To Hell in a Hand Basket

The Voice of the Winged Ox

presents
our
Sunday sermon. We're still learning how to record this so the audio is not as clear as we would like it to be.

Father Eric's text is Revelation 21:10, 21:22-22:5

Here are Father Eric's preaching points. They will help you follow the audio.

• Book of Revelation 
  
  
  
  • Almost didn’t make it into the Bible
  
  
  • Full of weird and terrifying images
  
  
  • 666, Two headed beasts, lakes of fire, plagues and devastation
  
  
  • Source of obsession with the end times (Left Behind series, etc.)
  
  
  
  
• Symbolism points us instead to a different message entirely.  Chapter 17:9-14 spells it out.
  
  
  
  • Accordingly, the woman sits on the seven-headed beast as a symbol of her "seven hills" -- the seven hills of Rome. The woman is the city of Rome, here depicted as the persecutor of Christians. Then it says that the seven heads are also seven kings. And we can read from its cryptic terminology the references to the Emperors of Rome.
  
  
  • The "five fallen" refer to the five emperors who have died: Augustus (29 BCE - 14 CE), Tiberius (14-37 CE), Gaius (37-41), Claudius (41-54) and Nero (54-68).
  
  
  • "One has a wound" refers to the emperor Nero, who died in 68, but whom contemporary legend had it would return from the dead to continue persecuting the Christians. Nero may in fact be the antichrist.  If you turn the letters of his name into numbers and add them up you get 666, the number of the beast.  Thus, the beast has a head that has recovered from a mortal wound.
  
  
  • The head "who is" refers to Vespasian (69-79) and the one that is "not yet" refers to Titus (79-81). The head that "was but is not" refers to an eighth emperor, Domitian. It was under Domitian that the worst persecutions probably occurred.
   
  
  • By portraying the Emperor and his provincial authorities as "beasts" and henchmen of the dragon, Satan, the author was calling on Christians to refuse to take part in the imperial cult, even at the risk of martyrdom.
  
  
   
  
• A helpful resource is [L. Michael White Understanding the Book of Revelation in Frontline: Apocalypse
 

• Here is the basic message of Revelation: 
  
  
  
  • The world appears to be going to hell in a hand basket.  In fact, John says, that’s literally true.  The same Roman empire that crucified Jesus is now persecuting his followers.  The emperor is claiming to be a god and forcing everyone to worship him.  Christians are being arrested, losing property and civil rights and even being tortured and killed.  In this dark time, John the elder living on the island of Patmos receives a vision of hope. Despite these dark times, God is still in charge.  Christians must not lose hope.  They must hold fast, have faith and endure until God’s ultimate salvation is accomplished. 
    
  • Today’s lesson is the climax of Revelation, the payoff, the beautiful vision of hope.  And it is a vision not just for the early Christians in their terrible situation, but a vision of hope for all people in all times and places. And it is a vision worth studying and embracing.  The key points are this: 
    
    
    
    1. alvation comes to us.  It is God’s work, not ours.  We cannot manufacture it through our own effort.  Our job is to hold fast, to endure, to keep the faith.
    
    
    2. The oppression and corruption of earthly rulers will be replaced by the kingdom of God now revealed in its fullness.  Darkness and death will be replaced forever by light and life—the glory of God and of the Lamb.
    
    
    3. Heaven is not up there somewhere, but right here.  The New Jerusalem comes down to us and God remakes this earth into paradise.  It is a fulfillment of Jesus’ promise in the Gospel that, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (John 14:23)
    
    
    4. It is a universal vision.  This is not just for a select few, but for all tribes and peoples and nations.
    
    
    5. It is an ecological vision.  The earth itself is healed by the river of life and the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. It is the restoration of the Garden of Eden, now transformed into the heavenly city with God the Father and Jesus fully and eternally present at the center.
     
    
    
    
  • We have spent too long avoiding this book with its weird visions and images.  We need to hold on to this vision, because we face the same issues and problems the church has always faced.  The world is still going to hell in a hand basket.  We still face political, religious and environmental crises on a daily basis.  It is all too easy to become defeatist, depressed, hopeless.  That is why we still need this book, this vision, as a reminder that God is in charge of our future and the future of the world.   
  
  
  
  

I close with the blessing Jesus gave to his disciples:  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” John 14:27. 

Our music is Lukas Vesely Peace Prayer available from beatpick.com
To Hell in a Hand Basket