The Big Reveal:All About Us

 July 12 2026

Revelation 11: 1-6

         I know that it seems we have been studying the book of Revelation for quite awhile now, but I am still caught off guard at how relevant the lessons of this book have been. Todays scripture is proof of this point as well. If you have listened to the news lately, you would have heard how the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, has pushed for the Bible to be studied in the schools of his state. He is also one who insists that the barrier that stands between church and state be abolished. Now while this might sound good on the surface, what Mr. Patrick desires is actually impossible.  Now I say this not from a political viewpoint but rather from the fact that the church and the state have different ways of determining their identities. If Mr. Patrick properly understood the scripture he wishes to teach to the students of his state, he would discover that with God there are two separate and opposite identities, holy and common. The church is to be identified as holy while the state, such as our United States, is identified as being common. If we think about the common way people find their identity we would soon realize that a country’s identity is found through what makes it different from other countries. Our neighboring country Canada, for example has as the head of its government,  a prime minister, while the United States has a president to fulfill that role. So this common way of identifying ourselves is to belong with those who are like us and separate ourselves from those who are different from us. Who we are, we might say, is that we are those who are not one of them. This then is the common way we separate our world, creating a world where people know themselves as belonging to us and not them.

         Now, when it comes to the church, those who follow Christ, we are simply to be identified by being us. We heard this when we studied the fifth chapter of the book of Revelation, in the ninth verse. There John heard the elders proclaim that Jesus the Lamb slain for us, is worthy for by his blood he has ransomed people for a holy God out of every tribe, language, people and nation. These terms, tribe, language, people and nation, are all the common ways we create our identity by separating ourselves into our us and them categories. Yet, through the blood of Christ we are no longer common but we are indeed holy because we are all one kingdom made up of priests who bless others. So from the moment that Christ shed his blood on the cross there are two types of people. The first of these are all those who refuse to be identified by what Christ has done. These people still hold fast to the common way of identifying themselves, seeing the world as us and them.The second of these ways are those who know themselves being holy. Those who know themselves as being holy are those who see all others as being one of us, whether those others know this or not. The importance of holiness is plainly stated in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews where we are told that we must strive for holiness for without holiness no one will see the Lord.

         Now, the audience that John first read this letter that John wrote, what we call the book of Revelation, knew the importance of knowing the difference between what is common and what is holy. So in order for us to even begin to understand what John has written we too must to be certain of what it means for us to be holy. We must be certain that we know that there is only us. If we are to have any hope of understanding our scripture we must keep this in definition of holiness in mind as we come to today’s reading from chapter eleven of the book of Revelation.  

The scripture for today begins with John measuring the Temple of God, and the altar and all those who worship there, a place that we are to know is thoroughly holy. Now the reason that John is doing such an unusual job is that it is God who has told him to get busy measuring the Temple. Well, if you are familiar with the Old Testament, you will know that what we are hearing in these first few verse of chapter eleven is an echo of the fortieth chapter of Ezekiel. When he people of Judah were then marched off to live as slaves in Babylon they would have naturally wondered just what was to be their future. They no longer had the Temple which spoke of God’s desire to dwell among his people. So God raised up a prophet named Ezekiel from among those forced to live in Babylon. In the fortieth chapter of his book, we find that Ezekiel has a vision. In this vision, Ezekiel sees a new Temple that was being measured by a man whose appearance was like bronze.  Through this vision Ezekiel was telling his people that God’s intention to dwell with his people had not changed which gave them much needed hope.

         So in the eleventh chapter of the book of Revelation, this new Temple that John is called to measure, this is the fulfillment of the vision that was given to Ezekiel. Yet there was something very strange about this new Temple that John was measuring. Yes, there was the altar where the sacrifices were offered, and yes there was the sanctuary where the golden lamp stand and the incense altar and the show bread was set upon the table, and yes, there beyond the sanctuary was the Holy of Holies. But what every good Temple worshipper would have noticed is that the wall that had been erected to separate the people of God from the people of the nations, this wall was missing. In the old Temple, this wall kept the people of the nations from worshipping with the people of God. All along this wall were signs warning the people of the nations to not even consider to try and breach the wall in order to worship with the people of God. If someone who was not one of the people of God was found  to be in the area of the sacrificial altar, or the sanctuary or Holy of Holies, the result would have been an instant death. So for a Jewish person to hear that this wall was now gone would have been a shocking revelation. The result was just as bad as any good Jew could have imagined for we are told that without the wall, the people of the nations had come in and trampled down the holy city. It is no surprise that John uses these words, “trampled down”, because these are the exact words found in the seventh chapter of Daniel. There Daniel saw that a nation would arise who would be extraordinarily fearsome, and this nation would devour, and crush and trample down the holy ones who make up God’s kingdom.

         After we read these first few verses of chapter eleven, we are left wondering just why then has this wall that protected the holy temple of God from the nations been taken down ? The answer is found in the second chapter of the letter Paul wrote to the Ephesians where he writes about the church being the new Temple with Christ as its cornerstone. There in the eleventh verse, we read this: So, remember that at one time you people of the nations in the flesh, called the uncircumcised by those who were circumcised, remember that at one time you were separated from Christ, you were excluded from being a citizen of Israel, you were strangers to the covenant of promise.” Here we should pause to consider all of the ways we hear in this section of how people were identified through, “us and them”, language. Paul speaks that there was once the Jews and there were also those of the nations; there were the ones circumcised as the covenant people of God, and there were those who are not circumcised; there were those who called themselves citizens of the nation of Israel and there were those who were citizens of all of the other nations; there were the those who were well versed in the covenants of promise that God made with his people and there were the people of the nations who were strangers to this covenant life. So as Paul continues, the people of the nations were people who had no hope as they were without God in the world. The Jews could say we have God and we have no trouble with the rest of the world being simply those people who were without God. This is the terrible tragedy that is found in the common life which separates the world into the haves and the have nots.

         Yet all is not lost for we serve a holy God. Let us listen again to the second chapter, this time at the thirteenth verse: But now, in Christ Jesus, you who used to be far away, being that you were those people, now you have come near through the blood of Christ. For Christ is our peace for he has made us both one. Christ is the very one who has broken down the dividing wall that once stood between the people of God and the people of the nations, destroying in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments, and the statutes, that the Jews used to identify themselves as being, us, and the nations being, them. So Christ, in doing this, has created in himself, one new humanity, a new us, where there used to be a world of us and them.” Paul concludes this section by saying this, “So then you people of the nations are no longer to be considered strangers and foreigners because now you are one of us, fellow citizens with the holy ones of God, and members of the house of God.” I hope that through what Paul tells us here that we can now see why the church and the state are far too different in the way they identify themselves to ever consider being united together. As members of the house of God we declare that we no longer consider anyone to be a stranger or a foreigner even if the country we live in chooses to do so in order to clarify their identity.

         So the answer as to why the dividing wall that kept the nations from reaching the holy Temple of God has been torn down is that Jesus Christ has abolished this wall through shedding his blood on the cross. The purpose why Jesus has done so is found as we continue in this eleventh chapter of Revelation where John speaks about two witnesses. The identity of these two witnesses is given away when he states that the power of these two witnesses, is that they can shut the sky so that no rain will fall, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague. If anyone has even a little knowledge of the Old Testament, it is fairly easy to conclude that they are first, Elijah, who prayed for a drought during the reign of King Ahab and no rain fell for three years. And secondly, John is speaking about Moses who did indeed turn the Nile red with blood and caused many plagues to devastate Egypt when he was sent to free the people of Israel from their slavery. 

Now, if we consider Moses and Elijah being a witness to something as is suggested by John, it seems natural to believe that he is describing a scene found in the seventeenth chapter of Matthew. What happens here in the first few verses of this chapter comes right on the heels of Jesus announcing to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem to be crucified but three days later he would rise from death. Peter, the leader of the disciples got in the face of Jesus, telling Jesus that there was no way that he was going to let such a thing happen. Jesus responds by telling Peter that he was Satan and that Peter needed to get behind him. Well, six days later after his confrontation with Peter, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up on a high mountain. There Jesus glows with the glory of heaven and suddenly standing there with him is none other than Moses and Elijah. Peter, James and John are beside themselves at such a mind blowing event. Then as suddenly as this scene had happened it was gone, and Jesus is standing there alone. And what Peter, James and John hear then is the voice of their Heavenly Father, who tells them that this Jesus is His Son, his beloved one, the one with whom he is well pleased, and they are to listen to him! In other words, if Peter, James and John had any doubts about Jesus being crucified they had better leave them there on the mountain. The message they beheld was that the Law, represented by Moses, and the Prophets, represented by Elijah, were witnesses to the life that Jesus lived. This is the very same truth that Jesus speaks of in the sixth chapter of John. There Jesus tells us that the scriptures, both the Law and the Prophets, witness to him. 

Now if we pause to consider just what the life of Jesus represents it is easy to see that in the life of Jesus we see a unity between God and humanity. If ever there were a relationship we could identify as being,” us and them” it is God and humanity. Where God is uncreated, invisible, all powerful, all knowing and all loving, humanity, on the other hand, is created, visible, weak, ignorant, and possessing an impure heart. Yet God refuses to be defined by these differences for he instead, in Christ, is defined by being forever united with beings so unlike himself for God is always the God of us. This life where God unites himself with us is witnessed by the Scriptures of the Old Testament.

This life where God unites himself with humanity is called the blessed life in the Old Testament. The clearest place where this blessed life is spoken of is found in the sixth chapter of Numbers. There we find that the High Priest, named Aaron, places a blessing upon the people of God as they leave their time of worship. The blessing is simply this: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his face to you, and give you peace. What the worshippers would have understood from this is that first, God looked upon them as being his first-born son as in their culture this is who received the blessing of their Father. The Father blessed his eldest son so that the power and authority of the Father would be now given to the eldest son. So, in effect God is telling his people that they were those who were given the honor of bearing his power and authority so that they might represent him in the world, the essence of what it means to bear his image. As such God would keep them, giving them all they needed for life. Yet there was more because God smiles on them as he promises to them his grace. In ancient Jewish culture, this meant that God would invite them into his tent to experience his hospitality. In order to do this, God had to take down the hedge of protection from around his dwelling in order that they could enter his house. As they enter his house, they find that God kneels before them, this is why he looks up at them. This means that God desires to serve them, to suffer with them and to sacrifice for them. The result is peace meaning that now they were united with God, becoming his friends and yes, even his very family.

If you listen closely to this blessing you can hear the very story of the life of Jesus, our king. As priests in his kingdom, we are to be like God seeing everyone as being worthy to be blessed, because we are to see others as we do Jesus, his first born. We are to keep all we meet by giving all them the basic needs of life. We are to smile upon the strangers who came our way. We are to open our lives to offer the grace of hospitality even if it means we are left open to be hurt. The hope is that as we serve our guests, suffering with them and sacrificing for them, the result will be peace. Where there was once a stranger is now a friend, yes, even family. This is the peacemaking that Jesus teaches us that proves what God believes about us, that we are indeed his holy children. In this way those living in an us and them world come to be part of the great us, the us we know as being the kingdom of God. To the glory of God. Amen!

 

The Big Reveal:The In’s and Outs of the Life of Christ

 June 28 2026

Revelation 3:1-7, 10:8-10

         Well, we have at last come to one of my favorite times of the year, that time when the black raspberries and blackberries are at last in season. As a kid, I wasn’t very happy to find out that our whole family had to go out and pick berries on some hot evening. Perhaps it was just that I didn’t like having to pick enough berries to fill that gallon jug that I was given. But now that I can just find berries and eat them as I go, I love finding them as I take my dog, Mazy, for for a walk. As I have wandered out this past week, I have found that quite a few of the berry bushes I picked from last year died in the drought last fall. So I have had to widen my search to find a few more berry bushes to pick from. Now, not every berry bush I find has berries on them which is frustrating. I mean, blackberry stems and leaves are not what I’m after. In a way, these bushes which show no sign of bearing berries are about as worthless as the berry bushes which died last year. I mean, neither the ones that died nor the ones which have no berries really do me any good, do they?

         Well, in a very similar way, Jesus is a lot like I am when I go out to hunt for berries because he too desires to find those who call ourselves the church to be people who are bearing good fruit. This is what Jesus teaches us in the seventh chapter of Matthew, where he says this, “The trees that are beneficial are all those which bear good fruit. …If a tree bears rotten fruit it is not beneficial, so as a rule all trees that do not bear good fruit must be cut down and thrown into the fire.” And just so we do not think that Jesus is not just telling us how to tend fruit trees, he concludes by saying, ‘So, by your fruit, this is how you will be known.” This idea that we are people who will be known by the fruit which our lives produces, this is an important idea to hold on to as we come to one of the most disturbing reviews that Jesus gives to one of the seven churches he addresses in the book of Revelation. 

Today, we come to the review Jesus gives to the church at Sardis and it is a rather blunt appraisal by Jesus who is the one who possesses the seven Spirits of God, the very one who holds the seven stars in his hand. If we turn back to the first chapter, we find that these seven Spirits and seven stars are the eyes and ears watching the seven churches. So in this description of Jesus we are to know that whatever is going on at this church at Sardis, Jesus knows about it, it is not hidden from him. It is no surprise then that the first words of Jesus are that he is well aware of what is going on in this church at Sardis for he knows of their works. Secondly, we hear that Jesus knows of their of their belief that they are alive but the reality is that they are in fact dead. What Jesus is implying here is that he knows that the works this church are producing are not works which he has judged to be good. Therefore, as he has taught them in his core teachings, since they have not produced good fruit, they are as good as dead. The only conclusion that Jesus can make is that they are nothing but a barren tree, in need of being cut down and thrown in the fire, ouch!

You see, only as we become aware of the fruit we produce can we then return to bearing the fruit that Jesus desires us to produce. As Jesus continues to address this problem found at the church at Sardis, we begin to understand the reason why they have not produced good fruit. Jesus calls them back to life by telling them to once again be steadfast, to stand firm in their faith. This is the very same need that was found in he church being addressed in the book of Hebrews, where the writer of that letter tells his church at the end of the tenth chapter, ‘You have need of endurance so that after doing the will of God you might receive what is promised. For in just a little while, the one who is coming will arrive, he will not be delayed. But as scripture tells us, “My righteous people will live by faithfulness”.  So if we shrink back and waver in our faith then the soul of God will find no pleasure in us.” Those who shrink back and waver in their faith are hardly steadfast as Jesus expects. The cause of this unsteadiness in their faith, is found earlier in this same tenth chapter of Hebrews. The writer tells us that this church had gone through, “….a terrible struggle with much suffering. They had been made a public spectacle, being insulted and persecuted. They had also joined others who were enduring a similar fate. They had sympathized with those who had been imprisoned and with joy they even allowed others to confiscate their personal belongings since they knew that they had a better and abiding possession.” So it becomes clear that the reason why their faith had began to waver is that they have had to endure extreme hardship on account of their faith. 

Now it should come as no surprise though, that the church in the book of Hebrews suffered as they did because this is exactly what John explains will happen as we hear in the tenth chapter of this letter of Revelation.There we find that John hears a voice from heaven which says to him, “Go take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and the land”. So John goes to the angel and he tells the angel to give him the,“little”, scroll. Now this mention of a little scroll is an important clue to help us figure out just what is happening in this scenario. This same word for little is found there in the seventh chapter of Matthew, where Jesus speaks about the narrow road. Jesus tells us, ‘How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life and little is the number of those who find it.” So the scroll is little because what is written on it are the small number of people who are walking on the narrow way.

What John also expects us to know is that this scroll is the book of life which is described at the beginning of the twelfth chapter of the book of Daniel. There we are told that, “…there will come a time of suffering and in that time the people of God will be delivered, every one who is written in the book, or scroll. Many of these who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake,  these in the book to everlasting life and others will awake to reproach and everlasting contempt.….’. So when John is handed the little scroll, he is being given the book which has the names of those going on to everlasting life. Now when the angel tells John to eat the scroll, what he is telling John is that the certainty of his eternity is to be for him a very sweet hope. Yet, as this scroll hits his stomach he finds that knowing that his name is in the book of life is, at the same time, a bitter experience. This bitter experience is the suffering that must be endured by those who live by the wisdom of the cross instead of living by the wisdom of this world.

Paul writes much about the sweetness and the bitterness found when we live by the wisdom of the cross. In the fourth chapter of his second letter to the Corinthians, he praises God , because God has flooded our hearts the light of the glorious knowledge of God that is found when we live before the face of Jesus Christ. Paul goes on to say that this knowledge of God found by living before the face of Christ is a treasure which is found in the clay pots of our earthly existence. The reason why God has put his power within such fragile beings is so that it might be seen that the surpassing power witnessed in our life comes from God and not from us. Paul speaks of how this power is witnessed by the world. He writes,  “We are under pressure in all we do, but we are not crushed; we are in doubt and perplexity but we are not driven to despair; yes, we are persecuted, but God has not abandoned us; we are indeed thrown down but look, we are not destroyed. At all times we carry within our bodies the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus might be brought seen living in us. We who live are constantly handed over to death… so that the life of Jesus living in us might be brought to light in our mortal flesh.” What Paul describes here is what we might call, the in’s and outs of the life of Jesus. The true power that we receive from the life of Jesus living in us can only be displayed outwardly when we are willing to suffer for his sake. In other words, the goodness of the life that is ours when we live before the face of God is most clearly seen when the world is at its worst. Yet it is precisely when the world is at its worst that we are tempted to waver in our faith. This is what is known as the crisis of faith. When we are tempted to withdraw from this suffering we call into question the power of Christ that we say our faith is founded on. As John demonstrated for us, yes, it is sweet to know we have our names written in the book of life because of our faith in Jesus. But because of that same faith, we will be called to endure the bitterness of persecution at the hands of the world.

So the church at Sardis is found to be just like the church written about in the letter to the Hebrews. The church at Sardis has pulled back from living a life which demonstrated that the the power of Christ lived in them. They no longer were found faithfully living by the wisdom of the cross. When they withdrew from living by the wisdom of the cross then they withdrew from the very life of Jesus. A refusal to witness to the death of Jesus on the outside of their life meant that inwardly the life of Christ no longer lived within them. As Jesus teaches us at the beginning of the fifteenth chapter of John’s gospel, “Just as the branch is unable to bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you bear fruit unless you remain with me.” Jesus goes on to explain telling us, “The one who remains with me, the one I am found to be living within, these are the ones who bear much fruit. If you are separated from me you, your power will produce nothing. If anyone does not remain with me then they are like a cut off branch which is thrown away because it has dried up. These dry branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire to be burned.” When we hear this harsh warning from Jesus we can now understand why Jesus tells the church at Sardis that even though they were known to be a living church they were nonetheless, quite dead. When they had experienced suffering on account of their faith in Jesus they did not remain with Jesus. So like a branch which had been cut off from the vine, they had become withered and without life. Jesus could say that their works were not complete for while they professed to have the life of Christ inside of them, they had refused to demonstrate the death of Christ in their witness to the world. So the world did not witness in them the true power that is ours when Christ is alive and well within us. This power can only be known when in that moment when we face the crisis of faith, we stand fast, willing to suffer for Christ instead of withdrawing to safety. The problem, as Jesus tells the church at Sardis is that they needed to once more become steadfast, unmovable in their faithful living according to the wisdom of the cross.

Jesus also tells the church at Sardis that they were in need of doing three actions. They were to remember what they had received, to recall what they had heard and above all repent. What the church was to remember is found In the fifteenth chapter of the first letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians. Paul tells us that what we have received as followers of Jesus is the gospel message. This message is this: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day, according to the scriptures, and then he appeared to Peter and to the twelve.” So we are to remember the one we follow, the one who was willing to suffer and die for our sins, this is the one who three days later was raised to life. If we say that we follow Christ, then the pattern of his life must become the pattern for our life. As he was willing to suffer at the hands of others in order to condemn the sin that lives in the desires of our flesh, so too we must be willing to suffer at the hands of the people of this world. In doing so, we will be an example to all of how the vulnerable and weak of this world suffer when they are crushed by those who live by the desires of their flesh. This is what the life of Christ calls us to do, to be be a witness to the suffering and agony that the world brings to bear on the innocent people of this world. And we must also demonstrate the power of forgiveness for those who bring such cruelty against us, so that our good might overcome their evil. In this way then, we follow Christ who gave his life for us at the cross. When we live like this then the gospel message can be said to be living within us. 

So by living a life that conforms to the life and death of Christ, we are living proof that not only have we received the gospel message, but that we also have chosen to obey what we have received. This is the way that we turn from living in fear of the world and the suffering we might receive at the hands of this world and turn to place our life in the hands of our living Savior. Repentance is more than mere admitting that we are living opposed to the way of Christ. No, repentance must be that we actually begin again to follow Christ on the narrow road. We must not forget that Jesus tells us right from the beginning of this journey, that this narrow way is the way of the cross, the way of suffering that leads to life.

Now when we rightly understand the difficult journey we face when we decide to walk on this narrow way, it should come as no surprise that we will need others who will walk with us so that we might bear each others burdens. I believe that Jesus understands this need because he does mention in his review of the church at Sardis that there are a few members of this church who have not defiled themselves. These are the ones Jesus tells us that do walk with him, those he can judge as being worthy to do so. What is interesting is that he does not tell these faithful few that they should separate themselves from the the rest of the church that has lost their way. I believe Jesus desires that these faithful few are to heed the wisdom found in the tenth chapter of Hebrews. There the church is told to not abandon meeting together, even with those who have lost their way. The reason for this is twofold. First, those who are faithfully walking on the narrow way are to encourage those who waver in their faith because of the suffering they are called to endure. We must continually remind each other the wisdom found in the fourth chapter of the first letter of John, that greater is the one who is in us, than he that is in the world. The one who is in the world causing all of the suffering and destruction that we see is Satan. Yet, as Jesus teaches us in the twelfth chapter of John, Satan has been defeated through Jesus bearing his cross for us. Secondly, in the tenth chapter of Hebrews these faithful few are also to consider how they can spur others to get busy bearing fruit. When the temptation arises to retreat, the faithful few are to incite others to advance the cause of Christ through the sharing of God’s unlimited love and the doing of the good we know to do. We must never forget that our faith is dead if we do not back it up with the bearing of good fruit, the good which overcomes the evil of this world. To God be the glory! Amen!

 

The Big Reveal:Sticking to the Script

 June 21 2026

Revelation 2:18-29

         As I have said a few times for, my children have found an outlet for their creativity in helping with Little Theater. My, daughter, Sarah, has taken her love for theater one step further and for the last five years she has been the director of the musicals for New Phila High school. She has done a terrific job in this endeavor and she has earned the respect of the kids at New Phila. Now for someone who has zero knowledge about anything theatrical, I am fascinated when she talks about what it takes to put on a performance. One of the biggest decisions she has is to select a play that suits the talents that she has to work with. Yet, she also must remember that the musical she is doing is going to be shown at a school. So, while some plays might be well suited for the kids she has on any particular year, it still must be suitable for a high school audience. This means she has to screen the scripts she is looking at for things such as language some of which might get her in hot water with the school administration. Now me, being so naïve about all of this, I wondered to her aloud as to why she couldn’t just substitute say some politically correct language for the language which is offensive. What she told me when I asked such a question is that a director is never allowed to alter the script that a playwright has written, because first there are copy-write  laws which prohibit making any changes and also, if you begin changing the script you are misrepresenting the playwrights original intent. Yes, the language may be offensive but perhaps the playwright had a reason why he had included such a word. So even though these kids who are selected to be part of her musical are very creative young people, they nonetheless, must restrict themselves to say and sing only what the script tells them. The primary rule in theater is that you must stick to the script. 

         Now what many followers of Jesus do not realize is that when we place our faith in Jesus, we become part of a group of performers who are, in effect, enacting a script written by God. In church circles, we call this our witness. You see, as we live our lives before the watching eyes of the world, we are to be living a very different way of life, as different say, as a musical performed on a stage is very different from the way all of us live our lives. Now in a very similar way that a high school theater group must not veer from the script that they are given, so too as those who witness to a life with God, we too must stick to the script we are given. Now, the basic shape of the script is found in places like 1 John 4:7, where we are told, “Friends, let us love one another because love is from God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The person who does not love does not know God because God is love.’ So this is pretty straight forward, isn’t it? If we say that we know God, if we say that he is the director of this play we call life, then we will get busy loving each other. Now there is only one little problem and that is, just how do we define this thing called love. You see, we cannot do as some have done, and come to God with our preconceived notions about love. If one does this then when they read that God is love, they believe that God must love others according to how they define love. No, love has its beginnings in God, so the way that God defines love is the script we must follow. Well, as we continue reading, we discover just how it is that God defines love. In verse nine of this fourth chapter we are told, “In this is love not that we have loved God but rather that God loved us and sent his Son to be the very means for ridding us of our sin.” And then, John concludes, by saying, “If God loves us with a love such as this then it is through this same love that we should love each other.” So love is defined by what God has done for us upon the cross where we are given the means to rid ourselves of sin. It was on the cross that Jesus, the very Son of God, set aside his honor and glory, so that he might be humiliated and dishonored in the eyes of the world. The Father did this so that through the suffering and death of Jesus we might know of our true honor in the eyes of God. Paul, in the first chapter of the first letter of Corinthians, speaks of this honor in three terms which relate to the God in three persons. Our Heavenly Father became for us our kindred redeemer, paying the price of his own dear Son in order to deliver us from our slavery to sin. Through our redemption we came to know our true worth to God, that we are indeed worth the very life of his Son. The Son, in turn, offered us mercy instead of judgment taking upon himself the judgment meant for us all so that we might have the honor of coming before our Heavenly Father as his righteous people. And the Holy Spirit declares we are holy as he is holy when he comes and dwells in us. So now we can know ourselves as being worthy to be called a Temple of the living God. 

         So the love of God is a love which causes us to be willing to set aside our honor in the eyes of the world because know we have found a greater honor in the eyes of the God. The honor we have in the eyes of the world is called pride, this desire we have to be able to boast and brag about our ability to satisfy all of the desires of our flesh and our power to seize ahold of all that catches our eye. Only as the honor of God replaces our desire for pride can we be truly rid of our sin. You see, we cannot truly understand the terrible nature of our sin until we have experienced the tremendous gift God in his grace has given to us. Only as we first know of how God , in his love, was willing to set aside his honor all so that we might understand the great honor we have in his eyes, can we begin to live with the understanding that all people have been given this same great honor in the eyes of God. Only then will we be ready to honor those around us through doing the very same actions Jesus has done for us, serving them in love, suffering with them and for them, and having a heart willing to sacrifice in order that they might find life.

         So this is the script we perform before a watching world when we say that we know God. So it goes without saying then, that people will come to know the intent of what God desires for all people through watching how we love one another. This love is, as Paul describes it in the fifth chapter of Ephesians, is simply this, “Be subject to one another in honor of Christ.” When we know that Christ subjected himself to the suffering and humiliation of the cross then we are now to be those who are willing to serve others, willing to suffer with them, and if need be, we are to be willing to sacrificing our desires all so that Christ might be honored and glorified.

         Now Paul goes on to describe just what this ideal way of loving each other might look like when we enact this way of loving in our relationships. The first of these relationships is marriage, the sacred union between man and wife. Now when our modern ears hear Paul say that wives are to be subject themselves to their husbands as the church serves Christ, everyone begins to yell about domination of women at the hands of men. But what is often forgotten is that Paul goes on to say that men are to love their wives like Christ loved the church. Can we really forget that Christ on the cross, served his bride the church, by serving her to the utmost, by suffering terribly for her so that she might know his love, and was ultimately willing to offer up his own life so that his church might have life? So a husband is to lead his family by doing acts of service, to lead his family through his willingness to suffer for them, and by providing his family an example of one willing to sacrifice all for them. Through the husbands leading then his wife is to join him in this life of mutual service, suffering and sacrifice. And this life together is always done to bring honor and glory to Christ who first lived this life for us.

         Well, what must also be understood is the reason why Paul describes a marriage in terms of Christ and his church. You see, it is true that God desires that those who know him demonstrate in all of our human relationships the serving love of the cross. But what God also desires us to know is that the relationship of marriage holds a special place in our witness to the world. You see, God desires that through the act of marriage the world might know the great love God has for his creation and how he longs to be united with her. This is the longing of God, that his great love for his creation as shown to humanity at the cross, might result in heaven and earth being united. The result is that from this union will come forth life, a new unique life where created life is now alive with the very power of heaven. This is the life which the world witnesses in the resurrected life of Jesus who is the firstborn from the dead. This is the hope and longing of God. So anytime a man and woman unite in this act of marriage that honors God, the world beholds the mystery found in the union between Christ, the Son of God and his church.

         Now it should become obvious, that when we lay out God’s ideal situation for marriage, that this understanding is probably pretty rare, even in churches who say they believe in marriage. The reason for this is that most marriages don’t have their beginning at the cross. When it comes to most people, God believing or not, the place where marriage is said to begin is with the wisdom of the world. This wisdom is laid out for us in the second chapter of the first letter of John. There we are told that the wisdom of the world is built on the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes and the pride of life. We have a desire to be with someone because they catch our eye and if we are able to convince her we that we would make a great pair then this would give us something to brag about. If we are honest, this sounds more like most marriages than the one Paul describes. We shouldn’t feel too bad if this is better description for us of marriage because even the people of God, the people of Israel, followed this same pattern. I mean, why else would Jesus bring this way of marriage up in his core teachings, in the fifth chapter of Matthew, if he wasn’t aware that God’s own people followed the wisdom of the world when it comes to marriage. Jesus plainly tells us that whoever looks at a woman and sets his heart to have her as her own is setting himself up for failure. And if we understand how wrong it is for someone to tie their need for pride to the performance of their wife, I believe we can begin to understand why Jesus is so opposed to divorce. You see, even the men of Israel wanted a way to preserve their pride whenever their wife did something that brought shame to him. This is why they demanded an easy way to dump her and go find another wife that they could brag about.

         We have to understand the expectations God has for marriage in order to figure out why this mysterious women called Jezebel is so dangerous. We hear of her in the review Jesus gives to the church at Thyatira. Thyatira is one of the seven churches that John oversees. When Jesus looks at how this church is doing, he finds that the church seems to be doing quite well for this church excels in their love of others, in their faith in God, in doing acts of service and in their patient endurance. So far, so good. But what Jesus also finds is that they tolerate that woman Jezebel. Now this name Jezebel would have been well known to the Jewish audience who received this letter. If you read the sixteenth chapter of First Kings in the Old Testament, you will find that the king of Israel, Ahab took for his wife Jezebel who was the daughter of the king of the Phoenicians.It is rather easy to figure out that the reason why Ahab entered into marriage with the daughter of a neighboring country was solely to build an alliance with them. It is obvious that Ahab was not at all interested in honoring God at all but rather he had entered into this marriage solely to boost his own ego.  Now what happened when Jezebel came to Israel to reign with Ahab is that she brought along with her all of the false gods that she worshiped. Ahab being the dutiful husband even went so far as to build altars and shrines to these gods for his new bride. So it is no surprise then, that we read at the end of the sixteenth chapter of First Kings that Ahab did more to provoke God to anger than all of the kings who had come before him. Through the influence of his wife Jezebel, the whole nation of Israel began to worship her false gods, forsaking the one, true living God. What saved the nation of Israel from total destruction was that God raised up a prophet named Elijah. Elijah told Ahab that because of his wickedness there would be no rain fall on the nation of Israel for three years. This is the drastic measures God had to resort to in order to bring his people back from the evil that had been brought into Israel through Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel.

         So when Jesus tell the church at Thyatira that they were tolerating that woman Jezebel, he is referring to one of the most evil and wicked periods of Israel’s history. The church at Thyatira had even gone so far to allow this evil woman who called herself a prophetess, to teach within their church. Through her teachings this one Jesus calls Jezebel, seduced those who desired to honor God through their service to instead do practices that were quite dishonorable in the eyes of God. Instead of sticking to the script and teaching about honoring God through our relationships, she instead encouraged sexual practices based on one’s fleshly desires. What happens when we do not stick to the script, this story God gives to us of how we are to honor each other through our service to one another, then we are prone to give honor to those things which do not deserve to be honored. So it is no surprise to hear that not only was their sexual immorality being practiced by members of this church but these members also were going to idol temples to eat dinner. The tragedy is that through the reluctance of the church to confront this sin of Jezebel, then she had no interest in repenting of her teaching about sexual practices based on worldly wisdom. So not only was she on the wide road to destruction but all those who had united themselves with her, what Jesus calls adultery, were also walking that wide road with her. When people listened and obeyed to Jezebel’s teaching they were like her children who were also doomed for destruction. Jesus rightly called her teachings the very depths of Satan, for he is the very one who leads people on the road that leads to destruction. While they may have thought that abandoning the script that God had written was no big deal, Jesus in no uncertain terms tells them that their actions were not hidden from his eyes. Jesus is the one who searches our hearts and minds and he knows if we truly desire to honor God in all that we say and do. We must never forget that Jesus as the Son of God, is the righteous judge whose eyes are like flames of fire that burn through the smokescreen of our sin in order to see the truth of who we really are. 

         As Jesus concludes his review of this church at Thyatira, he tells those who have not listened to the one called Jezebel, to use all of their strength to seize hold of what they already possess, in other words, stick to the script until Jesus returns. You see, those who do the work of serving others out of reverence to Jesus in the here and now, will be the very ones who will be given the authority to rule with Jesus in the age to come. Jesus tells them that the one prophesied about in the second Psalm, the one who will come to rule the nations with a rod of iron, is not just about him. No, this rule given to the Messiah is to be shared by those who are willing to stick to the script, no matter what the cost. As Jesus has received authority from his Father so too will he share this authority with all those who willing to honor him through their humble service to all that they meet. So let us stick to the script.  Let us practice our lines, and let us keep striving to perfect our performance of our love to others. In this way our very way of life will give the honor and glory to the author of the script, the one whose name is Jesus. Amen!    

         

The Big Reveal: Our Only Hope

 June 14 2026

Revelation 9:13-21

         I have a confession to make this morning that might surprise you which is that my wife, Jennifer and I met through alcohol. No, it wasn’t at a bar, but rather at a youth group meeting. You see, Jennifer’s first job was the Alcohol Prevention Educator for the Health Department. And her co-worker, Judy had two kids in my youth group. Now, Judy being the good Mom told me that I should get Jennifer to come and talk to the youth group to talk to them about the dangers of alcohol. That sounds innocent enough, doesn’t it? Well, unbeknown to me, Judy was actually wanting to introduce me to Jennifer. You see, Judy was best friends with my Mom and they got their heads together and thought it was high time for me to find a wife. So even though Jennifer came to speak to the youth group about alcohol, the truth of the matter is that I was set-up in order to meet the wonderful woman who would eventually become my wife.

          Well, the truth is, that the kids in my youth group really did have to hear about the dangers of alcohol, even if there was something else going on that fateful evening. Alcohol can lead to addiction which wreaks havoc on many lives. One only has to consider the devastation that alcohol causes in the homes and lives of many people. There are far too many families who suffer from broken homes and abuse because of a person’s addiction to alcohol. And we can also think of the many lives that have been destroyed by those who get behind the wheel while under the influence who endanger themselves and others. So it should come as no surprise that in nineteen-eighteen, our country ratified an amendment to our Constitution, prohibiting the sale of alcohol in America. Even though President Wilson vetoed this action, Congress nonetheless passed the Volstead act which resulted in America becoming a country without alcohol. Now it is hard for us to imagine a world without alcohol, isn’t it? I mean just what would life be like without all of the ads we see for beer? Well, this experiment at outlawing alcohol failed miserably for it lasted only thirteen years before it was officially repealed in nineteen-thirty three. You see, what this law did was to chase alcohol underground, out of sight. The result was that criminal activity ran rampant through the moonshiners and rum runners. Our country became much like the Pharisees who Jesus compared to white washed tombs. Yes, everything looked great on the outside, but inside their was nothing but rot. 

         So even though our country went through this grand experiment to erase alcoholism through legislation, in the end our society actually became worse. The truth is this: believing that our hope for a better society can be found through enacting greater and better laws is flat out nonsense. This is proven true by God’s own people, the people of Israel. God gave them a law system straight out of heaven which clearly prohibited them from taking an innocent life. And even living under this perfect law, they still killed the innocent Son of God upon the cross. So for us who follow Jesus, we must be never put our hope for a better world in the passing of better laws. To believe our world can be improved through the passing of more and better laws merely calls into question the necessity of the cross.  I mean, if there were indeed some perfect law which could solve all our ails than why did Jesus need to carry his cross?

         The reason why laws will always ultimately fail is that they simply do not address the the problem of the human heart. Jesus tells us in the sixth chapter of Matthew that our desperate need for the approval and honor of others is the real issue. What Jesus reveals to us is that we were created to seek only the honor of our Heavenly Father. The reason why we should seek only the honor of our Heavenly Father is that he has demonstrated just how esteemed we are in his eyes when Jesus died on the cross. There upon the cross, the Father offered up his only Son all for us. To the watching eyes of the world this was a terribly foolish act. Yet to our eyes of faith we see that God endured this humiliation so that we might forever know how honorable we are to him. We now are no longer sinners but we are indeed able to call ourselves, children of God.There in the misery of the Son of God we found mercy. And there in the disgrace of the death of Jesus we indeed found grace. 

The honor we received when Jesus died on the cross was given to us by our Father so that we no longer feel the need to appear wise in the eyes of the world. The wisdom of the world is, as we find in the second chapter of the first letter of John, based on the desires of our flesh, the desires of what catches our eyes, and the boasting and pride that is ours when we display our life before the faces of others. Now to many of us, such a life does not seem all that bad.  Yet, when a world full of people follow such wisdom the result is disaster. James speaks of this truth at beginning of the fourth chapter his letter. There James asks us this, “Have you ever wondered why wars and battles are found everywhere you go? This is a rather profound question because our human history is one that is constantly afflicted by wars and battle. So we are right to wonder just why it is that the human race is marked by such violence. Well, James goes on to say this, “Do not all these wars and battles stem from the fact of the desires for sensual pleasures of our bodies?” Here James is telling us that the root cause of our violence is found in the desires of our flesh. James explains this connection by telling us, “You set your heart upon, and your eyes become focused upon what you desire and when you can not posses what possesses you, then you murder, and envy one another because you do not have the power to obtain what controls you. The result is that you fight and are at war with each other.” It is the wisdom of the world, this wisdom found in seeking what our flesh desires, longing for what has caught our eyes, and the pride we find when we are able to satisfy these desires, this is the wisdom that sets us at war with each other. And to understand how easy it is for us to become enamored by this worldly wisdom, we must remember that this teaching of James is being written to the church, followers of Jesus. You see, when James discovers infighting within their church, he concludes that they have become friends with the world. They have settled for seeking the pride that comes through the satisfying of their own desire. And the result from loving the wisdom of the world is that war had broken out among their members of this church.

         When we understand this dynamic of how wars and battles become such a part of our humanity we are able to make sense of what John witnesses from his vantage point in heaven. John tells of how the four angels stationed at the river Euphrates are set free. This is perhaps the very angels who stand guard at the door of the garden of Eden. We are to remember that it was there in Eden that the world came under the curse because of Adam and Eve choosing to live by the wisdom of the world. John sees that the curse from that decision has wiped out a full one third of all humanity. As we might recall, this mention of one -third, is the amount of the younger sons inheritance in the story of the Prodigal Son. This younger son represents those who choose the wealth of the Father over a relationship with him. And just as the younger son squandered his inheritance, the people of this world are seen squandering this worlds greatest treasure, the people who live here. God’s highest creation is seen utterly destroying one another. The reason for this devastation is that those in the world continue to live by the wisdom which can only end in the curse of death. 

         Well, John also sees a vast number of mounted troops, the symbol in his day of war and battle. The number he sees is double ten thousand times ten thousand. This incredibly large number seems to represent all of those who have ever engaged in combat throughout the history of earth. These warriors bring about terrible judgment upon their foes which is symbolized by the fire and smoke and sulfur. When these troops pass judgment on their enemies, they inflict the power of the serpent, which is death, and when they do so they violate the law. This terrible scene is the result of people who choose the wide road, those who choose to seek only the honor of others. When people find their pride is on the line because they cannot obtain what their flesh desires, when they are unable to possess what possesses them, then the result is war. So this never ending cycle of war that we find ourselves in has its roots in their desperate need people have to preserve their honor in the eyes of others. 

         So through what John reveals to us, we can begin to understand that following worldly wisdom leaves humanity under a curse. No, longer do people see each other as those who are held to be of infinite worth in the eyes of their Heavenly Father. Once again when we read James, this time in the third chapter of his letter, we see how this curse pollutes our thinking. James tells us that with our mouths we bless the Lord and Father, and with that same mouth, we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. As James rightly teaches us, this should not happen. Yet it does happen when people are more concerned about their pride then seeing each other as those who are beloved of God. When our life goal is to boast and brag about our possessions then it is evident is that our sensual pleasures and desires are of utmost importance to us. When these passions consume us we will find it very easy to curse those who stand in the way of our possessing what has come to possesses us. We will begin to evaluate people on how well they are able to help us obtain what we need  in order to impress the watching eyes of the world.

         So it should come as no surprise that Jesus instructs us, in the fifth chapter of Matthew, that we are not to get angry with someone when we find them to be of no use to us in getting what we desire. We must never let our pride blind us to the fact that no one was ever created to be the means by which we can get what we desire. If we do such a selfish act, Jesus tells us that we will be liable to judgement. No, when we are in the presence of another person we to remember that we gaze upon one who has been adopted into the very family of God, one whom God calls his precious child. This is what is so easily forgotten when we follow the wisdom of the world. So as Jesus continues, we are to never hold another person in contempt, considering them to be worthless for every person is held to be of great worth to God. Jesus goes on to tell us that when we restore the honor of someone, this is of more value to God than bringing him offering a sacrifice upon the altar.

         So, when we seek to live honorably before God this means that we live in such a way that every person we meet is treated like a saint, a holy one, in the eyes of God. Every person is someone who God was willing to give his Son to suffer and die for all so that their sin is dealt with for good. And God did this all so that each person might know just how beloved they are to him. If we know this truth then we should never use someone as a means to obtain satisfaction for our desires. When we know this truth then we will uphold our commitments to each other even if doing so might result in being held in dishonor by the world. When we know this truth then we will treat others honorably even if they decide to dishonor us in the eyes of the world. You see, what is revealed to John in the ninth chapter of Revelation is that when we live by worldly wisdom, instead of honoring people that God regards as being of infinite worth, we will begin to show honor to worthless things which do not deserve any honor at all. We will give honor to demons, and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, things which have no power to do even the basics like see, hear or walk. When people honor worthless objects instead of giving honor to people that God holds to be of infinite worth then this will only leave people imprisoned in their addictions, their killings, their fornications and their stealing, unable to ever find satisfaction for their deepest needs. Are we able to now understand why just passing more laws will not correct the evils of our society? 

         What John witnessed is our world, in all of its warring madness. What has been revealed to him should serve as a warning to us. We are to know the real danger when we are tempted to follow the wisdom of this world. Instead of trying to impress the world, we should instead seek to put a smile on the face of our Heavenly Father.  You see, the only power that can set people free from the pull of worldly wisdom is finding out that they are no longer orphans but are indeed children of God, those who can cry out to God, saying, Abba, Father.  What we must get back to is the cross, the place where the Son of God was willing to set aside his honor, willing to look so foolish to the world, so that we might at last know our true status in the eyes of God. Jesus carried the cross so that all might now know how honorable we are in the eyes of God. Every person is someone who has been given this same great honor to share in the very glory that Jesus has always known. So in the eyes of God every person we meet should be given this same honor by us. We who know how honorable we are in the eyes of God  are to help others discover this great honor their Heavenly Father has for them. This means that we must be willing to show them how honorable they are to God even if to do so requires us to be dishonored by those in the world. This is what Jesus tells us in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, that as his followers, those who have discovered our true honor through the cross, the very cross where Jesus was dishonored, we must be willing to carry our cross. We too must set aside our honor in the eyes of the world all so that others might come to know the glory Jesus desires to share with them. As Paul tells us in the twelfth chapter of Romans, we are to be those who bless the very ones who want to hunt us down and destroy us. We are to bless and not curse them. As we remember, to curse another is to speak evil of them forgetting their great honor of being created in the very image of God. So to bless even those who seek to destroy us means that even these who war against us are those we must treat as our brothers and sisters in Christ. Only then will they have a chance to come to know they too have a home with their heavenly Father. And Paul does not leave us guessing just how are we to show honor to even our enemies, because at the end of this same twelfth chapter, he writes, “If your enemy is hungry, feed them; if your persecutor is thirsty give them a drink. For by doing these acts of love you will make them wonder just what you are up to because you act so vastly different then what they expect. In this way we will not be overcome by evil but rather we will overcome evil through our good love. 

          You see, only as the great honor shown to us by God at the cross replaces our desperate need to puff up our pride, only then can we find new desires, a desire to love our Heavenly Father by serving him alone. Thus the love of God shown to us on the cross can do what no law could ever do, and that is to set us free from the power of sin. This is why the cross where Jesus died remains our only hope. The cross is only hope for there we find our only hope of being free from all of our addictions. And it is the the cross that gives us hope that one day our world will be transformed so that wars and fighting are no more. To God be the glory. Amen!

The Big Reveal: The Only Honor Worth Living For

 June 7 2026

Revelation 2:12-17

         One of the thing that surprises people about Jennifer and I, is that we have turned our basement area into an Airbnb. Usually, when people learn of this they are either curious or concerned because for many people the thought of inviting total strangers into your house and having them live and sleep in your basement is somewhat unnerving. Well, the reason why we decided to go the Airbnb route is that we had fixed our basement up as a small apartment for our kids to live in, but when they all moved out it just sat there unused. So in twenty-twenty one, we fixed this space up to rent out to anyone who is interested for a place to stay, often just for a night or two. And the response has been very positive. Some of our guests have been back numerous times and have become our friends. Now what is interesting about working with the Airbnb app is that our guests are asked to rate how good of a experience they had staying with us. It is a simple little form they fill out after their stay and they are to rate us from one to five stars. We have been very blessed because after five years of hosting guests in our home our rating remains a steady five stars. This rating is rewarded by Airbnb by giving us the honorary title of Super-host. Now, while it is true that we do our very best at keeping the apartment clean, stocked up with snacks and water, and providing instructions to help our guests feel at home, we don’t just do all of this so that we can receive a high rating from Airbnb. No, what is more important than this rating is the rating we receive from God. You see, we don’t just have the Airbnb space to supplement our income. The truth is that we see our work as a way that we can show some love and hospitality to strangers looking for a quiet place to rest, something I believe that God expects us to be doing as those who love him. You see, the real rating that matters, not just in operating an Airbnb, is whether God is pleased with what we are doing. The way the Bible speaks of this approval is that we are to live so that in all that we do, God smiles at our work. When God smiles upon us, this is his way of giving us the best five star rating that one can ever get.

         Now, the importance of finding our honor in only the eyes of God is something that is of utmost importance in our walk with Christ. An important illustration of this important aspect of our relationship with God is clearly seen in the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand in the sixth chapter of the gospel of John. It should come as no surprise that the people that Jesus fed rightly understood that here in this one called Jesus was one who was at least a prophet, one whom God had raised up from out of the people of Israel to speak his words and do miraculous signs and wonders. So they decided to seize hold of Jesus and make him their king. Now as we are very much aware, the people of this world just can’t wait to be king. I mean isn’t this the longing of many hearts, to be raised up to the highest place of honor among people, to be able to be lord over the many. Yet, Jesus wanted no part of this, the highest of human honors. No, instead, Jesus turned and withdrew from the crowds, desiring only to go up the mountain to seek the face of his Father. Jesus was doing exactly what he had instructed his disciples to do, as we hear in his core teachings. There, in the sixth chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells his students that when they prayed,  they were to do so in private, coming before their Father in secret because their Father who sees in secret will reward such prayer. You see, what Jesus was doing in this moment of great temptation was to go and seek the only honor which mattered, which is the honor of our Heavenly Father. So Jesus went away from all those who sought to honor him with the highest honor of this world, the honor of being king and instead sought the honor found in the face of his Father who smiled upon him. Now, this is the same temptation Jesus had faced when he was led out into the wilderness after his baptism. There the devil took Jesus up to a high mountain and he showed Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world,  The devil told Jesus that he could be king over all of these kingdoms, all Jesus had to do is to honor and serve him. To this Jesus replied with a quote from the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, which states that as the people of God, we are to honor and serve God above all else.

         The importance of deciding just who it is that we will find honor and approval from is the foundation for all of the core teachings of Jesus. As Jesus comes to wrapping up what he has taught his disciples, he gives an illustration of two roads that all people are traveling on. The one road is a wide road, and this road is easy yet where this road ultimately leads is destruction. The other road is a narrow road that is found to be difficult, requiring one to endure affliction, yet this is the road, Jesus tells us which ultimately leads to life. When we hear of these two very different ways of life, we should be curious just what is it that separates people into those who choose the wide and easy road of destruction and those who take the narrow, hard road that leads to life. The answer is found at the beginning of this section of teaching found at the beginning of the sixth chapter of Matthew, where Jesus tells his disciples that they were not to display their righteous before the face of others in order to be honored by them. You see, if we desire the honor of others then we should not expect that we will receive any honor from God. So it is not enough for us, to hear the word God speaks, and then obey this word, but we also must do so all so that God alone is pleased. So when the people came to honor Jesus by desiring that he be their king, they represented those on the wide and easy road. Here were thousands who desired to honor Jesus for his righteous act of feeding them that day. Yet, Jesus was not interested in being honored by the crowd; traveling on this wide road to destruction held no appeal. No, Jesus turned and walked up the narrow road, the little path that led up the mountain, to seek the face of the only one who matters, the face of his Father. 

         Now it seems, perhaps, that we are far from our scripture about the church at Pergamum yet we simply will not understand their problems unless we are sure of who it is that is to be our true source of honor. It seems that when we live in a country where we are free from persecution that we find it difficult to handle the dishonor that is ours when we are faithful witnesses to the word of Jesus. We cannot forget we must, “pick a lane”. We can either choose the respect and honor of our neighbors and friends, or we can choose to seek honor found in the smile of our Heavenly Father, but we can not do both. And unless we rightly understand this crucial issue of our Christian faith, then we will not be able to are sense of what is written in the book of Revelation.

As we discovered earlier in our study of the book of Revelation, when we read that one-third of creation has been laid to waste, I believe that this fraction should make us think of the younger son spoken of in the well known parable of Jesus that we know of as, “The Prodigal Son”. You see, according to Jewish law, the eldest brother was to receive a double portion of their father’s inheritance. This means that they would receive two-thirds of their father’s inheritance and their brother would receive one-third. So when the younger son comes to their father and demands their inheritance, the father would have given them one-third of the estate. Now this request by the younger son would have been a terrible dishonor for his father to endure for it is, in effect, a desire that the father hurry up and die.Yet, instead of the father reacting to this disrespect with the required wrath, the father instead allows his son to go on his way. Now, what is also further surprising about this story is that this was not the only time that the father was facing dishonor in this story.You see, if you continue to read the story as found in the fifteenth chapter of Luke, you will find that the younger son wastes the inheritance he was given and in the end decides to head back home, hoping to be taken on by his father as a hired servant. Now when the father sees his younger son a long ways off, we are told that he runs down the road to reach him. To our modern ears, we do not see any problem with what the father has done but to the audience that heard this story  their reaction would have been one of shock. I mean, didn’t Jesus know that the elder Father was to only walk slowly, with an air of great importance. In order for anyone to run meant that they would have had to hike their long robe up around their waist, allowing their bony white legs to be exposed for all the world to see. This is hardly the image of honor. We are left wondering why the father has set aside his honor in order to run down the road to his son? Certainly, it was partially because of the great love the Father had for his son, yet I believe their was indeed more to the story. Jesus tells us that the Father upon reaching his son fell upon his son’s neck, which is a rather strange expression. Well, what has been discovered in recent studies is that there is a community that is also part of this story, after all this is who the father invites to the banquet. You see, the members. of this community would have also been watching for the son’s return because this son has dishonored his father. They knew that the dishonor the younger son had shown to his Father would have to be met with swift justice otherwise their sons would be tempted to do the very same thing to their fathers. So the younger son was in fact in grave danger and his father knew this. So by throwing himself over his son the Father saved his son from the wrath of this community. What Jesus has portrayed here is an image of our heavenly Father’s mercy, the willingness to run to us, and to cover us from the judgment of the world. This is the dishonor of the mercy found at the cross which Paul tells us that trips up the Jews and is foolishness to everyone else. 

         Now the father found in the story of the prodigal son was not finished, because not only did he cover his son from harm but he also instructed his servants to place a robe of great honor upon his son, and then place a ring upon his finger and sandals on his feet. These are emblems of the grace of our heavenly Father for he has given us grace as well as mercy. The Father has given to us his Spirit, who clothes us with the the robe of his power, the one who gives us the ring, or seal of his authority, as well as placing on us the sandals which represent the work of peacemaking. 

         This story Jesus tells is to let us know that all that our Father has done and continues to do is so that we as his people, might know the great honor he believes every person has in his eyes. You see, our God was willing to set aside his honor, to appear to be humiliated in the eyes the world all so that everyone might have the honor of sharing in his power, his authority and his work of peacemaking. So when we understand ourselves as being the very children of God, then we too are to be willing to set aside our honor in order to shield others from the judgment of the world. When the world judges the weak and vulnerable as being unworthy of life we run to them and we cover over them with our life. And when the people of this world offend us, and harm us and desire us to be silenced, we then once again run to them, and cover over them with our life when we offer them forgiveness. You see, mercy always requires a willingness to set aside our honor in order that someone else might know their true honor before their Heavenly Father. We are to offer mercy so that all people might know themselves as being worthy to receive the honor of being a child of God so that they too can experience being clothed with power from on high, knowing that they have been given the very authority of the Spirit so that they too might join in the work of peacemaking. 

         So now at last are ready to hear the performance review that Jesus gives to the church at Pergamum. Jesus tells them that he is aware that they live where Satan is king. This exact phrase is found in the ninth chapter, the eleventh verse, where it is Satan who rules over those on the wide road, those who seek only the honor of others. So Jesus knows that this church at Pergamum is alone in their pursuit to seek only the honor of their Father. So it comes as no surprise that Jesus honors a member from their church named Antipas, who has been put to death for being solely devoted to God. If you look at the meaning of this name, “Antipas”, you find that it translates to, “One like the Father”. This suggests that this saint lived before the face of his Father, honoring his Father by offering mercy and grace just as his Father had shown to him. 

         Yet, even though this church was alone in their seeking only the honor of their Heavenly Father, they nonetheless, had failed to guard over the honor their Father had given to them. We are reminded in this review by Jesus, of the story of Balaam. This story is found in the book of Numbers, beginning in the twenty-second chapter. As the people of Israel passed through the wilderness, the nations who witnessed this vast swarm of people, which numbered over half a million, they grew concerned that the people of Israel would consume everything in sight. So the king of Moab, named Balak, called for a man named Balaam. Balaam was known for his ability to place curses and blessings on people. But when Balaam tried to place a curse on the people of Israel, he was unable to do so because of the blessing God had already placed upon his people. So Balaam returned to Balak unable to destroy the people of Israel through a curse. Yet all was not lost, because Balaam told the king to that he should introduce the beautiful women of his kingdom to the young men of Israel, and let nature take its course. And so the men of Israel chased after these women and the women in turn, got these men to honor their false gods, bringing destruction to the nation of Israel.

         Now what was happening in the church at Pergamum was that some in the church went to the temples of false gods to buy meat. This was no issue for them because after all they all knew their was only one God who they were to live for. Yet, in doing so some of their weaker brothers, became enamored with the temple prostitutes. By yielding themselves to fornication they no longer honored God. They had had abandoned their true honor in the eyes of God in order to seek worldly pleasure. Yet the real issue was that this had happened because they had gone to this temple of idols because of someone in their church had brought them there. What Jesus has issue with is that the church had forgotten that all members have a sacred duty to watch out for their brothers and sisters so that they always honor God with all that they are, including their very bodies. So if buying meat leads to a brother or sister to be tempted to take their eyes off of God, then the honor found in eating meat needs to be set aside so that another’s honor might not be destroyed. Otherwise, through this dishonor of one member the whole church might be become dishonored before their Heavenly Father. 

         As Jesus concludes his review of the church at Pergamum, he urges them to continue to honor their Heavenly Father by reminding them of the food the people of Israel ate while in the wilderness. To the one who is victorious, Jesus tells them they would receive the hidden manna. Manna was the bread of heaven that God promised would be given to them every morning. Now in the eleventh chapter of Numbers we find that this manna had the appearance like tiny white stones upon the ground. So, as they went out and gathered up these white stones they were stating that they sought to honor their Heavenly Father even above their earthly fathers. In doing so they were given a new identity, for they now bore the name of their Heavenly Father. It is this name that will be ours for all eternity, the great honor which is given to us for always seeking to find our five star rating in our Father’s smile! Amen!

The Big Reveal: Whose Face will You Look To?

 May 31 2026

Revelation 8:1-12

         I’ve never paid much attention to all of the recent alarms about the climate and the concerns about the ozone layer. But having gone through two years where drought conditions have devastated a lot of my landscaping, I may begin to listen in. Now anytime a friend of mine brings up this idea of climate change, he scoffs at the idea mostly because he because he has a hard time believing that people actually have the power to change something as immense as the climate of the world. And I have to agree with him that it does seem somewhat outrageous that we who inhabit this world have enough influence upon our world that we can alter the very climate we live in. Yet, what is making me believe that people actually affect this world far more than we realize is what we have just read in the book of Revelation written by John. As we consider what we just read from the eighth chapter of this book, we hear of how every part of God’s creation, the earth, the seas and the rivers, is found to be damaged and destroyed and the culprit behind this destruction is us, the very people God created to rule and reign over his creation. So, perhaps we do have far more influence over our world than we could ever imagine.

         This announcement of the destruction of creation is what is heard as we enter into this eighth chapter of Revelation. This sad state of affairs comes on the heels of the last seal of the scroll being opened. As we may recall, the scroll is the future that God has in store for humanity. This future is opened up to us through Jesus,  the Lamb of God, being slain for us. Through his resurrection from the dead, Jesus now has the authority over the future he offers to us. So he alone is able to remove all of the seven seals off of the scroll which contains our future. So here in the beginning of the eighth chapter, we hear of how the last of the seven seals is removed. The result is that there is silence in heaven. This is a rather peculiar finding because up until this point, the heavens have been overflowing with the sounds of great worship. But now we are told that there is silence, as if all of heaven holds its breath awaiting God to speak. You see, when the previous seals were opened it was revealed that even though Jesus has come forth as a conquering hero riding on a white horse, the world still remains plagued by evil. Even though Jesus has conquered death and the grave, there is now persecution instead of peace, the worship of wealth instead of the worship of God and death still unleashes hell upon the earth. The answer God gives to all of this evil are the faithful witnesses who are willing to love with the great love which they had first experienced from Jesus. These are the ones who have offered up their very lives to be the faithful witnesses to a life lived in obedience to the word of God, those who witness to the very goodness of God. These are the ones we see, in the ninth verse of the sixth chapter, who are covered over by the altar, which represents the sacrifice of Jesus who covers the faithful so they are forever safe and secure. These faithful witnesses cry out to God, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? This is the question which hangs in the air, as the other two seals are opened. The sixth seal reveals that a day of great wrath is coming for those who thumb their nose at God, yet the question remains just how soon will this cleansing of the world’s evil take place? So when the seventh seal is at last opened there is silence in heaven as those around the throne wait for God to speak. Just what will be the fate of those who those who seek to persecute the saints, of those who continue to worship worldly wealth and power, and those who serve the power of death? Well, those in heaven do not have to wait very long, not even a full hour, before the decision of God is heard. There appearing before God are seven angels who have seven trumpets. The trumpets would have been known as a method of warning for the people of Israel. So it appears that God is going to issue a final warning before he unleashes his wrath upon the earth. You see, as we hear in the third chapter of Second Peter, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but he is patient, not wishing that anyone might perish, but that all might come to repentance.” So, in this time before the wrath of God arrives, God is sounding the trumpet, warning all those who are caught up in evil to repent and turn to find eternal life with him.

         Yet, God is not just going to sound the trumpets for we also read that another angel stands at the golden altar with a golden plate upon which incense would be burned. The smoke from the incense is mixed with the prayers of the saints on the earth, and this sweet smelling offering rises up to God. Yet these prayers are not just lifted heavenward for we are told that after they rise up to God, they then are hurled down to the earth where their power is evident in symbols of judgment, peals of thunder, lightning and earthquakes. So the prayers of the saints will also make it abundantly clear to those who rebel against God that judgment is coming, and now is the time to return to God. 

         So as the first four of the seven trumpets sound the alarm, the sum total of the situation currently at hand is revealed to us. While it is difficult to figure out the intense imagery that John writes about, the bottom line is that creation is being destroyed in this conflict between the good of heaven and the evil of earth. The result is that one-third of creation has been affected, destroyed through the rebellion of humanity against the good rule God intended. This situation is aptly described by the prophet Jeremiah, who writes in the fourth chapter, “I looked upon the earth, and behold it was without form and empty.”. Here, Jeremiah is using the very words found at the beginning of Genesis, where in the beginning the world was without form and empty. So we are to understand that when we rebel against God the result is the very unraveling of creation. John seems to be echoing the words of Jeremiah who goes on to say that he looked to the heavens and they had no light, and he looked to the mountains and they were quaking, the hills were moving to and fro. Then Jeremiah says, “Behold there was no man, and all of the birds of the sky had fled. I looked and behold, the fruitful orchard had become a wilderness.” 

So we are left wondering, just what is the root cause of this devastation? I believe the clue that helps us understand these warnings, is the odd mention that one-third of the earth has been destroyed. Now, throughout scriptures, this fraction is extremely rare, and the one place where this fraction is heard of is when a father’s inheritance is divided between his two sons. You see, unlike our custom of dividing a father’s inheritance equally among his children, in Israel, the custom was that the firstborn son would receive a double portion of the inheritance. The reason for this is that the firstborn son was to take the father’s place in the family upon the father’s death. So in order for the firstborn son to receive a double portion when there were two sons, the inheritance would be divided into thirds. The eldest son would receive two-thirds, and the youngest son would receive one-third. Now when we consider this distribution of a father’s inheritance, the parable of the prodigal son should be on our minds. This is a story Jesus told that is recorded for us in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. The story goes that a father had two sons and one day the youngest son comes to his father and asks for his share of the inheritance, a full one-third of the father’s assets. When the audience listening to Jesus heard that the son had done such a thing they would have gasped, for by asking for his share of the inheritance, the younger son had implied that he wished his father were dead. The youngest son treasured the wealth of his father above the relationship he had with his father. The younger son, then, had dishonored his father. So the father would have been expected the to punish his son severely for not honoring him. Yet, as Jesus continues the story, the audience would have been surprised to hear that the father instead gave the inheritance to his younger son without any concern for his honor. Jesus then goes on to tell of how the younger son threw his inheritance away through his reckless living. Now here we must pause to consider just who is the father and what is the inheritance that he gave to his younger son? Well, if we turn to the fifth chapter of Matthew, we read of how God promises those who are willing to learn from him as his child, these are the ones who will inherit the earth. So, the younger son represents those who want nothing to do with their Heavenly Father as they are only interested in the riches of the world which is their inheritance. The picture given to us in the first four trumpet sounds are the ways that this inheritance of the world is squandered through the reckless living of those who live apart from their Heavenly Father. The result is that all of creation suffers as the inheritance of our world is squandered in reckless living. 

  Now it is important for us to remember that the root cause of the destruction of creation is that much of humanity refuses to honor God. This gives us a clue to figuring out the strange scene that John records when the fifth trumpet is heard. A star is seen falling from the sky to the earth. This echoes what Jesus tells us in the tenth chapter of Luke where he says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” This agrees with what we are told in John’s vision for he tells us that it is indeed Satan who is the one who has opened up the shaft of the abyss, the place of final destruction. Out of this horrible pit he sees a great a great swarm of locusts coming forth who were given the power of scorpions. Here we have to pause to consider just what does this vision represent? We are told that this angel of the abyss, Satan, he is the king over these locusts, and he is to be known as the Destroyer. Well, what we also know is that the Greek root word for, “Destroyer”, is found in the core teachings of Jesus. In Matthew 7, the thirteenth verse, we are told by Jesus that,“…wide is the gate and easy is the way that leads to destruction, or better, destroying, and many are those who enter through it.” If we consider what this great swarm of people living a life which destroys might look like it is not difficult to imagine them being much like a great swarm of locusts, who are ever on the move, destroying everything in their path. Now what those who enter through this wide gate do not realize is that the beginning of the wide highway that they are on has its beginnings with the one called the Destroyer, Satan, who dwells in the great abyss of destruction.

Well, Jesus goes on to tell us that there is a contrasting narrow gate. This doorway opens instead to a way of suffering, yet it is this narrow way that also leads to life, not destruction. Jesus goes on to tell us that very few find this gate and enter into life. So we are left wondering just what is the criteria that separates this narrow way from the wide road of destruction? Well, what we must remember is that what Jesus is teaching about here is the conclusion of a section of his core teaching which begins at the start of the sixth chapter of Matthew.There we hear Jesus tell us, ‘Take care not to perform your righteousness before the face of others in order that they might look upon what you have done. If you desire the honor of others then you will receive no reward from your Father in heaven.” You see, Jesus is speaking about the ones called Pharisees in the New Testament. These were the ones who were religiously devout, the ones who sought to bring the holiness found in the Temple out into every day life. So often we are told that the problem with the Pharisees was that they were legalistic, following the Law to a fault. Yet, this is not the issue with them according to Jesus. No, the problem was not that they followed the Law, for even Jesus warns against being lawless people. What the real issue with the Pharisees was that they performed the Law not to receive the honor of God. No, they were good law abiding citizens all so that they might receive the honor of others. You see, the Pharisees did not understand that the very reason why God is holy is that he alone is the one we should seek to please. To be holy people means that we desire the honor of our Heavenly Father above all else. 

         Now, the reason why the Pharisees sought the honor of others over seeking to be honored by God, is that when we seek only the honor of God we must be ready to find ourselves without honor in the eyes of those of the world. You see, to seek the honor of God means that we must demonstrate mercy and grace to all people. But what Jesus continually saw was that the Pharisees refused to offer mercy to those in need.Yes, even though they upheld all the commands of the Law they nonetheless, were those who refused to offer mercy and grace to those who needed it, and this was a great dishonor to their Heavenly Father.

         Well, when we understand the scandal that mercy and grace looks like to the world, we can begin to understand why the Pharisees wanted no part of it. To the world, mercy is a misery and grace is a disgrace. It seems so miserable to the world, to offer mercy to those who do not deserve it, to forgive those who stand condemned. What a disgrace to offer grace to all people equally when it so apparent that some people are obviously more worthy to receive it. Yet God in his mercy does what the world finds so dishonorable, setting aside his judgment in order to give us life. And God goes even further, for God not only offers us mercy and forgives us, but he also gives us the undeserved gift of the Holy Spirit, the unlimited presence of his love, a gift we have done nothing worthy of receiving such a gift. What a disgrace these seems to the world. 

Now the way we seek the honor of God is when we as his children, imitate the goodness of our Heavenly Father. We are to follow his lead and offer mercy and grace to others, even though it may be a misery and a disgrace to do so. When we act like our Heavenly Father we are known by him as being children who deserve our inheritance. If we refuse to do so then when we follow the way of the world, we end up destroying our inheritance as we see in this revelation of John.

         As followers of Jesus we must understand the crucial importance of seeking only the honor of God. You see, once we have experienced the mercy of the cross, and the grace of the Holy Spirit, the only right response is for us to bring honor to our Heavenly Father no matter what those who watch us might think of us. No more are we to ask the question, “Well, what will people think of me if I forgive those who have hurt me? I mean, what will others say when I take what is rightfully mine and give it to one who does not deserve it? No, now we must continually ask ourselves in every action, “Will God be honored by what I do? Or perhaps we might ask, “Will the way I treat people me put a smile on the face of God? The importance of asking such questions, is that seeking the honor of others can only lead to destruction for such a desire originates in Satan. In doing so, we will only end up squandering our very inheritance putting our very future with God in jeopardy. So let us live so that God is now and always honored. Let us turn from the eyes of the world and look full in the wonderful face of God as we go forth to give mercy and grace to all! Amen!