Video Transcript: Pondering the Word -- Module 9

It helps us to get a grasp of what it means that Jesus is the Lamb of God who saves the world. I'd like to read Revelation five for us. 

Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a scroll with writing on both sides, and sealed with seven seals. And I saw mighty angel proclaiming and a loud voice, who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll. But no one in heaven, or on Earth, or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept, and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll, or look inside. 

Then one of the elders said to me, Don’t weep. See, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has triumphed, he is able to open the scroll and it's seven seals. Then, I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. 

He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 

And when he had taken it to for living creatures in the 24 hours fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints, and they sang a new song, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open it seals because you were slain. 

With your blood you purchase men for God, from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth. 

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering 1000s upon 1000s, and 10,000 times 10,000. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders in a loud voice they sang. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. 

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth, and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them singing to him who sits on the throne, and to the land be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever. 

Before living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped. What was going through your imagination, as the scripture was just read? Did you have some vision of heaven itself? Did you find yourself asking? What would I do if I was there? And I had seen the events that were transpiring in heaven? Why don't we make of this strange scene of a lion that looks like a lamb? What do we make of the idea that the lamp looks like it's been slain? 

For John's first reader, in the seven churches of Asia Minor, they would have had visions of temple worship in their minds. Whether they would have been temples of the pagan gods in their cities, or if they were Jewish, and had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and seeing the sacrificing of lambs, they would have had a vision of blood running all around the lamb. 

And they would have had the thought in their minds that any lamb whose throat was cut for sacrifice did not live yet they're the lamb stood next to the throne of God Almighty. And he is called the Lion of Judah. What do you make of all this? Well, one, so your mind as you hear it. For those who have ever seen the movie called The Passion of the Christ, which came out in 2004, many of you have said, I will never read the Bible in the same way again. John would have a see, 

I think the scene is the crucifixion. With all of his blood and his brutality, John would have a see the pain and the suffering of Jesus, and he would want us to see him alive at God's right hand. St. John wants us to see what's going on in heaven now that Jesus has gone back to heaven. And now that he is there as the victorious Lamb of God, the lion of the tribe of Judah. 

But wait a moment. Maybe this was also running through your mind, a lamb. Since when is the symbol of greatness, a lamb, if a nation wants to project its greatness, it chooses an eagle, a bear and Dragon. Allah lamb. A lamb is something that is most often pictured as being carried around maybe even the mouth of the bear, or in the talons of an eagle. 

Since when is the Lamb the sign of greatness? And yet here is a revelation from God of a lamb, a slain lamb, as the one who was worthy above all others in the universe, to open the seals of the scroll that is found in God's right hand. I think one of the more fascinating things about the book of Revelation is that it's a book of worship. And that worship is demonstrated in singing It's a, it's a songbook, we might say, for the Church of Jesus, this side of the resurrection. And the lamb is the one who is worthy of the songs of the church. 

The lamb is the one whose triumph for us. John hears the voice of a mighty angel calling who is worthy to open the scroll that is in the hand of God. It's a scroll that is written on both sides, and is the seal with seven seals. What might that girl have on it? Why I think that the Bible indicates that the scroll is the plan of God, for the history of the world. It's the final chapter of God's powerful incursion into history. For the history of mankind is one chapter after another, after another, after another a waste of failure of hopelessness, but and that's what always the gospel does. 

It always puts in this but but God has been promising all throughout history, that one day, one day, everything is going to be made right again, that one day, everything is going to be settled. One day, everything that is crooked, will be made straight, every hill will be made low, every valley shall be exalted. And it will be for the glory of God. And on that day, God will be all in all. Until then, we wait. And yet we are not waiting as though we do not have some idea what the last chapter is about. 

One of the fun things about little kids is that they love to have books, read to them, and they want them read over and over. So they know the story well enough to repeat it word for word. Just like grandpa tried to skip a page and the child makes it go back and read it all over again and not miss that page this time. And God tells us that unless we become like little children, we can know why I see the kingdom of heaven. And I think that includes storytelling for kids. 

They come to know the story so well, that they want to hear it again. and again, and again, even though they know how it's going to end. And if it's a great story, we all love to hear it again and again. Because a great story catches us up in in Storyline. And we can't wait to get to the end. Now here is God's saying that in the world, as you and I experienced it today, there is another kingdom that is quietly working. And one day the new kingdom is going to break out in all of its glory, all of its splendor in one day is going to conquer all the others and it will never end. 

And what's going to happen on that great day. Well, I'll tell you how the story ends. It ends with a lot of songs. In fact, in our scripture reading just a moment ago, there are three songs, there are songs which are enough to turn our world on its head. There's songs which give us a vision of what we can look forward to. There's a movie that's entitled The Shawshank Redemption and a character the lead character in that movie is called Andy do frame and he sent him to back to back.

Life turns for crying she did not commit. And that tough world of Shawshank Prison conspires to destroy the humanity of everyone who is sent there as a prisoner. Andy, however, is someone who loves music and literature. 

So each week, he writes to the state legislature requesting books for the prison library. And from out of nowhere, a huge shipment of used books and records, accompanied by a check for more gets dumped in the warden's office. 

And he puts one of the records on the prison record player and intoxicated by the beauty of an Aria. And he locks out the warden. And he plays this portion of the Marriage of Figaro over the prison loudspeaker, and everyone in the whole prison stands transfixed by the music. 

This moment of intrusive beauty, in a horrible place. And they're captivated by it. The world they live in is trying to destroy their humanity. But this music, lifts them out of that prison, and gives them a little bit of humanity back again. A little later, and he explains to the other inmates how he handled what the war and did to him for that. He said, Well, that's the beauty of music. 

So you don't forget that there are places in the world, not made out of stone, that there's something inside, they can't get to that they cannot touch. It's yours. And the book of Revelation is the book of music, and the songs in it resound through our minds and in our hearts. It reminds that there is a place out there that's getting ready to break into this world of ours, and no one can take it away from us. 

This is God's story that he delights in telling to his children. And we know it's a good story. And we can't wait to get to the end. We know what's coming. And the great wonder of it all is that this story will change how we live our own story each day, every day. Now, listen to the song verses 910 and they sing a new song you are worthy to take the scroll and to open it seals. 

Because you were slain in with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You've made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our gods, and they will reign on the earth.

And then in verses 12 and 13 and a loud voice they were singing Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. And then I heard every teacher in heaven and on earth and under the years and on the sea. 

And all that is in them saying to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever. These are songs that shake our world. Each of them is a song about the lamb the lamb who was slain but who is now alive in the presence of God is that God's right hand is the lion of the tribe of Judah, that lamb is worthy, worthy. 

The lamb is worthy to receive the book of history of mankind, the lamb is worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. And the four living creatures hear the songs of every creature in heaven and on earth, and under the earth and on the see an all they can say is Amen. Amen. 

You see Amen as a word that means yes, in all of its positive, life affirming joy and power. It means that we have just got what we've just heard is the truth and we ourselves join up in the song. Amen. That means that the four living creatures affirm all that's been said of the Lion of Judah, the lamb looking as if it's been slain. When we get these songs in our heads, they come become for us a way to visualize what is coming for all those who follow Jesus in their lives. 

Will a man who for a long time was chaplain of Duke university tells the story of a man who had been in a world war two prisoner of war camp. The man told pastor Willman of how terrible a place that had been. It was a place of human degradation and torture. And one of the men who was a prisoner with this one who was telling chaplain Willman about this was a man with a wonderfully defiant spirit. 

This man would sometimes hum songs to himself, as the prisoners were being led out to the fields to work each day. Walking along in the sweltering heat, miserable, unfed, unwashed, he would hum some tune. And he often hum the song which reminded him of the beauty of the land he called home. Now, the guards did not know the tune. So the song meant nothing to them, but to the prisoners. The others, who were his comrades in that prison camp. The tune man was evoking what was humming was evoking the amber waves of green and the purple mountain majesty that reminded them of home and filled them with hope, and with courage. 

Soon the whole camp was humming that tone each day on the way to work, with the guards oblivious to the revolutionary significance of that defiant gesture. In a way, that's what the songs and symbols of revelation do for us. They remind us as we go about our daily lives, no matter how much of a struggle it is, no matter how much pain we might be bearing, no matter how much grief there might be, no matter how much troubles we might face. 

The songs and the symbols of revelation, remind us of the victory of Easter. The lion of the tribe of Judah, standing there next to the throne of God, a lamb looking like it has been slayed, but yet it lives to remind us of the victory of Easter the way God defeated death and continues to define death to do it's worse. In Heaven, there is much singing and shouting and parading and processing, according to Revelation five. 

So having a song to sing, that is a victory song enables us to go on each day, and even to triumph because we know the Lamb who sits on the throne of the universe. Do I hear anyone echoing the Amen of those four living creatures? Does your heart resound with the songs Worthy is the Lamb who was slain but whose alive, and it was the lion of the tribe of Judah Do I hear an Amen?