Sun. Apr. 19, 2009 (Rosie Perera)

What are your images of the book of Revelation? With this question Rosie Perera opened her message last Sunday. For many the book is scary, too difficult, irrelevant, is often avoided and for some it’s a ticking time bomb that needs defusing. Calvin wrote a commentary on all books of the Bible except Revelation; Luther thought it should not be in the Bible. Rosie sought to rehabilitate this book for us, pointing out that it has more allusions to the Old Testament than any other NT book, that it is the source of many hymns, and that it’s important to counter the modern day nonsense about Revelation’s time lines. In reading Revelation it’s important not to impose our perceptions on the text. While describing major cataclysmic events, Revelation reminds us that when Christians experience persecution, they are experiencing tribulation. Revelation has many heavenly anthems, and if we can’t understand the text, go to the nearest anthem. Let the symbolic language make an impression on you even if you don’t understand it. It’s a book centered on Jesus, and it’s a book instructing us to non-violently cope with evil; the symbol of the lamb, not the lion is significant. Revelation teaches us about perseverance through suffering, to be wary of the wiles of the empire, and that the end times are, and will remain, mysterious. [HN] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday Apr. 19th, 2009 using your browser's preferred media player.