Coming Through The Great Ordeal
Sermon
I grew up after the World War II, when thoughts of the war were still very fresh in people's minds, but there had been sufficient time for the immediate horrors to begin to fade a little. Consequently the sort of children's literature which I read was full of references to bravery and courage, and the enemies were still Nazis, even though I had no idea what a Nazi was.
I particularly remember one book, which I think might have been "The Children of Primrose Hill" and which made quite an impression on me, because it was about a group of children who turned out to be heroes. They discovered a man hiding in a barn, and looked after him, secretly bringing him food and water. He convinced them he was a "goodie" and satisfactorily justified his presence in the barn, and like the children in the story, I believed in him completely.
But it turned out he was a fifth-columnist. This was something of a problem for the children in the story, but even more so for me since I'd never heard the phrase, "fifth-columnist" and the book became incomprehensible until I discovered from my mother what "Nazi" and "fifth-columnist" meant. Of course, all turned out all right in the end, good triumphed over evil as it always did in story books in those days, and the children were soon regarded as public heroes by the entire community. All very satisfactory.
But although I enjoyed the book from the beginning, its deeper meaning would have been lost on me if I hadn't found someone to interpret some of the words and ideas.
I think there's a similar problem of understanding with the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. The Book of Revelation was written as resistance literature at a time when the Christian community was suffering terrible persecution under the Romans, probably during the reign of Domitian, towards the end of the first century (A.D. 81-96).
Consequently, the book is written in coded language which would have been immediately understandable to the readers of the day, but entirely hidden from the Roman enemy. Unfortunately it's also almost totally incomprehensible to us twenty centuries later. And Revelation is a very specialised type of literature, known as "Apocalyptic literature", which was popular for about 400 years around the time of Jesus, but which went out of fashion around 18 centuries ago and which is entirely unfamiliar to us today.
Nothing in the Book of Revelation should be taken at face value, for nothing is quite as it appears. The book is heavily based on three Old Testament books containing similar apocalyptic-type literature, Ezekiel, Zechariah and Daniel, so Revelation can't really be understood in isolation from its background. Basically, the book looks forward to the end-time, when the forces of good, through Christ, will truly be seen as defeating evil, but the harsh and violent way in which that defeat occurs is not only strange to modern ears, but may also be quite distasteful to 21st century culture.
So is there any way in which Revelation can help us today, or should we just accept it as fine literature of its type, but no earthly good to us? I think Revelation probably can be relevant, if we take the liberty of re-interpreting it for our own time.
Although at first sight verses 13 and 14 from today's passage in chapter seven have nothing whatsoever to do with today's western world, on closer examination they might have a very valid message. Listen to them again: [13] Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?" [14] I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
Jesus, the Lamb himself, came out of a great ordeal, and led the way for the rest of humanity by coming through that ordeal into resurrection. When this passage was written, many Christians were dying horrifically because they refused to compromise their faith, so this passage was a huge encouragement to them. Their robes were being washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, so there was a definite point to their suffering. And at the end of it all they were promised eternal life in paradise with Jesus.
Even today there are still Christians in some parts of the world who suffer torture, imprisonment and even death for their faith, so clearly these words are relevant and important for them.
But this passage, and particularly those two verses, also says so much for the rest of us, who hopefully will never be in a position of having to face physical torture for our faith, for we do, or perhaps should, face ordeals. Because if we never face ordeals, perhaps we're not living out our faith as it should be lived.
Sometimes we face ordeals because we're thrust into them by life itself. If a family member becomes seriously ill, or dies, or there's redundancy or divorce or any other sort of pain in the family, then we find ourselves in the middle of an ordeal. The Christian faith tells us that if we hang on in there, sticking to our principles, maintaining our faith in God no matter how adverse the circumstances, then we shall at some point reach resurrection on the other side of the pain. If we cling to God throughout, then he is able to redeem the situation, no matter how awful it might be.
But there are other sorts of ordeals which most of us avoid if we possibly can. These are situations which are threatening to us personally, and which will differ for each of us. For instance, it might be a huge ordeal for one person to stand up and speak in public, but easy for them to confront a neighbour who is behaving badly. Someone else might find public speaking a piece of cake, but be unable to face up to the boss at work.
Some people find it almost impossible to say "no", and so find themselves doing all sorts of things they'd much rather not be doing. And eventually, they begin to resent doing those things and blame other people for their own stress and tiredness. Other people capitulate immediately to manipulation or pressure, and again, find themselves where they have no wish to be.
Some men can't cope with women, especially high-powered or intelligent women, and some women can't cope with men, especially high-powered and intelligent men.
We all have our own particular difficulties, and if we're to become the whole and fulfilled people that God has given us the potential to become, then we need to discover and confront our own black spots. Then we have to do something about those black spots, and that's where the great ordeal comes in. For each of us it will be both agonising and difficult to walk through those black spots, and we need to hold God's hand every step of the way.
We all have our own particular difficulties, and if we're to become the whole and fulfilled people that God has given us the potential to become, then we need to discover and confront our own black spots. Then we have to do something about those black spots, and that's where the great ordeal comes in. For each of us it will be both agonising and difficult to walk through those black spots, and we need to hold God's hand every step of the way.
But when we've done it, when we've confronted and done something about our own personal difficulties and come through the other side, then the angels in heaven will say about us, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
This is what Christianity offers us - freedom from all those things which enslave us, which prevent us being the whole and complete people we were destined to be. But we have to come through the great ordeal first if we're to wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. And then, when we've done that, we'll be fulfilled and whole and very rich indeed.
I particularly remember one book, which I think might have been "The Children of Primrose Hill" and which made quite an impression on me, because it was about a group of children who turned out to be heroes. They discovered a man hiding in a barn, and looked after him, secretly bringing him food and water. He convinced them he was a "goodie" and satisfactorily justified his presence in the barn, and like the children in the story, I believed in him completely.
But it turned out he was a fifth-columnist. This was something of a problem for the children in the story, but even more so for me since I'd never heard the phrase, "fifth-columnist" and the book became incomprehensible until I discovered from my mother what "Nazi" and "fifth-columnist" meant. Of course, all turned out all right in the end, good triumphed over evil as it always did in story books in those days, and the children were soon regarded as public heroes by the entire community. All very satisfactory.
But although I enjoyed the book from the beginning, its deeper meaning would have been lost on me if I hadn't found someone to interpret some of the words and ideas.
I think there's a similar problem of understanding with the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. The Book of Revelation was written as resistance literature at a time when the Christian community was suffering terrible persecution under the Romans, probably during the reign of Domitian, towards the end of the first century (A.D. 81-96).
Consequently, the book is written in coded language which would have been immediately understandable to the readers of the day, but entirely hidden from the Roman enemy. Unfortunately it's also almost totally incomprehensible to us twenty centuries later. And Revelation is a very specialised type of literature, known as "Apocalyptic literature", which was popular for about 400 years around the time of Jesus, but which went out of fashion around 18 centuries ago and which is entirely unfamiliar to us today.
Nothing in the Book of Revelation should be taken at face value, for nothing is quite as it appears. The book is heavily based on three Old Testament books containing similar apocalyptic-type literature, Ezekiel, Zechariah and Daniel, so Revelation can't really be understood in isolation from its background. Basically, the book looks forward to the end-time, when the forces of good, through Christ, will truly be seen as defeating evil, but the harsh and violent way in which that defeat occurs is not only strange to modern ears, but may also be quite distasteful to 21st century culture.
So is there any way in which Revelation can help us today, or should we just accept it as fine literature of its type, but no earthly good to us? I think Revelation probably can be relevant, if we take the liberty of re-interpreting it for our own time.
Although at first sight verses 13 and 14 from today's passage in chapter seven have nothing whatsoever to do with today's western world, on closer examination they might have a very valid message. Listen to them again: [13] Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?" [14] I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
Jesus, the Lamb himself, came out of a great ordeal, and led the way for the rest of humanity by coming through that ordeal into resurrection. When this passage was written, many Christians were dying horrifically because they refused to compromise their faith, so this passage was a huge encouragement to them. Their robes were being washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, so there was a definite point to their suffering. And at the end of it all they were promised eternal life in paradise with Jesus.
Even today there are still Christians in some parts of the world who suffer torture, imprisonment and even death for their faith, so clearly these words are relevant and important for them.
But this passage, and particularly those two verses, also says so much for the rest of us, who hopefully will never be in a position of having to face physical torture for our faith, for we do, or perhaps should, face ordeals. Because if we never face ordeals, perhaps we're not living out our faith as it should be lived.
Sometimes we face ordeals because we're thrust into them by life itself. If a family member becomes seriously ill, or dies, or there's redundancy or divorce or any other sort of pain in the family, then we find ourselves in the middle of an ordeal. The Christian faith tells us that if we hang on in there, sticking to our principles, maintaining our faith in God no matter how adverse the circumstances, then we shall at some point reach resurrection on the other side of the pain. If we cling to God throughout, then he is able to redeem the situation, no matter how awful it might be.
But there are other sorts of ordeals which most of us avoid if we possibly can. These are situations which are threatening to us personally, and which will differ for each of us. For instance, it might be a huge ordeal for one person to stand up and speak in public, but easy for them to confront a neighbour who is behaving badly. Someone else might find public speaking a piece of cake, but be unable to face up to the boss at work.
Some people find it almost impossible to say "no", and so find themselves doing all sorts of things they'd much rather not be doing. And eventually, they begin to resent doing those things and blame other people for their own stress and tiredness. Other people capitulate immediately to manipulation or pressure, and again, find themselves where they have no wish to be.
Some men can't cope with women, especially high-powered or intelligent women, and some women can't cope with men, especially high-powered and intelligent men.
We all have our own particular difficulties, and if we're to become the whole and fulfilled people that God has given us the potential to become, then we need to discover and confront our own black spots. Then we have to do something about those black spots, and that's where the great ordeal comes in. For each of us it will be both agonising and difficult to walk through those black spots, and we need to hold God's hand every step of the way.
We all have our own particular difficulties, and if we're to become the whole and fulfilled people that God has given us the potential to become, then we need to discover and confront our own black spots. Then we have to do something about those black spots, and that's where the great ordeal comes in. For each of us it will be both agonising and difficult to walk through those black spots, and we need to hold God's hand every step of the way.
But when we've done it, when we've confronted and done something about our own personal difficulties and come through the other side, then the angels in heaven will say about us, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
This is what Christianity offers us - freedom from all those things which enslave us, which prevent us being the whole and complete people we were destined to be. But we have to come through the great ordeal first if we're to wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. And then, when we've done that, we'll be fulfilled and whole and very rich indeed.
