Who rules? (Revelation 5.11-14)
Who rules? (Revelation 5.11-14)
Eastminster United Presbyterian Church, Easter 3C (May 5, 2019)
Tom James
Our family just grew by about two pounds this weekend, and it had nothing to do with the delayed effects of Easter candy. We adopted a chinchilla, at my youngest’s request (and pleading!). So now, we have two fish, two dogs, and a rather large rodent. That’s inside our doors, of course. Outside, where the animals that are not our pets live, there are deer (sometimes standing around in the dark after nightfall, bravely indifferent to our human noises and lights), possums, raccoons, and skunks lurking around in the shadows, an actual warren of rabbits, several kinds of squirrel, lots of birds, and probably a coyote or two that we thankfully haven’t been forced to notice yet. None of this is unusual, of course, but just stopping to try and list all the creatures around us pricks the illusion of our yard being only our own yard, of the lot boundaries meaning anything to most of the creatures who cross them.
Because we human beings are so obsessed with ourselves, we hardly notice a theme in Scripture that crops up fairly often. We find it today in our passage from the book of Revelation. John of Patmos, the visionary author, gets a glimpse into the throne room of heaven, and what he sees there are not just a king and a few people like himself, perhaps advising him or maybe petitioning him for something, obsessing over some aspect of human affairs, of plans and ambitions and grievances. What he sees is much more like church—it is a worship service. Since it is heaven we are talking about, that’s not really a surprise, but there is something about this worship service that isn’t much like church as we know it. The gathered community is not merely human—in fact, it isn’t even mostly human. There are, of course, many angels, as you would expect in heaven, but there are also countless “living creatures” of seemingly every description—every creature on the earth or under the surface of the seas is there somehow, singing loudly, “To the one who is seated on the throne and to the lamb all blessing and honor and might forever and ever!”
Apparently, giving praise to God isn’t something that we humans alone do. We do it in our own way, with the gifts we have to offer, but it seems it isn’t the only way. Now, this vision is just a vision, a series of metaphors. The book of Revelation is not meant to be taken literally but is filled with symbolism. Perhaps it is only humans who literally sing, at least with lyrics—we are the ones who use words, after all. But all creatures of our God and King, apparently, have their own way of giving praise. All creatures are included within the reach of God’s blessing and care; all are included in the joy of God’s abundant provision, and so all participate in joyful thanksgiving. And, good news for many of us: it seems that all dogs go to heaven.
Throne rooms are the stuff of dreams, for most people. Very few people in the ancient world would have had access to the imperial throne—they would have never seen it, and so John’s depiction of the throne room of heaven would not likely have been inspired by his own memory of seeing the emperor in all his majesty. And, of course, we don’t even have them in our country because we don’t have a monarchy. But we still dream about them. Throne rooms are not uncommon sets in movies and TV shows that invite viewers to imagine some European court or perhaps some make-believe world where there are kings and queens and princes and knights. Over the last few weeks, a lot of people have been anxiously watching the final season of the HBO series, Game of Thrones, wondering who will end up on “the iron throne” by series’ end.
An interesting question is whether there is much significance whether one person wins the “game of thrones,” the seasons-long struggle over who’s going to sit on the throne next as ruler, or whether another wins it. Will it be Danaerys Storm-born or John Snow or Sansa Stark, or Cersei Lannister, or someone else? Please excuse the inside baseball, for those of you who don’t watch the show: the names don’t really matter. In any case, it seems, there’s still going to be an “iron throne.” In other words, someone will claim all the rights and privileges of a monarchy, enforce whatever “iron” discipline on the realm is needed to protect their power, fight whatever wars strike them as lucrative or necessary, exploit the labor of the “low born” in order to enrich the castle—in other words, whoever sits on the throne will likely do what a ruler does, no matter what face they wear. That’s how the system works. I’m tempted to believe the series should end with The Who song, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and its line, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!”
Of course, it matters in a monarchy who the monarch is. In our system, it matters who the president is, and who members of Congress are. But, I wonder if we tend to exaggerate how much it matters? There were some emperors who were more vicious and cruel than others—some were legendary in that respect. But the empire itself was vicious and cruel, and so whoever sat upon the throne was obliged in one way or another, if he was going to keep the empire as an empire, to carry on that program of viciousness and cruelty, conquering nations, expanding land holdings, collecting tributes. And, dare I say, is an American president, no matter what their campaign rhetoric might suggest, more or less fated to administer the same basic program of American military and economic influence across the globe—in other words, fulfill the same basic requirements of our empire? Presidential administrations change; wars continue. Trade deals get tweaked, rewritten, thrown out; capital accumulation in the hands of a smaller and smaller few goes on. That’s how the system works; that is how it is set up to work. And, so, we can fairly ask, How much does it really matter who wins, in any given election cycle? There’s a lot of build-up, and breathless commentary, and probably billions of dollars spent to get us psyched up for the game. But does our real live “game of thrones” amount to anything much more than entertainment, like a sports contest between two rival teams playing a game that never changes?
I’m not really this cynical. I vote, and I think we all should participate however we can in our democracy. But I do wonder whether we often appreciate how narrow our choices are, how the requirements of the throne, if you will, already pre-determine to a large extent what a person who sits on it can actually do.
People in the ancient world where John was writing certainly appreciated how limited the effects of their choices were. There wasn’t even in the pretension of democracy. No one expected to have any influence on the empire. Nor did they expect any change. The imperial system they lived under had been in place for hundreds if not thousands of years: before Rome, Greece; before Greece, Persia; before Persia, Babylon; before Babylon, Assyria; before Assyria, Egypt. Empires and emperors had been pillaging the Mediterranean basin for longer than memory could recall. It was, it seemed, the natural and inevitable state of things.
But John of Patmos throws a visionary wrench into the wheels that had been turning since the beginnings of civilization. He pictures a throne room, surrounded by all the living creatures. But either on the throne or right beside it is a lamb. The most, well, sheepish creature of them all—the least likely to be at the heart of the throne room, at the center of power. Not only that, this was a lamb that had been ritually slaughtered. A sacrificial lamb. The implication here is that this lamb has somehow survived its slaughter, or, to be more precise, has been raised from the dead, and is now at the right hand of majesty, ruling from heaven. And, therefore, demystifying, challenging, even exploding the pretensions of an empire which claims to rule everything on its own terms. Indeed, the slain lamb in the throne room explodes the meaning of the throne itself. If the requirements of empire, the nature of the imperial throne, imposed iron requirements on the one who sat on it, here is one who sits on it who shatters those requirements. And, so, the realm of God under the sovereignty of the lamb reveals itself to be a very different kind of realm, the rule of heaven a very different kind of rule than the rule of the Caesars.
What does it mean to be ruled by a slain lamb? All the contrasts between such a ruler, humble and self-giving and motivated above all else by love, and our present-day politicians are much too easy. The real question for is, how do we live our lives if, not Caesar, but the crucified and risen Christ, is on the throne? What does it mean for our priorities? For how we view our neighbors? Or are enemies?
John’s vision was driven by Easter faith. The empire imposed death. It was a parasite on the land and the people. It was beginning a horrific reign of terror over Christians who offered even the meekest resistance to its cult of emperor worship. But John caught a glimpse of the throne room of heaven and saw there an image of the living Christ, Christ who was executed by Rome and who now reigned from heaven. It was a vision of Easter, of love triumphing over power, of life triumphing over death. And the implication was that Christians could live courageously and without fear. They could cling to their faith with confidence, for they staked their lives not on what can be seen, but on what cannot be seen.
We live in a world where the virtues of the crucified are shunned, where power without purpose is celebrated, where domination for its own sake is revered, where winning the game of thrones, even at the expense of the realm, is the purpose that everyone seems to accept. We live in a world in which the empire tramples over countless crucifieds, where people all over the world are being starved, abandoned, or killed, crushed under the wheels of so-called “civilization.” We live in a world of perhaps unprecedented concentration of wealth and power, of wars that could last a lifetime, of the destruction of the very conditions of human life on this planet. We are at the heart of an empire of death. And yet, if the story we tell is true, the crucified has risen, Christ is alive, and the power of the throne is shattered. The winter of death is thawing. The sun is shining. The Spring of souls is here. Love has arrived, and we can begin, step by patient step, building a world in its image. In the name of God, our creator and redeemer. Amen.
EASTMINSTER UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
May 5, 2019 – 10:45 A.M.
Reverend Thomas James
3rd Sunday of Easter
As we join together today to offer worship to God, we welcome all who share this worship with us. If you are here for the first time we invite you to return again. Please take a moment to fill out a welcome card that may be found in the cardholder at the back of the pew.
CONCERNS OF THE CONGREGATION
If you have concerns, prayer requests, or need to convey information to the Session or Deacons please use welcome card in the pew.
PASSING OF THE PEACE
Now, let us greet each other saying: “The Peace of the Lord be with you” and Response: “And also with you.”
PRELUDE
*CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: O Lord our God, we praise you.
People: We cried to you for help and you answered us.
Leader: You have restored our lives;
People: you have rescued us from the grave.
*HYMN……….……..………..…”Great Are You, Lord”……….….……….…………614
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Lord God, in the light of your glory we see the evil we have done, the suffering we have caused, the good we have refused, and the truth we have denied. Heal us of our sin, wash us in your mercy, and feed us with your grace, so that we may follow your way and tell the good news of the gospel. AMEN.
*ASSURANCE OF GOD’S FORGIVENESS
*GLORIA PATRI (#581)
NEW TESTAMENT (Pg. 1075)…….………………..….………..Revelation 5: 11-14 Response:“Thanks be to God”
MUSICAL MESSAGE
GOSPEL (Pg. 946)………………………………………..….…….…………..John 21: 1-19
Response:“Thanks be to God”
SERMON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “Who rules?”
*THE APOSTLES’ CREED (Pg. 35)
*HYMN.……………………..…….”Blessing and Honor”……..…………….……….….369
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER
OFFERTORY
*DOXOLOGY (#606)
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
*HYMN………….….……”All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”……………………263
*PASTORAL BENEDICTION
*CONGREGATIONAL BENEDICTION. . . . . . . . “Tune of Edelweiss”
Lord of life, Lord of love walk forever beside us. Day by day, show the way with your vision to guide us.
Striving to follow your will and way nothing can divide us. Lord of life, Lord of love walk forever beside us.
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UPCOMING DATES AND INFORMATION:
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May 5 – May 12
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Sunday May 5 ………………………. 9:30 am……………..Sunday School
10:45 am…………..…………Worship
Session Meeting after service
Sunday May 12 9:30am……………Sunday School
10:45am……………Worship
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Counters for May
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THIS WEEK – May 5
VanGorder Team
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NEXT WEEK – May 12
Gale Team
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HEAD GREETER FOR MAY
JACKIE HOLZHAUER
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CHURCH FAMILY PRAYER CHAIN
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Looking for a church family?
We would love to have you here at Eastminster. Please call our Secretary Jenny, and she will be happy to help. 419-691-4867.
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Are You in Need of prayer? Please call our Secretary Jenny, and she will see your “Prayer Requests” are answered. 419-691-4867
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Rev. James has started a blog with sermons and other
information from the church. You can check out the information at https://eastminstertoledosermons.blogspot.com
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If you need to contact Rev. James you can do so by either e-mail (tomjames811@gmail.com) or his cell 1-248-990-3041.
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EASTMINSTER UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
725 Navarre Ave. Toledo OH 43605
Reverend Thomas James
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