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.

Read more about Come Out of Babylon

No nation should have a grip on our heart greater than the gracious kingdom of our Christ.

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Come Out of Babylon

Scripture Focus: 2 Chronicles 32.31
31 But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart. 

Revelation 18.4-7
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say: 
         “ ‘Come out of her, my people,’
         so that you will not share in her sins, 
         so that you will not receive any of her plagues; 
      5 for her sins are piled up to heaven, 
         and God has remembered her crimes. 
      6 Give back to her as she has given; 
         pay her back double for what she has done. 
         Pour her a double portion from her own cup. 
      7 Give her as much torment and grief 
         as the glory and luxury she gave herself. 

Reflection: Come Out of Babylon
By John Tillman

During Christmastide, leading up to Epiphany, we consider the revelation of Jesus to the Gentile nations as the light of the world.

Part of the Revelation of Christ’s Kingdom is the revelation of the sinful darkness of the kingdoms we live in. Part of why Christ comes is to rescue. Wickedness will be stripped and torn down. But whoever is willing to be saved, can be pulled out, picked up, raptured from the clutching darkness of the world. 

Babylon thought itself to be a light to the world and today’s empires think the same. Do we, as Christians from around the world, think of our own nations in this way? 

Many of us seem to. Many Christians are more enthusiastic evangelists for political or economic systems than the gospel. For some Christians, political parties have become our true religion. Some think of our nation as “The Kingdom of God” instead of God’s worldwide church. This is what Babylon does. It replaces the worship of God with the worship of nation, tribe, and self.  

Over and over, Babylon shows up as a test. God’s people fail and they fail and they fail. If we think we might fare differently, we are already too prideful.

Hezekiah was one of the greatest kings of Judah. His downfall began by pridefully entertaining powerful visitors from Babylon, even showing them the Temple and its decorations. All that he showed them, including his own children, would soon be stolen, destroyed, or enslaved by Babylon.

In Revelation, John records a call from Heaven for God’s people to “come out” of Babylon. This mirrors the call to Lot’s family to come out of Sodom. Even knowing that destruction was coming, Lot’s family clung with longing to the city they were a part of. They had to be taken, grasped, pulled by the hand to leave. Lot’s daughters had to leave behind their promised husbands, who laughed off Lot’s invitation to salvation. (Genesis 19.14-16)

“Come out of her,” Christ cries. “Don’t look back longingly,” warns the angel of the Lord…

Babylon is a test of the heart. We can become entangled in Babylon and engaged to Sodom. How wedded to Sodom and Babylon are we?

No nation should have a grip on our heart greater than the gracious kingdom of our Christ.
Come quickly, O Christ. Grasp our hands, Lord, and lead us out.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Be seated on your lofty throne, O Most High; O Lord, judge the nations. — Psalm 7.8

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

Today’s Readings
2 Chronicles 32 (Listen – 5:58) 
Revelation 18 (Listen – 4:48)

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May we leave sin and doubt in the desert, crossing the Jordan toward God’s calling to be his city on a hill.

Unwrapping Christ’s Gifts :: Epiphany

Scripture Focus: Luke 4.18-20
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Reflection: Unwrapping Christ’s Gifts :: Epiphany
By John Tillman

The Annunciation of the birth of the King of Kings had come quietly to Mary, a young girl in Nazareth, and when that King’s time had come, he announced his kingdom in the same synagogue he studied in as a young boy. Mary’s son chose to announce his true identity to those who knew him best. He chose to proclaim the presence of the kingdom of God in a town from which true Israelites believed nothing good could come.

It should not surprise us that Jesus chose to make one of his earliest and most direct claims to being the Messiah not in a rabbinical school, not in the temple, not in a court of law, nor in the courts of political power.

Jesus consistently chose to minister in out of the way places to people life had pushed out of the way. But here in Nazareth, Jesus wasn’t burying the lead; he was burying a treasure in a field. Those who studied the prophecies knew that the Messianic ministry would dawn like a light in Galilee. Christ’s seeming retreat from more important locations, is actually a marker of his true nature as the foretold Messiah.

Christ’s gifts to us are at first concealed, like gifts under a Christmas tree. They are hidden in plain sight for us to wonder at, to shake, to puzzle over, and ultimately to open and rejoice over. But, after opening, gifts become a part of you when you accept them. Whether it is a tool that is used regularly, an item of clothing that is worn often, or a book, game, or other entertainment that engages our mind and imagination, good gifts integrate themselves into our lives and identities.

Christ’s gifts are meant to become integral to our lives and to become manifestations of himself to our family, friends, and communities. As we approach Epiphany over the next ten days, may we wear Christ’s gifts prominently, like new and well-loved items of clothing. Through the wearing, may we allow them to transform us into the manifestation of the giver.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Bless the Lord, you angels of his, you mighty ones who do his bidding, and hearken to the voice of his word.
Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, you ministers of his who do his will.
Bless the Lord, all you works of his, in all places of his dominion… — Psalm 103.20-22

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

Today’s Readings
2 Chronicles 32 (Listen -5:58) 
Revelation 18 (Listen -4:48)

This Weekend’s Readings
2 Chronicles 33 (Listen -4:01) Revelation 19 (Listen -3:47)
2 Chronicles 34 (Listen -6:23) Revelation 20 (Listen -2:49)

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