Revelation

Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life." -Revelation 21:6

The visions of Revelation can be confusing, strange and even off-putting. What does it all mean? Some people have dealt with the mysterious images of Revelation by deciding that it is like God’s codebook where secrets are hidden for those clever enough to find them. These are often the people who claim to know what God thinks about our political world, or when we can expect the end times, and know clearly who will be chosen and who will be left behind. It feels like Revelation as a conspiracy theory that magically makes sense of all life’s complexities if you just delve deeply enough into it.

But for those of us who see more in the Bible than just literal puzzles, Revelation is in its own special category. It is completely different than any other book of the bible and defies logic, goes beyond storytelling and seems almost hallucinatory at times. It is mythic in its language and colorful in its descriptions. It is imaginative and powerful in its symbolism and frankly kind of scary. So many of us tend to put Revelation on a back burner, knowing it’s part of the Christian Bible, but not feeling at all comfortable with it. I can’t begin to count the people who’ve said to me “I just don’t get Revelation.” I’ve been among those people! However, at this and other times of the year, the lectionary gives us the opportunity to read it, whether we like it or not.

And like it or not, Revelation is the “Last Word” of our faith - the concluding chapter of the Bible. It would be nice if the last chapter of Scripture would wrap everything up in a nice, neat bow, clarifying all the unknowns that the rest of our complex Scriptures present. But what we get is…. Revelation. I think this might be why some literally minded folks look so hard into Revelation to find concete answers. But Instead we get a fanciful saga of good and evil, images of a new heaven and a new earth, of a lamb that is also a king, of dragons and serpents being vanquished, of multi-headed creatures, glowing lamps and vengeful angels and floors made of gemstones.

I have heard that there was a controversy about whether or not to include Revelation in the biblical canon way back when the books of the Bible were first compiled. Our forbears obviously found great value in Revelation, but were also concerned that people would warp it’s powerful imagery to their own purposes, and of course, people have done just that. You can’t offer a compelling vision of heaven without people clambering to be sure they get their piece of it and others don’t.

I’ve worked on opening my imagination to receive the book of Revelation better, especially in the past few tumultuous years in which good and evil have become a more insistent theme in our lives. I was particularly helped by reading “Reversed Thunder,” by Eugene Peterson, who sees Revelation as a profound invitation to worship. Although this book is out of print, you can still find used copies if you’re interested.

What I’ve learned from Peterson and other sources is that in the end, despite its cryptic symbols and startling images, Revelation invites us to stand in awe and wonder at a magnificent God, the alpha and omega of all things, the beginning and the end, the one in whose hands rests the past, present and future, who created all things and is beyond all knowing. And yet we’re given the inexplicable promise that the this unimaginable power of the entire time/space continuum nonetheless freely and warmly offers us each a drink from the spring of the water of life as pure gift.

Dragons and demons and seraphs may not be your thing, but whether you want to wade into the powerful waters of Revelation or not, you can at least know its vision is of the ultimate reconciliation of all things and its promise is of life without end for those who worship not themselves, but God.

This Sunday’s readings are here