Revelation is seen as a book about the end of the world. But, it’s a letter to a handful of churches, a phone call in troubled times. Sometimes the things we are most grateful for, are words from a friend.

Scripture: Rev 1:4b–8 

• Revelation

This reading comes from a book that describes itself as Revelation of Jesus Christ. Whether it’s called Revelation or Apocalypse, culturally it’s seen as being about the end of the world. Another way to see it is as a glimpse into the story of a handful of churches and power, when the world as they know it is ending, of remembering the basics. 

If Ingrid’s Father was telling this story, he might say Once, long long ago, when Fred Flintstone roamed the earth, we had pay phones. When someone didn’t have coins, they would could collect. Your phone would ring and the first thing you would hear is will you accept the call? 

There’s something similar going on in moments like these. John’s book arrived, they read the description on the back, opened the cover, and heard Will you Accept the Call?

If you accept that call on, the other person will say something like hello, how are you, how’s it going… this is John. Here, it’s Grace and Peace to you from… and a list of names. Grace was a standard way of saying hello in a Greek letter. It’s also describes Gd’s action in the world. We describe people as having grace when their actions seem to flow from something deeper, including when they are generous and understanding. Shalom in Hebrew, is often translated peace. It certainly implies the absence of war and violence but it is a much wider term. If Grace is Gd’s action in the world. Shalom, peace, is what the world would look like if it was transformed by grace.

Now, this greeting is not from the writer. Grace and peace to you from (1) the one who is and was and is coming (2) the seven spirits that are before God’s throne and (3) and from Jesus Christ—the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

The first and last in this list arn’t too hard to guess: God and Jesus Christ. But that middle one: seven spirits before the throne. Seven was sometimes used symbolically for things like completeness: All the Spirits of God. We talk about the Holy Spirit as  that one wholeness but, if there is nowhere any of us can go and not find god there, it makes just as much sense for someone writing to seven churches to speak of seven spirits each speaking to the unique situation of one local church. If you’ve been to both Missoula and Stevensville, it wouldn’t surprise you if I said Gd was up to different things in those two very different places. 

If that is true, it is the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit that sending greetings. All that is holy and divine sends peace and grace to you.

Even as John has visions of the world coming to an end. Even as the world threatens to overwhlem them. Even as all that, the first words are Grace and Peace to you.

Does that look a source for gratitude? That even when the world as we know it is coming to an end, Gd still speaks and works among those who gather together to walk with Jesus to pour out grace into the world that the kingdom, the presence of shalom … of peace would spread in the world… at the very same time the world as we know it is coming apart at the seams. Others may not see it, but the curtain can be pulled back and reveal the unseen.

Will you accept the call? Will you say thank you?

John continues by offering a short prayer

To the one who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 who made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever and always. Amen. 

The one who loves us. Did you catch that. If you begin by telling people what you’re going to say, this is not a book about the  end of the world but about the one who loves us, that knows you as beloved and valuable in of yourself. Even as the world says you are not worthy, you are not welcome, you do not belong. Here is a voice saying you have always been welcome here.

And John… for those who have forgotten, reminds his readers what it means for the divine and for Jesus to love you. You are worth all the blood Jesus shed in this life. 

Does that look a source for gratitude? That even when the world rages around you and against all that you believe and love, you are not that. You are, have always been and will always be worth all the blood, sweat and tears that have been shed for your life. 

If your friend is driving up to Lolo and take a left and they have car problems, there isn’t much cell signal. But, if they nurse your car to the visitor center at the top of the pass, there is *one* pay phone. Even if the visitor’s center is closed, even if they left their wallet and purse at home, I suspect they can still place a collect call. And you’ll get to answer the question, will you accept the call?

You see it’s not just that you are worth all that. So are those around you. One of the messages that echoes through the Bible is Gd can not do this alone. For everyone who accepted the call at the beginning of this letter, part of who you are now is the means for that love to pour out. The words in John’s prayer speak of being a kingdom, a nation of priests. It is an identity that goes back to the pre-history of our faith. Gathering and walking together is how we are transformed into the living presence of the kingdom of heaven on earth. 

Somehow it all begins by answering the call

What does gratitude look like in the midst of the visions that are described in this book?

What does gratitude look like when the storm clouds overwhelm us?

What does gratitude look like when we pull back the clouds, when we peer behind the scenes?

What does gratitude look like here?

What does gratitude look like when people come home?

Benediction

    The Lord bless you
            and keep you;
    the Lord make his face shine on you
            and be gracious to you;
    the Lord turn his face toward you   
            and give you peace

    May you know that you are valuable and
    beloved of the All that is Holy 

    May you answer the call
    May you pull back the curtain
    May you learn a gratitude that is so deep and complete
      that you will give everything you have in thanks