Revelation - The Park Forum

December 27, 2024December 23, 2024

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.

Christmas and Kaiju — Love of Advent

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.

Sing to the Beasts — Love of Advent

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Nehemiah 5 Listen: (3:29)
Read: Revelation 14 Listen: (3:51)

Scripture Focus: Revelation 14.1-3

1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

Psalm 42.8

8 By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.

1 John 4.8

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

“When he awoke, the song was there.
Its melody beckoned and begged him to sing it…” — The Singer, by Calvin Miller

Reflection: Sing to the Beasts — Love of Advent

By John Tillman

Throughout the Advent story, angels, shepherds, and prophets express themselves poetically. The scriptures, strummed by the Spirit, vibrate into song.

The scriptures, especially the gospels, were not written by documentarians but by artists.

The gospel writers did not merely take Jesus’ driver’s license photo or mugshot to record his identity. They didn’t simply take evidence photos of his birth, deeds, death, or resurrection. They painted portraits of each moment of his life that are more true than photographs and wrote songs that are more real than transcripts of speeches.

Songs go beyond entertainment in scripture. Songs are lessons, prophecies, sermons, memory aids, and weapons of the truth. John’s Revelation looks far into the future to see a choir of chosen followers who will stand with the Lamb and learn to sing a new song. This song pierces the universe, proclaiming the truth and defeating the beast. (Revelation 15.2)

We have beasts to be defeated around us. Beasts of lies. Beasts of violence. Beasts of abuse. Beasts of despair. Beasts of doubt. We don’t defeat their growls with our own. Instead of growling back at beasts, we must sing the song of the gospel. Music helps defeat the Beast of Revelation. The beasts around us can be tamed and transformed by the gospel’s tune. We must keep singing the tune of God’s love.

Some may scoff at the idea of singing at beasts. They think singing of God’s love is weak, diminishing, or enabling, or that it ignores reality.

Singing of God’s love is not weakness because God’s love demonstrates his strength. Singing of God’s love does not diminish him because God’s love makes him glorious. Singing of God’s love is not enabling sin because God’s loving-kindness pulls us toward holiness. Singing of God’s love is not ignoring reality because God’s love is the central reality upon which the universe spins.

God’s love is his distinguishing characteristic. It should be ours. Don’t allow the world’s beastliness to bristle your brow. Don’t allow the world’s brutality to make you a brute. Don’t allow the din of battle to cause you to trade your musical instrument for an instrument of hate or violence. If we are discipled by beastly methods, instead of fighting beasts, we become them.

Sing to beasts about their defeat.
Sing to liars about the truth.
Sing to haters about God’s love.
Sing.

Music: “How Can I Keep from Singing?” — Author unknown, recording by Enya.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, then were we like those who dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations, “the Lord had done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses of the Negev.
Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves. — Psalm 126

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

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December 17, 2024December 15, 2024

What Did You Get Jesus for Christmas? — Joy of Advent

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezra 9 Listen: (3:19)
Read: Revelation 8 Listen: (2:15)

Scripture Focus: Matthew 2:9-12

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Revelation 8:3-4

3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense and the prayers of God’s people went up before God from the angel’s hand.

Reflection: What Did You Get Jesus for Christmas? — Joy of Advent

By Jon Polk

Ask any four-year-old what Christmas is all about and what do you think they’ll tell you?

Presents.

We like to say that exchanging gifts is inspired by the wise men from the east who visit the child Jesus and give him gifts.

There’s no evidence early Christians gave gifts to celebrate Jesus’ birth, in fact, gift-giving did not become a focus of the celebration until the 1800s. In 1820, Christmas-themed ads first appeared in newspapers and it wasn’t until 1867 that Macy’s department store stayed open until midnight on Christmas Eve for last-minute purchases.

Today, we have Black Friday and Cyber Monday and regular delivery trucks in our neighborhoods, and it may seem like gift-giving has gotten out of hand.

The wise men from the east traveled from as far away as Persia. Jesus was probably at least one, maybe two years old when they arrived bearing gifts.

The gifts they brought with them from their homelands — gold, frankincense and myrrh — were three expensive substances, not native to Israel, often imported at great expense.

You may have heard of the traditional interpretation of the three gifts: gold represents Jesus’ kingship, frankincense represents his priesthood, and myrrh pertains to Jesus’ death.

Throughout history, church leaders have further spiritualized the three gifts. For Gregory the Great, they corresponded to wisdom, prayer and the humiliation of the flesh. Martin Luther connected them with faith, love and hope. Others compared them to mercy, prayer and purity.

Most importantly, the three gifts indicate the high esteem with which the wise men revered the child and the honor they bestowed upon him as a King. These wise men from Persia had likely originally heard messianic prophecies from the descendants of Jews in captivity in Babylonia. Clearly, they came to worship and give honor to Jesus as King and Messiah.

If we were going to give Jesus a gift for Christmas this year, what would it be? If we follow the example of the wise men, it would need to be sacrificial. It will probably require our time, energy, or money. It should be prompted by our relationship with Jesus and rooted in worship.

Maybe more time in prayer, Bible study, or fellowship? Or kicking some habit that is holding back your spiritual growth? Perhaps being more attentive to your family or others around you? How about developing an attitude of gratitude and generosity?

What present will you give Jesus for Christmas this year?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

My lips will sing with joy when I play to you, and so will my soul, which you have redeemed. — Psalm 71.23

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

Mary, the Called One — Joy of Advent

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezra 8 Listen: (5:40)
Read: Revelation 7 Listen: (2:56)

Scripture Focus: Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Revelation 7:12

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

Reflection: Mary, the Called One — Joy of Advent

By Jon Polk

With the angelic proclamation, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!”, we have our first introduction to Mary in Luke’s Gospel. Because of this lofty declaration, we often think of Mary as the model of obedience, the picture of a perfect follower of God.

Now to be sure, being selected to bear the Son of God is indeed a high honor, but the extraordinary thing about Mary was that she was so ordinary. Living in a small village, not in the religious center of Jerusalem, she was a young girl in a culture that valued age and men. She later refers to herself as poor and lowly.

God chooses Mary because she has nothing. When she asks of the angel, “How will this be?”, it is a practical question. She’s old enough to know how these things work and she knows that there’s a step missing in the process.

Mary discovers a lesson that all Christians must learn. When God calls us, we are not capable in ourselves of accomplishing the task. Only God can provide what we need. Through miraculous intervention, Mary goes from unwed virgin to the mother of the Christ child. God called and God made it happen.

By embracing her calling, Mary becomes a partner with God in literally bringing the Kingdom here on earth. Without God’s intervention, Mary could not become pregnant. Without Mary as a human mother, Jesus could not be born as one of us. This is God’s design, for us to work together with God to give life to the Kingdom here on earth.

God’s call transforms us from people who are incapable on our own to those for whom, with God’s help, nothing is impossible. We, like Mary, have been chosen by God, not because of anything we have or have done, but because God wants to have a relationship with us. Like Mary, we are indeed highly favored children of God.

Let us recognize the gifts God has given us and remember how truly favored we are. Listen closely for your calling from God and be quick to obey, even when you don’t fully understand the whys and the hows. During this season of Advent, may we use what God has given us to breathe life into the Kingdom here on earth, both now and all year long.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

On this day the Lord has acted; we will rejoice and be flad in it. — Psalm 118.24

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

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Links for today’s readings:

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Revelation 18.21-14

Reflection: Falling In Love With Babylon

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Read more about Come Out of Babylon

Read more about Supporting Our Work

Links for today’s readings:

Links for Wednesday’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Revelation 15.2-4

Reflection: Christmas and Kaiju — Love of Advent

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Read more about Peace from Labor

Read more about Silent Night — Carols of Advent Joy

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Revelation 14.1-3

Psalm 42.8

1 John 4.8

Reflection: Sing to the Beasts — Love of Advent

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

Read more about Truth and Love — Love of Advent

Support our Work

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Matthew 2:9-12

Revelation 8:3-4

Reflection: What Did You Get Jesus for Christmas? — Joy of Advent

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Read more about Saccharine Joy — Joy of Advent

Read more about Supporting Our Work

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Luke 1:26-38

Revelation 7:12

Reflection: Mary, the Called One — Joy of Advent

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Read more about Mary’s Story — Love of Advent

Support Our Work