The Lord of All Ages
Revelation 1:4b-8 04/18/2004
No matter how zany, crazy the world we live in, God is still God, the Lord of all ages.
Aaaah, the "good old days." Depending on your perspective, that phrase could mean virtually anything. As time refuses to do us any favors and relentlessly marches on, it creates new "good old days" out of what we thought were the "worst of times" just a few years ago.
For example, it took the political and social radicalism of the 60s to turn the 30s and the 40s--the years of a Great Depression and a World War--into the "good old days" for those who became adults during the 30s and 40s. It took the pursuit of self and lust for status and success of the 80s to turn the 60s--the years of Viet Nam and rampant nuclear arms--into the "good old days" for us Baby Boomers. It's taking the social insecurity and crazy rapid advance of technology of the 90s to make the 70s--the years of economic recession and terrorism abroad--into the "good old days" for those who are in their 30s today.
The same principle applies to the way we romanticize the Old West or forget the benefits of modern medical science, which were unavailable in the "good old days." Instead of wishing for some mythical, never-were, "good old days," Christians should be celebrating the fact that we are living in precisely that moment in history in which God has chosen us to live and love and act.
Have you ever thought about that before? You are living in precisely that moment in history in which God has chosen you to live and love and act. We can know this and proclaim it boldly because of the reminder we hear today from John's Revelation: "'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" (v.8).
God is acting in the world today because "God is." We are called to minister in "this present age, to fulfill our calling" because the spirit of God is as vitally present today as it was in the "good old days" or as it will be in the astounding apocalyptic future John's Revelation foresees. God is always with us. God is, was and will be.
Let’s look first at the God who was. This is the God we think we all yearn for--the "good-old-days" God. We like to recall the God of ages past as that "on-the-spot" Deity who brought the Hebrews out of Egypt, or who helped the Israelites clear the Promised Land of Hittites, Canaanites and Philistines. This is the God who turned up the volume on Joshua's trumpets at Jericho, and who helped David whip 13 tribes into a proud nation.
But even those who lived during the time when God was longed for the "good old days." Who were they? The Israelites fleeing through wilderness longed for the security of Egypt. Job agonizing through an unexpected test and unforeseen trials cried out, "Why are times not kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his day?" (Job 24:1).
Habakkuk, suffering under the abuse of the Babylonians, asked of God, "Are you not from of old, O Lord, my God, my Holy One?" (Habakkuk 1:12).
Yet looking back, it is so easy for us to see "the God who was" standing right there beside Israel, Job, Habakkuk. The Lord was the Lord of their age.
Now we have the God who is. Paul's words to the Corinthians should remind us of the Lord's continued presence, just as the same words buoyed up that first generation of Christians: "See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2)." Every age, every generation, is the same distance from eternity, from the standpoint of a God who was, is and is to come.
Habakkuk's times were not all that different from our own. How many of us have said something like the words Habakkuk wrote in his first chapter: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you, “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous (and so) judgment (is) perverted. Look at the nations and see! Be astonished! Be astounded!”
Truly, then, now is the acceptable time for God to be acting and moving in our world and in our lives.
How can we claim for God this current age called postmodernism, which is a time when nothing is considered absolute truth, it is all relative and to be questioned? How can we not be afraid of it or long for the "good old days?"
By letting God be…by letting Him be present in this age by claiming each facet of this world for God, not responding with apathy or tisking at what the world has become. In our uncaring and self-absorption, we are abandoning our current age to the demons of greed, poverty, violence, neglect, abuse, pollution and despair.
Let God be God ... in you.
Let God be God ... in your church.
Let God be God ... in your neighborhood.
Let God be God ... in your job.
Let God be God ... in your family.
Let God be God ... in your world.
After all, God is soooooo….God!
And what about the God who is to come? In many Protestant churches, this Sunday is known as "Christ the King" Sunday. This designated day affirms the saving kingship of Christ over all persons, all nations, all times, all the universe. Christ, the ruler over all, assured his future kingdom through his death and resurrection. Christ, through his blood, assured our future in the presence of God.
Because God is yet to come, today makes a difference. Because God is yet to come, all the saints who have gone before us, who have died reciting the Shema or the Rosary or the Lord’s Prayer have made a difference. Because God is yet to come, the way we "live and breathe and have our being" makes a difference.
Are you making a difference? Are you incarnating the God who is, who was, and who is to come, in this age, in your life, today?
Many of us hesitate to tell others about what Christ has done in their lives, about their faith, because they don’t think that the change in their lives has been that spectacular. But we qualify as a witness for Jesus because of what he has done for you, not because of what you have done for him.
Let me repeat that: you qualify as a witness for Jesus because of what he has done for you, not because of what you have done for him. Christ demonstrated his great love by setting us free from our sins through his death on the cross and making us priests to administer God’s love to others He puts in our path. Revelation 1:5 that Julie read this morning says “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…” We are all priests.
And when you read the words of the Bible, particularly Revelation, don’t just read it and think, “Oh, that’s interesting. Wow! So that’s the future!” Keep in mind that these words are not just good advice, they are the truth from the King of kings. Let that truth penetrate your whole life, deepen your faith in him, and strengthen your commitment to follow him no matter what.
Let’s pray together the prayer printed in your bulletin: O God in whose sight a thousand years are as an evening gone by, enlarge our horizon so that we may see your majesty in all your works and know your lordship in all your ways. Amen.
BENEDICTION:
From the award-winning gospel album, The Great Adventure, by Steven Curtis Chapman:
Saddle up your horses!
We've got a trail to blaze.
Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace.
