Cultivation of spiritual gifts for the life of the church and the community. This is the grand ending to John’s dream. John here is imagining in binaries: the forces of good and the forces of evil. Everyone who hears his message is invited by Jesus to “come,” partake in the water of life. What was it for John who had been the subject of imperial subjugation to imagine himself a free agent, able to discern what was the will of God? What was it for John and his faith community to think of themselves as followers of Jesus, their fellow tormented, persecuted, subjugated one? What is it for us to think of ourselves as free agents, capable of discerning the will of God? John’s call is a call into community (wash your robes, enter the city) in order to practice the ways of Jesus (how we welcome, resist, heal) and testify to his immanent return (rather than living as though the powers of the world are immanent, the reign of God is imminent). John, from the midst of the hardship and loneliness he is enduring, from the midst of wondering where God is, imagines God’s life and healing power flowing from out of Gods’ own self, always accessible; he likewise imagines all of God’s people working in service of this God, always having all that they need. He imagines a tree that provides peace among nations. What was it for John to dream of coming to God for all that is needed, and for it to be easily accessible, at a time when God might have seemed silent? For it to be easy to access all that is from God, including life and world peace? What is it for us to conceive of a God of abundant life who actively provides for the healing of this world, accessible to us as we serve God? What is it for us to attend gatherings of the church with this vision?In this dream, John, who’s clearly been through hardship, imagines a situation in which the Lamb, the not-powerful, peaceful, gentle one, shepherds those who have suffered. What was it for John (possibly a refugee?) to witness a divine community in which everyone had everything they needed? What was it for John to imagine the one who had suffered (the Lamb) as the caregiver for the ones who suffer? What does this do to hierarchy? What is it today for the tormented and suffering to wear their suffering as robes for all to see— and allow themselves to be comforted and cared for in community? Or for those who have suffered to provide that community for others?To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way:
[email protected]. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (
[email protected]), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060
Netherlands