Victory Belongs to God -- FPC sermon excerpt

Turn on the television or computer, and you are bombarded by live broadcasts of news events happening around the globe. The images are hard to forget: American soldiers patrolling the dangerous and rugged terrain of Afghanistan, Japanese people being pulled from the rubble of a massive earthquake, and Egyptians protesting for democracy.

Broadcasts of natural disasters — such as hurricanes, blizzards, and earthquakes — are particularly frightening and humbling. Now I know that nature has certain laws, and some natural disasters are necessary to maintain the equilibrium of the ecosystem. Human behavior has an effect as well, as our exploitation of the environment degrades the land, fouls the water, and pollutes the air. But when we witness the destructive force of cataclysmic events, we cannot help but wonder if there is anything mightier than the raw power of nature.

When lives are lost in natural disasters, we long for a sign of God’s healing presence. The death of little Jack Donaldson in the recent flooding here in Northern Virginia was absolutely heartbreaking. When houses are washed away by hurricanes or leveled by earthquakes, we want to see evidence that there is a power greater than all these troubles.

On top of this, when our own lives begin to look like a disaster scene, we have to ask: Who will come to the rescue?

Last week, this sermon series on Revelation began with a look at chapters 1 through 5. Today, as chapter 6 begins, the author John has just witnessed the worship of God and Christ the Lamb in the heavenly throne room. John’s gaze is fixed on the Lamb who is about to open the scroll. A secret plan of God is hidden there, but what can it be? You can feel the suspense and intense expectation.

As Christ the Lamb opens the seven seals one by one, John is stunned to see a series of visions of destruction, connected to four riders on horses and seven angels blowing trumpets. Heavenly voices make thunderous announcements, disclosing what will happen to the world. The mystery grows, as we wonder what the visions and announcements might mean to John and his church. And more importantly, we are curious about what they say to us today.

When the first four seals are opened, riders on horses appear — they are sometimes called “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” These riders represent all too well the reality of horrific destruction in the world, both in John’s time and in ours. Life is full of suffering and affliction, and there is little peace or justice to be found.

In this particular passage, grammar plays a role in understanding what is going on. As most of you know, the verbs in sentences can be either active or passive. An active sentence would be “The rider took peace from the earth” — the rider performs the action. But a passive sentence would be, “The rider was permitted to take peace from the earth” — in this case, someone else is performing an action on the rider.

In John’s description of the Four Horsemen, many verbs are used in the passive voice, such as, “Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth” (6:4). These riders were given permission by God to do what they did. The point of the “divine passive” is to communicate that Almighty God remains firmly in control, despite the presence of many destructive forces. But this raises a serious question: Why would a merciful God allow these destructive forces to afflict the innocent?

The very same question is raised by the souls of the martyrs. These men and women had been slaughtered for the word of God, and for the testimony they had given. As the fifth seal is opened, they cry out from under the altar of God’s temple in heaven, “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge?” they ask. “How long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?” (6:10-11). The cry of the faithful martyrs makes us wonder: If the almighty God who created the world is in control of history, why should the innocent suffer? Why does a merciful God not stop evil, sin, and destruction? Why does a God of justice allow the wicked to go free without punishment?

These questions continue to matter deeply to us today. No one likes suffering and injustice, and we tend to want justice to be swift. But Revelation reports that the faithful martyrs are told to rest a little longer, until their fellow servants and brothers and sisters — who were about to be killed as they were — were finished (6:11). It seems unfair to us that martyrs have to wait longer for justice, and that additional believers will have to die.

Wonder, Love, and Praise -- FPC sermon excerpt

Where were you on September 11, 2001? Last week's 10-year anniversary caused us to reflect on that question. It provides an appropriate introduction to this sermon series on the Book of Revelation.

Most of us can remember exactly what we were doing when we first learned of the brutal 9-11 terrorist attacks. The shock and sadness of that day will stay with us for many years, and it certainly set the tone for the first decade of the 21^st century.

The years following that horrible day brought a series of natural disasters and human calamities. The tsunami in the Indian Ocean and earthquake in Haiti devoured tens of thousands of lives. The crisis in the housing market and crash of the banking system exposed human greed and corporate deception, and caused many people to lose jobs, savings, houses, and self-esteem.

Most troubling about these calamities is the suffering of innocent people. Think of the passengers who lost their lives on Flight 93, and the homeowners who lost their houses even though they worked hard and played by the rules. You wonder why they suffer, while the wicked continue to prosper. The scales of justice seem to be out of balance.

At times like this, we sense that a destructive force is impacting our lives, but we cannot seem to control or defeat it. We want to know: Where is God? Is God in charge? Doesn’t God care?

The Book of Revelation was written to address these very questions.

Revelation contains a series of visions from Jesus Christ to assure believers of God’s power and care. These visions came to a servant of Christ named John, the author of Revelation (1:1). John was a pastor, with concern for “the seven churches that are in Asia” (1:4), and also a spokesman for God. Probably not the same John who wrote the Gospel of John, he was a Christian leader who was exiled to the island of Patmos. He was exiled for refusing to address the Roman Emperor as “Lord and God” (1:9).

Yes, promises John to his fellow Christians: God is firmly in charge, and God cares deeply for us. We can be filled with hope and given power to endure any afflictions — if we can hear and see what God is doing.

Like us, John and his fellow Christians struggled with senseless suffering in the world. They lived in the Roman Empire at a tough time — brutal civil wars had wrecked the peace and order of the empire, damaging both food production and commercial trade. People were trying to survive political oppression and economic exploitation, as well as natural disasters, social injustice, and human atrocities. Then, as today, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and violence afflicted entire nations.

Even worse, Christians suffered because they refused to participate in the Imperial Cult — an organization that worshiped the Roman Emperor as a god. John and his fellow Christians honored Jesus as the only divine Lord, and refused to partake in the Imperial Cult’s celebrations. As a result, Christians were put under social pressure from agents of the cult, and were vulnerable to the charge of disloyalty to the emperor.

Although we do not face an Imperial Cult in 21^st century America, we certainly feel pressure to conform to the standards being set by Washington, Madison Avenue, and Hollywood — all of which have an impact on our politics, our buying habits, and our sexual behavior.

John believed that God cared deeply about the suffering and oppression of his people, and that God was unveiling a plan for a better future.

Living in a Paved World -- FPC sermon excerpt

The world is paved.

I know that sounds strange, especially since I just drove my daughter across the country to San Diego. We crossed vast stretches of our country that are rugged, beautiful, and certainly not paved.

What I should have said is that most of the places that people prefer to live are paved. According to Harvard economist Edward Glaeser, more than half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, and there is a steady stream of people moving from the countryside to the city. In fact, 5 million people in the developing world make the move every month.

So why is this good news? In his new book Triumph of the City, Glaeser calls cities “our species’ greatest invention.” When people live near each other, they become more inventive — good thinkers inspire each other. People also tend to be more productive and specialized when they are close to each other.

What makes cities successful is their ability to attract people and enable them to collaborate. But every city does this differently. According to The Economist magazine (February 12, 2011), Tokyo is a center of political and financial power, while Singapore has its own distinctive mix of free market activity and state-led industrialization. The cities of Boston, Milan, Minneapolis and New York have always had well-educated populations, and their success has come from finding new sources of prosperity when the old ones disappeared.

If a city is not flexible, it will die.

Back in the first century, the greatest paving projects in the world were being performed by the engineering geniuses of the Roman Empire. The saying was that all roads led to Rome. This city was the Big Apple of its day, every bit as powerful as modern Tokyo, Singapore, Boston or New York City. So when the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, he was reaching out to the Christians of a thoroughly paved metropolitan area.

Paul knew that there were problems in the city — reveling, drunkenness, debauchery, licentiousness (Romans 13:13). But he didn’t jump to the conclusion that city-life always leads to sinfulness. Feeling a hunch that urban life could make people more inventive and productive, he wrote a letter that was a masterpiece of inspiring theology and ethical instruction. He offered the Romans a set of guidelines that could help them to collaborate, innovate, and practice enough flexibility to make their city work.

Paul taught them — and us — about living in a paved world. We certainly need this instruction, as we attempt to practice our Christian faith here in Fairfax, Virginia.

“Owe no one anything,” Paul says in verse 8. He knows that this line will grab the attention of the Romans, residents of a political and financial center. Money was constantly changing hands in Rome, and its people understood all about credits and debits as they collaborated with one another. The Romans knew exactly what they owed each other as they did business together.

But Paul takes this collaboration in a surprising direction — he says, “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (v. 8).

Take a look at a dollar bill today, and you see that it says, “This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.” Paul seems to be saying the same about love, which can cover all debts, public and private. He reminds us of the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and then insists that all of them are summed up in the phrase, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (v. 9).

Paul has quickly moved from collaboration to innovation, suggesting that love is nothing less than “the fulfilling of the law” (v. 10).