The Waking Dreamer: Powers that Be

Showing posts with label Powers that Be. Show all posts

Saturday, October 11, 2025

Powerless?

2 Timothy 1:1-14[1]

We are living in times that can leave us feeling powerless over the forces at work around us, and helpless to do anything about it. I don’t usually do this, but I can’t not say something about recent events. At least some American citizens have at times been detained without a warrant simply because of the color of their skin, or the language they speak, or the part of town in which they live.[2] They have had their constitutional rights stripped from them by federal agents. And when they can do that to anyone, they can to it to anyone—literally! Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it far more eloquently: “injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere.” When men with guns can strip anyone of their civil rights, rights guaranteed by the constitution, they can literally do that to every one of us.

It can leave us feeling powerless and helpless. And when we feel powerless and helpless, we tend to convert it into something negative. Fear that retreats from the public square, that refrains from speaking out or taking action because of potential consequences. Like losing your job over your opinion about an issue or a particular player in the cultural debate. We also tend to convert feelings of powerlessness and helplessness to anger. But as the Scripture teaches us, “If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things God wants done” (James 1:20, CEV). In fact, when we’re motivated by anger, we’re more likely to do harm than good. Of course, there are different kinds of anger, but in my experience, anger has a way of taking over everything else, until we can’t really see a situation for what it is.

Our Scripture reading from Timothy addresses early Christians who felt powerless and helpless. As I’ve mentioned before, they lived in a world where the Roman empire had the first word, the last word, and all the words in between. Roman officials could pretty much get away with whatever they wanted because they had legions of armed troops at their disposal. That’s what empires do when anyone objects: they respond with force. Like Pontius Pilate did when the Jewish people objected to his offensive actions. He sent armed soldiers to quell the crowds of protesters. When faced with that kind of brutality, it’s no wonder that people felt powerless and helpless.

Unfortunately, part of what happens when we’re in that kind of situation is that we go into a “defensive” mode. When we go into this “defensive” mode, one thing we do is pull back from engaging at all with people who are “other.” People who look different from us. People who speak a different language. People who live in different places. People whom we perceive to be “different” or “other.” We retreat to the safety of our “own” group. And we have certain “litmus tests” to be able to make sure someone really is a part of our group. Whether it’s a list of beliefs, or certain stances on social issues, or sheer tribalism (where we trust only those of our own race, creed, and nation), this kind of stance makes it hard to live out the gospel in the world at large.

That was the situation to which 2 Timothy was addressed. Timothy and the believers in his care were discouraged. They found themselves in a setting where the challenge of living the Christian life was getting them down. As a result, they were retreating into a mode of “guarding” themselves, of “avoiding” those who were perceived to be a threat, and of drawing lines to keep out those who were on the “outside.” It’s hard to understand why they turned in on themselves this way, but when you think about our experiences, maybe not so much. When you read 2 Timothy, it would seem that at least part of the underlying problem was that they were struggling with feeling ashamed of the gospel (2 Tim. 1:8).

This may seem strange to us. The early Christians weren’t supposed to feel ashamed of the gospel! Apparently Timothy and the band of struggling believers he was serving were feeling ashamed because they were losing out to competitors preaching a different “gospel.” We don’t know all that these “impostors” stood for, but what we do know is that they wormed their way into congregations and then milked the people for money. It would seem Timothy and his flock felt ashamed of the gospel because these “impostors” were much more successful at gaining converts, while they were struggling to survive. As a result, they had gone into a kind of “defensive” mode.

Unfortunately, there are aspects of 2 Timothy that seem to positively encourage this retreat into a “defensive” mode. The Scripture actually uses language that I would say only reinforced their natural inclination to withdraw from perceived threats. It advises believers to “guard” themselves, to “avoid” and “shun” others, to mark off those who are not a part of the “chosen,” and to effectively “consign” them to their fate. It can be hard for us to deal with a situation like this. We’re used to looking to the Bible for direction. But here the humanity of the biblical authors may get in the way of that. The problem is that this approach is reactive, not proactive. It doesn’t sound very much like Jesus’ challenge to courageous discipleship!

But there are other ideas here that are more helpful. Timothy is encouraged to “rekindle the gift of God” (2 Tim. 1:6). The image here is of fanning the embers of a fire that is no longer burning. There is still heat in the coals, but they have to be coaxed into actively burning again. In the face of discouragement, Timothy was challenged to “tend the fire” of his calling and his gifts. I think at least a part of that meant for him to remind himself who it was who called and gifted him in the first place. And that’s true for all of us: God has called us and gifted us all!

As we read together earlier, Timothy is also reminded that “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and [sound judgment].” (2 Tim. 1:7, NLT). This is one of those passages where I think the King James translators did a better job than many modern translators: the spirit God has given us is one of “power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” In other words, the charge to Timothy was to recognize that it was the Spirit of God who gave him the power and love and wisdom he needed to face the challenges that came his way. He didn’t face these hardships alone, but rather the way for him to fulfill his life and his service was “with the strength God gives you” (2 Tim. 1:8, NLT).

I think that this advice to Timothy can help all of us. The Bible tells us that every one of us has been given a “gift of God” with which to serve others. That means we do not fulfill the life of discipleship to Christ in our own strength alone. Rather, central to the idea that God has chosen us as his beloved children is the promise that we have all received the Spirit of God, who gives us more than enough power and more than enough love and more than enough good sense to be able to follow the path of faith no matter what we may face along the way.

One way to get through the challenges of the times we’re experiencing is to remember the wisdom of the Scriptures. It’s a wisdom many of us have relied on our whole lives. It’s the wisdom that reminds us that we cannot “do any of the good things God wants done” (James 1:20, CEV) through our anger. In fact, we may do more harm than good. It’s also the wisdom that reminds us that despite what the empires of this world may claim, God is the one who truly has the first word, the last word, and all the words in between. And as our Psalm lesson for today reminds us, the evil that powerful people do to the vulnerable among us will be their undoing (Ps 37:1-10). That principle is found throughout the Bible. But perhaps one of the most important pieces of wisdom to remember when we feel powerless and helpless is the lesson that St. Paul learned: “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10, NLT). We learn that lesson as a direct result of following as our Savior and Lord the one who gave his life in the weakness and humiliation of the cross. Even that seemingly most powerless act, was not truly powerless at all. Rather through the power of God’s love, it changed the world, and it continues to change the world to this day. As we find ourselves living in challenging times, times that can leave us feeling powerless and helpless, perhaps afraid and angry, may God fill us with his Spirit of power, and love, and wisdom. And may we respond in ways that are helpful, in ways that are consistent with the gospel, in ways that are true to our commitment to following Christ.

[2] On this matter, see: “Lawsuit filed against immigration authorities after U.S. citizen’s arrests in raids” Associated Press, 1 Oct 2025; accessed at https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-crackdown-lawsuit-courts-citizens-latino-alabama-a6bfae9528e03243ec08e9ade182da2f ; “Inside ICE’s Aggressive Approach to Arresting Migrants,” The Journal Podcast 10 June 2025, accessed at https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal/inside-ices-aggressive-approach-to-arresting-migrants/ ; “ICE Runs Risk of Catching More U.S. Citizens in Deportation Push” The Wall Street Journal 26 Apr 2025; accessed at https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal/inside-ices-aggressive-approach-to-arresting-migrants/73d06674-bba3-487b-91e7-db8c51628ebb? “As More Citizens are swept up in immigration raids, Democrats demand answers,” Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug 2025; accessed at: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-08-08/how-many-citizens-have-been-arrested-in-immigration-crackdown ; “ICE agents allegedly fill out warrants after an arrest; U.S. citizen among those detained,” WBEZ Chicago, 17 Mar 2025, accessed at https://www.wbez.org/reset-with-sasha-ann-simons/2025/03/17/ice-agents-allegedly-making-arrests-without-warrants .

Tuesday, December 03, 2024

Jesus is Lord!

Jesus Is Lord!

Revelation 1:4-18[1]

If anyone happened to pay attention to the bulletin or the PowerPoint and noticed that today is designated “Christ the King” Sunday, I’m not sure that would mean much. The only “royalty” we pay much attention to these days is the British royal family. But they’re really not much more than “cultural icons” as Wikipedia calls them. They’re known for their wealth and celebrity. They function as figureheads with no real authority or power to do much of anything. The best of them use their position to advocate for good causes; the others are infamous for their family drama. If that’s our image of what it means to be a “King,” it’s no wonder observing this day as “Christ the King” Sunday gets passed over without much notice.

Nevertheless, the image of God reigning over all things as “King” is one that is central to the Bible, as our Psalm lesson for today reminds us. It is an affirmation that, regardless of who may hold power in this world, God is the one who ultimately determines the outcomes in the end. That, too, may be a problem for us. We see a lot of outcomes in this world that seem to be contrary to God’s ways. It may be all too easy to assume that God’s power isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, or perhaps God may not be paying attention, or maybe he’s just taking a long nap. Meanwhile, the world continues to go on as it always has. The rich get richer and might makes right.

Our lesson from the book of Revelation for today addresses this question. In the first-century world, Christians had to face this challenge in a similar way that we do. The ultimate power in their day was the Roman Empire, and any time anyone questioned that power, they were met with brutal violence. The presence of vast and powerful Roman armies throughout the world of that day constantly reminded people where “true” power was. And Roman Governors like Pontius Pilate didn’t hesitate to unleash the soldiers on unarmed crowds of men, women, and children to keep a firm grip on their power. The problem for believers in that day was that they confessed their faith that “Jesus is Lord” in their worship! And yet, all around them were images that contradicted that faith.

I believe the book of Revelation was written to remind those Christians that at the heart of their faith was a very different vision of what life is about. It’s a vision of the one who sits on the throne, who bends everything that happens, both evil and good, toward his purposes. To convey this image, our lesson speaks of God as “the Alpha and the Omega,” the one “who is and who always was and who is still to come,” and “the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8). This description of God is full of implications, but essentially, it’s a reminder that God is the one who sits on the throne of the universe, and it is his rule that will ultimately define all things and everyone in the end. It’s a reminder that “Our God is an awesome God; he reigns from heaven above; with wisdom, power, and love; our God is an awesome God.”[2] That remains true regardless of what we see or who claims to hold power here and now.

The Book of Revelation also speaks of the one who stands at God’s right hand: “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead” (Rev. 1:5). Again, there’s a whole theology about Jesus packed into that phrase, and it takes the rest of Revelation to explain. One of the most important images of Jesus in the Book of Revelation is that he is the lamb who was slain and who has triumphed through his death. As in our day, so also in that day, “triumphing through death” didn’t make much sense. And it still doesn’t. Sacrificing one’s life the way Jesus did would seem to be weakness, not power. But the Scripture contradicts that point of view by proclaiming that, because of his death and resurrection, Jesus is “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev. 1:5). All the kings of the earth! Because of his death and resurrection, he alone has the right to rule over all the so-called “powers” of this world. And he rules over the “kingdom of this world,” and the promise is that “he shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15) as we know from the familiar oratorio “The Messiah”!

At the heart of the Christian faith is a vision of a reality that directly opposes the visions of power in our present world. God reigns over all things by the power of his love. And Jesus demonstrates that power by working in each of our lives to transform this world into “the kingdom of our Lord” (Rev. 11:15). At the heart of our faith is the conviction that this ultimate reality, God’s reign in and through our lives through Jesus our Lord, is the true reality that defines all of life. This reality, the reign of Jesus Christ as Lord, exposes the falsehood of all the boastful claims of the rich and powerful in our day. And the promise is that one day the reign of Jesus Christ as Lord will overthrow all the false powers in our world and bring true peace, justice, and freedom to everyone!

I guess the question we have to answer is whether this vision is more convincing than what pretends to be true in our world. Things haven’t changed much since the First Century. But the real question we have to address here is where we place our faith. As a recent lesson from the Psalms reminds us, if we place our faith in “mortals,” no matter how powerful they may seem, we find that in them “there is no help” (Ps. 146:3). The Scriptures call us to place our faith in the God who is working right now to establish his kingdom and his justice, peace, and freedom for all peoples everywhere. The Scriptures call us to place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord, the one who by his death and resurrection exposed the lie of those who abuse their power in this world. The Scriptures call us to place our faith in our Savior who lives and reigns for all time and unto all eternity. And the Scriptures tell us that one day all creation will worship him as Lord of all.

I think we need that kind of “bigger picture” perspective for our faith in these days.[3] It’s all too easy for us, especially when we go through hard times, to think nobody’s paying any attention, nobody really knows or cares. If God did, why would this happen? But as a good friend reminded me once when I was going through a hard time, nothing that we have to go through in this life escapes God’s notice. God always pays careful attention to each one of our lives, because that’s the nature of who God is. That’s the nature of his love for us. When all we see reinforces the appearance that power in this world comes from force, or intimidation, or wealth, it can be discouraging to those of us trying to live out our Christian faith, hope, and love.

But the Bible gives us a different image of power: it’s the image of the all-powerful God who created all things in the beginning. It’s the image of the God who entered this world in the person of Jesus to redeem us all with the power of love on the cross. It’s the image of the power of new life defeating the power of death on Easter Sunday. It’s the image of Jesus reigning as Lord even now over all the “powers” in our world. It’s the image of that reign fulfilled one day “on earth as it is in heaven.” What that means for us is that one day all the wrongs of this world will be set right, and all that we have to suffer in this world will be turned to good. That’s the nature of Jesus’ reign as Lord. And the promise is that Jesus shall reign as Lord like this “forever and ever”! Amen!

[2] Rich Mullins, “Our God is an Awesome God,” 1988, BMG Songs, Inc.

[3] Cf. Richard Bauckham, Theology of the Book of Revelation, 31, where he says that the “vision of God’s sovereignty in heaven” is what “makes it possible for John to enlarge his readers’ perspective on their own situation by setting it within the broader context of God’s universal purpose of overcoming all opposition to his rule and establishing his kingdom in the world.” This reign of God is “the true reality which must in the end also prevail on earth.”

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

He Shall Reign Forever

Daniel 7:13-14; John 18:33-38[1]

One of the challenges of holding on to our Christian faith, hope, and love in times like these is that it may not seem to do much good. We are surrounded by images of what passes for “power” in this world, and it doesn’t seem to have much to do with faith, or hope, or love. In our world, power is defined by the ability to force others to do your bidding. That can take the form of troops and tanks and bombs. Or it can take the form of “arm-twisting” intimidation. All too often, power comes from having enough wealth to “buy” people to do what you want. The way power works in our world has very little to do with faith, or hope, or love.

We’d like to think that there was a time when we were more wary of that kind of blatant abuse of power. But if you read history carefully, you find that there have always been those who were willing to do whatever it took to wield power simply for their own benefit. While we criticize those who did so in the past, we can be infatuated with those who do so now. The notion that it would be “cool” to “have that much power” can be found in the minds of everyone from children idolizing their heroes to aging politicians clinging desperately to the last remains of their fading influence.

The situation wasn’t much different in Jesus’ day. The Jewish people lived under the control of the Roman empire. And whenever anyone tried to buck them, they had the most powerful army in the world to put them back in their place. Roman Governors like Pontius Pilate didn’t hesitate to unleash the legions on unarmed crowds of men, women, and children to keep a firm grip on their power. The Jewish people also lived under the control of their religious leaders. Then as now, while there were many who were sincere, it seems that there were plenty who were willing to abuse their position to manipulate the people and to maintain their own position and wealth.

That’s the background for the scene in our Gospel lesson for today. After making a show of interrogating Jesus, the “chief priests” brought him to Pilate to have him executed. Although they could have had Jesus stoned to death, they wanted him crucified by the Romans. They used their influence over the people to force Pilate to do their bidding. They “played their hand” shrewdly, publicly claiming that if he didn’t execute Jesus, the “king of the Jews,” Pilate would be disloyal to the Roman emperor. As if they cared about that!

And so Pilate’s private interview with Jesus was about true power. Of course, Jesus was bound, at the mercy of the Jewish religious leaders, on trial before the Roman governor. I think Pilate’s question, “Are you the King of the Jews?” would have been dripping with irony, because by all appearances Jesus had no power whatsoever. But Jesus said, “my kingdom is not of this world,” meaning that his authority was completely different from Pilate’s notions of power. In fact, later when Pilate remarked over Jesus’ failure to recognize his power, Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above” (Jn 19:11).

I think Jesus was talking about something that was beyond Pilate’s grasp: the power of God’s kingdom that would never end. It’s likely that Jesus was drawing on the visions in the book of Daniel. There, God’s kingdom is likened to a great stone “cut out, not by human hands” that crushed the powerful empires of the world (Dan 2:34). In our lesson for today, Daniel’s vision of four beasts represented four kings whose power would be taken away and replaced by “someone like a Son of Man” who would establish God’s kingdom that would never end (Dan 7:13-14).

Although Pilate had no clue what Jesus was talking about, I would say that Jesus was giving him a lesson in real power. Pilate had bought into the image of power through force, through intimidation, and through wealth. But Jesus had a much bigger image of power. He knew that the true power in this universe is the reign of God. It’s one of the basic affirmations of the Bible, and we heard it in our lesson from Psalm 93: God has always ruled as king, despite all appearances to the contrary. And as the Book of Revelation reminds us, one day, “The kingdom of the world” will become “the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). God’s reign is the true reality behind all the appearances of power in our world, and one day it will be fulfilled “on earth as it is in heaven.”

I think we need that kind of “bigger picture” to help us through times like these. When all we see reinforces the appearance that power in this world comes from force, or intimidation, or wealth, it can be discouraging to those of us trying to live out our Christian faith, hope, and love. But the Bible gives us a different image of power: it’s the image of the all-powerful God who created all things in the beginning. It’s the image of the God who entered this world in the person of Jesus to redeem us all with the power of love on the cross. It’s the image of the power of new life defeating the power of death on Easter Sunday. It’s the image of Jesus reigning over all the “powers” in our world at the right hand of God even now. It’s the image of that reign fulfilled one day “on earth as it is in heaven.” And the promise is that “he shall reign forever and ever”! When we understand where we come from, to whom we belong, and who ultimately defines our destiny, it helps us to face the challenge of our times.

Monday, October 22, 2018

Giving Ourselves Away

Mark 10:35-45[1]

When you look at the way we live our lives these days, it’s hard to dispute the conclusion that we as a people are to a great extent driven by our own self-interest. All around us we can see evidence of the fact that “self” exercises a powerful influence. From the way we spend our money to the choices we make about our time to the challenges of getting along with the others, “self” seems to raise it’s ugly head wherever we look. The simple truth is that we want what we want, and we don’t want anyone to stand in the way of our getting it. We are a people for whom “self” is at the center of much of our lives.

The sad fact about that is that we pursue our own wants and desires because we think that by doing so, we will find fulfillment and meaning in life. But whatever satisfaction we may gain is short-lived. When I was in seminary, I worked as a security officer for a family of billionaires. They had the money to get whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it. But the individual families within the clan couldn’t stand to even talk to one another. Taking this approach to life misses one of the most fundamental lessons we can learn: our lives are not just about us and getting what we want. They are about much more than that. In particular, they are about serving others by giving ourselves away.

In our Gospel lesson for today, James and John, two of Jesus’ “inner circle” of disciples along with Peter, denied him in their own way with a rather audacious request. They asked Jesus to do for them “whatever we ask of you” (Mk. 10:35)! Now, he had already taught them that if they wanted to follow him they must “deny themselves” (Mk. 8:34) and “lose their lives” for his sake (Mk. 8:35). He had also already taught them that “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all” (Mk. 9:35). So I think it’s safe to say that their request shows they had missed the point just as much as Peter had when he denied even knowing Jesus.

What they asked of Jesus is truly astounding. They ask for the privilege of sitting at his right and left hand when he came in his “glory.” James and John, like the rest of the disciples, still thought that Jesus had come to restore the glory of David’s kingdom in all its might, wealth, and prestige. Even though Jesus had just warned them again that he was going to be condemned and beaten and killed, they simply could not hear that. That doesn’t happen to the Messiah. In their minds, when the Messiah comes, he ascends to the throne of David, throws off the yoke of their enemies, and reigns forever!

This was no small favor that James and John requested. They expected him to rule over the Kingdom of God forever, and they wanted to be the ones to sit at his side. In other words, they wanted their share of the glory they expected him to receive! To grasp the audacity of this request, we only have to think about all the heroes of the faith that had gone before them: Abraham, Moses, and David, not to mention prophets like Jeremiah. And there were James and John, wanting Jesus to move them to the head of the line so they could share his spotlight. It’s hard to imagine a more selfish request.

In response, Jesus tries again to teach them. He points out how “among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them” (Mk. 10:42). The way he words this statement implies a critique of power at all levels. On the surface, it’s clear what Jesus thought about the way in which those in power throw their weight around. Beyond that, the phrase “those whom they recognize as their rulers” could be translated more literally “those who seem to rule.” That could simply mean that they’re the ones in charge. But the way Jesus worded that phrase was a strange way to put it if that were all he meant to say. It is likely that he was alluding to a significant theme in the Jewish thought of the day: the rulers of this world only “seem” to rule, because God ultimately rules over them all, and God’s rule has the last word.

I think Jesus was trying to help the disciples see through the external trappings of power and glory for the sham that it is in the light of God’s Kingdom. And so he tells them bluntly: “it shall not be so among you” (Mk. 10:43, RSV)! Once again he tries to break through all their pre-conceived notions of what he had come to do. More than that, he tries to break through their own egos to impress upon them that if they want to follow him, they must be prepared to give themselves away as servants and even “slaves” of all (Mk. 10:44). And to reinforce the lesson, he once again pointed to his own destiny—giving his life on the cross for the sake of us all. Following him would entail no less for them. It would mean giving themselves away for others.

We still seem to be dazzled by power and glory. It appeals to the selfish desires of our egos: to have whatever we want in this life. But that is not the way of following Jesus. The way of following Jesus is the way that leads to a cross. It is the way that leads to becoming the last of all, the way that leads to becoming the servant and even the slave of all. I would say that just about everything within us resists this kind of self-denial. But Jesus not only called us to give ourselves away, he also demonstrated what that looks like by laying down his own life. If we are going to follow Jesus, it means that we will have to give ourselves away. That’s not an easy path. I can guarantee you that if you choose to follow Jesus in this way you will find yourself weary and frustrated and discouraged at some point. But Jesus didn’t promise that following him would be easy. He promised that if we follow him in the path of giving ourselves away for the sake of others, we will truly find life.

Monday, October 01, 2018

The Stone is Lifted

Mark 9:38-50[1]

I wonder whether we as a people have become immune to scandal. In the days of Watergate, when the Senate hearings were broadcast on TV every day, we were shocked at the abuse of power that went all the way to the top. These days, it seems we have lost our ability to be shocked. We have grown so cynical about power and those who use it or abuse it, that we almost expect anyone in such a position to be caught in a scandal at some point. I might go even farther, and venture the opinion that many of us don’t care about scandals any more. We’ve heard so much about Iran-gate and Nanny-gate and Whitewater-gate that our eyes glaze over and we tune out at the very mention of another scandal.

Perhaps I should amend that opinion to say that we don’t care about the scandals that apply to the people we support. We pay plenty of attention to the abuses of power on the part of those we see as the “bad guys.” But if someone is on our “good guy” list, we will suspend judgment and give them the benefit of the doubt over and over again. As a fan of world class cycling, I myself didn’t want to believe the accusations that Lance Armstrong was using performance-enhancing drugs to win an unprecedented 7 consecutive titles in the Tour de France. That is, until he publicly admitted that he had done so and was stripped of his titles and awards.

In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus talks about what happens when we abuse our power to take advantage of others. It might not seem obvious at first glance, because this is one of the most difficult passages in Mark’s Gospel. It talks about stumbling blocks and self-mutilation and being thrown into hell and being “salted with fire.” And the combination is confusing to the best of us and difficult to sort out. But the central concept in this passage has to do with “stumbling,” either causing someone else to do so, or stumbling ourselves. The Greek word is to “scandalize,” but the meaning is different from our understanding of a scandal. It’s talking about causing others to sin, or falling into sin ourselves.

I think in order to understand any of this, we have to have a clear perspective on the biblical concept of sin. While many religions have identified sexual outcasts as the chief of sinners, the Bible points instead to the “wicked” ones who abuse their power to take advantage of others. As some have put it, the Bible is more concerned about what happens in the boardroom than what happens in the bedroom. Jesus followed this pattern by saving his harshest criticism for those promoted injustice, those who diminished the lives of the least and the lowest in society. And, sad to say, typically those who were guilty of this kind of behavior were the “leaders,” both religious and political.

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus says that “it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea” than to “put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me” (Mark 9:42). I think you would have to say that Jesus was serious about confronting those who used their power to take advantage of others. And to emphasize the point, he follows this up by saying that if your hand or your foot or your eye causes you to take oppress someone in this way, you would be better off simply removing that part of your body! Now, Jesus knew that “sin” isn’t located in any particular body part. He was exaggerating to make a point: spare no effort to avoid the selfishness, the unbridled greed, and the total lack of concern for the welfare of others that leads to this kind of abuse.

Unfortunately, we are surrounded by the monuments memorializing the fact that our society has had its fair share of “captains of industry” who made a fortune and rose to power on the backs of thousands who labored in poverty. Names like Carnegie, Mellon, Rockefeller, Hearst, and Vanderbilt can be found on buildings all over the country as testaments to their “generosity.” But I doubt that the people who had to endure harmful working conditions, substandard housing, and malnutrition would have seen them in that light. The simple truth is that they used their power to enrich themselves by taking advantage of others.

It’s easy to look back and point out those who have abused their power in the past. It may be harder to recognize that we have tycoons today who are enriching themselves by taking advantage of others. But even more difficult is the realization that all of us have diminished another person at some time in our lives. And we’ve felt the weight of our misdeeds like a heavy stone around our necks. I think that’s why Jesus said it’s better to be drowned in the sea than to carry the burden of knowingly taking advantage of another human being. It’s a burden that can be crushing to bear for those of us with a conscience.

It’s also easy to point an accusing finger at “others” as the culprits in the predicament we find ourselves with our fellow human beings. But Jesus didn’t come to bring release to the oppressed and heap vengeance on the oppressors. Injustice of any kind oppresses both those who have to endure it and those who perpetrate it. Jesus came “to free the oppressors and the oppressed” from the burden of injustice.^{^[2]} When we allow the weight and the “fire” of our guilt to cleanse our hearts, we find freedom from the need to take advantage of others. Then the stone of injustice is lifted from us all.

[2] Cf. Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God, 307.

Tuesday, August 09, 2016

Bending Towards Justice

Psalm 52[1]

It’s not too hard to notice that the values and the principles taught in the Bible contradict those of our society.[2] That is, if we take the Bible seriously. The Bible’s values are determined by the confidence that God’s reign is the reality that is ultimately true in this world. The Bible looks forward to the day when God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven: when justice and fairness prevail; when love and mercy and compassion define the human family. It is an outlook on life and on our world that will not let us stay comfortable with the “values” of our society. The Bible teaches us to hope that the affairs of this world are “bending toward justice.”

It’s also not too hard to discover what our true values are. In our world, winning isn’t just a good thing, or even an important thing, it’s the only thing that matters. We value winning and really don’t care what it takes to get there. In our world, money makes the world go around, and those who have the most money can spin just about anything to suit their every whim. In our world, might makes right, whether we’re talking about physical strength or other kinds of power. If we can do or say something and get away with it, we will, with little or no thought to whether it’s actually right. In our world, the only thought we give to justice is whether or not those we deem to be criminals get punished adequately.

We saw last week that the Psalmist attributed this state of affairs to the spiritual “powers that be.” And God essentially fires them for not seeing to it that his justice was done on earth as it is in heaven. But as we touched on last week, the Bible also addresses those who abuse their position and their power to get whatever they want, regardless of the consequences.[3] Not only the Psalms, but also the prophets rebuked the “high and mighty” for taking advantage of their power to take advantage of other people. They spared no one in the process— the wealthy, the powerful, even prophets, priests, and kings. Anyone who abused their power to benefit themselves was exposed by the truth they spoke.[4]

Our Psalm lesson for today unmasks the blatant evil in what those who are the “high and mighty” can get away with. The psalmist doesn’t spare anyone’s feelings in his rebuke: “you are plotting destruction. Your tongue is like a sharp razor, you worker of treachery. You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking the truth” (Ps. 52:2-3). It’s not a pretty picture. He cuts through all the fanfare and the acclaim that can surround those who climb the ladder of success by stepping on anyone who gets in their way. And the essential message is that anyone who presumes to take this path in life will eventually find it to be their undoing.

One of the interesting features of this Psalm is that the “title,” which was very likely added later, seeks to identify a specific individual who was guilty of this kind of arrogance.[5] The psalmist finds such a villain in a story that took place when King Saul was pursuing David in the wilderness of Judea. It mentions someone most of us probably never heard of: Doeg the Edomite. What we have to understand is that in the days of ancient Israel, the quintessential villain probably would have been Doeg the Edomite. Doeg was the man who informed Saul that David consulted with and received help from a priest named Ahimelech. But worse than that, when Saul’s own troops refused to kill Ahimelech because he was a priest of God Most High, Doeg not only killed him, but also all the others who were with him—in all 85 priests!

Part of the problem with this story in the Hebrew Bible is that we never learn what happens to him.[6] There’s no resolution to the tension that’s left when Doeg the Edomite seemingly gets away with a vicious crime scot free. That’s why the title of Psalm 52 designates it as a response to his treachery. But in fact the Psalm addresses the problem of anyone who abuses their power and wealth to get what they want—no matter what it takes. Psalm 52 promises those who “boast of mischief,” who practice this kind of blatant injustice, that “what goes around comes around.”

What this Psalm reinforces is the conviction that anyone like Doeg the Edomite will not get away with such blatant injustice without facing the consequences. Even the worst of the “high and mighty” who apparently think themselves above the law and above God’s justice will one day learn the lesson that “you reap whatever you sow” (Gal. 6:7).[7] It’s a truth that Martin Luther King, Jr. was fond of stating: “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”[8] Those who seem to get away with all kinds of evil now will ultimately confront God’s judgment of their dirty work.

But the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ goes beyond the justice of retribution that says, “an eye for an eye.” The Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus, the one in whom all the fullness of God dwells, the Lord of all the powers, does not resolve the problem of injustice by “breaking down forever” the villains of this world. Jesus resolves the problem of injustice by reconciling all things to God. Jesus undoes the evil of those who arrogantly presume to abuse their power by “making peace” through his death on the cross. Essentially, he brings us all back to God and realigns our hearts to God’s ways And as the effects of that peace continue to work in the lives of people like you and me, perhaps we can catch a glimpse of this world “bending toward justice” after all.

[2] Cf. J. Clinton McCann, Jr., “The Book of Psalms,” New Interpreters Bible IV: 891: where he says that the depiction of the “mighty one” in Psalm 52 depicts “precisely what much of contemporary society consistently presses us to do—to ground our lives in nothing but ourselves and our possessions.” Cf. also Artur Weiser, The Psalms, 413: “Without trust in God man falls prey to the power of evil; he cannot help trusting in something and, if it is not God whom he trusts, then it is his own self or his wealth which he makes his idol, and even his malice appears to him to be a sign of strength of which he can boast.”

[3] Cf. McCann, “Book of Psalms,” NIB IV: 890: “The mighty one is willing to use any means to get ahead, regardless of how destructive. In short, the mighty one represents the essence of wickedness in the Psalms: autonomy, self-rule.”

[4] Cf. James L. Mays, Psalms, 205: “The psalm was composed for a time when power joined to wealth was destructive of the social order and a tribulation and scandal for those who loved good and trusted in God. Its basic theme is the conflict between the wicked and the righteous in a world governed by God. … The basic confidence is that God will overrule the way of the wicked.” Cf. similarly H.-J. Krauss, Psalms 1-59, 511-512.

[5] Cf. McCann, “Book of Psalms,” NIB IV: 890: “The superscription identifies this “mighty one” as Doeg, one of Saul’s servants, who informed Saul of David’s locale and killed the priests of Nob at Saul’s command (see 1 Samuel 21–22; 22:9 is quoted in the superscription). While Psalm 52 makes sense as the words of David in such a situation, it is much more likely that the superscription should be taken illustratively rather than historically.”

^{^[6]} Cf. F. Hossfeld & E. Zenger, Psalms 2: A commentary on Psalms 51-100, 30: “The Samuel narratives leave Doeg’s fate open, whereas the psalm announces his punishment.”

[7] Cf. McCann, “Book of Psalms,” NIB IV:891: “In contrast to the affirmation that God ‘will uproot’ the wicked, …the psalmist knows the nature of true security: Life ultimately depends on God rather than on ourselves or our possessions (see Luke 12:13-21, esp. v. 15).” Cf. also ibid., “The punishment of the wicked is that by pursuing wealth they have cut themselves off from God, who is the source of life. Conversely, the reward of the righteous is that they are grounded in God and thus connected to life’s source and destiny.”

[8] Cf. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Where Do We Go From Here?” a speech to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 16 August 1967. Accessed at http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/documentsentry /where_do_we_go_from_here_delivered_at_the_11th_annual_sclc_convention/ . Dr. King very likely was paraphrasing from a statement made by Theodore Parker, a controversial 19^th Century Unitarian minister and prominent abolitionist, in a sermon entitled “Of Justice and the Conscience,” published in Ten Sermons of Religion, 1853, 84-85: “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.” Accessed at https://ia800504.us.archive.org/21/items /tensermonsofreli00inpark/tensermonsofreli00inpark_bw.pdf.

Monday, August 08, 2016

Powers that Were?

Psalm 82[1]

It doesn’t take a person too long to recognize that in this world of ours there are certain facts of life it would seem we have to accept. Those who have the most power generally get their way, even at the expense of others; sometimes at the expense of the vast majority. Those who are wealthy have plenty of ways at their disposal to make sure they hold onto their wealth and even add as much to it as possible. Again, even if it means running roughshod over anyone who gets in their way. The “movers and shakers” use their power and their money in ways that typically take care of themselves and others like them, and they look down their noses at the rest of us. We call them “the powers that be.”

For many people in the history of the world these powers have been personified as deities. In fact, they believed that the power to determine our fate was held by a pantheon of gods who ruled over every aspect of human life, from weather, to fortune, to food, to love, to success, to even life and death itself.[2] Even to this day many millions of people believe that there are multiple deities who control their lives and our destinies. While this way of looking at things is understandable, the sad thing is that those “gods” usually wouldn’t make very decent people, let alone deities! For most people throughout history, life was at the mercy of “powers” that could be capricious and thoughtless at best, and at worst cruel and ruthless.

It’s interesting that sometimes that worldview works its way even into our faith, even into our scriptures. Our lesson from the Psalms for today is a case in point. It represents an ancient belief system that was more characteristic of the Canaanites than it was of the faith of the Hebrew people. The psalmist speaks of a gathering of the gods, coming together under a chief god to make decisions about human life. When this concept shows up in the Hebrew Bible, it presents this council as one presided over by Yahweh, the Most High God who rules over lesser deities.[3] That seems to be the context in our Psalm text. In the New Testament, it shows up as a belief in spiritual entities, “principalities and powers,” as St. Paul describes them.

The interesting note about this in Psalm 82 is that the Most High God, Yahweh, has called this council essentially to give the other gods their walking papers! Apparently, the purpose of the council of the gods was to see to it that the will of the Most High God would be done in the affairs of humankind. That means that they were to have given “justice to the weak and the orphan”; they were to have maintained “the right of the lowly and the destitute”; they were to have “rescued the weak and the needy;” they were to have “delivered them from the hand of the wicked” (Ps. 82:3-4).[4]

Unfortunately, they had failed to do that. Instead they had shown “partiality to the wicked” (Ps. 82:2). What we have to understand is that in the Hebrew Bible, the wicked aren’t those living on the margins of society, whom “decent” people have always seen as a threat. In fact, they were the “movers and the shakers.” They were wicked because they used their power and their wealth to enrich themselves and to enhance the quality of their lives. And they did it without any thought to whom they hurt or oppressed or took advantage of or even destroyed in the process. The “gods” had failed to do God’s will because they allowed “the powers that be” to have the freedom to do as they pleased.[5]

For that reason, in our Psalm for today, God essentially fires the “gods.” This all may seem very foreign to us, but it would seem the Psalm uses a concept that was widespread in that day to take apart the very idea of the existence of “powers” other than God.[6] The text undercuts the idea that there could be any entities—gods or otherwise—who can actually thwart God’s will. Despite the fact that we humans tend to want “someone” to blame for the evil in this world, the Psalms reflect the heart of the Hebrew faith that there is no being—spiritual or otherwise—who is powerful enough to effectively stand over against God as a rival.[7]

In the Psalms, as elsewhere in the Bible, it is God’s reign that is the reality that is ultimately true in this world, even though it may not always seem that way. And that means is that any so-called “powers that be” have no power at all in comparison with God. The Psalms express the faith that God effectively puts out of business any “powers” that try to subvert his purpose for the human family: that the weak and the lowly and the needy of this world will be raised up to the life God intends. As the Bible puts it, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet 5:5).

We tend to think of the “powers that be” as the movers and shakers in our day. They are the ones who can throw their weight around and do just as they please with no regard for consequences. But the Scripture reminds us that despite appearances now, these so-called “powers that be” have no ultimate power in the face of God’s will that justice and fairness shall prevail; that love and mercy and compassion shall be the final destiny for the human family.[8] The “powers” may be able to make life difficult now. But one day, they will be shown for what they truly are: has-beens. One day, the “powers that be” will become at best powers that were.[9]

[2] Cf. Keith Ward, God: A Guide for the Perplexed, 4-7, where he summarizes this worldview as one that attributes the “creative energies” in human society as coming (p. 4) “from an inspiring power, creative, expressive, truly supernatural since it is beyond the natural powers of most humans.”

[3] J. Clinton McCann, Jr., “The Book of Psalms,” New Interpreters Bible IV:1006: “Psalm 82 portrays the death of all other gods. In so doing, it offers a clear picture of the ancient Near Eastern polytheistic culture that formed Israel’s religious background. In Canaanite religion, the high god El convened the council of the gods (see this concept also in 1 Kgs 22:19-23; Job 1:6-12; and perhaps Ps 58:1-2). In v. 1, Israel’s God has displaced El and convenes what proves to be an extraordinary meeting. Israel’s God proceeds to put the gods on trial.” Cf. also H.-J. Krauss, Psalms 60-150, 155, where he insists that “The older interpretation, that the Elohim are human judges or princes (F. Delitzsch), has been proved to be out of the question by religion-historical research, especially by texts discovered in Ras Shamra. The Syrian-Canaanite mythology thinks of the heavenly world as populated by innumerable ‘divine essences.’”

[4] Cf. McCann, “Book of Psalms,” NIB IV: 1006: “For the God of Israel, the criterion of justice involves what is done for the weak, the orphaned, the destitute, the needy (see Pss 9:7-9, 18; 10:17-18; 68:5-6; 113:7; 146:7-9). Not surprisingly, justice and righteousness also appear as parallels in the psalms that proclaim God’s reign or describe the reign of God’s earthly agent, the king (see Pss 72:1-2; 97:2; 99:4; see also 96:10, 13; 98:9). Here again, the establishment of justice and righteousness is the measure of divinity and of human life as God intends it.”

[5] Cf. Jürgen Moltmann, Sun of Righteousness, Arise!: God’s Future for Humanity and the Earth, 121: “If the gods are as ‘blind’ as chance, if they have ‘neither insight nor understanding’, then they will bring the whole structure of the world to destruction; then nothing is certain any more; then you can no longer rely on anything. Everything threatens to sink into chaos.” By contrast (ibid., 126), “When YHWH rises up in his whole greatness as creator of the heavens and the earth, ‘he will judge the poor with righteousness and decide with equity for the wretched’ (Isa. 11:4). ‘Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field’ (Isa. 32:16). Then the whims of chance will disappear, and fate will no longer be blind, for righteousness and justice will put everything to rights: gods and human beings, heaven and earth.”

[6] Cf. McCann, “Book of Psalms,” NIB IV:1006: “In short, the council of the gods is permanently adjourned, and so Psalm 82 affirms again the message that forms the theological heart of the book of Psalms: God rules the world.” Cf. also James L. Mays, Psalms, 269-70: “This portrayal of the assembly of the gods is unlike any other because it announces the permanent adjournment of the assembly and the execution of its constituency: the psalm announces the death of the gods. It is a way of saying in the face of a polytheistic worldview, ‘I believe in God the Father Almighty.’”

[7] Cf. Artur Weiser, The Psalms, 557, where he says that the idea of a council of gods “serves to explain the riddle presented by life that violence so often triumphs over what is right, and that the weak and the poor do not come into their own and are exposed to oppression by ungodly rulers.” He adds (ibid., 558), however, that “this attempt contains in embryo the dualistic solution of the problem, a solution which, after all, is only an attempt to solve the problem, but is not in itself a proper solution. For the existence of evil is here attributed to the activities of forces hostile to God; but at the same time God’s righteousness as such remains untouched by the injustice that exists in the world. … Wherever the reality of evil in the world is felt as a power menacing man’s existence, it is considered to be the result of the activities of a personal power. Both the notion of Satan, which, springing from other sources, penetrated the Old Testament, and the figure of the Devil in the Christian faith are but different figures of speech, expressing the same state of affairs, in which evil is taken quite seriously as the activity of a real personal being. However, the psalmist holds the view that the attempt at a dualistic solution of the problem of theodicy is not the final word in the quest for God’s righteousness. In principle the faith in the One God and in his righteousness remains unshaken here. With a prophetic assurance the psalmist recognizes that the real and final solution of the problem is to be found in the ultimate vindication of the righteousness of God.”

[8] Cf. McCann, “Book of Psalms,” NIB IV: 1007: “Psalm 82 raises the question of how we are to hear such an overtly mythological text in our very different world. The first step is to approach the psalm as a poetic expression of faith rather than a literal description of a trial in heaven. The truth of the psalm’s message lies in its ability to illumine reality, which it does in a remarkable way—so much so that in our day, and with our distance from the ancient Near Eastern worldview, it is possible for us to appreciate the psalmist’s conviction that injustice destroys the world. Indeed, we see it happening all around us—in our cities and neighborhoods, in our schools and churches and homes.”

[9] Cf. Mays, Psalms, 270-71: “It becomes an axiom of Old Testament theology that the worship of the LORD must and shall bring justice to the weak. On the other hand, the forces and powers that control a society in which rights of the needy are violated and neglected are unmasked as failed gods.”

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Ruler of All

Revelation 1:4-8, 12-13, 17-18[1]

Like people of all times and place, our notions of power are defined by our experiences in life. Our culture is a pragmatic one: we tend to believe in what “works,” regardless of whether it’s “right” or “true.” Even before President Teddy Roosevelt said that we should “speak softly, and carry a big stick,”[2] we were already caught up in the quest for bigger and better weapons. These days, it would seem that an equally important part of our notion of power is that “money talks.” I think that’s something of an understatement. I think what we really mean is that money backs people into a corner so that they have no choice but to give in. I can’t say I find too much to admire about the “power brokers” of our world.

But I think that even though we have a tendency to be dazzled by big sticks and lots of money, many of us know where power really lies. It’s not found in boardrooms of corporations, but rather in households around the country, where people share the most powerful means of change there is: love. True power is found in what St. Paul calls the “weapons of righteousness” (2 Cor. 6:6-7): kindness, truth, sacrifice, and the power of God. Despite our fascination with what masquerades as power in our world, God’s ways always have been and always will be the true power in this world.

Our lesson from the Book of Revelation for today touches upon that idea. In the first place, it speaks of our God as “the Alpha and the Omega,” the one “who is and who was and who is to come,” and “the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8). This description of God is full of implications, but essentially, it is a reminder that God is the one who sits on the throne of the universe and it is his rule that will ultimately define all things and everyone.[3] It’s a reminder that “Our God is an awesome God; he reigns from heaven above; with wisdom, power, and love; our God is an awesome God.”[4]

Alongside that image is another one that is equally important. Revelation also speaks of the one who stands at God’s right hand: “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead” (Rev. 1:5). Again, there is a whole theology about Jesus packed into that phrase, and it takes the rest of Revelation to explain. One of the most important images of Jesus in the Book of Revelation is that his is the lamb who was slain and who has triumphed through his death. As in our day, so also in that time, sacrificing one’s life was seen as weakness, not power. But the Scripture contradicts that point of view by proclaiming that, as a result of his death and resurrection, Jesus is “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev. 1:5).[5]

In the first-century world, Christians had to face alternative visions of what life is all about just like we do. The ideal in their day was defined by Rome, and it was a dream of power through conquest, exploitation, and domination.[6] The presence of Roman legions throughout the Mediterranean world constantly reinforced that vision. That posed a significant temptation for the Christians of the day.[7] Some of them had been excluded from families who could not fathom why anyone would turn their backs on the culture of power and glory, prosperity and success, and its “family values”. In their worship, the central affirmation was: “Jesus is Lord”! And yet, all around them were images that contradicted their faith.

So the book of Revelation was written to remind those Christians that at the heart of their faith was a very different vision of what life is all about.[8] It is a vision of the one who sits on the throne, who bends everything that happens, both evil and good, toward his purposes.[9] It is also a vision of the lamb who overcame all the so-called “powers” of the world by dying. And because of his death and resurrection, he alone has the right to rule over all the earth. And he is the one who will one day make the “kingdom of the world” into the kingdom of our Lord, and “he shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15)!

At the heart of the Christian faith is a vision of a reality that is more true than our present world defined by power that takes the form of violence and greed. What’s more, at the heart of the Christian faith is the conviction that this ultimate reality is already present and working in our lives—it already undermines all the boastful claims of the rich and powerful.[10] And the promise is that one day this ultimate reality, the reign of Christ, will overthrow all the false powers in our world and all people will beat their swords into ploughshares and the wolf and the lamb will lie down together (Isaiah 2:4; 11:6)!

I guess the question we have to answer is whether this vision is more convincing than what pretends to be power in our world. Things haven’t changed much—we can be just as deceived by grandiose displays as the people of that day. But the real question we have to address here is where we place our faith. If we place our faith in “chariots,” the Scripture reminds us that they will “collapse and fall” (Ps. 20:7-8). If we place our faith in “mortals,” no matter how powerful they may seem, we find that in them “there is no help” (Ps. 146:3). The Scriptures call us to place our faith in the God who is working right now to establish his kingdom and his justice, peace, and freedom for all peoples everywhere.[11] They call us to place our faith in Christ as our Lord, the one who exposed the sham of those who pretend to have power in this world by his death and resurrection. They call us to place our faith in our Savior who lives and reigns for all time. And one day he will be acknowledged by all creation as the “ruler of all."

[2] Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography, 522

[3] Cf. Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, 27, regarding the designations “First and Last” and “Alpha and Omega,” says, “God precedes all things, as their Creator, and he will bring all things to eschatological fulfillment. He is the origin and goal of all history. He has the first word, in creation, and the last word, in new creation.” Cf. Eugene M. Boring, Revelation, 75: “God is named as the one whose being and whose acts embrace all time.”

[4] Rich Mullins, “Our God is an Awesome God,” 1988, BMG Songs, Inc. Even though I take issue with the theology expressed in the verses of this popular song, I think the refrain is a sound expression of what the book of Revelation was seeking to convey.

[5] Cf. Bauckham, Theology of the Book of Revelation, 73, “Fundamental to Revelation’s whole understanding of the way in which Christ establishes God’s kingdom on earth is the conviction that in his death and resurrection Christ has already won his decisive victory over evil.” Cf. also Boring, Revelation, 76, where he says that this phrase “attributes to Jesus the title claimed by the Roman Caesars, whose claim to sovereignty John wants his readers to see as a false caricature of the real lordship of Christ.”

[6] Cf. Bauckham, Theology of the Book of Revelation, 34, “The Roman Empire, like most political powers in the ancient world, represented and propagated its power in religious terms. … In this way it absolutized its power, claiming for itself the ultimate, divine sovereignty over the world.” I would say that all empires throughout history, even those in the present day, engage in this propaganda to some extent.

[7] Cf. Boring, Revelation, 8-23, where he summarizes the challenges faced by Christian communities in the Roman Empire, including being caught up in Roman wars, social and economic discrimination, and the pressure to take part in the worship of the Emperor as a test of loyalty.

[8] Cf. Bauckham, Theology of the Book of Revelation, 7: “The effect of John’s visions, one might say, is to expand his readers’ world, both spatially (into heaven) and temporally (into the eschatological future), or, to put it another way, to open their world to divine transcendence. The bounds which Roman power and ideology set to the readers’ world are broken open and that world is seen as open to the greater purpose of its transcendent Creator and Lord.” Contrast Christopher C. Rowland, “The Book Of Revelation,” New Interpreters Bible XII: “Apocalypse demands a break from our present way of looking at things. It offers an alternative perspective—though not the authoritative, definitive statement for which we crave—that requires the recipient who understands to bear witness.”

[9] Cf. Bauckham, Theology of the Book of Revelation, 31, where he says that the “vision of God’s sovereignty in heaven” is what “makes it possible for John to enlarge his readers’ perspective on their own situation by setting it within the broader context of God’s universal purpose of overcoming all opposition to his rule and establishing his kingdom in the world.” This reign of God is “the true reality which must in the end also prevail on earth.” Thus Bauckham can also say, (ibid., 40), “The whole of Revelation could be regarded as a vision of the fulfilment of the first three petitions of the Lord’s prayer: ‘Your name be hallowed, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:9-10).”

[10] Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 99: “with Jesus’ resurrection from the dead the power of death and all the domination built up on the threat of death have already been overthrown and their end is already in sight.” Cf. also ibid., 190-91.

[11] Cf. Shirley C. Guthrie, Always Being Reformed, 69-70, where he insists that confessing Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life,” means that “he is the expression of God’s love not just for Christian believers but for all humanity, on one in whom God was at work to reconcile the whole world to himself. He came not to give his followers everything they wanted to be happy, successful, and secure now and forever, but to announce and usher in the worldwide reign of God’s justice and compassion for everyone.”

The Waking Dreamer