Today's Scripture Reading (July 11, 2024): Revelation 1
I sometimes
wonder how John would have marketed his second literary work if he lived in our
century.
Direct from the author that a few short years ago brought us that
runaway best seller, "The Gospel of John," comes the long-awaited and
much-anticipated sequel, "The Revelation of Saint John, the Divine."
John, the much-loved former Pastor of the First Church of Ephesus until his
exile, and the only living apostle of the Great Rabbi himself, Jesus Christ,
returns with fresh words from the Rabbi, spoken directly to John on the Island
of Patmos. You won't want to miss this new book, which is available at your
favorite bookseller.
Many years
ago, during the days before I was a Pastor, I was the occasional set-up man for
Bill Hunter, the man who founded the Edmonton Oilers hockey club in the
WHA. Bill was a little older when I met
him and was pedaling some expensive heating pads that featured ultraviolet
light that was supposed to get right to the center of your aching muscles.
According to Bill, sitting on these heating pads was also a phenomenal
laxative.
The gig went
something like this. I would get up as
the local guy everyone knew about, thank them for coming, and give them some
technical information about the pads.
Then I would introduce our special guest. It was like an infomercial without the
T.V. When I introduced Bill, I had a
script I could not deviate from. It
contained a list of Bill's business achievements, sports achievements, and even
future awards that everyone knew would be bestowed on him someday. As I reached the end of the set intro, Bill
would walk out from behind me and say something like, "O Garry, you
embarrass me with all the stuff. Why do
you have to do that? I'm just a regular guy like the rest of these good folks. I just want to tell you how you can get a
better quality of life, just like I have received a better quality of life than
I enjoyed a few years ago. Do you want
to know why? These heating pads are the
answer you have been looking for." I would smile at Bill and then go and
sit at the table where, if everything went right, in about 45 minutes, a mass
of people would be heading to give me their credit cards and purchase the expensive
heating pads.
As I walked
away from the stage, under my breath, I would say, "I said all that stuff
about you because you told me I had to." Now, I can't remember the heating
pad brand, and I don't want to say that the heating pads were not good. Of all
the pads we sold for the company, I only remember having to make good on the
money-back satisfaction guarantee a couple of times. But, in the end, I wasn't selling heating
pads on these nights. I was selling Bill Hunter. Sales of the heating pads
would be a by-product and directly related to how well I sold Bill. It is the
way sales are often done in today's world.
Contrast that
to what John says: "I, John, your brother and companion in
the suffering." John offers words of encouragement and says,
"I’m here, but this is not about me.
I don’t deserve your respect. He
does.”
We don’t understand
the message in our society. We want respect,
long intros, and people to know who we are and what we represent. I
was at a funeral many years ago where several dignitaries stood up and spoke
glowingly about the one who had passed away. Afterward, as I talked with one of
the family members, the comment was made: “Who is going to do this for me? Who will stand up at my funeral and recite
what I have done?”
We want it.
But John does precisely the opposite. There is no demand for respect here, Just
the words “I, John, your brother.” You can almost hear him say the
words he used as he closed out his gospel again. It doesn’t matter what these
others are doing; you must follow Jesus.
John was still following despite his advancing age. Who among us wants to spend our eighty-something
birthdays on a deserted rock?
The church
gets in trouble when it starts to be about personalities, whether it is the
personality of the Pastor or the personality of key laypeople in the church.
We have said it before, but this life is not about us; it can’t be
about us. There is never a time when we have done enough or put
in our time so that the honor comes to us.
The mission stays the same From the day we first put our trust in Jesus
until the day we die. Jesus's words
continue to challenge us, and his words continue to demand the same thing he
demanded from Peter; “You must follow me.”
Somehow, I
don’t think John would have wanted a set-up man. He was the set-up man for the One
that he had followed all the days of his adult life, from those early steps in
Galilee to his quiet death in Ephesus.
He was devoted to the One, Jesus Christ.
Every step of his life was not about him, John. It was all
about Him, Jesus.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Revelation
2
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