The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Around the end of the first century, perhaps 60 years after the death of Jesus, a very bright and dedicated pastor was arrested by the Roman authorities for some kind of religious crime, and sentenced to a long stay on the prison island of Patmos, on the north east end of the Mediterranean sea near present day Turkey. The pastor’s name was John. I believe he had been a traveling pastor, perhaps a circuit rider, and now incarcerated, he had a lot of time on his hands, which he spent in prayer and meditation, thinking about his faith in God and what the government was doing to stand in the way of believers. If you visit Patmos today, they will show you the cell where tradition says John was imprisoned.

One Sunday morning, as John was praying, he had a vision, (1:9) a vision that he later described as an apocalypse, that is, a revelation of what had taken place and what might take place. Actually the word apocalypse means an uncovering, or unveiling. I’ve chosen to call it an unlocking. Revelation answers a question or a mystery. In this case John says that he will uncover the mystery of Jesus Christ. This book is all about Jesus Christ, and the worship of Jesus Christ.

John’s vision is a prophetic one. I hesitate to use the word because most people think prophecy means prediction. Not so. Prophets are not fortunetellers. The prophet was not addressing the future; he was shining a light on what was going on at that time. The prophet brought a word of God to a specific and current situation. God, the prophet says, is speaking NOW.

Here is where things get tricky. At times, the prophet tells what will happen if this behavior continues. He says, "If this continues there will be consequences." In this sense the prophet did predict the future, but his real interest was the present moment.

One more thing about prophesies. The prophetic outcome was always conditional because it was (and is) dependent on the human response. If people don’t change, then disaster strikes. If they do, things get better. Do you remember Jonah’s trip to Nineveh? Jonah predicted that in 40 days Nineveh would be destroyed. He told the people in public.

The king and all the people said, "We’ve been bad. We need to change." And they did. Then we read that people repented. Were they destroyed? No, because "When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it." (Jonah 3:10) The prophecy was conditional.

In the past I have talked about the evils of gambling, expressing my shock and amazement that our government not only sponsors it, but actually encourages people to gamble (advertisements). I have said, (or we could say, prophesied) that the results would be something akin to a tumor growing on the public body. This past week the Wisconsin State Journal reported that the number of people seeking help for problem gambling has more than doubled in the past 10 years. They expect 10,000 calls this year, up from 3,900 in 1997. The Executive Director of the Council on Problem Gambling attributes this to more gambling opportunities. Three quarters of the calls, the paper reported, come from those who gamble at casinos. The prophet in Madison, or in Patmos, takes no delight in being correct.

The purpose of the prophet’s utterances was to warn people, to turn people to God, not to show off his powers.

In Revelation we sometimes hear John speaking, and sometimes we hear Jesus speaking. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God (1:8) "I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom was on the island called Patmos (1:9).

Throughout the book John speaks to the churches about the Roman government. If you missed what he said about Rome, it is because he calls Rome Babylon. When you read Babylon, think Rome. Revelation is written in code, but more about that in the weeks to come.

John’s attitude toward the government is different from what we read from Paul. In Romans 13, the chapter begins, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." (Romans 13.1) John is not as optimistic about Rome (Babylon). After all, he has been imprisoned, perhaps just for speaking up about God. Let me speculate about the reason for John’s imprisonment. In certain sections of the empire, people were required to put a pinch of incense on a fire and say in front of government officials, "Caesar is Lord." Those who refused were not granted a work permit and were excluded from certain jobs. Others were thrown in jail. Some Christians went along, crossing their fingers when they said the phony words. Others refused. The government called them atheists, because they didn’t believe in god, that is, in the Caesar who claimed to be god. All of what John wrote is against the background of persecution. Revelation is a call for people to be courageous and stand against persecution. In Chapter two John begins to record his vision, the words that Jesus spoke to him, words that were directed to the seven churches. He lists each church and tells them what he admires and what he abhors. He chides the churches whose life has been marred by complacency and self-contentment and who are in need of revival. This was especially urgent, in view of the fact that persecution was about to strike everyone. He wrote to reawaken faith and to strengthen his friends to face the ordeal of suffering.

Beginning with Ephesus (2:1-7), he applauded them for enduring in the face of persecution. In 2.2, he wrote, "I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear evil men…" Later he affirmed Smyrna for their brave suffering (2.10) He warned them that some would be thrown into prison. Then he gave this glorious promise: Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. (2.10) He applauded Thyatira for developing disciples, and Philadelphia for their brave steadfastness.

John also had a corrective word. He told five of the seven churches that they needed reformation (exceptions-Smyrna and Philadelphia). Ephesus was chastised for abandoning its first zestful love of Christ, Pergamum for being indifferent to heretical teaching, Thyatira of being tolerant of immorality, and Sardis for being apathetic. He reserved his strongest words for Laodicea, for allowing their wealth to substitute for life in the Spirit. Then these words, "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth." (3:15, 16)

What would be written to the angel of the church of Bethel? What would be written about you and me, as individuals? Would he have commended us for standing for what is right and godly? Would he have suggested that we have grown rich and complacent? Do we live life with an alleluia in our heart and a doxology in our spirit? Are we people who share our wealth? Would he commend us for taking care of the poor?

Is it possible that he make the same charge against us that he did against Laodicea – that we are neither hot nor cold, that we are merely lukewarm, that we are a people who refuse to develop the discipline of prayer, or refuse to listen to God, or to act with urgency on those matters that God lays before us? We quickly discover that we face the same problems today that the church faced 2,000 years ago.

Next week we will see how the writer moves from his address to the seven churches to a different vision. We will meet the four horsemen, the seals, and most important, the Lamb. The hero of this book is not a warrior, but a lamb. As we move through this book we will discover that the God who created the world can be demanding. As the poet wrote: "Don’t think of God as nice. He can be just terrible. He can scorch you with his breath."

In the first book of the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis the children ask if Aslan, the Lion, who is a God figure, is safe. "No," answers Mrs. Beaver. "He is not safe. But he is good."

God is not safe. God does not wink at our indiscretions. God is demanding. But God is good. And God still loves us. Knowing that God is good is not an excuse to be apathetic, or to remain lukewarm. Our hope still is in the forgiveness, the grace of God.

Please note that in the words to the seven churches he had a promise for each one. They all were promised eternal life. He also promised the tree of life for Ephesus, a crown of life for Smyrna, a white stone for Pergamum, and a morning star for Thyatira. For others, a pillar and a promise that they will eat with Christ.

Love, healing and hope are the keys to the Book of Revelation. It is a story of God’s love for the world, a world that God will never leave behind.