Baby name finder
If you found the first chapter in Revelations hard to handle, relax a little bit: this one is easier to get your head around. Chapter 2 has still got plenty of literary fireworks - we have Jesus "walking in the middle of the seven golden candlesticks" which means the seven churches. There's a lovely repeated line, which in the KJ version reads "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches." That is obviously meant to remind us of similar things spoken by Jesus in the Gospels, and it's a reminder that this text is meant to be authoritative: it isn't just some bloke's drunken ramblings down the pub, it's the record of a vision of Jesus Christ and the idea is that we take its words as seriously as those spoken by the living Jesus when walking around with his mates disciples in Judea.
Whether we choose to do that or not, it's fairly clear that Jesus of Revelations is a bit hot under the collar. He is talking to the churches, the Christian churches that have been founded since his death, and he's not that pleased with any of them. The Church of Ephesus gets a "could do better" report. Yes, you've suffered and been patient and worked hard for me, but you've "left your first love" (got distracted). You better repent darn quickly or "I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick," whatever that means (I am tempted to make a lewd pun about removing body parts but more realistically it is likely that the writer means "your church is gonna be mincemeat, mate," rather than Jesus actually threatening to remove anybody's you-know-what).
Smyrna church fares no better. There's some of you who are in the synagogue of Satan, he notes darkly, which means you are pretending to be real Jews (confusingly, it seems like Jews here means Christians) when you?re not. Oh, and it sounds like you're being a bit hypocritical about your money matters too. Now, this bit always makes me wince because of course some Christians use this bit of text to get the upper hand in their own churches....there's nothing like snarling "you are the synagogue of Satan" to liven up a PCC meeting. The same theme continues as the focus moves to the poor church in Pergamos. Jesus thanks them for having martyred themselves, held fast to the faith under persecution, but notes disapprovingly the existence of idol-worshippers and heretics amongst them. (No one today is quite sure what the Nicolaitan doctrine is, but it seems quite clear that it was BAD AND WRONG. The first-century Fruit Shoot, perhaps). So low marks for Pergamos too. And then, to round it all off, we have the Thyatrian church, who seem full of good things - charity, and service, and faith - but who, oops, seem to have a nasty woman prophetess leading people astray. She probably wasn't really called Jezebel, Jezebel being that Old Testament queen who ended up being eaten by dogs in the street, but it's a good term of abuse, a bit like calling a politician "Hitler" or a Mumsnetter "Netmums" today. Oh, and there are blood-curdling threats against her and her children (probably not her real children, probably those who follow her teachings) as well.
To be honest, this bit of the Bible scares me witless. If Jesus was so condemnatory of these early churches, what about mine? Jeepers, these people were dying for you, I want to say to Our Lord, couldn't you be, well, a little bit more understanding? But before we run away and bury our heads under the blankets it's useful to remember that the writer of Revelations is doing exactly what Paul does in his Epistles, mingling praise with blame: Paul doesn't let his churches sit on their laurels and nor does "Revelations." Moreover,this passage is a useful reality check whenever we find ourselves being smug Christians. Who is in a good church, after all? Pretty much no one, according to this text. There are good and bad in every congregation, those who deeply venerate Christ with those who pervert and distort His message for secular, worldly or egocentric ends. Think about the churches you know. Have you known one that did not contain bickering, rivalry, cliques, selfish behaviour? This passage is a wake-up call to us all to remember that Christianity is not a call to cosy churchliness but to a real walk of faith in an uncomfortable world. It is a reminder to us all that the work of the churches must not be confused with the work of Christ.
Still, it's not all bad news. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." A new name...hidden manna. A secret that no man knows. This to me is about the inner walk of faith, the secret life of every human soul, the inner bread of love hope faith and prayer that the worshipper receives who truly, deeply, honourably and honestly strives to follow Christ.
We cannot make our churches perfect. Nothing is going to meet Jesus' high standards. We are all sinners, and we remain sinners, members of a sinful church. This passage is a searing reminder of that.
It feels quite appropriate to discuss this text this week, when the Pope has criticised condom use in Africa. It's a salutory reminder of how wrong the churches can sometimes be. So we should never take the church's teachings for granted, or at face value, or be too trusting of our leaders. We should think, and pray, and reason, and remember that no church is fully safe from sin.
We can, however, collectively and singly, seek our "new name," our inner resurrection, our promise of new life with Christ.
Whether we choose to do that or not, it's fairly clear that Jesus of Revelations is a bit hot under the collar. He is talking to the churches, the Christian churches that have been founded since his death, and he's not that pleased with any of them. The Church of Ephesus gets a "could do better" report. Yes, you've suffered and been patient and worked hard for me, but you've "left your first love" (got distracted). You better repent darn quickly or "I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick," whatever that means (I am tempted to make a lewd pun about removing body parts but more realistically it is likely that the writer means "your church is gonna be mincemeat, mate," rather than Jesus actually threatening to remove anybody's you-know-what).
Smyrna church fares no better. There's some of you who are in the synagogue of Satan, he notes darkly, which means you are pretending to be real Jews (confusingly, it seems like Jews here means Christians) when you?re not. Oh, and it sounds like you're being a bit hypocritical about your money matters too. Now, this bit always makes me wince because of course some Christians use this bit of text to get the upper hand in their own churches....there's nothing like snarling "you are the synagogue of Satan" to liven up a PCC meeting. The same theme continues as the focus moves to the poor church in Pergamos. Jesus thanks them for having martyred themselves, held fast to the faith under persecution, but notes disapprovingly the existence of idol-worshippers and heretics amongst them. (No one today is quite sure what the Nicolaitan doctrine is, but it seems quite clear that it was BAD AND WRONG. The first-century Fruit Shoot, perhaps). So low marks for Pergamos too. And then, to round it all off, we have the Thyatrian church, who seem full of good things - charity, and service, and faith - but who, oops, seem to have a nasty woman prophetess leading people astray. She probably wasn't really called Jezebel, Jezebel being that Old Testament queen who ended up being eaten by dogs in the street, but it's a good term of abuse, a bit like calling a politician "Hitler" or a Mumsnetter "Netmums" today. Oh, and there are blood-curdling threats against her and her children (probably not her real children, probably those who follow her teachings) as well.
To be honest, this bit of the Bible scares me witless. If Jesus was so condemnatory of these early churches, what about mine? Jeepers, these people were dying for you, I want to say to Our Lord, couldn't you be, well, a little bit more understanding? But before we run away and bury our heads under the blankets it's useful to remember that the writer of Revelations is doing exactly what Paul does in his Epistles, mingling praise with blame: Paul doesn't let his churches sit on their laurels and nor does "Revelations." Moreover,this passage is a useful reality check whenever we find ourselves being smug Christians. Who is in a good church, after all? Pretty much no one, according to this text. There are good and bad in every congregation, those who deeply venerate Christ with those who pervert and distort His message for secular, worldly or egocentric ends. Think about the churches you know. Have you known one that did not contain bickering, rivalry, cliques, selfish behaviour? This passage is a wake-up call to us all to remember that Christianity is not a call to cosy churchliness but to a real walk of faith in an uncomfortable world. It is a reminder to us all that the work of the churches must not be confused with the work of Christ.
Still, it's not all bad news. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." A new name...hidden manna. A secret that no man knows. This to me is about the inner walk of faith, the secret life of every human soul, the inner bread of love hope faith and prayer that the worshipper receives who truly, deeply, honourably and honestly strives to follow Christ.
We cannot make our churches perfect. Nothing is going to meet Jesus' high standards. We are all sinners, and we remain sinners, members of a sinful church. This passage is a searing reminder of that.
It feels quite appropriate to discuss this text this week, when the Pope has criticised condom use in Africa. It's a salutory reminder of how wrong the churches can sometimes be. So we should never take the church's teachings for granted, or at face value, or be too trusting of our leaders. We should think, and pray, and reason, and remember that no church is fully safe from sin.
We can, however, collectively and singly, seek our "new name," our inner resurrection, our promise of new life with Christ.
It is all so ironic, I was so happy when Kay said she would do the reflections because I thought, Phew, I don't have to engage properly with this text. Now I am very glad that I have.
