Worthy
John 18:33-37
Revelation 5:6-14
Emmanuel Baptist Church; Rev. Kathy Donley
May 5, 2024
Image: Crozier Head with Lamb of God, 13th century Italian or Sicilian, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Medieval Collection
Note: A recording of the worship service in which this sermon was preached may be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TORxSrtTwmY
Those of us who participated in the Civil Rights Pilgrimage in February read and heard important words at every stop. One of the sentences that stuck with several of us came from Joanne Bland. As she talked about people who died during the Civil Rights Movement, she said, “You will hear it said that they gave their lives for this cause, but that is wrong.” She said, “They did not give their lives. Their lives were taken from them.”
Similarly, you might have noticed a difference when some people described George Floyd as having been killed and others said that he was murdered.
There is a way of telling the story that accents the injustice connected with certain deaths. The gospels are emphatic that Jesus’ death is an injustice that never should have happened. “Jesus is innocent, falsely accused. . . . Those who execute him are indifferent to truth, captive to evil, and motivated by expediency and power. It is wrong for him to die.” [1]
The book of Revelation is a letter to 7 churches made up of poor and marginalized folks trying to survive, resist and refuse assimilation into the Roman empire.[2] The intent is to help these early Christians hold on to their faith, to recognize and anticipate the exploitation and oppression of empire.
John, the writer of Revelation, John uses the word slaughter to describe the violence of Rome. There is the violence of military conquests, the violence of economic injustice which leads to death from food shortages and famines that accompany war. John repeats the words slaughter and blood to emphasize Rome’s M.O. Rome slaughters.[3]
John makes it clear. Jesus did not just die. Jesus was not simply killed. Jesus was slaughtered. He was murdered. He died a violent, unjust death at the hands of empire.
In today’s reading, John has a vision of heaven. He sees a scroll which is completely sealed. Seven is a Biblical number of perfection. The scroll is perfectly sealed. The scroll represents the future. It contains answers to all the questions. But it is sealed and there is no one qualified to open it.
So John weeps. If no one can open the scroll, then it seems there will be no end to the suffering of his people, no answers to all their why questions, no coming of God’s reign on earth as it is in heaven. John weeps. But then someone says, “There is one who is worthy.” It is the Lion of Judah.
John turns to see the entrance of the powerful Lion, the great warrior that has conquered, the only one who can break the seals to open the scroll. John looks toward the throne, ready to bow before the fierce Lion, the one who will bring God’s terrible truth and justice, but there on the throne is not a Lion, but a Lamb.
The slaughtered Lamb, is the one, the only one, worthy to open the scroll. We were expecting a Lion, but we see a Lamb. The Lamb is worthy to open the seals, unlocking the meaning of the mysteries of the universe, because the Lamb was murdered. “The Lamb worthy to reveal God’s future for the world is himself a victim of violence.”[4]
The Lamb is worthy.
When the President makes an entrance today, the band plays “Hail to the Chief!” and the crowd stands. When the Roman emperor appeared in public, the crowds were trained to shout “Worthy! Worthy! Worthy is the emperor.” [5]
The truth is that the murdered Lamb, Jesus, is worthy, not the emperor. The courageous Lamb overcomes evil by refusing to adopt its methods. Remember what Jesus said to Pilate “My kingdom is not of this world. “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over”. In other words, Jesus was saying “I don’t play by your rules. I don’t return violence for violence, evil for evil.”
The slaughtered Lamb has the power, no matter what the emperor claims. Empire killed the Lamb and the Lamb came back. Jesus creates a new political order by breaking the stranglehold of sin and death. That empowers a new community to live courageously, trusting that God’s reign of nonviolence and peace through justice will ultimately prevail. The Lamb is worthy.
Wes Howard-Brock is a writer and peacemaker and educator. In one of his books, he describes two religions present within the Bible, a religion of empire and a religion of creation. Each religion has its own theology, practice and liturgy.
The religion of empire is concerned with protecting its power by casting suspicion on the other, destroying enemies and stockpiling resources for the few, even it if means the rest go hungry. The second religion, the religion of creation is grounded in an economy of gift, set on making strangers into neighbors, and laying the ground work for love of all: enemies, strangers, neighbors and even the non-human world. [6]
The religion of empire and the religion of creation are both attested in the Bible. God, repeatedly and relentlessly confronts the unjust, violent religion of empire with non-violence and justice. We humans, especially when we are hurt or threatened, tend to slip into the ways of empire. We forsake the power of the Lamb.
There are so many examples of Christians embracing empire, the very danger that Revelation warns against. One story comes from Argentina during the years when a military junta ruled by abducting, torturing and killing thousands. One woman was arrested and interrogated for two nights under humiliating conditions. She was blindfolded and questioned by a group of men unknown to her. At one point, she said, “I am a Christian” One of the men laughed at her and said, “Why are you telling us that? I am too.” He took her hand and put it on his chest where a cross was hanging; then he gave her the cross to hold and mocked her for her belief a commitment to the poor was part of her identity as a Christian. She was deeply shocked that he could claim the cross for himself in service of “national security.” This is the way of empire – to turn the symbol of suffering love and solidarity into an instrument of domination. [7] Before you dismiss that story as irrelevant to us in our time and place, consider the use of burning crosses as threat and intimidation. Consider the rise of Christian nationalism and the support that Christian Zionism gives to genocide in the Middle East.
This week the United Methodist Church changed their minds. They voted overwhelmingly to delete the language that claims that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. They affirmed marriage as a sacred covenant between two people of consenting age. They struck down a ban on queer clergy. Great was the rejoicing!
Even as my Facebook was flooded with United Methodist rainbows and the faces of people who have been advocating for this justice for over 40 years, I thought about those not present, those whose lives and personhood had been diminished and crushed by this exclusion.
I thought of my friend Cindy who was a United Methodist pastor, until she took the courageous step of telling the truth about herself to her congregation. She did so intentionally, knowing that it would lead to church discipline, knowing that she would face a church trial and likely be forced to leave. She was. She now serves as pastor in another denomination.
On the day in 2016, she said, “I have been an ordained UMC pastor for 25 years. At last, I am choosing to serve in that role with full authenticity, as my genuine self, a woman who loves and shares my life with another woman.”
It is ironic that the faith she learned in that denomination is what empowered her to speak this truth. She said, “It’s soul-crushing to speak to my congregation each week about God’s love for them as they are, while being unable to speak of my own God-given identity, my loving relationship, and much of my day-to-day life. I do this not only for myself, but for my partner, for my daughter, for all those who are excluded, and for the good of the church.”[8]
Another colleague, a rabbi, also remembered Cindy this week. In a Facebook post, he said that “she went through hell for what is right and ended up on her feet and dragging a Church she doesn’t even belong to anymore behind her. History will probably not remember her role in all this, but it was not insignificant.” Cindy understands the power of the Lamb. I lift her up today as an example of the ways that we who follow Jesus have to identify with the victims of violence and testify to the systems of oppression in our own imperial context, even when that context is the church.
The Rev. Peter Storey is a Methodist Pastor from South Africa who was deeply involved in dismantling apartheid and rebuilding the country afterward. He served as chaplain to Nelson Mandela and others on Robben Island and spent decades working against racism with Desmond Tutu. After he retired as a bishop in South Africa, he taught at Duke Divinity School. He has made about 50 trips to the United States since the 1960’s and preached in over 100 cities. On a visit about a year ago, he offered a warning to American churches about Christian Nationalism. He urged us to re-examine what it means to be the Body of Christ. He said to remember that we know the end of the story. Even though evil and corruption and violence feels overwhelming and insurmountable, we know the power of the murdered and resurrected Lamb. Decades ago, he had to ask himself what it meant to follow Jesus in apartheid South Africa. He said he developed 4 principles for himself which he offered to us now.
1) Tell the truth without fear. He said you have to be a truth teller. You have to be willing to suffer the anger of the system, retaliation from the authorities, and the loss of church members.
2) Bind up the broken. Make every effort to enter into the lives of those around you who are suffering most. Imitate Jesus who journeyed with the pain of others.
3) Live the alternative to empire. Build a community that reflects God’s dream of inclusion and radical welcome.
4) Join Jesus in the energy for change in your country. The church must get rid of its triumphalism and its arrogance. The suggestion that we are the only people that God is using to change the world is nonsense. In fact, half the time God has to abandon us because we are so useless and use other methods. We should very humbly seek a place among other people of faith, of other faiths, of no faith, of different approaches, who seek justice.[9]
Beloved ones, this is my prayer for us, that we may know the ferocious gentle power of the Lamb and that we may endure with faithfulness. Amen.
[1] S. Mark Heim, Saved from Sacrifice: A Theology of the Cross, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), p 107
[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-of-easter-3/commentary-on-revelation-79-17-9
[3] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/all-saints-sunday/commentary-on-revelation-79-17-10 Anna Bowden
[4] J. Nelson Kraybill, Apocalypse and Allegiance: Worship, Politics and Devotion in the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2010), p. 98
[5] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/third-sunday-of-easter-3/commentary-on-revelation-511-14-2
[6] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/third-sunday-of-easter-3/commentary-on-revelation-511-14-5
[7] Dorothee Soelle, Theology for Skeptics: Thinking about God, ( Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995), pp 124-125
[8] http://www.kansascity.com/living/religion/article53739145.html#storylink=cpy
[9] https://faithandleadership.com/peter-storey-the-church-here-the-world-or-itself