Over the remaining Sundays of Easter, the Church will take a brief look at the Book of Revelations. Revelations (Or Apocalypse). As a whole this book is generally misunderstood and usually misused. It is an amazing book, but must be read with the right set of eyes.
the 2nd Week of Easter’s second reading comes from the Book of Revelations. And in actuality the beginning of that book.There are some incredible details which we need to recognize.
He is confined to the island of Patmos (Off the west coast of Turkey) because he proclaimed the truth of Jesus Christ, How many times this has happened to you? Perhaps not sent off to an island.. but have you been unfriended on Facebook? Were you not sent hat invitation to a party of wedding? Because you had the audacity to proclaim the truth that is the Gospel of Jesus?
Rejoice in your suffering
Rejoice you have been found worthy of suffering in the name of Christ! Now you have a choice….. God or Mammon…. Continue to proclaim the good news or apologize and focus on reconciling with your “friend” Peter ran and he denied Christ. But how much pain can you handle?
Peter, Thomas and Judas all denied Jesus. Peter and Thomas Repented… Judas fell into despair…never gave God a chance… and he hung himself. Its one thing to deny a friend or a brother and sister… but deny God? That is a much bigger deal. Okay you made the choice for mammon… you have more choices… admit to God you made a mistake or pretend it doesn’t matter to you,
That latter choice is unfortunately what we tend to notice. Lets face it when you deny God.. you have made that crucial step. They talk about the first time someone steals.. there is a repentance possible make good, suffer the consequences and take your life onward.
You make yourself God
But when you actually go ahead and deny God… you really have used up many arguments that will bring you back or have repentance. You have already rationalized everything in your mind, that what you are doing is good, You decide usually through presumption that you will deny God and have come to thew conclusion that he will forgive me anyway…. I can get back to being good.
But rarely do you… You have deadened all of the conscience reminders.. you have determined your way is the better way… you turn off those God receptors in the mind.. harden your hearts and simply place yourself in the position of God. We hear this quite a bit don’t we.. This usually takes some form of I wouldn’t do it personally, but who am I to say…. That argument has no merit. This is Pilate’s argument… Well He is not guilty but in order to keep on as governor I will do the people’s desire.
Politicians who were raised in a pro-life atmosphere decide to go with the easy road… They turn off their minds and convince themselves that killing a baby is alright. the baby is not guilty, but in order to keep on a an elected politician I will do the “people’s” desire. And by “people’s” it usually means someone who wrote a nice campaign check. That sounds so familiar. Part of God’s essence is Thou shall not kill… some have rejected it they refuse to admit (and their arguments are becoming more and more pathetic) that human being is created at the time of conception. So they accuse the Christian of being against Science… ummmm what does science say about life? Oh yeah.. Christians and Science are right.
Yesterday and Today
But should you stand up and say anything that might be construed as an argument for life (for God) and they will persecute you. Somehow the Bill of Rights does not apply to us.. we are also subhuman. Their hardness of hearts has grown to be against an entire class… people not born and anyone who thinks someone not born is alive. This is but one example, perhaps the most obviopus in today’s political arena in Western culture.
As we unveil the book of Revelation, it is obvious in the book and it is obvious living in any age since the “Theophany” that standing up for God will bring some form of persecution against you. The early Apostles and Disciples were thrilled to have been made worthy to be persecuted for the name of Christ. Think of Peter and John in front of the Sanhedrin in Acts, Stephen being martyred and you continue past that to the history of the early bishops, priests and deacons. Vast majority martyred as they spoke the truth about God.
The solution
John gives us the solution after he explains where he is and why he is there. He is on Patmos the same way we are on Patmos. We speak for God whether it be not to steal, or even not to desire someone else’s goods. Adultery is another good one to get yourself shunned. Proclaim the truth of the 6th Commandment and watch the peole go into a tizzy.. especially if you do that at Church. the 6th Commandment is trampled so much on a daily basis. and on so many levels.
But John sees 7 lamp stands and in the middle one like the Son of Man. He is speaking of the Jewish Temple, the household of God.Jesus is speaking to John and the solution is revealed stay in faith with God.as Robert Young would show us 1900 years later, Father knows best. But I think it is the next words that Jesus says that give us the most hope.
Words of Hope
Revelations 1:17
He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid.
I am the first and the last,
Do not be afraid…. fear tends to hold us with a very tight grip. We have the words on our tongue and suddenly fear locks our jaws. What is it that brings us fear… ultimately it is rejection of one kind or another. It might be the loss of a friend or relative. It might be people will surround you and hurt you. They might even kill you. The ultimate sacrifice that one may be called to is martyrdom. But we must remember why we are Christian to begin with. (By the way, I am NOT advocating being killed for the faith)
What is it that we believe. That God came down to Earth and gave us His only son to Save and Redeem us and to allow entry into Heaven to be with God forever in the next life. We love our husbands and our wives and it is our vocation to be with them, protect them and love them, until God calls us to His house.
Today’s Culture
The overall culture calls for our freedom of worship. You are free to do anything so as to not bother others about it. And I fear that the great majority of people have fallen into that lie. In the U.S. we have Religious freedom. That means that we have the ability to do those things which our conscience allows and not to do those things that our conscience does not allow. Governments throughout the world try to advocate their ideas and try to force their people to do their will. Jesus says to this give to Cesear what is Ceasars but to God the things that are God’s.
We forget that we are God;s children and therefore we have the dignity and the will that is due to someone of that stature. John stuck with God and he suffered at the hands of man. We must form our consciences correctly and not be fearful of doing the right thing. If a government is doing things against you, do not be surprised,as it is focused on the world. We need to remind them of our rights and our duties as people of God. And that they do not have the right to restrict your conscience.
John for us today
John was sent to Patmos, the other Apostles were martyred. But God never said suffering was exempted from being a Christian. Everything we stand for goes against the “goods” of the world. God’s goods are far more valuable and much more fruitful. Millions of people were killed in just the 20th century alone for their faith in God. People are still being killed because some leaders have a warped sense of ideology and forget that God is the arbitrator of life and death. Not man.
over the next few weeks remember that this book is a book of hope, of the Victory in Christ. It is easy to get caught up in a whole bunch of End of the world things… but that is not the point of the book. We will be looking at the book and read the whole book.Keep in mind all that was written before it and that it is written as a book of hope for those being persecuted, on Patmos as well as in Saint Charles Illinois.
Be good Play Nice Think God !
Here is a link to the Book of Revelations to read and study… keep an eye out for the footnotes and other information that will help to bring the book right into focus http://www.usccb.org/bible/scripture.cfm?bk=Revelation&ch=