The Reverend Kirk T. Berlenbach

May 9, 2010

Easter V, Year C

Do you ever want to just throw in the towel? Does life make you want to say, I’ve had it! Some days it is the petty concerns of life, like seeing kids casually drop litter in front of the church or watching a healthy man park in a handicap spot before trotting into LA Fitness, that get to us. Or maybe it’s the petty concerns of office politics or family conflict that wear you down. Or maybe it happens when you turn on the news or open the paper and hear about the drugs, or oil spills or suicide bombings. When we get overwhelmed like that all we can see is the violence, oppression, lies and degradation- and it is so tempting to say, “Uncle! I give! I can’t keep fighting anymore!” All these problems are too much whatever we do to try and make things better just seems pointless. But, as Christians we are not allowed to give into despair. On the contrary, we are supposed to hope and that in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, that one day, our broken little world will be remade into the Kingdom of Heaven. So what should we do? How do we manage to live in this world and yet still hold onto hope?

Interestingly enough we can find the answer in the Book of Revelation. Right about now you might be wondering just how that could be possible. We have been told that it is a book of prophecy. Most of what we hear about it has to do with ten headed beasts, the Whore of Babylon and angels pouring our bowls of blood. But as colorful and as intriguing as all the images of … they really have nothing to do with the spiritual essence of the book. On the contrary, when we spend our time looking for the signs and portents of the end or trying to calculate the true identity of the Anti-Christ, we get distracted from the all important task of putting our faith into action. But the even more insidious side of Revelation is that it tempts us become complacent. If everything is set- if the cosmic forces and destinies are already in motion, if G-D is going to take care of everything in the end, do we even need to bother trying? This can be especially appealing in those times when we feel particularly helpless to stand against the evils of the world. It is for that very reason that Martin Luther wanted to get it removed from the Bible and it is for that very reason that we must instead learn to discern what it really means.

Contrary to popular belief, this most nebulous and difficult book of our Bible, is not simply a collection of cryptic and at times, terrifying predictions of the future. Rather it is message encouragement sent to a Church under siege. At the time that it was written, the Roman Empire was actively persecuting Christians throughout the Empire. There was nothing they could do to protect themselves… they had no power to fight back, no rights under the law… hope was fading. And so G-D spoke to them through this book… not so much as to predict specific future events but rather to encourage them to hold on to their faith.

When we understand its context, it becomes much easier to see that The Revelation is really a book of hope meant, not to inspire nightmares but to encourage us to go on believing. It tells us that even when things seem hopeless, we don’t have to give up because, in the end G-D will set it right and we will be rewarded for our perseverance. Just like the persecuted Christians, this is a message that we need to hear. For even though our circumstances are infinitely better it is still hard to hold onto to the hope that things can ever really improve. In spite of our best efforts to live peacefully, help those in need and generally make the world a better place, evil always seems to have the upper hand. But when properly understood, Revelation reminds us that if we stay true to the faith, no matter how difficult, that in the end it will be worth it- we may not see the difference, we may not ever know in this life the good our faithfulness accomplished, but it is real nonetheless. For whatever we cannot do on own, G-D will ultimately bring to fruition.

That is an incredible message. And it does not depend on any mystical understanding or correct deciphering of prophecy. When we trust in G-D to complete our work, we are both rescued us from despair and also kept from sliding into complacency. If we have faith in that- if we can trust in that- then we can find the courage and the second wind that we need to keep on going through those times when evil seems to have the upper hand and all our good work seems to make little or no difference at all.

What could be more timely? What could be more important for us to hear? For although we do not have to face persecution for the sake of our faith, in some ways our position is even more challenging that the believers that Revelation was written for. Unlike the first Christians who spent their lives looking for Christ’s imminent return we have settled in for the long haul. Two thousand years have passed and still Jesus hasn’t come back. Generations of believers have come and gone and still we wait. And there are days when all we can see is evil and death and when all the good we have worked so hard to bring about seems to have vanished before our eyes. And on those days its really hard to keep hoping that the glorious vision contained in Revelation, a vision of a city in which there is no temple because G-D lives at its center… a city in which the peoples of the world come and go freely and in peace… and evil is forever put down, that such a vision can actually become a reality.

Yet just because it may seem to be an unachievable pipe dream doesn’t mean that we can just stop doing our part to make it become a reality. For as insignificant as our own efforts might seem, they still make a difference. Even as we speak thousands of women and men, including a number from this parish, are giving us an example of exactly what this looks like as they Walk for a Cure. They run or walk to raise money and awareness of breast cancer which will make a difference in the here and now. But they also walk in the hope that one day, so long as people keep working to make it happen, that a cure will be found. It may not be today or tomorrow or even next year, but one day their hope will be fulfilled. Indeed, they believe that each step that they takes makes a difference.

It is the same for us. Our efforts to make the world a better place today may not be completed in our lifetimes or in the lifetimes of our great-great-grandchildren but one day they will be fulfilled. If we can hang onto this hope then we can find the strength to keep going, to keep working, to keep fighting, even on those days when evil seems to triumph and all our best efforts seem to amount to nothing. For, just like the persecuted Christians of The Revelation, we know that we do not labor alone… indeed G-D Almighty Himself labors alongside us. For the work we do now, however imperfect and however incomplete, will one day be brought to completion by G-D. One day, evil will be purged and that creation will be restored. And that one day, one glorious day, the Kingdom of Heaven will be fully and completely established upon the Earth.