Apocalypse Now? - October 23
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 31; PM Psalm 35, Ecclus. 11:2-20; Rev. 9:13-21; Luke 10:38-42
Whew! What a wild week through Revelation, if you’ve had the intestinal fortitude to stick with the opening of seals, proclamation of woes, and sounding of trumpets! It’s not lost on me that our lectionary for the Daily Office will keep us reading and reflecting on The Revelation to John for the next couple of weeks, coinciding with the 2020 presidential election crescendo. Are these readings selected as a political commentary? Is this a harbinger of the end times? Is the apocalypse happening?
First, please know that we’ll read these same verses in two years, according to the two-year cycle of Holy Scripture laid out in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Each year in the weeks leading us up to the close of the church year and the start of Advent, we wander through Revelation. Why? Because Jesus is calling us to repent and turn our eyes to God.
I’m curious about the words we use, and the feelings they evoke. Let’s take the word “apocalypse”. Apocalypse is derived from the Greek word meaning “unveiling” or “disclosure”. As we prepare our hearts and minds for what it means to follow God, the Holy Scriptures invite us into the space to ponder what and who we rely upon – and what we believe God has in store for us. Revelation presents brightly descriptive language and images of God’s judgment upon humanity, relayed to us by John, madman of Patmos.
What images come to mind when you think of apocalypse? What books or movies have you read? In the 1990s, my mom was a proponent for shopping at Sam’s Club. She had three daughters who would plunder the supply of apples, marshmallows, and milk – not together, or in that order! Mom loved to buy in bulk, because it was a bargain. She was a penny pincher, raising us without much financial help from my dad. So, Sam’s Club was a great venue for shopping, and they had a book aisle. Mom would stroll up and down the row, taking stock of new books. She bought Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days and shared it with me once she finished. The premise of the book (and subsequent volumes), as described by Christianity Today, was this: “a premillennial view of the End Times favored by earlier generations of American fundamentalists, in which Christ “raptures” his followers to heaven before a series of apocalyptic events unfold on earth.”
I felt terrified and riveted by the story line. There was fire. There was violence. There was some romance. And I think they drove around in a Hummer? Here’s my confession: I had not read much of Revelation in my upbringing as an Episcopalian. Sunday School taught me stories of Jesus and living into the Ten Commandments…not studying the seven seals and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. And so today, we are wandering through Revelation, and these words are both fresh and overwhelming.
What is one to make of all of this? Depending on context and circumstances, you and I might come up with different responses. Some of us are more literal, and others are more metaphorical. Here’s what I am choosing to hold fast to today. Many of these visions of destruction are reminders of the Exodus plagues: hail and fire on the earth, fish dying in the river and tainting the waters, darkness upon the Earth. While I want to look for clues of what is to come, what I can do for this very moment is repent for those sins of today. What I can do is rely upon God for comfort, encouragement, and guidance, rather than looking to “idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood” (Rev. 9:20). What I can do is pray without ceasing. And finally, what I can do is turn away from fear and lean into faith in God – one moment at a time.
-- Katherine+
(Want to read more about the Daily Office lectionary? Check out the BCP, beginning on page 934. If it leaves you confused, let one of your clergy know and we’ll talk you through it.)
Questions for Reflection
What words and phrases come to mind when you think of apocalypse?
What are you hoping God will bring to an end? What are you hoping God will renew?
Daily Challenge
God invites us to pay attention to the holy, and not always get tripped up the earthly. Spend ten minutes in silent reflection about what parts of your life God might be asking you to turn around.