The Most Politically Radical Thing You Can Do
The book of Revelation has been on my mind recently. In part, because I knew I’d be preaching from it last Sunday, but also, in part, because I know of a large bible study organization that is focusing on it this year and it’s come up in conversation a lot. As I said on Sunday, it tends to be a book that scares people and/or is just so hard to understand, so people just kind of shy away from it (or they become overly obsessed with it, which is another issue!).
But it is such an important book to help us “follow the Lamb” in a world that is going in the opposite direction.
It’s kind of what it’s all about.
So I’ve been reading, what I believe is, an excellent book on the book of Revelation called “Revelation for the Rest of Us” by Scot McKnight. For anyone who wants to begin to understand Revelation better, I can’t think of a better place to start than this book…so much so that I’m thinking of doing some kind of Revelation class/book club on this book in the future!
After I preached on Sunday from Revelation – on the power of worship to shape us to be Kingdom-first Lamb followers in a politically charged world – I happened to get to the chapter in McKnight’s book that focuses in on worship throughout Revelation. To my great pleasure, I found that much of what I said, he already said in his book (albeit, in a bit different way). So I wanted to give you a few quick quotes from his book to drive home, and/or further, the points from Sunday.
Here’s some of what stands out…
“How is one to live “in” Babylon and not be “of” Babylon when boxed in by Babylon (note: “Babylon” is Revelation code for the political force of the day, i.e., the Roman Empire)? … John offers a way for followers of the Lamb to live in Babylon, and it begins with worship.” (p. 185)
Did you see that? How do we follow the Lamb in a world of donkeys and elephants?
It begins with worship.
Why? Because,
“…embodied worship works into our hearts and forms us into people who walk in the way of the Lamb.” (p. 187)
Worship forms us, it molds us, it shapes us, it directs us…whether it’s the girl we worship, the team we worship, the politician we worship…we end up getting shaped by it. In a world that is bombarding us with media, social media, commercials, campaigns, and pressure, we of all people most need to have our worship ordered to the Lamb alone…which is a main emphasis throughout Revelation. In fact,
“the major habit of the book of Revelation is worship.” (p. 188)
In response to great things and terrible things, good things and hard things – the primary response is worship, the ‘major habit’. He goes on to say,
“In Revelation, worship is a whole body, whole voice, whole mind, and whole life lived in gratitude to God for redemption, a whole life surrendered to the Lamb. Reducing worship to Sunday at 11 a.m. (note: 9:30 for us!) violates the heart of worship. Worship is Sunday through Saturday, 24-7.” (p. 192)
What an important fact to remember, and to be challenged by.
How can we live our whole lives in gratitude to God for redemption?
How can we surrender our whole life to the Lamb?
That’s the stuff of discipleship – the life-long journey of following Jesus with all of our lives. That’s the stuff of Central Steps. It’s why, more than anything else, I want you to join a Step Group! So that we can all take steps together, talk and encourage one another along the journey, and ultimately, follow Jesus together. Step Groups are one important way we can remember this – and worship – on more than just Sunday morning. Find out more, and join one today!
How do we follow the Lamb? By being Kingdom-first, which starts first, with worshipping the Lamb. In a world of donkeys and elephants, worshipping the Lamb causes us to stand out – to swim against the current. It turns out to be our starting point, and
it turns out to be the most politically radical thing we can do.
Why? Because,
“Those who worship the Lamb do not worship the emperor and his gods.” (p. 193)
I tried to, but honestly, I couldn’t have said it better myself.