Coming to the end of John's apocalypse
The biblical drama, this twisting, turning drama spanning kings and liars, empires and peasants, poems and genealogies, prophets and liars, fools and wise ones, deserts and shipwrecks, prostitutes and celibates, all begins with the simply almost unnerving words
        
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep…

And then it ends, as we just read, with

The one who testifies to these things says, ``Surely I am coming soon.'' Amen, Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen.

This is the epilogue to the book of Revelation, the very last book in the Bible. Today we want to focus our attention on these very last words in John of Patmos' letter to the churches in Asia in his apocalyptic book.

As background we remind ourselves that John was writing around the year 90 to churches living under the looming threat of persecution as a Christ-following minority people within the Roman empire. John is particularly concerned that his readers avoid the temptation of massive acculturation to the ways of the empire they lived under. He wants to forge them in to a faithful, believing community, a people faithful to their real King, the Lord Jesus Christ. John brings into his drama, from time to time across the book, the image of the slaughtered Lamb. Through the Lamb he reminds his readers, that though there are violent powers which seem to dominate the day the real truth is that ultimately the non-violent way of the Lamb is the most lasting, the most truthful, the most worthy power. Choose the way of the Lamb, he says.

To do so he chooses a literary style of the time, apocalyptic. This is revelatory literature wherein otherworldly, strange, beings impart their revelation to a human recipient. Truths are imparted which are both temporal, and thus practical in the now, but also they imagine ultimate, end of time, eschatological salvation.

In the Bible, the books of Daniel and Revelation are the two examples of apocalyptic literature. Most apocalyptic literature exists, of course, outside the Bible.

These last sentences and paragraphs really form the epilogue for the book of Revelation. We don't have to deal with strange beasts anymore. We have instead a series of exhortations and reminders, some closing comments for everyone who has completed Revelation's roller-coaster ride.

The closing epilogue hearkens back to the opening prologue of the book of Revelation. In the prologue the author John asserts that his words are trustworthy and worth reading, just like he says in the end. The theme of ``I am coming soon'' is found in both the prologue and especially in the epilogue. God is the Alpha and the Omega in chapter one Jesus assumes that title in the closing chapter. Words of blessing are in both the beginning and the end. So there is this calming bookend quality to these closing words, which echo the opening stanzas of the book of Revelation.

Worship God
As John wraps up his letter what can we learn? What can we take from it?

Most commentators agree that one of the important lessons of these last verses, and the book of Revelation as a whole, is the emphasis it places on worship. Here the most direct mention of worship is in verse 8, where John recounts falling down at the feet of the messenger angel. He is quickly rebuked, for the angel is but ``a fellow servant'' and worship is reserved for God alone. Thus, the consistent reminder of Revelation is underscored again, that our ultimate loyalty and allegiance is to be singularly given to God. We recall that John was concerned that the tug of other loyalties would be just too difficult to resist.

Ted Grimsrud (of EMU) writes of the overarching purpose of Revelation being John's desire to inspire ``communities of faith'' with the necessary strength to ``resist imperial hegemony.'' (Grimsrud's, ``Revealing a new world…'', p. 1) A key place where this happens is right here in community, when the body, the people, gather around to worship.

It got me to thinking about our own worship at First Mennonite Church. For us, as Anabaptist Christians, the importance of community to authenticate worship has always been important. I was rummaging around and came upon a story of a Mennonite pastor who was approached by someone looking for healing. The pastor replied that we do have healing services but that we understand healing as an expression of mutual support within the church. We don't think that you just sprinkle holy words on someone apart from community. In the same way, we understand that the truest worship happens together, in community.

But just because you have a community doesn't mean you worship. Here in these last verses of the Bible we see the Spirit's invitation to simply come, come to God, come to the river of life, come just as you are to worship God. Come, especially if you are thirsty. Come, just as you are to worship God.

I was rereading a survey Robert Webber did on worship, a survey conducted close to ten years ago. Perhaps it still makes sense today. The survey, taken primarily of then twenty somethings, said that what was most important to people in worship was to encounter God, to have a sense of depth, substance, and sincerity in worship, to experience community, and to worship with a variety of senses. What was least important were entertainment worship, drums, bands, organs, choirs, and guitars. The point seems to be not that bands or organs are bad, but that the deepest longing is for authenticity, substance, and a profound sense of meeting God. The form is less important than the sense of being together with God.

As testimony to this I think of the two Hesston College Bel Canto Singers we had in our home this past Wednesday evening. They were part of the beautiful concert, largely classical in nature, that was presented that evening. In the morning they talked of how they love praise and worship music and that, for them, it is no problem at all to hold these varying musical tastes together. ``We love them both,'' they basically said, and welcome them both in to one worship service, all at the same time. The important thing is, I'm reading in, is the encounter with God.

Maybe we could express it this way. Worship should be less the feel of the academic classroom, and more the reverence and laughter of the family gathered around in the living room after grandma has died. Or more like the intimacy of lovers walking along the beach as the sun sets to the west.

The ethical imperative of ``I am coming soon''
Along with his final exhortations John also offers some warnings. We hear three times in these closing verses some variation of ``I am coming soon!'' And there are also some harsh words, as in verse 18, where there is a warning of plagues to come if the prophecy is not taken to heart. What is the meaning of all this?

For me, I read these words as pointing towards the ethical imperative of righteous living. What is our attitude to be when we are invited so generously to come to God? How do we take seriously the warnings of verses 18 and 19 to not tinker with the words of prophecy?

The answer is to live rightly, to live justly, to live in peace with our neighbor and our enemy, to practice kindness, to love all that is goodin other words, to live in the ways taught and lived out by our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. We are called to faithful living.

To the voice of God saying ``I am coming soon'' we reply with a hearty amen. Yes, come, Lord Jesus, come, and while we wait I will be faithful and true.

God's grace be upon you
The Bible ends with these words of benediction. ``The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.''

A number of translations, including the NIV and NRSV conclude with ``all God's people'' (NIV) or ``all the saints.'' (NRSV) It is an interesting little take-off on what is probably the best, most reliable Greek witness, which leaves it at God's grace be upon, simply, ``all.'' Here is the last wish, the last blessing of the Bible, that finally, in the end, let God's wondrous grace, God's ``charis'' be upon you all.

God's wondrous, endless, lavish grace is the Bible's final word. And furthermore this grace is available to all, and, as some have pointed out, this is especially good news for those who don't believe it at all.

I remember growing up singing ``wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sins…'' I think was trained to think of God's grace particularly in dialogue, in relationship with my own sinful nature. And for many who took the words seriously it meant a serious personal confrontation with personal guilt and the reality of one's sinful ways.

I think we are training ourselves to imagine how God's grace can extend even to those we perceived as judged, by many, as altogether too unlovely. So in the spirit of Jesus reaching out to a woman who had been married five times, we want to say that God's grace extends to her. And moreover, God's grace is elastic enough to stretch out to any individual or group we can think of that gets castigated and left to the side of the road as hopeless. Especially for these, we say, God's grace extends. This is the Bible's final word, that God's grace is ready and available to all.

John's letter comes to an end
We have reached the end of the book of Revelation. John has written his letter to churches in Asia concerned for their well-being, desiring that they remain strong and faithful in the face of temptation to yield to the powerful sway of the culture about them. So he writes an apocalyptic letter, using a means of communication of his time, to say, be strong, unite together, don't accommodate, follow the Lamb!

But it is not easy. John knows that. And it is not easy for us either.

But John gives us some clues. Worship God, he says. Just that regular gathering together helps us, strengthens us, reminds us of what is important, encourages us to live in the non-violent way of our Lord Jesus.

And then he says, remember that this is serious, and that Christ is coming! This reminds us of the moral imperative to live as unto the Lord right now, right where we are.

And finally he says, don't be afraid. Always remember that I am with you, and that the grace of God is sufficient, and is for every one of you. The grace of the Lord be with you all. Amen.

--May 20, 2007