Give up on nice, safe Christianity

I know that some are always studying the meaning of the fourth toe of the right foot of some beast in prophecy and have never used either foot to go and bring men to Christ.—Vance Havner

That sort of attention to the details of the Revelation to John is misguided. In the mid to late 60s, by which I mean the year 62 A.D. to 70 A.D. Most everyone was convinced that the code number 666 referred to Nero Caesar. At the turn of the first millennium, from the year 999 to the year 1,000, there was a general fear that crept through the church, which made anything Y2K served up look tame. Everyone was convinced that the thousand year mark was sure to bring Armageddon. Then in the 1500s, reformers including Martin Luther and John Calvin came to think the Pope was the Antichrist. How could Christians living in Europe during the 1930s not see the rise of Hitler as being the beast of Revelation coming in to power. And on it goes.

The message of Revelation is not a matrix through which to read the newspaper to unveil current events through the lens of prophecy. The message is that we are to give up on nice, safe Christianity and try living out the Gospel day to day. The message of the complex book is both that simple and that difficult to follow.

It is not easy, but you will not have to go it alone. Boldly proclaim your love for God and you will know that your future is safe with him. For no matter what else Revelation teaches us about the times in which we live, it teaches most surely that our times and our lives and in God’s hands. The Lamb is your Shepherd and he is guiding you to springs of the water of life, if you will but follow.

Tonight at 7 p.m. we'll continue with Revelation 6:1-8:4 as we encounter The Seven Seals and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal Church