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Man for all seasons

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Revelation 22:13-21
"I am the "Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." ... The one who gives this testimony says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

John 17:24
Jesus prays for his disciples, "Father, you loved me before the foundation of the world. May the love with which you loved me be in them, and I in them."

When you get to Revelation 22:21, you've reached the end of the Bible. You can start over, if you're reading it cover to cover. Or you can close the book and let the wave of John's words roar and crash inside you. Or you can notice the silence as the words stop, and feel the closeness of ... God ... around you.

And as the preacher said at church on Saturday night, "You can stop reading the Bible and let it start reading you."

This story which culminates with the return of Jesus is the story of God's love. God's love is the primary reality. The first reality. God loved before he created the world. That love Jesus knew from before the beginning of time is what he brings to the disciples and to you and me. Love isn't a concept or even a behavior; Jesus brings himself. Jesus is love. "May the love with which you loved me be in David, and I in him." Put your name in there. Be loved.

So Jesus gives me his life, which began before the world and goes right on beyond the end. Whatever perspective I think I have, Jesus offers me a bigger one. Time and space are tamed by love. The pronoun "I" loses its old meaning, because Jesus doesn't divide himself among us; each of us gets all of him. This economy is one of abundance. There is plenty of love to go around. Now I exist in order to give to you, and you to me. Jesus held nothing back, and neither do we.

In my late twenties I claimed Christianity as my own. The foundation laid by church and Sunday School, parents and teachers, finally anchored something personal. This personal faith came in stops and starts. I couldn't believe that Jesus was God - this man who was born and died, who bled and cried. Yet he called God his father, now and "before the foundation of the world."

I was treated mercifully by this love-God. In a snowy winter's instant which I experienced as utterly true, my world became spacious enough to include the mystery of God-man Jesus. I had been looking for an answer, even praying for one. That changed, and I only knew relationship. Jesus gave himself to me, and then I could do the same. I didn't need to know some "answer." I knew Jesus.

He-in-me changes everything. His love-joy-peace-patience-kindness-gentleness-faithfulness-selfcontrol all become mine. I don't always accept his gifts, but he never stops giving them. Fear begins to lose its power, death its sting. This is what God had in mind when he created Adam and Eve. Jesus restores God's kingdom for us to live in with him.

This is pretty deep. Course it is. Nothing deeper. But don't be confused. The ideas aren't what matter. Jesus matters. I matter. Alpha and Omega. The river flows.

Clouds and darkness surround you, Lord, but justice and right are the foundation of your throne. Fire goes before you, and lightning illuminates the world. The earth sees, trembles, and mountains melt like wax before you, Lord. The heavens proclaim your justice; you are most high above all the earth. Let me rejoice in you, O Lord. Make my heart honest and give my mouth songs of praise. Open my eyes only to you. (Psalm 97)



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