"Hope and Comfort"
a condensed version of the sermon delivered by Rev. Kirk Moore on November 26, 2006 at Union Congregational Church in Somonauk, Illinois

Revelation.

The book of the Bible that scares people. The book of the Bible that brings murmers of "that's freaky" or "that gives me the chills" whenever you mention it.

We can thank the 'The "Left Behind" book series and movies, along with the 1970's ‘Thief in the Night" movies for the most recent scariness that usually comes with discussions of this book of the Bible. They're not the only sources of it --as there have been "warnings" around for some time -- at least since the late 1700's or early 1800's. Nevertheless, so many perceive this book as "the scary one". Revelation: The book of the Bible that is so often misspelled and mispronounced: (It's Revelation. NOT Revelations.)
Revelation: The book that has no such intentions.

Revelation is written like a standard Greek Letter. It starts with a greeting from John to the seven churches in Asia. It also has a wonderful salutation praising Jesus and God.

The titles it uses to describe Jesus are high praise indeed. But they are also politically charged.

Here is how God and Jesus are described:

• faithful witness
• firstborn of the dead
• ruler of the kings of the earth
• the one who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood
• the one who made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father
• the one who is coming with the clouds
• the one who every eye will see – even those who pierced him
• Alpha and the Omega
• the one who is and who was and who is to come
• the Almighty

Now listen to some of the titles given to the Emperor (Nero – whose name is the mathematical equivalent of 666)

• Lord
• Son of God
• Savior
• The one who has brought peace on earth
• King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Jesus gets more titles here -- but you get the picture, right? Jesus gets high praise like "Alpha and the Omega" -- the beginning and the end. Nero, who would be accustomed to having titles like that – gets nothing. The early readers of this letter would get it right away. To say that Jesus is ruler of the kings of the earth is to say that Nero is not. To say that Jesus is the one who is and who was and who is to come is to say that Nero is not.

Right at the beginning of the letter we find language and subject matter that is extraordinarily politically charged. The whole letter -- with its epic battles and science fiction novel sounding narrative is politically charged against the Emperor. The book has a classic good verses evil battle where Jesus is the victor.

But if it's simply an anti-emperor -- and anti-empire of greed (Rome) letter, then why do we have it in the Bible? There has to be more to it than that! What value does an angry letter hold for us in terms of helping us to move forward in our faith?

The book of Revelation is not the text to judge the evening news headlines with. It's not the one to interpret earthquakes, tragedy and war with. It's something else. It is useful in helping us move forward in our faith:

Here's how. Revelation brings the reader Hope, Encouragement and Comfort.

Really? With all that "scary" stuff?

Take a look. Revelation is addressed to the 7 churches in Asia. All the churches were under persecution because of Rome. Many would be failing or on the verge of failing. I’m sure all had thought of giving up because everything seemed hopeless.

But John’s Apocalypse arrives and offers hope and comfort.

Apocalypse – or "Unveiling."

Could it be that this "Apocalypse of John" is unveiling hope and comfort for the reader even though things are horrible. Could it be that it is unveiling hope and comfort even though things could and would get worse?

How does it unveil hope and comfort?

Remember that in Revelation we find an epic battle of good vs. evil. The characters are interesting – the drama intense – and the end result is that Jesus wins.

The churches in Asia needed comfort as they were persecuted and hope that a better day was coming. They needed comfort and hope because some of them were ready to give up and others were struggling. Don’t we all need hope and comfort in situations like that?

All who face persecution, tragedy, anguish and suffering need hope and comfort.

All who face big decisions (don’t you have one today?) or difficult times or fear about changes need God’s hope and comfort too.

So what can we do with this apocalyptic masterpiece?

We don’t need to run out and start preaching "Don't believe the fiction! Don't believe the gloom and doom! The writers of those Left Behind books don’t know what they're talking about!" So what could we do instead of that?

Instead of arguing with someone about the right interpretation of scripture, how about grabbing ahold of God’s hope and comfort – trusting in it and letting God cover you with it. And at the same time, decide to share that with someone this week. Think of someone you'd like to share God’s hope and comfort with. I don’t think that sharing it wrapped in a fiery sermon filled with hellfire and damnation would be the best way. Offer Jesus hope in the form of peace, assistance, care, kindness, forgiveness, reconciliation, generosity and love.

Deep breath – breathe out. Expect, receive and share God’s hope and comfort.

© 2006 Kirk Moore. All Rights Reserved