Redemption

This week I get the opportunity to teach Sunday School. I know, it sounds funny to say that I get the 'opportunity.' After all, as clergy, you would think this would be sort of 'routine' for me. Unfortunately, in my current job, I actually have very little opportunity to jump into scripture, and unfold it in conversation with others. I am really excited... plus... I have a great passage.

I am looking at Revelation, chapters 4 and 5. When taken as a unit (a piece of scripture meant to be read all at once) this passage unfolds as a powerful glimpse into the nature of redemption.

John has had a vision, one in which he is taken into the very throne room of God. And there is this scroll there, what sometimes is thought of as the Scroll of Destiny. This is God's scroll, and contains God's plan for the world! Unfortunately, as in all good stories, there is a problem. The scroll can't be opened by anyone on earth- no one is worthy. So it sits there, waiting.

Then a new character comes on the scene, one who CAN open the scroll. The angel announces the presence of the Lion of Judah, the Root of David!! Wow! Now, if I were a first century Jew, I would hear exactly what I wanted to hear. This is the Messiah, the all powerful one sent by God to set the world right, to return Israel to her place of glory, and vanquish the oppressors. Finally... vindication.

But like all great stories, there is a twist- the sort of 'plot turn' that captures the imagination, and forces the hearer into new ways of thinking.

As John turns to view this Lion of Judah, what he finds is actually one in the form of a slain lamb, with the bloody scars to prove it. It is not a regal king, or a powerful lion, but rather the humble, self- sacrificing, Son.

It seems the key to God's plan, the very revelation of God's nature, is not the sort of majesty and power we expect at all. Instead, the key to God's re- creation of everything, of God's redemption of the world, is a way of love, peace, humility, and sacrifice.

I don't know about you, but I like the idea of following a triumphant, world conquering messiah much more than the idea of following in the way of the real Jesus. But maybe that is because I still see through a clouded glass. I pray God will help me see more clearly.