The Lamb's Witnesses
Monday, October 25, 2010 -- Week of Proper 25, Year Two
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 991)
Psalms 41, 52 (morning) 44 (evening)
Ecclesiasticus* 19:4-17
Revelation 11:1-14
Luke 11:14-26
* found in the Apocrypha; also known as the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach
It sounds like Jesus is quoting a wisdom proverb today when he says "Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house."
There is a desert quality to our nation these days. Fear and anger abound. Emotion trumps reason. We seem to have lost our commitment to the common good. Many of the Biblical images of conflict and oppression seem to have resonance for this time.
The spiritual landscape that Revelation describes sometimes gives poetic expression to our contemporary reality. Commentators say that Revelation was written during a time of relative peace for the Christian church -- it was not a time of persecution. The threat that John the Divine warned against was a cultural and economic threat. He warned about the ethos and values of the Empire -- do not be seduced by wealth, materialism, and power, he said. Do not let the loud voice of Empire silence the committed voice of the Lamb's people -- a people grounded in love, compassion, and peace. John is convinced that Lamb-power is greater than Beast-power. The power of the Lamb comes from the center -- the holy place where we are eternally one with God.
In chapter 11, John opens with a measurement of the temple and the altar, the inner reality of the community. That inner reality is eternal and will be protected through all turbulence and conflict in the outer realities. Political, social and economic well being is at the mercy of enemies. Their fear, greed, arrogance and violence will attempt to threaten. But they cannot truly threaten the inner reality where God reigns.
John offers a symbol of the people of God as two witnesses. The early disciples were sent in twos as witnesses to the good news. They represent the whole of the community of the Body of Christ. They are like two olive trees and two lampstands -- the energy and the light that brings good news. Their weapon is the power of their words, the opposite of the violent weapons of the beast. Their words have the power of the Holy Spirit who comes like fire to burn with the word of truth. The witness of the church is in continuity with the witness of the great Hebrew prophets Elijah and Moses -- Elijah who shut the sky and Moses who brought the plagues.
Though the beast may attack and wound the community of Christ's Body, even to the point of appearing to have killed them, the community of the Lamb has the gift of resurrection and eternal life. They cannot be defeated forever, for God's people posses the breath of life.
There are periods of evil, but they are always temporary. Evil's rule is always incomplete. John has symbols to speak of the temporary nature of oppression. Forty-two months is the period of evil; the same as 1,260 days or three and a half year. The symbolic number is half of seven -- seven is the numeric number for completion, wholeness. Three-and-a-half is a symbolic number meaning broken and incomplete. After three and a half days when it appears that the witnesses have been destroyed, the breath of life from God enters them and the word again triumphs over violence and oppression.
A temple and an altar is a symbol of sacrifice -- where death releases new life. The inner reality of God's holy people is that we dwell secure in the wholeness and peace that is our presence in God's holy Temple. The witness of the church testifies in the world to that same reality -- the people of God are like Jesus, both conquered and victorious. We live through tribulation and rise triumphant into new life.
John invites God's people into a vision of hope. Though the outer realities of political, social and economic well-being may be disheveled under the false values of Empire, it is only a passing and temporary threat which cannot truly harm the inner reality of God's people. In time, the values of the Lamb will conquer the values of beast and empire. Love, peace, compassion, generosity -- these are the divine realities that always overcome fear, anger, threat and greed. The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice. That quote, credited to Martin Luther King and others, is a word that John's Revelation also proclaims. Fear not. Do not be dismayed.
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 991)
Psalms 41, 52 (morning) 44 (evening)
Ecclesiasticus* 19:4-17
Revelation 11:1-14
Luke 11:14-26
* found in the Apocrypha; also known as the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach
It sounds like Jesus is quoting a wisdom proverb today when he says "Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house."
There is a desert quality to our nation these days. Fear and anger abound. Emotion trumps reason. We seem to have lost our commitment to the common good. Many of the Biblical images of conflict and oppression seem to have resonance for this time.
The spiritual landscape that Revelation describes sometimes gives poetic expression to our contemporary reality. Commentators say that Revelation was written during a time of relative peace for the Christian church -- it was not a time of persecution. The threat that John the Divine warned against was a cultural and economic threat. He warned about the ethos and values of the Empire -- do not be seduced by wealth, materialism, and power, he said. Do not let the loud voice of Empire silence the committed voice of the Lamb's people -- a people grounded in love, compassion, and peace. John is convinced that Lamb-power is greater than Beast-power. The power of the Lamb comes from the center -- the holy place where we are eternally one with God.
In chapter 11, John opens with a measurement of the temple and the altar, the inner reality of the community. That inner reality is eternal and will be protected through all turbulence and conflict in the outer realities. Political, social and economic well being is at the mercy of enemies. Their fear, greed, arrogance and violence will attempt to threaten. But they cannot truly threaten the inner reality where God reigns.
John offers a symbol of the people of God as two witnesses. The early disciples were sent in twos as witnesses to the good news. They represent the whole of the community of the Body of Christ. They are like two olive trees and two lampstands -- the energy and the light that brings good news. Their weapon is the power of their words, the opposite of the violent weapons of the beast. Their words have the power of the Holy Spirit who comes like fire to burn with the word of truth. The witness of the church is in continuity with the witness of the great Hebrew prophets Elijah and Moses -- Elijah who shut the sky and Moses who brought the plagues.
Though the beast may attack and wound the community of Christ's Body, even to the point of appearing to have killed them, the community of the Lamb has the gift of resurrection and eternal life. They cannot be defeated forever, for God's people posses the breath of life.
There are periods of evil, but they are always temporary. Evil's rule is always incomplete. John has symbols to speak of the temporary nature of oppression. Forty-two months is the period of evil; the same as 1,260 days or three and a half year. The symbolic number is half of seven -- seven is the numeric number for completion, wholeness. Three-and-a-half is a symbolic number meaning broken and incomplete. After three and a half days when it appears that the witnesses have been destroyed, the breath of life from God enters them and the word again triumphs over violence and oppression.
A temple and an altar is a symbol of sacrifice -- where death releases new life. The inner reality of God's holy people is that we dwell secure in the wholeness and peace that is our presence in God's holy Temple. The witness of the church testifies in the world to that same reality -- the people of God are like Jesus, both conquered and victorious. We live through tribulation and rise triumphant into new life.
John invites God's people into a vision of hope. Though the outer realities of political, social and economic well-being may be disheveled under the false values of Empire, it is only a passing and temporary threat which cannot truly harm the inner reality of God's people. In time, the values of the Lamb will conquer the values of beast and empire. Love, peace, compassion, generosity -- these are the divine realities that always overcome fear, anger, threat and greed. The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice. That quote, credited to Martin Luther King and others, is a word that John's Revelation also proclaims. Fear not. Do not be dismayed.
Lowell
__________________
| Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: -- Morning Reflection Podcasts About Morning Reflections "Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church. Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer. Evening Prayer begins on p. 117 An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at missionstclare.com -- Click for online Daily Office Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html -- Click for Divine Hours Discussion Blog: To comment on today's reflection or readings, go to http://lowellsblog.blogspot.com, or click here for Lowell's blog find today's reading, click "comment" at the bottom of the reading, and post your thoughts. |
| The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love. See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org Our Rule of Life: We aspire to... worship weekly pray daily learn constantly serve joyfully live generously. Lowell Grisham, Rector St. Paul's Episcopal Church Fayetteville, Arkansas |
posted by Lowell @ 9:41 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Lowell,
Sometimes these great biblical themes play out in our individual lives. There is a stained glass window outside of the sanctuary at St. Paul's, Jesus tall and strong and full of light and colorful energy holding close a tiny lamb. I think we bleat with this voice of the small lamb when we try to speak compassion and peace to a world out of tune. It's important to remind and re-remind ourselves that we are in the arms of the living Christ, blessed and safe. And certainly a good place to bleat from! Amen.
Oh, Lowell....I hope you are right. The themes and bywords of the Tea Party and all those who seem to be dishonestly seeking for themselves and those like themselves, seem incredibly pervasive. Will truth reign? One can only hope.
We need more and more people who know themselves to be safe and secure, like little lambs in the arms of the Good Shepherd -- from that place of peace, then we can invite others to experience the perfect love which casts out fear. The energies of fear, self-centeredness and fantasy create these false movements like the Tea Party, but John reminds us, falsity has a short shelf life. Truth and virtue are eternal and continually participate in resurrection.
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