Falling In Love With Babylon

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Nehemiah 9 Listen: (7:46), Read: Revelation 18 (4:48)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Read: Nehemiah 10 Listen: (4:41), Read: Revelation 19 (3:47)
Read: Nehemiah 11 Listen: (5:05), Read: Revelation 20 (2:49)

Scripture Focus: Revelation 18.21-14

21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:
“With such violence
the great city of Babylon will be thrown down,
never to be found again.
22 The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters,
will never be heard in you again.
No worker of any trade
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The voice of bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
Your merchants were the world’s important people.
By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people,
of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

On the second day of Christmas, the church celebrates the life of St. John, the beloved disciple and writer of Revelation, from which our reading comes today.

Reflection: Falling In Love With Babylon

By John Tillman

Not everything in Babylon is bad.

In John’s vision, there is good to be seen and heard. There is music from harps, pipes, and trumpets. There are sounds of builders, tradesmen, cultivation, and food production. There is light from glowing lamps and joyous laughter from brides and bridegrooms.

But there is great evil there that overwhelms and stains every good. Greed, deception, and blood are the city’s sins. John writes that the blood of “all who have been slaughtered” is there, that “all the nations” are deceived by the city’s “magic,” and that the city’s merchants were the most important people in the world.

When Babylon is thrown down, many will mourn its fall. Why? Profit.

From the great and powerful to the tradesmen and shipping workers, all who profit from Babylon mourn the destruction of their trading partner and customer. Babylon’s fall is tragic to them. Products won’t be bought, shipped, brokered, or made. Babylon’s fall dooms their economy.

Many will rejoice at Babylon’s fall. Why? Judgment.

The highest angels in heaven, the martyred dead before God’s throne, and God’s people on Earth, the apostles and prophets, sing, rejoice, and celebrate Babylon’s fall. Babylon’s oppression and judgment were heavy on them, but God overturned the tables of oppression, scattered the money changers, and freed the captives held for slaughter. (John 2.14-16; Mark 11.15-18)

Will we be among the mourners or the celebrants when Babylon falls? Where is our heart?

In scripture, God’s people living in Babylon are charged to work and pray for the city’s prosperity, despite the city being the source of their suffering.

Our calling is similar. We are not to despise our government, countries, or cities. We are here for such a time as this, (Esther 4.14) on a mission to save lives and make positive change. Every gleam of good in our version of Babylon is a sign of God’s grace and belongs to us to brighten. When they glow, we must celebrate them.

However, we cannot conceal or deny reality. Babylon’s profits are often soaked in blood. We cannot be silent or complicit. Every crime of Babylon is ours to oppose, even at our own risk. If we perish, we perish. (Esther 4.16)

Don’t be seduced. The profit of Babylon does not equal the growth of God’s kingdom. If we confuse the two, we may mourn what we should celebrate when the powerful are thrown down.

Don’t fall in love with Babylon.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them—the one who had leaned back close to his chest at the supper and had said to him, “Lord, who is it that will betray you?” Seeing him, Peter said to Jesus, “What about him, Lord?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to stay behind until I come, what does it matter to you? You are to follow me.” The rumor then went out among the brothers that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus had not said to Peter, “He will not die,” but, “If I want him to stay behind till I come.” This disciple is the one who vouches for these things and has written them down, and we know that his testimony is true. There was much else that Jesus did. If it were written down in detail, I do not suppose the world itself would hold all the books that would be written. — John 2.20-25

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.