My kids and I are huge fans of
the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We have
been ever since they started the movie franchise back in 2008. For over ten years we have been watching as
new installments were released in theaters, waiting for the culmination of the
Avenger’s franchise. Two years ago, the
moment had finally come. The first of
the two-part Infinity War movie series was finally hitting the theaters, and we
were overwhelmed with excitement to go see it.
The kids and I went to watch Part
One, Infinity War, on opening weekend.
We had our popcorn, candy, and sodas.
We were ready. In the movie, the
main adversary of the Avengers, Thanos, is battling with the Avengers to
assemble the Infinity Stones. The movie
ends with a climactic battle between the forces of Thanos and the Avengers. There is a moment where it appears that the
Avengers are about to thwart Thanos, when Thanos turns the tables. He obtains the last of the Infinity Stones,
and with the snap of his fingers, half of all life in the universe vanishes. The movie ends with the disappearance of half
of the Avengers and their apparent defeat.
My kids were aghast that the
movie could possibly end this way. Characters
we had watched for ten years, whom we had come to love, just vanished. How could this be? We sat there in the theater, my kids
dumbfounded and upset.
At this point, I turned to the
kids and said, “Spoiler Alert: the
Avengers are going to win.” My kids
looked at me with confused expressions. How
could I possibly have that kind of confidence?
I said to them, “Because there is a part two to this movie. I don’t know the details of how its going to go
down, but I know the Avengers win.” In
that one statement, my kids were encouraged, and we patiently waited to see
part two of the movie series.
I submit to you today, that John
is presenting us with the same kind of spoiler alert in today’s text. To understand what John is doing we need to
enter his world.
According to tradition, the Book
of Revelation was written by the Apostle John in the year 95 AD. John had witnessed the ministry of Christ,
and the ascension of our Lord into heaven.
He heard Jesus promise that he would return, and his instructions that
first they must make disciples of all nations.
He would continue his ministry as apostle and later Bishop of Asia Minor,
in what is now modern-day Turkey.
However, over sixty years later, the
Christian community was still waiting on the Lord’s return. They were stuck dealing with sickness and death. They continued to see natural disasters such
as famine, earthquakes, and even the eruption of Mount Vesuvius near
Pompeii.
And now, under Emperor Domitian, the
first empire-wide persecution of Christians had broken out. Many bishops and priests were arrested. Some such as Clement of Rome were martyred
for their faith. House churches were
subject to raids by Roman soldiers. Articles
used in worship were confiscated. Copies
of the scriptures were burned. To add
insult to injury, John, the last of apostles, had been arrested and exiled to a
penal colony on the island of Patmos.
In John’s vocabulary, first
century Christians found themselves amid a Great Tribulation, or time of trial.
Under these circumstances the
Christians to whom John had been bishop were beginning to question their
faith. They asked themselves when is
Jesus going to return? Why are we
suffering as we are suffering?
The Book of Revelation is God’s
answer through John to their questions.
John speaks to their reality in
his vivid descriptions of the Great Tribulation they were facing. He describes Satan as a fearful dragon raging
against the Christian community. He describes
the trials that Christians in his day faced such as war, famine, sickness, and
death, as four horse-mounted riders of the Apocalypse. He describes violent persecution of the Church.
And yet, in the midst of the
chaos and Tribulation, John’s message in Revelation is a message of hope.
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could
number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing
before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in robes, with palm branches in
their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God
who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’
And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders
and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne
and worshipped God, saying, ‘Amen!
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and
might be to our God forever and ever!
Amen.’
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, clothed in
white robes, and from where have they come?’
I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’
And he said to me, ‘These are the ones coming out of the great
tribulation. They have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
‘Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and
night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his
presence. They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching
heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the
throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living
water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’
John’s message to the Church of
his day is a Spoiler Alert to them: God
Wins.
But this Spoiler Alert isn’t just
for the First Century Church. This
Spoiler Alert was written for us also.
When we read Revelation today, we
are tempted to think it doesn’t apply to us.
We assume it is addressing a future reality. Or perhaps only the reality of the Church in
John’s day. We don’t see ourselves in
his description of the Great Tribulation.
The fact is, the Tribulation is
going on right now, even as we speak. Satan
is actively raging against the people of God, and using his tools of war,
famine, sickness, and death right now. John’s
description is as true today, as it was 19 centuries ago.
Millions of Christians around the
globe live under persecution. In places
such as China, North Korea, Iran, and others, Christians today are jailed and
even killed for their faith. For them,
the Great Tribulation is alive and well.
But even in places where Christians
do not face persecution, Christians are no less subject to the ragings of
Satan.
To the mother who has miscarried
or given birth to a stillborn child, to the loved one taking care of a mother
or father suffering from Alzheimer’s, to the man or woman suffering the ravages
of cancer, the rider of the pale horse mentioned by John is a distinct reality.
To the person who has lost a
child in a senseless school shooting, or to the person grieving a family member
lost to violent crime, the rider of the red horse who takes away peace from the
earth is bearing down on them.
To the inner-city single mom
trying to find a way to feed her children, the rider of the black horse who
brings famine is alive and well.
The power of sin, death, and the
devil to attack God’s people and his creation are still at work in the world
today. We need to see ourselves as part
of the story that John describes in Revelation because we still live in that
reality.
Amid all of this we may be
tempted to question our circumstances just as John’s followers did.
And yet, John’s Spoiler Alert
applies to us also. God Wins. Victory is assured. We are those who have made our robes white in
the blood of the Lamb.
The day that Satan conspired with
men to nail Jesus to the cross, he guaranteed his own defeat. Every crack of the whip that scourged his
flesh, every hammer strike on the nails in Christ’s hands and feet, every drop
of blood that was shed made Satan more the loser.
Through his death, Christ defeated
the power of sin, death, and the devil over us and over creation. By taking our sin upon himself and paying the
penalty that we owed, Christ destroyed any claim that Satan has over us and
over creation.
On the cross, Christ guaranteed
victory for us through his blood to be received through faith. God made us who were enemies and strangers into
a multitude of nations rejoicing before the Lamb who is seated victorious on
his throne.
And though victory was gained on
the cross, its assurance was revealed to us on Easter morning through the resurrection. This John whose Revelation we read today,
walked into the empty tomb. He placed
his fingers in the nail prints in the hands of Jesus. He ate and spoke with the risen Lord and
declares to us today the certain hope we have in Christ.
As Christians we order our lives
around this hope. When we were baptized,
we were made white with the blood of the Lamb.
When we pray the Lord’s prayer, we declare, “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will
Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven,” in the sure and certain knowledge that
God’s victory has come to us through faith.
When we receive the body and blood of Christ in Holy Communion, we
rejoice with all the hosts of heaven in the presence of Christ himself. When our neighbor suffers, we speak God’s
victory to them and offer them the comfort they will receive when Christ wipes
away their tears.
May you all go in the peace of
knowing God’s Spoiler Alert. God
Wins. Christ is victorious. Amen.
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