Revelation 1:4b-8.                           To Jesus be glory and power forever!                     22/11/15

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 

5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 

6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 

7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. 

8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

Today being the last Sunday of the Church Year our focus is turned to the end of times and of that which is of utmost importance. In light of the uncertainty that the recent terrorist attacks have placed in the minds of us all, this is a healthy reminder for each one of us. For there alone in Jesus Christ do we have the answers needed in order to have a security and hope that is beyond understanding.

But also as we face life in an increasingly lonely day to day world that we have filled with facebook, twitter and a constant barrage of internet media, we are losing track of that which is important and meaningful. Even in the church we are chasing answers in order to somehow capture that which will in some way help us to grow.

More and more in a world where the individual has become extremely ego-centric we are finding life more difficult and unbearable. Despite all the rhetoric and positive speak we all know that something is horribly wrong and getting worse. Something is missing. The more we look to ourselves and our wants, the more it is all coming unstuck and the more frustrated we are becoming.

In all of this there is one thing missing. It is there and available; but we have turned our backs, forgotten or are too arrogant to see that the answer is right there before us. We want our individual answers even though we are more and more seeing that we just can’t and will never get it right, without taking seriously that which truly is good and helpful.

Here again this morning we are reminded that the Lord God is at the centre of life.

He says: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."  The Alpha and the Omega was the first and last letter of the alphabet. So Jesus is plainly saying that he encompasses all revelation about who and what is important in life. At the beginning of Johns Gospel we have Jesus being identified as the Word: as God’s revelation as to that which we need to know and take seriously.   

In saying that he is, was, and is to come, he is reminding us the he encompasses all of history and beyond. This is not some fly by night god and message that is here for a time and then no longer relevant. This Word, person and message has always been, not like the Islamic Koran which is only a recent introduction into history and is full of inconsistencies and a dark message. This God come in the person of Jesus Christ was there before time began and who will be there still at the end of this world. He is important and he is to be taken seriously.

As well as that he says that he is the Almighty. He is God. He is all powerful, all knowing, all wise, and eternal. He is way above all others. So again we are reminded that he is not to be messed with. We cannot put ourselves and our knowledge, desires or anything else above him. He is God Almighty and we need to listen to and subject ourselves to him, and him alone.

So who do we think we are that we cannot take him all that seriously: that we can allow and put all kinds of things, including ourselves and our wants, before him and what he has to say to us? Is it any wonder that he allows trouble, terrorism and all the rest to come our way?  When are we going to wake up that we need to recognise again that we have wandered far from him and what he has to say to us?

It is only when we are turned back to him that we will again find the peace, security and hope that we so desperately long for. It is only when we are brought to the realization that we don’t have all the answers, that we will be able to truly listen, hear and follow what he has to say. Only then will we no longer want to twist and change what God says to suit ourselves and the culture that we live in. Only then will we be enabled to love others again, instead of using and abusing them to our own ends.

But I guess that question is; is there any hope of this happening? We and all people are so turned in ourselves that we cannot and do not want to take this Lord seriously. We want to be free to do as we please, without consequence. We may want to acknowledge God, but expect him to fit into the kind of god that we want him to be. But more and more we are pushing him as far as we can from our thinking, so that we don’t have to take him seriously.

However be sure that he is still there; and he is still the Almighty; and we all will still have to stand before him on Judgement Day. Our reading tells us: Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! In the end, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To those who believe in him and take him seriously it will be to their glory; but to those who have ignored and rejected him, it will be to their damnation. So many will on that day mourn, because they failed to heed his presence and his call.

But the question that is on many minds at this time is; how can we know whether all this is true or not? How can we know if this is true, or Islam is true, or if none of it is real? Surely religion is only a figment of man’s imaginations?

Well, here again, look to Jesus Christ alone for your answer. Here remember that he is a true figure of history. He lived and died and rose again in history. He is a genuine person. Even the history books written by unbelievers testify to his existence. Even an unbelieving lawyer of recent years, who became a Christian after looking at all the clear evidence for Jesus resurrection from the dead, came to the conclusion that in a court of law today Jesus rising from the dead could be proven to be a fact of history. Jesus Christ is for real.

But even more so we are told herein the Bible that this Jesus Christ: is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. So God himself is telling us that this is true: what is written about him is trustworthy. All this was told about him hundreds and thousands of years before he even set foot on this earth. It all happened just as God had told us over and over again throughout history. Jesus himself is a faithful witness as to who God is and what is important for us to know.

Then to the question as to why did he come and why is he important; here we are told that he: loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. You see, even though we have turned our backs on him and have chosen to live by our own rules, and as a result have brought on ourselves troubles, sickness and death; wars and terrorism; loneliness and frustration; and all the rest, he still loves us and has provided a way through this mess to a better life beyond.

He told us, and his holiness and justice has determined that, we should and would die and go to hell for our rebellion. We can’t blame him or anyone else. We all have sinned and brought this on ourselves. However because of his love for us, he sends his own Son Jesus Christ, into our world to take that punishment on himself. He allows himself to be punished so that we might be forgiven. He shed his blood so that we might again be acceptable to God.

Then he rose again three days later, just as he said he would, so that he can show clearly that he has broken the power of death and that he is who he says he is, and so that all who believe in him can be sure that they too will rise from death and join him in heaven.

So now all who trust in him and what he has done for us, have that sure and certain hope, that we are forgiven, and that God accepts us and enables us to be with him in heaven. Yes we still have live out our time here on this earth in the midst of the troubles, heartaches, terrorism and death that we have brought on ourselves. But as we are joined to him in baptism and trust in all the he has done for us we can be sure that nothing in all creation can separate us from his love.

Then to give meaning and purpose to what we do here and now in this life he tells us that: has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father:  So now, those of us who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour, our task is to be his people. That means that our whole aim is to live in accord with what he would have us be and do, instead of following our own desires and what the society around us says. It also means that as his priests we all will be seeking to help the people around us know who Jesus is and what he has done for us.

So in conclusion, as we face these uncertain times that are before us, we now have something secure, strong and hopeful to look to and live in light of. Jesus says: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

There in we find, by being connected to him we can face whatever comes our way.  In Jesus Christ we are secure and belong to a God who always is, was and will be. In connection with him we can go forward boldly and confidently.

So to him again then be glory and power for ever and ever! AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish