times it refers to a heavenly being. Consequently, it seems unlikely that the address to ‘angel’ in the letters is a reference to a human messenger or leader.
What about the possibility that these angels are guardian angels? While uncommon, this view is not completely without merit. There is a reference to this in the book of Daniel (10:13, 20, 21), where nations seem to have something like a guardian angel. In our context however, this is difficult to support as it does not quite make sense to see John as commissioned to write these letters to guardian angels with instructions for them to perform their guardianship more effectively. Another problem with this interpretation, as well as the previous one, lies within the letters themselves. Each of them has the particular congregations and specific location in mind, and is practically concerned with their daily lives.
Another interpretation considers the angels as heavenly counterparts of earthly congregations. This should not be taken literally, as if John sees the congregations seated in the heavens above, answering to their equivalents below. It is better to think of them as existentially in heaven though living on earth. In other words, we can imagine this as symbolically conveying the truth that there is an aspect of heavenly existence related to their earthly lives in Christ.
John writes to earthly communities characterized by their failures and weaknesses, successes and strengths. However, these communities have one feature which distinguishes them from any other earthly communities. They are said to be ‘in Jesus’ and are therefore made priests and a kingdom with him (1:6, 9). It is because of this fact that John addresses his letters to the ‘angel’. He is aiming to show these Christians that they have a heavenly orientation as their existence is also ‘in Jesus’ who is in heaven. Their earthly conduct and actions should reflect this heavenly existence and it is this existence that John wants to stress. Of course, we must remember that Christ is also in the midst of the lampstands. These two realities, Christ present with the church on earth and they with him in heaven are cause for great reassurance, especially in the midst of terrible persecution.
It may be helpful here to think of the two images used in 1:20. We have stars (angels) and lampstands, both of which seem to point to the churches and both of which symbolize light. One is an earthly light, the other heavenly. Is it possible that this reflects the dual character of the church? If so, perhaps the two-sided nature of the church works out something like this: First, the church must act to preserve faith in Christ in the face of persecution and hardship. The church is to keep its lampstand lit as the turbulent winds of deceit seek to extinguish the light of the gospel. The assurance that this can be carried out and the protection it offers comes from the fact that Christ is among the lampstands (1:13).
Second, the churches were, as the church is today, an eschatological reality. They and we already belong, in some sense, to the new world. Each individual who has believed on Christ is made a new creation. That new creation is in reality a sign of the rule of God breaking into the world (first through the coming of Christ, then through the very existence of the church as we who are part of it await the redemption of our bodies and the universe itself upon Christ’s return), and transferring us from one rule to the other. In other words, the future has broken into the present. Therefore, those in Christ already share and participate in the reality of being present with God in heaven just as the stars and angels. The assurance of this reality and the protection it offers is found in the fact that Christ holds the seven stars (angels) in his right hand. This indicates his power to sustain the churches through any and every persecution or difficulty (see Eph. 2:6-10; Phil. 3:15-21; and Col. 3:1 for Paul’s view of this interpretive option where he clearly emphasizes the ‘already but not yet’ feature of salvation).
Monday, March 24, 2008
Reflection for the Week - March 24th
The crucified and risen One is alive. Christ is raised. Celebrate the victory of life over death. Joyous Easter!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The ZigZag Café
We will be convening here at the ZigZag café, Suisse, on Thursdays for conversation and dialogue.
I invite you to stop by every Thursday for the question of the day. Your thoughts and participation are most welcome. Pull up a stool, avec un café, un thé, ou un chocolat chaud, et un croissant, and join in here on Thursday at the ZZ café.
For today:
Do or should icons have a place in your life?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Spiritual Rhythms of Life for Today
Lord, help us to give up not praying. As with many addictions that we put false hope in – even though we tend to know that it is false hope and we can’t quit and return to it again and again, not praying is tough to stop doing. We ask that we would be released to pray more frequently and fervently. Amen.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Living Apocalypse
For the next few weeks I'll be posting on Revelation 2:1-3:22 - the Seven Letters to the Churches - out of my new book Living Apocalypse: A Revelation Reader and A Guide for the Perplexed.
Please join us and share your comments and insights.
General Introduction to the Letters
In the previous chapter we studied 1:1-20. The opening of the Apocalypse has provided us with a magnificient proclamation of blessing to those who read and obey what is testified to and written. John’s prophetic addresses is to the seven churches in Asia, but symbolically to all churches. Grace and peace from God, who was, is, and is to come and Jesus Christ, who has provided redemption and made his followers into a subversive kingdom serving God.
We developed, more extensively, verse 10 and the phrase ‘on the Lord’s Day’. I suggested, against both the traditional and reformation views that we meet together not because of tradition, nor because of social convenience, nor for the practical ordering of the life of the church. The real reason we meet for worship is because of the resurrection of Christ. This is ‘the Lord’s Day’.
Attention was also given to the notion of John’s being ‘in the Spirit’ and the reception of the command to write to the seven churches (see 1:9-20 first vision). In verse 12 John turns to ‘see’, implying here the visionary aspect of what he is now about to describe. We concluded that this majestic vision was of the crucified, risen, and glorified Christ. Many of the Old Testament metaphors that describe God, especially from the book of Daniel, are now used by John in his description of ‘one like a son of man’.
In verses 17-18 the prophet fell at the feet of Christ as though dead, but is told not to fear. The one he sees is the First and the Last—the Living One—the one who was dead, but who now lives forever and ever. Verse 19 includes the command to write what was seen, what is now, and what will take place later. These are not to be taken as statements of time that provide a neat division of the book as often past, present, and future concerns are woven in and through all parts of the Apocalypse. In verse 20 we were given the explanation of the mystery of the seven stars in Christ’s right hand and of the seven golden lampstands among which he is seen (see 1:13, 16). The seven stars are the angels of the churches and the seven lampstands are the churches.
This brief review of chapter 1 leads us into some preliminary considerations on the seven letters—proclamations in chapters 2-3 that are addressed “to ‘the angel’ of the church in ...” We may quickly find ourselves unsatisfied with the previous explanation of the seven stars being the angels of the seven churches. What does this mean? Why are all the letters addressed to an ‘angel’? Are we to think that the churches had some sort of guardian angel? Were these letters addressed to human messengers or leaders, perhaps something like bishops in the churches?
I hope to provide some answers to these important questions in the next post.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Reflection for the Week - March 17th
Throne theophanies in Scripture are visions of God enthroned. God is holy, almighty, and who was, is, and is to come. He lives forever and ever. He is worthy for he has created all things. Revelation 5 captures one of these awesome scenes. In this majestic scene there is assurance that those facing dire circumstances and life-threatening persecution can trust God. In a world that may seem to be out of control, in a world of suffering and death, God is there, moving history to its cataclysmic consummation.
Friday, March 14, 2008
The ZigZag Café
We will be convening here at the ZigZag café, Suisse, on Thursdays for conversation and dialogue.
I invite you to stop by every Thursday for the question of the day. Your thoughts and participation are most welcome. Pull up a stool, avec un café, un thé, ou un chocolat chaud, et un croissant, and join in here on Thursday at the ZZ café.
For today:
If you believe in Christ, how do you feel about having a white robe saturated in his blood (Rev. 7) ?
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Spiritual Rhythms of Life for Today
In a startling passage in Revelation 1:8 using the Greek alphabet, God now refers to himself with its first and last letters. He is the beginning and the end. No power is greater than his. In spite of the difficult circumstances and devastating persecution, the Almighty himself professes his ultimate sovereign control of the end of history. This magnificent and reassuring title, Alpha and Omega, occurs ten times in the New Testament, and four of these references are in the Apocalypse.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Reflection for the Week - March 10th
In Revelation 3:14-22 Christ wishes that the Christians in Laodicea were either hot or cold. It is often assumed that hot means ‘on fire for the Lord’ or a full commitment, while cold means, ‘no fire for the Lord’ or no commitment. If this is the case, the question we’re faced with is why Christ would approve of no commitment at all? This doesn’t make sense. Hot and cold are not to be taken as positive and negative descriptions, but both are positive in regard to what the church’s actions should be. Problem is being lukewarm, which seems to identify all too many churches. We, as the Laodiceans, proclaim we’re rich, but Christ says we’re impoverished. True riches are spiritual, not found in material possessions, but in Christ himself.
Friday, March 7, 2008
From Wordsworth, The Prelude, 1805, Book 1.
Oh there is blessing in this gentle breeze
That blows from the green fields and from the clouds
And from the sky: it beats against my cheek,
And seems half-conscious of the joy it gives.
O welcome Messenger! O welcome Friend!
A captive greets thee, coming from a house
Of bondage, from yon City's walls set free,
A prison where he hath been long immured.
Now I am free, enfranchis'd and at large,
May fix my habitation where I will.
What dwelling shall receive me? In what Vale
Shall be my harbour? Underneath what grove
Shall I take up my home, and what sweet stream
Shall with its murmur lull me to my rest?
The earth is all before me: with a heart
Joyous, nor scar'd at its own liberty,
I look about, and should the guide I chuse
Be nothing better than a wandering cloud,
I cannot miss my way.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The ZigZag Café
We will be convening here at the ZigZag café, Suisse, on Thursdays for conversation and dialogue.
I invite you to stop by every Thursday for the question of the day. Your thoughts and participation are most welcome. Pull up a stool, avec un café, un thé, ou un chocolat chaud, et un croissant, and join in here on Thursday at the ZZ café.
For today:
What do you make of all the divisions in the church today?
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Spiritual Rhythms of Life for Today
Christians are facing two dangers: becoming as entirely ambiguous, or as exhaustively certain as anyone else on matters of knowledge. When it comes to knowledge, we too often tend to embrace the perspective of total ambiguity or complete certainty, in exchange for good and sufficient knowledge, which is truly spiritual.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Doing Righteousness?
Carol was always busy in a flurry of activity. She did, and did to the point of exhaustion. What was behind it all? Why the stress and anxiety to do and do? Carol thought she needed to do so that God would declare her righteous. This required her constant performance for others and for God. She learned how to make herself appear to be a strong Christian, but she came to realize she was wearing a mask. She thought God should hide her sin—not because she was sorry for it, but so that she might look better before others and not be rejected.
A powerful legalism flourished in Carol’s life. Everything stood or fell on how well she followed the laws. If she thought she had done enough in a day, then she was entitled to see herself as worthy and meriting justification. If she didn’t measure up to her codes and regimes, or those that others had imposed upon her, she viewed herself as condemned. This vicious circle led her to repeated defeat and perplexity, with seemingly no way out of the maze.
Carol needed to become aware of an entirely new way of seeing things. It was a revelation to her to understand that Christ did for her what she could never do for herself. And that she had misconstrued what she was asking God to do for her. God is not out to hide our sin, but to expose it. In Christ, God had already done everything necessary for her justification. If she confessed Christ as Messiah, she was justified. To be justified by God, to be declared righteous, was the gift she could accept with the empty hands of faith. Carol had been so caught up in a doing mentality that she missed the essential truth of justification as a gift. There is, of course, a place for a being-and-doing connection, but Carol had put doing before being a Christian. She came to realize that doing is crucial, but that it comes out of being justified.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Reflection for the Week - March 3rd
Christ stands at the door and calls, awaiting a response from anyone who hears his voice. The crucified and risen One standing at the door is not a threat, but a promise. There he is calling out. No doubt this imagery should jolt and challenge us. Whenever we hear his voice, it is time to open the door. He assures us that our hospitality will not be deceptively abused.
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