Revelation

I have to confess that I sighed, loudly, when I saw that the Morning Prayer lectionary was on both the books of Daniel and Revelation. Both of these are what are known as apocalyptic literature - that is literature relating to the end times - but both of them are couched in strangely visionary language which can be a challenge to understand and in some places seem downright vindictive.

I do not sit comfortably with the thought of a God who sends grotesquely exaggerated insects to torture people. I do not belief that is the sort of God we have. Of course, if God was human, God might well decide we all deserve to be treated extremely badly - but God is not and I am not sure that the word pictures in Revelation really reveal much, except that God is so utterly different from us in the way God deals with our refusal to love Him as we should.

But thinking about this is negative terms will stop us in our tracks as surely as a giant locust. If we spend all our time worrying about how we get it wrong we will torture ourselves. Our starting place, as Christians is that we do owe God everything of ourselves but that, for whatever reason, we cannot quite give everything we should. In the Old Testament the solution for this shortfall was to sacrifice things - but the answer for out shortfall is Jesus - and Jesus is a point of rejoicing and not despair.

So yes, we should call to mind the times when we fall short but then, like John Bunyan's pilgrim, we have to lay down our load at Jesus feet and walk with a lighter step on our journey. And this journey is one of rejoicing and not fear - certainly not terror. That human beings have a darker side is a fact. But we are not called to dwell in it - nor are we asked to scare ourselves into action.

The central image in Revelation is the Lamb - Jesus. But because of its wanderings this can easily get lost beneath the fear which its images produce. Jesus is the answer to all our lack, Jesus is the answer to all our fear - there is no question of this and we have to live more and more into this truth - a positive action to walk into light and salvation.