Last
week, we had a brief introduction to the Book of Revelation where John tells us
that what we are about to read is a revelation that was given to him from God about
heaven and earth meeting in the man Jesus of Nazareth. Over the first 3
chapters, John describes letters he wrote to the 7 churches in Asia about what’s
about come happen in the world.
This
week, we only heard 4 verses from Chapter 5, but to really understand the point
of those handful of lines, we need to explore chapters 4 and 5 together. So, backing
up to the start of chapter 4, after recording the letters dictated to him by
the Son of Man, John sees a door open in heaven and he goes through. I don’t
know about you, but if a door suddenly opened in the sky, I’m not sure my first
reaction would be to go through it. But that’s what John did, and there he finds
the throne of God, a multitude of angels, and other wonderous creatures. Someone
is seated in the throne and they’re holding a scroll bound with 7 seals. The
crowd is searching for someone who is worthy to open the scroll. John says that
he began to weep because no one was coming forward to open the scroll. But he
was told, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,
has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Just
as I’ve spoken before about people of Israel expecting a warrior king to save
them, this crowd expected a conquering Lion to open the scroll and break the
seals. But just as the people got a gentle man of peace in lieu of a king, this
crowd got a lamb. And not just a lamb, but one that looked like it had been
slaughtered. The Lamb opened the scroll and crowd went wild! The was singing
and praising and dancing! And everyone fell down and worshipped.
How’s
that for a 2-minute read of chapters 4 and 5? As I said last week, go and read
Revelation. It’s quite the story.
This
week is all about worship and praise. When John goes through that door, it’s as
if he walked into a church service already in progress. There is God sitting in
the throne wearing a beautiful rainbow garment surrounded by all sorts of
living creatures and angels who are praising God through song. If you head back
into chapter 4, you might even recognize some of the words that we hear in our services:
“Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the
Almighty,
who was and is and
is to come.” (4:8)
And
as it is with our services, this one that John has crashed is full of hymns
singing to God’s praise. John sees God and Jesus as equally deserving of
worship. So, as we read through chapter 5, you can see that John moves the focus
of this worship service from God to Jesus using three hymns that give praise to
Jesus, the lamb who was slaughtered.
In
the first hymn, found in verses 9 and 10, the lamb is praised for sacrificing
himself for the people, not just to rescue them, but to turn them into “a
kingdom and priests serving God”. This was the ultimate Passover sacrifice. The
death of Jesus was the final fulfillment of what God had done when God set the
people free from slavery in Egypt. It is this sacrifice that made the lamb,
Jesus, worthy to open the scroll, worthy to be God’s agent to the world, worthy
to establish the royal priesthood as described in the book of Exodus.
The
next hymn, verse 12, turns from what the lamb has achieved to what he deserved.
Because of his sacrifice, Jesus deserved everything that is good in the world
to be laid at his feet – power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and
blessing. Unfortunately, many Christians minimize the scope of Jesus’ sacrifice
and would prefer to lay all of these things at the feet of earthly rulers.
I
think the third hymn being sung by this multitude is probably the most
important hymn of chapter 5. This is where there is thunderous worship by “every
creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that
is in them” who are singing at the top of their lungs:
“To the one seated
on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and
honor and glory and might
forever and ever!”
(5:13)
Paul
indicates the same type of worship and praise in Philippians 2:9-11:
“Therefore God
exalted him even more highly
and gave him the name
that is above every other name,
so that at the
name given to Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue
should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”
Two
things are of importance here – that the lamb shares the praise which belongs
to God, and that every creature should be included in the worship of God and of
the lamb. Absolutely no one and nothing is excluded from this picture of
worship that John provides to us. John gives us the ultimate image of
inclusivity in these 4 brief verses from the 5th chapter of Revelation.
In this closing scene, we have what God’s final word will be, and it is not
about division. It is about the thousands and thousands that surround God, thousands
from all walks of life singing together their songs of praise.
Worship
is central to our identity and mission as God’s people, since is it our worship
that shapes our response to God as Jesus Christ. We worship to praise God’s
love which belongs not just to the upright, the wealthy, or the powerful, but
to all God’s creatures, including, and perhaps especially, the least, the lost,
and the lonely. This is the message that John wants us to hear today – that all
of creation, without division or exclusion, should join together in worship and
to sing our praises to God and to the lamb who sacrificed everything for us.
And that we are all invited to be part of the glorious choir of those singing
praise and honour to God, now and in the final moment of victory.
So
as the four living creatures and the elders did in John’s vision, let us all sing
out, “Amen!”
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