Hope in Times of Chaos

There is hope. That is the name of our series this spring looking at all kinds of Bible stories of people in seemingly hopeless circumstances but who found their hope in the Lord. My name is René, one of the pastors here, and next weekend I hope you can join us as we welcome Pastor Ricky Jenkins from Southwest Church as our special guest speaker. But first, today I want to wrap up this series with a look at hope in times of chaos.

And after this week, do we need this or what? We're already dealing with a global pandemic and then national revulsion over the killing of George Floyd and now locally this weekend deep grief and agony over the killing of Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller yesterday near Ben Lomond. It just seems like just when you think that the bad news couldn't get any worse, it does. It goes to a new level. We've dealt with frustration and destructive looting. The cover of New Yorker magazine this week has the world literally upside down. And I don't know about you but that's what it's been feeling like to me these days.

And you've been asking yourself probably as I have been, how can we live through this with hope that things are going to go someplace good, someplace better, someplace right side up? Well, this morning I want to introduce you to a man named John who was sentenced 2,000 years ago by the oppressive Roman regime to a rocky island called Patmos in the Aegean Sea. Now, probably most of us think of an island in the Aegean Sea. We think of vacation, right? Some location from the musical Mamma Mia or something. Well, his island was more like this island, Alcatraz. He went to a prison island and he was sentenced there just for being a Christian.

And the worst thing is he is all alone and the only news he hears from outside his island is bad news. And do you ever feel like that these days? Isolated, alone. And it seems like you only hear more and more bad news. That's exactly John's circumstance. What kept John of Patmos going? Well, he says he was worshiping the Lord alone one Sunday morning when suddenly he heard a voice and he turns around and he sees a vision of Jesus Christ. And Jesus gives him more vision, sort of a God's eye view of history in dreamlike imagery.

And John writes these visions down and sends them to the mainland to Christians who were being thrown to lions by the Romans and killed in other brutal ways, oppressed. John wanted to encourage them to hang on, to not despair. And whatever he wrote to them must have worked because they not only survived in their world of chaos, they thrived in their world, they changed their world, they introduced reforms that transformed their world, they did not give in to despair, they did not ever resort to violence, partly because of what they heard from John.

And so I was thinking that what he wrote just might be encouraging to us today too. What he wrote to them wound up in our Bibles as the book of Revelation, the very last book of the Bible. Now, Revelation's got somewhat of a reputation for being bewildering. So let me give you kind of a big picture first and then we're going to dive into two chapters of Revelation. The point of the whole book of Revelation is summarized by Jesus in the Gospel of John 16:33 when Jesus says, "In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart I have overcome the world."

There's two words in this verse that appear again and again in the book of Revelation and really set the theme for that book. Jesus says first the word tribulation. He says you're going to have it and tribulation is a word as I said that appears over and over again in Revelation. Jesus says you will have it but not just you know a poor pathetic group of Christians at the end of all time. You will have it, I will have it. But he says take heart for I have overcome the world and that's another word that's repeated several times in the book of Revelation.

The idea, the big picture being yes now in this life there's great tribulation but we can look to Jesus who has overcome the tribulation and the evil and the sin and the suffering and can help us overcome as well. So with that as kind of the big picture summary of the book of Revelation we're going to look at two chapters today that I personally find so invigorating and hope-giving: Revelation chapters 6 and 7. This part of the Bible is sometimes known as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and when we first start reading this you're going to wonder how could René get any hope out of these verses but hang with me because I really want you to see that big picture from tribulation to overcoming.

In this passage of the Bible in these dreamlike images these four horsemen are symbols that each represent another kind of chaos in our world. Let's go to verse 1. John says I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals and then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder come and I looked and there before me was a white horse and its rider held a bow like a bow and arrow and he was given a crown and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

Now press pause here for just a second because white horse to most of us that does not sound frightening right? When we think of a white horse we probably think of like the horses that pulled Cinderella's carriage we think of a Disney horse but when the original readers read white horse they most likely thought of the armies of the Parthian Empire. This was an empire that was right on the edge of the Mediterranean world and the Roman Empire it's where modern-day Iraq and Iran are and the Parthian army rode on white Arabian style horses with bows and arrows and they were invincible.

In fact they could even make the Romans bow down before him. One giant stone relief carving and a cliff survives in Iran today and you can see the scale of this by the woman that's looking at it there in the lower left hand corner. This is a massive statue of a Parthian Emperor on his white horse forcing the Roman Caesar and the Caesar in this particular instance is Vespasian to bow down before him and pay him homage. That's right even the Roman Caesars could be told by the Parthian's grovel and they would there was nothing anybody could do to stop them.

So when these verses talk about horsemen riding on white horses it was like they're the worst they're the scariest there's nothing we can do against them and this first horseman of the apocalypse represents war all through history that human trait to always want to conquer to invade which brings so much grief. Alright next when the lamb opened the second seal I heard the second living creature say come and then another horse came out a fiery red one and its rider was given power to take peace from the earth watch this and to make men slay each other to him was given a large sword and this horseman represents violence which our society and our world right now just seems plagued by the violence of abusive authority and the violence of looting the violence of corrupt police and violence against police the violence of gangs of murderers all violence is condemned here that's the second horseman.

Okay next when the lamb opened the third seal I heard the third living creature say come but I looked and there before me was a black horse and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand now wait a second here the first rider had a bow and arrow the second rider had a sword and this third rider has some scales why is this scary we are going to weigh you and make you go on a diet what is this talking about well watch this then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures saying a quart of wheat for a day's wages and three quarts of barley for a day's wages and do not damage the oil and the wine in other words such a high rate of inflation that it takes you all day to earn enough wheat to bake one loaf of bread so this horse represents economic hardship businesses failing markets crashing price gouging that's another kind of chaos in the world.

Alright what's the fourth horseman represent that's next when the lamb opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say come and I looked and there before me was a pale horse and its rider was named death and Hades was following close behind him and they were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword famine plague and the wild beasts of the earth so we've already had economic hardship and war and violence this represents basically everything else I call it disease etc which of course we're experiencing in our world today and what this passage of scripture is saying is that history is the record of these four horsemen because they still ride today don't they they are riding even as I speak over in Syria in the seemingly never-ending war over there they rode in Minneapolis at the killing of George Floyd they rode through our own County yesterday when Damon Gutzwiller was killed they ride in the economic fallout of the lockdown they ride as the disease of COVID-19 kills more and more people they ride every time there's another shooting another looting another act of violence.

Aren't you sick and tired of these four horsemen? Well you are not alone because look what happens next verse 9 and when he opened the fifth seal I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained and so these people are those who had been killed for their faith and it says they called out in a loud voice how long sovereign Lord holy and true until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood and this fifth seal represents grief and anger over all the injustice in the world these are victims in heaven asking God how long until you judge how long will it keep getting worse and one huge takeaway of this passage for me is that it's okay to say God how long will this go on it's okay to say God this really stinks right now you don't have to go it's okay I'm good it's all good.

These people in this passage don't do that they look down on the mess here on earth and they say that is not fair Lord it's not supposed to be like that and if this is happening in heaven that tells me it's okay for it to happen here on earth in fact I take it to mean it's actually God honoring to hunger for justice it is God honoring to not want one more person killed because of racism and to not want one more officer dead in some completely senseless violence and to not want one more child that of malnutrition and to not want one more Christian killed because of their faith it is not being a complainer it is not being overly sensitive because look at what happens God doesn't go oh thou complainers thou are bounced you know mute or I shall hit eject from heaven no he's so understanding it says then each of them was given a white robe and they were told to wait a little longer.

Now what does this mean white robe you know do I get killed for my faith and all I get is a bathrobe what's that all about what's it supposed to mean well white robes were often worn in the Roman Empire as a sign of victory Olympic athletes for example or victorious generals would go to VIP banquets dressed in their special white robes they were kind of like wearing a Super Bowl championship ring so do you get what is happening in this verse this is God handing out the winning teams jersey even before the World Series ends but guaranteeing that they will win this is God handing out the champagne glasses before the end of the Super Bowl saying get ready for the victory toast this is God saying I promise you though there is tribulation we shall overcome.

And maybe you really need to hear this today because maybe this week maybe this morning when you woke up to the bad news about what happened at our County yesterday you have found yourself tempted to just despair to just give up as you pray God how long and God says don't despair don't give up hang in there keep working for the right keep standing up because I guarantee you things will not always be this way things will change we shall overcome.

So I hope that you feel the white robe being placed on your shoulder today in this moment by God telling you there is hope you know I'm in a local group of Bay Area pastors we've all become friends we call ourselves TBC transforming the Bay through Christ and this past Thursday the TBC pastors were all on a zoom call and we asked four of us who are all African-American pastors to talk about what's been happening in our country and our area and of course they all lamented that looting has obscured their important message and my friend Herman Hamilton here was asked how are you answering your congregation this week when they ask you what do we do to respond to these voices crying out against racism in America.

Watch what he said the basic point that I've been saying I pastor a large very diverse community and what I've been saying to people who are not African-Americans look lean in and hear the stories lament be angry alongside weep alongside we all should be weeping at what we hear about the loss of life Mr. Floyd and a whole host of others before that we all should be weeping to your point there are tens of thousand police officers who do their job well every day we ought to be weeping at how a handful of folk have totally undercut the legitimacy in the work that's been done over the years and and yet we ought to believe if we come together we can overturn what looks like it's permanent as we exercise the power of faith and justice together.

Do you see the biblical pattern in what he's talking about there we lament and we can also have hope that evil will be overturned now of course this doesn't mean we just sit back and wait these Saints in heaven had to wait but we on earth have a commission right from the Bible to seek justice love mercy and walk humbly and we have to do all three we can't just do one seek justice love mercy and walk humbly even though we know that ultimate and permanent justice won't happen until the sixth seal God's judgment.

John says I watched as he opened the sixth seal and there was a great earthquake the Sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair the whole moon turned blood red and the stars in the sky fell to earth as figs dropped from a tree when shaken by a strong wind the heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

Now it sounds at first like this is talking about a natural disaster but actually this is symbolic and the symbolism would have been understood by anybody in the Roman Empire today let me let me show in those days let me show you a coin excuse me this was a coin of the Roman Empire this was a Caesar this was Domitian one of the Roman Caesars at the end of the first century and it shows him controlling the seven stars those were the seven visible planets in the sky and sitting on the globe of the earth the image here is that Caesar controls the cosmos Caesar controls the universe Caesar runs the stars right that's the way they thought of the power of Caesar is being ultimate but what this verse is saying is there will come a time when it will be very clear that Caesar does not in fact run the universe the stars will fall and then as it says it clearly the kings of the earth the princes the generals the rich the mighty oh yeah and everyone else both slave and free hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains this is Hitler and Stalin and every racist and every other dictator oh yeah and every other human coming before the judge of all God their sentence pronounced the unrighteous punished and then in chapter 7 we see what happens to the rest.

Let's skip to verse 9 it says after this after all of the tribulation that we just looked at I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count think of how much this meant to John when John worshipped the Lord from his perspective he was all alone on the lockdown island of Patmos and maybe when you worship the Lord right now during the shelter-in-place order to you it looks like you're all alone on a chair in your living room looking at this livestream but from heaven's perspective you're never alone when you worship you are surrounded by a great multitude that is innumerable and look who is in that great crowd people from every nation.

Now watch this the Greek word used there for nation is the word ethnos which is the word from which we get our English word ethnicity every ethnicity was represented there in heaven and not just every ethnicity every tribe and every people and not just every tribe and people and ethnicity but every language is standing before the throne we'll get back to that word throne in a few minutes and the lamb but do you realize what this means when it says every nation every tribe every people every language this means that your ethnicity is preserved in heaven because look at look at this how does John know that they are from every ethnicity and tribe and people in language because it says after this I looked and I saw this they haven't said a word they haven't sung a word they haven't made a sound so I can only conclude he knows this because they looked like it.

This means that your race is not something that gets fixed in heaven it's something featured in heaven what a blow to racism I've said it for before I feel like this verse is the mic drop verse against racism this verse says that God made you black or Asian or Latin European Pacific Islander or Arab or Jewish or indigenous or a mix and he likes you that way and he keeps you that way in heaven because he loves you that way excuse me your race your ethnicity will be part of a heavens beauty we will be together as one yes in heaven but our beautiful ethnic diversity will be somehow preserved in glory what a powerful picture.

You know last week and we premiered a new music video that our worship pastors did with about 50 other churches called the Bay Area Blessing and to me it was like a preview of this verse because it showed worship leaders who were black and Hispanic and Asian and white and Arab and Native American and Jewish and more all worshiping the Lord together even in various languages and after all that has taken place this past week I thought you would like to see part of that video again and I thought you'd like to meet the man who initiated this video Ian Pitter who's worship pastor of Peninsula Covenant Church up in Redwood City my whole conversation with Ian is going to be on my podcast later but here's just part of it now along with some of that music video.

Watch this this weekend I'm talking about that vision of the church from the book of Revelation 7:9 where John sees people from every nation every tribe every language worshiping God together what a beautiful picture of that in this video there's a there's a frame there's a video frame where you see 40 or 50 people in the shot and that right there that's the video frame that gets me every single time I get emotional I get even more worship for in that moment and it absolutely is a picture of Revelation 7.

Ian what kind of a response have you gotten to this video related to this conversation that we're all having about race right now? We are overwhelmed with the positive feedback people saying oh this is this is definitely something for this season we need this this caught me on a bad day and just lifted my spirits oh I'm in tears right now people have just really been overwhelmed by the fact that the video is so diverse it's diverse in race, age, denomination you know it was actually amazing the response that we had for this video I'm so encouraged and honestly I really think we were just talking before we started this about the such a time as this and I really feel like this video was for this time for this you know it was big obviously before everything kind of came to the fore as it is now but I really really feel that this video the divine timing which is absolutely incredible and we're now brainstorming what next what next for the Bay Area blessing imagine the influence that we could have in having a positive conversation around current events.

You are a black man serving racially mixed but I would say probably primarily white church I've had a privilege of speaking there at Peninsula Covenant Church when people ask you how do you answer when they ask you a question like what do we as white people need to know to be better servants of our black brothers and sisters the Bible calls us to be servants of all like as Christ served us. I think firstly we need to know and so don't don't ignore the headlines don't frown at the headlines please take some time to figure out and listen just having a conversation with somebody of color and you know just learning from them their perspective what is this what why why if you haven't already there are podcasts out there there are numerous books out there and that we can kind of look into and kind of delve into and learn and understand exactly what's going on so there are definitely some undergirding issues that we we have not figured out speak up for sure no doubt if you see something happening that you know is not justice that is not justice when you look at things you don't see justice we have to say something about that the same way that we would as Christians advise people against sin you see that's kind of simple my brother or my sister that's not the way to go I think that's the same way we should be speaking about injustice so my encouragement is to hear listen help in any way you can and I would encourage you know bringing in people of color having these kind of conversations brainstorming just trying to figure out okay if if we want to make the change that is trying to figure out how we how we do that we do it intentionally.

Even any final thoughts for us you know I would like if you wouldn't mind I'd love to pronounce a blessing over the listeners that would be wonderful number one blessing I was just thinking about that just spontaneously and I'd love to do that if you were mine may the Lord bless you may he keep you may cause his face to shine upon you turn his face towards you and give you a blessing.

What a beautiful image of this verse that we've been looking at in scripture. Now, if God sees us that way, how can we enjoy and appreciate one another this way in a greater and greater manner? Well, you heard Ian suggest listen. And one of the ways he said we could listen to black voices, minority voices, is through books. And so I put a list of some of the books that I found particularly helpful to me during this time. In your notes, you can download those. Now, you may not necessarily agree with every single thing you read in these books. That's okay, they don't agree with one another 100%. But when we are listening and reading the voices of people who are in that great crowd, then we are able to better love and understand one another.

And let me suggest another thing that you can do. You heard Ian say, help when you can. Well, the Navajo Nation has been very hard hit by this COVID crisis. And they're one of those ethnicities, one of those tribes that will be there in glory with us. And talk about a tribe that has seen mistreatment, right? And now many of their tribal elders have died because of COVID-19. They are shaken. And they've reached out to us and asked us to collect some things for them like hand sanitizer, face masks, and more. I put all the details there in your notes. You can bring the items into church all during the month of June. But TLC, let's do this because helping out the Navajo Nation, brothers and sisters in Christ, that's a way of us not just saying, amen, sorry about all the ways that you've been mistreated in the past. That wasn't cool. Now go in peace, be warm and fed. No, this is a way for us to do what the Bible tells us to do.

And that is to come alongside and lift people up who are hurting and tell them we care for you and we love you. Now, in the book of Revelation, you see all these ethnicities so diverse in heaven. So what is it that unifies them? Next verse, they cry out in a loud voice, different ethnicities, one voice. Salvation belongs to our God, one God, who sits on the throne, one throne, and to the lamb. What unites them is their salvation from God through the lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

And here's what I wanna do right now. Get your communion elements ready because today in the midst of all the heated emotion and debate that can disunify us at times, let's regroup right now around what we will regroup around in heaven. Let's remember our salvation the way Jesus taught us to remember it through communion. So get your bread or your cracker ready and your juice or your water. As you do, have you ever wondered why we call this communion? Because Jesus went to the cross and paid the penalty for our sins through his death and then his burial and resurrection so that we could have communion, be one with God and have greater communion with each other.

And now the Bible tells us in Christ, there is no Jew or Greek, male nor female, slave nor free, but we are all one in Christ because of this, this, the body of Christ, one body broken for us all. And we do this now together. Think of everyone who's doing this together with you right now together in the name of Jesus Christ. Let's partake. And think of all the ethnic groups, all the languages that are doing this together with us right now, remembering the blood of our one savior who makes us one, shed for us all. Let's remember together.

Thank you Lord so much for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who makes us one. And now may we live our lives that way every day. Amen. Well, before we close, there's one final thing I wanna show you in this passage and this could change your whole week. Verse 15, "He who sits on the throne," there that word is again, "will shelter them with his presence. Never again will they hunger. Never again will they thirst. The sun will not be down upon them nor any scorching heat for the land at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Are you crying today, mourning today, grieving today? There will come a day when beyond all these tribulations, he shall overcome and wipe away every tear. And there will be a place with no more sorrow and no more sadness and no more weeping and no more mourning because sin and death have been cast away. And that will happen because the lamb, Jesus, is on the throne.

You notice just in these few verses we've looked at today how often that word appears. The word throne appears 47 times in the book of Revelation. Why? Well, when the original readers read this book, when they thought of a throne, they only thought of one throne. There was only one throne in their physical world, Caesar's throne. Empire was on the throne. Violence was on the throne. Oppression was on the throne. But what John is saying here is no, there is a much greater throne and Jesus is on it. And that's really the big idea of the whole book of Revelation really. There is a throne and Jesus sits on it. In power.

And what a word for you and me today. Because although this world often seems chaotic and although the future can seem scary and although things can feel completely out of control, John says there is still a throne and there is one who is seated on the throne. And there will come a day when his perfect peaceful rule will be uncontested. Yes, for now there will be tribulation, but he has overcome.

So really the big question in closing is this, is Jesus on the throne of my heart? He is on the throne of the universe. Is my consciousness aligned with that reality? Because the more it is, the more I'll have peace. Now some of you are saying, of course he is, I'm a Christian. Hang on, this means as I heard John Ortberg say, "When you first wake up, what occupies your mind?" Thoughts of worry, fear, anger. Tomorrow morning, when you first wake up, let your very first thought be, "Lord, I am going to think of you as on the throne today." And tonight when your head hits the pillow, pray, "Lord, things may worry me, but you are on the throne and I will sleep in your care all night. And then you will know peace, even in a world of chaos."

It's kind of like the lyrics of that old song. "There are many things about tomorrow that I don't understand, but I know who holds tomorrow. And I know who holds my hand." And that's when you can know for sure that there is hope. Let's pray together. Would you bow in a word of prayer with me? With your heads bowed, I just invite you to pray this with me, either as a recommitment or as a first time commitment to Jesus. Lord, help me remember you are on the throne. That though we have tribulation, you have overcome.

And Lord Jesus, I just want to put you on the throne of my heart right now. I give you my life, my whole life. And that includes the way I see others and treat others. Help me help our church to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. And help us go to you for the power to make a change, to shine a light in us and then around us. And Lord, I especially want to pray for our world, our nation, our county. I want to pray for healing from the virus and the violence and the racism. And specifically today, I want to remember the family of Damon Gutzwiller and his fellow officers and family and friends. God strengthened them in this devastating time. May they not give in to despair. May they find strength and hope in you. In Jesus' name we pray God, amen.