Ending the Serpent’s Cycle

  • January 3, 2025
  • /
  • John Tillman

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Genesis 3 Listen: (4:14), Read: John 3 Listen:( 4:41)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Read: Genesis 4 Listen: (3:54), Read: John 4 Listen: (6:37)
Read: Genesis 5 Listen: (3:18), Read: John 5 Listen: (5:42)

Scripture Focus: Genesis 3.8-15

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

Revelation 20.2, 10

2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years…

10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Reflection: Ending the Serpent’s Cycle

By John Tillman

The Ouroboros is an ancient image of a serpent eating its tail. It was well-known in Egypt and Greece, symbolizing the cycle of death and rebirth.

John connects the Serpent at the beginning of scripture to the one at the end by calling Satan, “That old Serpent.” Satan is introduced in Genesis 3 and defeated in Revelation 20. We live in the chapters in between where the cycle of sin feels repetitive and inescapable. How do we break out?

All things in this world are under Satan’s influence and he can make any of them a destructive tool. Where there is love, he spawns lust. Where there is passion, he births oppression. The world’s kingdoms are his and he tempts everyone with their power, including Jesus. (Luke 4.5-8)

If we do not resist him, whatever is true, he uses to deceive, whatever is noble, he corrupts, whatever is right, he uses wrongly, whatever is pure, he sullies, whatever is lovely, he scars, whatever is admirable, he debases. (Philippians 4.8)

Revelation warns us that Satan is thrown down to Earth, knowing his time is shortened, filled with rage and intent to deceive as many as possible. (Revelation 12.12)​​ He is the father of lies and hates those who are in the truth. (John 8.44) He means to do us harm.

How do we deal with his devilish influences? How do we shed shame and fight fear?

After watching Adam and Eve fall, we see them fight. We fight the same way if we only recognize the steps. When God calls, “Where are you?” stop hiding. Call out and come to him. When God says, “What is this you have done?” confess. Tell the truth and call the Devil a liar.

Scripture tells us to flee temptation and evil desires (2 Timothy 2.22), but don’t confuse fleeing evil desires with fleeing the Devil. We don’t flee the serpent. When we resist him, he flees us. (James 4.7)

This serpent’s cycle is doomed and he knows it. We resist the father of lies by reminding him of the truth. Even if Satan fools us temporarily, the truth will set us free and Jesus will straighten, repair, and restore everything twisted, damaged, and stolen.

The image of the Ouroboros is a lie. The cycle of the serpent is not eternal. The serpent’s end is assured. His head will be crushed, to eat no more.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

I sought the Lord, and he delivered me out of all my terror. — Psalm 34.4

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

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Read more: Christmas and Kaiju

He will not be a monster of rage, revenge, and havoc, but the same messiah of love, protection, and care revealed to us in the gospels.

Christmas and Kaiju — Love of Advent

Wait for the Final Reel

  • December 31, 2024
  • /
  • John Tillman

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Nehemiah 13 Listen: (5:57), Read: Revelation 22 Listen: (3:59)

Links for Wednesday’s readings:

Read: Genesis 1 Listen: (4:55), Read: John 1 Listen: (6:18)

Scripture Focus: Nehemiah 13.6-11

6 But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission 7 and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God. 8 I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. 9 I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.

10 I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. 11 So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?” Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.

Revelation 22.12-13

12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.”

— Orson Welles

Reflection: Wait for the Final Reel

By John Tillman

A calendar year is an arbitrary measurement, like a reel of a film. Before digital projection took over, a thousand-foot-long reel would hold about eleven minutes of film. Projectionists changed reels continuously to show complete films.

How is the story of this year ending for you? Whether it’s bad or good…it’s not really the end. It’s just one reel.

In 1986, Saturday Night Live imagined a new reel to end the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. After the happy moment of the community coming together and George’s business being saved, they continued the story in a darker direction. Uncle Billy remembers where he lost the money. They discover “Old Man Potter” deposited it. They rush out, find Potter, and beat him to death.

The sketch wrapped up a loose thread from the original in a darkly funny way. However, it illustrates that, depending on where you end it, a story can go from bright and hopeful, showing the best of humanity, to dark and ugly, showing the worst. George’s story would also be very different if it ended at the bridge, before Clarence interfered in his suicide attempt.

Biblical stories change too, depending on when you stop reading. Nehemiah chapter 12 has a perfect happy ending. The hero accomplishes his purpose. Enemies are shamed. Jerusalem is restored. But there’s another reel. Corruption creeps back in—literally. The greedy villain who dogged Nehemiah through the whole story moves into the Temple! Nehemiah throws Tobiah out, but that wasn’t the end. Nehemiah ends by repeatedly calling on God’s mercy.

There’s much to celebrate in Nehemiah, but it’s not a simple, happy story about good leadership or a template for legalistic enforcement of religious laws. 400 years later, Jesus cleansed the Temple of corrupt and greedy robbers and confronted legalistic systems Nehemiah enforced.

Nehemiah is just a reel out of a film we are all in—struggling against sin and crying out for mercy. The story isn’t over when we kick villains out or when they crawl back to power. In this world, corruption consistently creeps back in.

When we fail or when we win, it’s just the rise and fall of a thrilling tale. In the final reel, the real hero returns. Our story ends with Jesus’ ultimate victory.

Where you end a story, changes what kind of story it is. Wait for the final reel.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Happy are they whom you choose and draw to your courts to dwell there! They will be satisfied by the beauty of your house, by the holiness of your temple. — Psalm 65.4

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

Read more about It’s Not Over When It’s Over

Can we save falling things? Perhaps. But failing that, we can rise from destruction…endure to the end. All will fall down. We will stand up.

It’s Not Over When It’s Over

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Now Jerusalem and Not-Yet Jerusalem

  • December 30, 2024
  • /
  • John Tillman

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Nehemiah 12 Listen: (6:30), Read: Revelation 21 Listen: (4:34)

Scripture Focus: Revelation 21.1, 22-27

1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Nehemiah 12.43

43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

Reflection: Now Jerusalem and Not-Yet Jerusalem

By John Tillman

Nehemiah describes his Jerusalem rising from the rubble and John describes New Jerusalem descending from Heaven.

At first, Nehemiah’s task seems only to provide a wall for practical protection and safety of the citizens. God’s people were exiled in pagan empires but were given a safe and secure homeland again.

But Nehemiah saw a grander mission, more expansive than his mandate to build a physical wall. For this reason he also rebuilt the infrastructure, staff, and resources for the city’s spiritual health and welfare. The priests, musicians, choirs, and leaders were all part of his restoration plan. The worship of God and the purity and glory of his covenant with his people were at the center of Nehemiah’s true mission. And the joy of their worship poured out through the walls of the city, echoing far away.

The New Jerusalem descends after the destruction of judgment. God’s faithful people were suffering in kingdoms controlled by Satan but are now safe and secure. God makes his home with them. The city is the centerpiece of God’s remaking of the broken world. All kingdoms and people are brought under Christ’s benevolent grace.

The differences in Nehemiah’s and John’s Jerusalems are more striking than the similarities. The New Jerusalem has foundations and walls and nothing unclean will enter, however its gates never close. The city, instead of protecting itself from attack, projects blessings, pouring out living water, light, and glory. All will walk by the light the city provides, be healed by the leaves of the tree of life at its center, and worship God who dwells within it.

The worship of God and the purity and glory of his new covenant with his people is at the center of the New Jerusalem. When we are there the joy of our worship will pour out through the walls of the city, echoing far away.

Nehemiah lived in Now-Jerusalem and pointed to Not-Yet-Jerusalem. So do we. We point to the not-yet by tackling Nehemiah-inspired tasks that hint at the New Jerusalem. As embassies and ambassadors of New Jerusalem, let us bind up the broken, rebuild the destroyed, restore the degraded, and rededicate the defiled. Let those far off learn the songs of the coming city through our actions “far as the curse is found.”

Music: “Joy to the World” lyrics by Issac Watts, video by Reawaken Hymns.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. — Psalm 85.9

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

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Wherever you go, as a Christian, you take with you the spirit of the city of God. Practice remembering that “the Lord is there.”

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Falling In Love With Babylon

  • December 27, 2024
  • /
  • John Tillman

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.

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Christmas and Kaiju — Love of Advent

  • December 24, 2024
  • /
  • John Tillman

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Nehemiah 6 Listen: (3:19)
Read: Revelation 15 Listen: (1:29)

Links for Wednesday’s readings:

Read: Nehemiah 7 Listen: (6:37), Read: Revelation 16 Listen: (3:17)

Scripture Focus: Revelation 15.2-4

2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.
4 Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Reflection: Christmas and Kaiju — Love of Advent

By John Tillman

The Internet was amused this year by a giant Godzilla-shaped Christmas tree displayed in Japan since 2000.

The Japanese term kaiju, popularized by the creator of Godzilla, means “strange monster.” Kaiju are sometimes interpreted as elemental forces of judgment. When evils such as radioactive waste, greed, or militarism spread, Kaiju rise, wreaking havoc as nature’s vengeance. Often, one kaiju saves humanity from another. In some films, Godzilla is the “good” monster that defeats other monsters.

In Revelation there are “strange monsters,” beasts, dragons, and brutal empires allied against God and God’s people. But instead of a benevolent monster, their opponents are a woman giving birth to a baby, a lamb, and a choir of harpists.

A baby versus a dragon?
A lamb versus a beast?
A choir of harpists versus all the armies of the kings of the earth?

Our world can seem dark as the looming shadows of monsters spread: violence, oppression, political chaos, economic collapse, war, and even nuclear war. In the shadow of such monsters, we may long for a vengeful Godzilla-like savior.

Yet, God sent a baby, not a beast. Instead of a benevolent monster rising out of the ocean to tower over us, a suffering servant descended from heaven to the lowliest place.

“But Jesus’ second advent will be different,” someone may say. True. But even then, Jesus is not our Godzilla. Godzilla battles foes as powerful or more powerful than he is. The battle itself lays waste to the earth. Jesus doesn’t struggle because the battle is already won. He will crush the serpent, no matter how large the lizard grows. The enemies of God and God’s people will face destruction. The power of sin, death, and hell, will be finally and completely vanquished. Jesus will speak a word and they will be powerless and destroyed. Christ’s victory at his second coming was won at his first.

Instead of battling for power and causing destruction, Jesus surrendered power and faced destruction on our behalf. He fought by dying on the cross. His victory is his resurrection and ours. His weapon is love, not rage.

Celebrating Jesus’ first advent prepares us for his second. He will not be a monster of rage, revenge, and havoc, but the same messiah of love, protection, and care revealed to us in the gospels. “This same Jesus,” (Acts 1.11) will return. Ready your hearts to worship him.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Praise him from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below; praise him above you heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

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

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