This past week the prosecuting attorney in charge of the investigation of the 3 Duke University La Cross players accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a party held a press conference to announce that the initial charges that had been filed against the 3 men would be dropped due to evidence that contradicted the story of the accuser. Upon further analysis of the evidence it was concluded that the initial charges that were filed were based upon snap judgments. The methods of the District Attorney were called into question and legislation was recommended to help protect the innocent from future damaging accusations that were in this case accepted without sufficient review.
In another major news story from this past week, radio talk show host Don Imus was fired after making a comment that was insulting to the women's basketball team from Rutgers University. The fallout from this comment was all over the air waves. Discussion ensued ad nausium. Few people were willing to defend him for what he said, however they did defend his right to say it. Others felt like those making comments such as this should be fired and such speech should not be tolerated.
All of this amounts to a big mass of confusion. Every time you turn on the television, every time you turn on the radio. Every time you open a newspaper or magazine you are presented with contrasting and even contradicting stories and evidence. Who has the correct opinion when it comes to free speech and who should be fired and who should be suspended and who should be permitted to speak inflammatory words against whom. Who is guilty and who is innocent. Who is an opportunist, making false accusations to take advantage of some wealthy college boys and who is excusing their bad behavior from wrong doing because they have grown up with an attitude of entitlement? It seems that we can't even believe the supposed unbiased and objective opinions of prosecutors in these cases. So who can we believe? In all of this noise where is the voice of reason? Where is the voice of truth? Who do we listen to? Do we all just form our own opinions and make our own choices and then line up on whatever side of the debate? How are we to know?
In our text this morning as John the Beloved Disciple, the disciple of Jesus was exiled on the Island of Patmos there was a voice that called to him – a loud voice, like a trumpet. A voice that called out to him and said, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, [18] and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” A voice that comes from outside the debate, a voice that rises above the debate. A voice of power and a voice of authority. And this voice says to us. “Don't be afraid. I am the first and the last. I have defeated death. I have the authority to give and take away life. And I have done this for you.”
It seems that confusion isn't just limited to examples of law, it isn't just limited to examples of ethics or even morality. The debate rages on over issues of faith and religion. What religion is the right religion. Which of the many religious authorities can be trusted. This past Monday night a special aired on PBS entitled Jonestown. It was a retelling of the events that led to mass suicide of the members of the People's Temple Church – a religious cult that was led by a previously Christian preacher named Jim Jones. Thousands of people came to love him and respect him as a religious authority yet he led them away from the truth and into their own demise. In addition to these extreme examples there are the scandals that involve pastors and priests and televangelists and religious leaders of all stripes and colors. There are the expos-ay-s that implicate the organized church as being little more than simply one of many organizations, that it has existed for the sake of control or simply its own advancement and that it has created its doctrine with little concern for the truth. That the Christian church has been deliberately deceptive so that it could better sell its ideas and grow in membership. And so with all of this noise the question again needs to be asked, “Who do you listen to? Who do you trust? How do you know?
John the apostle of Jesus Christ, answers that question as soon as he gets started. “Grace to you and peace” he says. Certainly these are nice ideals for anyone to say, but these are not mere niceties. John is not just looking for a polite way to say hello. John is offering to us these things not in a general sort of way, he is not merely offering his grace and his peace. He is offering grace from God. He is offering peace from God. He is offering to sinners the unserved favor of a merciful God who overlooks and forgives sin and the ensuing peace. That is, after the sin has been washed away and forgiven through the grace of God in Jesus Christ we then have peace. All is set right. All is put back in place. Grace and Peace from God – The Father the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Because John is offering grace and peace from God, the message of the text that he is about to write down and that we are about to read is not his own. He did not make it up. It did not come from his own mind or from his own hand. It came to him from God. John was by himself on this Island prison of Patmos. He was praying to God and suddenly he was given a vision from the Spirit of God and Christ Jesus. He saw one like a Son of Man standing before him. He heard the voice of the Son of Man calling out to him. He heard the command of the Son of Man telling him to write down what he saw because it was his revelation given for his people the Church. It would be his last word given to those who he called to faith in him until the last day, until the day when he would return again in glory as the judge of the living and the dead.
And notice the message that the risen Christ gives to his church. It is a message of power. It is a message of authority. IT is a message of strength. But it is not a message of law. IT is not a message of duty and expectation. IT is not a message of ethics or morality. It is not a message designed to compete with the countless other voices that are speaking contrary and contradicting messages of supposed truth. It is a message of grace and a message of love and a message of forgiveness.
“Fear Not! I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died and behold I am alive forevermore and I have the keys of death and hades.”
Can you imagine such a message of grace? Can you imagine such a message of love and forgiveness. Can you imagine such a message of peace?
Every one of these other competing voices calls upon us to align ourselves within a certain, specific group. It always seems to boil down to liberal vs conservative. Democrat vs republican, black vs white, male vs female... It seems that with each of these divisions there are competing ideologies with a whole set of assumptions and presuppositions that you have to subscribe to if you want to align yourself within each grouping.
According to Jesus there is also such a group – there are two states that are opposed to each other, you are one or the other. You can't be both. You are either living or you are dead. By default we are dead. By default, from the moment we are conceived we are headed for death, by default from the moment we are conceived we are sinful, we are condemned in our sin and we are headed for God's judgment and wrath and we are headed for hell. By default we are dead.
But there is an alternative. When we come into the light of Gods truth our sin is exposed and we are shown to be the sinners that we are. It is revealed that no matter what our political persuasion, no matter our gender, no matter our ethnic background, no matter our stance on any of the supposed hot button issues of the day, we are sinful. We are deserving of God's judgment and death we have only one recourse – to fall on our knees and beg for mercy.
And God hears our cries. Jesus Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, He whose face shines with heavenly glory, hears our prayers. And what is more, the one who hears our prayers is the one who is the first born from among the dead. He is the one who has died and who lives forevermore. He is the one who defeated death and he hold the keys of death and hades. He has the right to say who dies and who lives. He has the right to judge sin and the right to forgive sin. And he has the right to provide for us the mercy that we so desperately need.
Entering before the judgment seat of God can be a frightening place to be. Entering into the presence of the one who holds the keys of death and hell can be imposing. Especially when we are mindful of the judgment that we deserve because of our sin. Yet despite this demand for judgment God calls us into his presence on a regular basis.
The picture on the cover of our bulletins this morning provides a very insightful illustration of the biblical theology that describes the blessing of our text.
The scene is painted by an Artist by the Name of Jan Van Eyck from the year 1432. It was painted on an altar piece for a church. The painting is entitled the Adoration of the Lamb. At the center of the picture is Christ, represented by a lamb – a reference to the later chapters in the book of revelation where the lamb of God is seated on the throne with the 12 apostles and the saint and he angels gathering around to worship. This is heaven. This is the glory of God unmasked and unhindered. This is God in all of his power and might. This is a representation of what we will see with our eyes on the last day.
But it is also a picture of what we have right now through faith in Jesus. It is not just a future reality. IT is not something that we are hoping to be a part of somewhere down the road at the end of time after the judgment after the tribultation, after armageddon, after the return of Christ, after we have died. This is ours right here and right now. This is God's gift and his invitation to us.
Notice the lamb in the painting. Notice what he is standing on. He is standing on an altar. An altar similar to the altar here in our church. Notice what is placed at the feet of the lamb. A chalice with blood spilling from the lamb into the cup. This is a piture of communion. This is the Lord's Supper. This is where God himself invites us on a regular, on a weekly basis. We are invited into heaven. God himself, the Lamb who was slain, who holds the keys of death and hades, who will come again on the last day in power and glory to judge both the living and the dead comes right here. St Paul Lutheran Church becomes the earthly address for heaven as Jesus takes his seat here on our altar. The first and the last, the first born from the dead comes bringing us grace and peace in a very real a very tangible and a very physical way. We are brought into heaven. Heaven is brought into us.
As we have already acknowledged there are so many voiced competing for airtime and proclaiming so many different versions of the truth. It is often hard to make sense of the confusion. But there is one voice that calls out above the rest offering grace and peace. Offering live and salvation. That voice is Jesus.
Amen.
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