Faith and Fear

I would love nothing more right now than to just watch a whole bunch of funny cat videos and pretend like life can just go back to normal. As a pastor, however, who has to continually engage the culture and the people I serve, I don't have that luxury. I have to pay attention to what people are saying, expressing and feeling. And yes, it's kind of overwhelming at the moment. I also feel I don't get that luxury because there are people in our country who do not have that luxury either because it is affecting their daily lives whether they want it to or not. Whether they're being bullied and/or assaulted in school or on the streets because of their race, or are receiving threatening notes about what America is going to do to them now based on their sexual orientation—they don't get to just forget about it by watching videos of cats freaking out in hilarious ways. This means I don't get to just ignore and forget about it, either, as tempting as it may be. My privilege allows me that option, but my calling as one who preaches the Word of God will not allow me to stick my head in the sand and just ignore what goes on around me.

Before the election, during the election, and now after the election, many of us "faith people" were trying hard to remind people not to put their faith in leaders, to trust in God, to not let their fears rule them. We knew that no matter what the outcome of this particular election, people on both sides were going to feel intense fear of "the other." Some would be living in fear that terrorism would increase if we were "weak" on dealing with groups like ISIS or border security, that their jobs would continue to disappear and their communities decline. That the way of life they had grown up with and always known would continue to alter and change in ways that frightened them. That rural communities were tired of having their voices stifled by an urban-based media and electorate.

Others feared that due to those who felt the aforementioned fears would transform into racism-inspired hate crimes, that policies would be put in place that would rip families apart, they would lose their healthcare, etc. etc. The fears on both sides were real fears.

As a pastor during this time, I have felt it was my job to try and steer people back to the source of our life, the source of all good, and the one who reassures us on an every day basis, "Do not fear." I root my faith and actions heavily on the calls of Jesus and in particular Revelation who speaks to the communities of faith that despite living in times of compromise, complacency, upheaval, persecution and deep fear, were called to remain non-violent witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To peacefully resist the pressures and violence of their culture, not by meeting hatred with hatred, but with faithful witness. God calls us to channel our fears into something else and to reassure us that even when it appears we are "losing"—we are really winning. (As a side note, Revelation also reminds us that evil rages when it knows it is losing. It behaves like a caged animal that is cornered and thus lashes out with the fiercest of death throes. So the more we spiritually combat that evil that lurks and threatens to overtake us—the more it rages against us. This does not mean that if you voted for either Hillary or Trump that you are evil—it means that evil incites our passions to be translated at times to commit violence because its how evil rages against being cornered.)

That doesn't mean we don't actually feel fear, or that if we do we somehow don't have "enough" faith. Fear and lament are all over the Bible, and are a deep part of the people of faith. The Psalms are filled with David's cries for help and protection as he struggled with his own deep fears of being killed. The prophets lamented and wore sackcloth and ashes on a regular basis as they watched injustice and hate overwhelm their cities and countries, and the destruction that would eventually ensue. In fact, there's an entire book called Lamentations addressing exactly that. There's a reason every time an angel of the Lord shows up the first thing he says is "Do not fear." It's an innate human feeling and response to anything we feel could threaten us or that we don't understand. I mean, let's face it... even Jesus' family fled in fear from Judea to Egypt to escape the edict of slaughter from King Herod. As he faced his impending execution, he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane not to have to go through what he would and was so stressed and fearful he was sweating blood.

Experiencing and feeling fear does not mean you don't have faith.

As I write this, my hands are shaking slightly—a side-effect from PTSD-driven anxiety I still suffer from following having been in a psychologically abusive relationship. The "fight or flight" response is real and puts physical stress on the body—no matter how much you may "will" it to be otherwise. We have triggers, things that cause us to instinctually go into self-preservation mode. The abusive rhetoric used in this election process has set off many of those trauma triggers for me and I'm aware of that. The question is not whether I have them and experience them—because I do—it is do I allow them to rule me? What actions (or inactions) does that fear I feel spur me toward? How can I channel that into something positive rather than something that causes more division, hatred and anxiety? (One of those actions is to write things like this, which hopefully helps people rather than harms them and allows us all to process what we are going through) How does it spur me to be a faithful witness to the love and promises of Jesus Christ, a voice of reason and champion for justice without causing shame, harm or even more hatred? It's a tough balance.

So the issue is not whether or not you feel fear or even anger. Of course you do. You're a human being. The question is: do you let that fear and anger rule you?

The story that keeps popping into my head is the story of Cain and Abel, and what God said to Cain, who was angry at the fact that his offering had been rejected by God, but Abel's had been accepted. God warned Cain, "sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it." It's the first warning God gives us about what happens when we let our emotions, anger and fear rule us. It results in the first violent and deadly act in the Bible...which would lead to a whole lot more.

No matter what side of the 'fence' you sit on, you feel a sense of fear about something and what that fear will drive others to do. Will the sin that lurks at the door with fear and its desires to take over us win, or will we master it? Sadly, as Cain's actions illustrate, our track record of mastering things like sin and fear isn't that great.

And it's not one-sided. Other friends are fearful of the people who are lashing out because "the other" group won. One friend posted about how they had graffiti all over their van and buildings at work that said, "Trump=racism." Some "anti-Trump" protestors are calling for violent responses to Republicans. So it doesn't matter which fear you are experiencing or who it is from—when it moves you to commit acts of hatred, destruction and violence, that is not mastering your fear. That is, quite simply, from the devil, no matter who is inciting the violence.

As a good friend of mine stated after her daughter was bullied in school with racial epithets the Wednesday after the election simply for being black,

"My faith has taught me to embrace tension and complexity. I can live by faith, while also see this unleashing of hate as [the] brokenness and sin that it is. I can see the child of God in each person—the cross overshadows any vote. I call for justice for all people as I live out my baptismal covenant—it is precisely HOW I live out my baptism. I give thanks for my faith which gives me room to live with the complexity of the pain shadowing this country. The pain of those who feel forgotten and abandoned and disenfranchised by this country. My faith lets me call out hate, to be incredibly angry. To fear for my children, while living by faith. To see the humanity in all people, knowing God is bigger and God is not finished. So I'm getting up and walking today, because I must live out my baptism, assuring my immigrant children they are safe, embracing my incredible anger in faith and deeply, deeply loving people who voted another way. Let us not divide but unite together as we condemn hate and hold our leaders accountable for the hate they spew. We Lutherans, especially, better know our history and what our indifference and hate produced in 1940s Germany. It is by faith, a faith that allows for complexity, that I go forth."

In my case, my faith calls me to not just call out these acts of hatred, racism and violence, but to also call for more understanding from everyone on both sides. While I can easily demonize those who act on their racist fears and feel emboldened now to let it run amok, or conversely those who are reacting in violent ways to their fears of racism and bigotry... I know that will likely only make the situation worse. I don't know them or their lives or what has led to their deep-seeded hatred and fear.

So as I wrap up these kind of rambling thoughts... let us remember a wise Proverb:

“An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” Proverbs 12:25

Let us channel our anxious hearts into kind words. Let us speak to injustice, but speak as much as possible in words of love for "the other," especially those we deeply disagree with. (I do not do this perfectly, either, but is a goal I strive for.) And to remember, even Jesus, in the midst of faith and trust, still cried out on the cross in fear and despair, as he suffered death as a result of... fear and injustice.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame." - Psalm 22

Christian Power: It's Not What Donald Trump Thinks It Is

Businessinsider.com recently reported on a speech Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump gave regarding Christians being given power in the United States. (You can read the entire article here) 

To be clear, this is not a debate about whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump would make a better President. I'll let you figure that one out for yourself. This is not an article telling you who to vote for or not vote for. This is not a discussion about Hillary Clinton or her faith and comparing it to Mr. Trump's.

This article is addressing one specific issue: Donald Trump's understanding of what Christianity actually is based on his repeated statements regarding the faith. Donald Trump calls himself a Christian - but, to quote the Princess Bride, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

His comments here, in particular, highlight a deep, fundamental misunderstanding of what Christianity teaches. 

"...we don't exert the power we should have...the Christians don't use their power...We have to strengthen. Because we are getting — if you look, it's death by a million cuts — we are getting less and less and less powerful in terms of a religion, and in terms of a force."

What Mr. Trump fails to realize about Christians is that the power we exert is not the same kind of power he, and the world, exerts. The kind of power Mr. Trump is talking about is not the kind of power that God utilizes. (Isaiah 55:8-9) It is not the kind of power Jesus wielded or called his followers to wield. (Matthew 16:23)

God's power is not a show of worldly force, but worldly weakness, for God's power was displayed most fully on the cross. As Paul stated, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18)

By the definitions that Mr. Trump understands people to be "winners," Jesus is one of the biggest "losers" ever. He willingly allowed himself to be arrested, was tried without offering up a defense, and was executed by the Roman government in the most humiliating way possible. He didn't use his "power" to zap his opponents dead, or even to save himself from death on the cross. I have no doubt that if Jesus were currently here criticizing him in any way, Trump would likely Tweet something like: "People think Jesus is a savior because he died on a cross and rose from the dead. I like a savior who doesn't die." (ref. Trump's statement from July 18th, 2015 regarding John McCain's war hero status)

Jesus did not "exert" the power Mr. Trump is promising to give Christians. In fact, he subjected himself to human powers and allowed those powers to do as they wished. For people who understand power the way Mr. Trump does, this kind of power is not power - it is weakness. It is foolishness. It is the exact opposite of what Mr. Trump values.

Mr. Trump's understanding of power is to build walls, wage war, kill the families of terrorists, make tons of money and verbally berate anyone who challenges him. 

Mr. Trump added, 

"Because if I'm there, you're going to have plenty of power. You don't need anybody else. You're going to have somebody representing you very, very well. Remember that."

No, Mr. Trump. What you have stated does not represent me or my understanding of Christianity. You are not representing the ideals and faith that I have dedicated my life to. 

As a Christian - I do not want the power Mr. Trump is offering, because it is antithetical to the kind of power I understand God's power to be. In fact, Trump's kind of power is the very power we are warned to stay away from. (Ok, you knew I couldn't get through a post without mentioning Revelation at SOME point...) Revelation outlines the power of the beast: the power of empire. A power that oppresses, wages war, and grows wealthy at the expense of others. It is power that masquerades as "Christian" power, but is in fact the kind of power that destroys.

The power exerted by Christians is revealed by the Two Witnesses (Revelation 11) who are killed and then raised from the dead. Christian witness to God's power over death is displayed not with guns, bombs, or politics - but sacrifice. God's power is revealed by Christ riding in on his horse wearing a robe dipped in his own blood, wielding the "sword of his mouth." (aka the Word of God.) Christian power is revealed not through the mighty and powerful kings of the world, but the Lamb who was slain. 

In other interviews/speeches, Trump has also claimed that he does not feel he needs to be forgiven for anything (July 18, 2015), that he is more about "an eye for an eye" than forgiveness (Jan. 27, 2016 Bill O'Reilly interview) which completely ignores Jesus' statement: 

"You have heard that it was said, "Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you and, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."

An "eye for an eye" was originally intended to mitigate the propensity for over-the-top human vengeance. (Genesis 4:23-24) Jesus goes even further and says instead of seeking vengeance, forgive seventy times seven times. 

Now Mr. Trump may very well love God as he claims. I'm not one to sit in judgment over that. But based on his actions and statements, I'm just not sure the God he loves is the same God that is revealed to us through Jesus Christ. There is a huge disconnect from his words and the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament writers. He is free to call himself a Christian, but I call foul on his claim that he will represent Christians based on his understanding of what Christianity is.

"How Long, O Lord?"

One of these days, I will learn how to not write out of my emotion. Today's not that day.  

"How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted." - Habakkuk 1:2-4

It's been 2500 years since these words were uttered by the prophet Habakkuk as he watched his own corrupt, unjust society (the Southern Kingdom of Judah) being violently invaded and overrun by an even more corrupt, unjust society (the Babylonian Empire) and cried out, demanding an answer from God. Why was God not listening and why was God not doing something about the insanity, violence, and destruction that was so prevalent in his own day?

They say, "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Because 2500 years later, I find this lament just as relevant today as it was then. The circumstances, in its own weird way, not all that different.

This passage just popped into my head last night as I was getting off the plane that had moments before landed coming out of - of all places - Dallas. When I left Dallas, President Obama had just finished giving an address to the nation regarding the murder of Philando Castile, a black man shot in Minneapolis by police during what should have been a routine traffic stop. 

As I walked out of the West Palm Beach airport bathroom, I fell in beside the flight crew that was leaving the airport and heard one of them say, "Did you hear what happened in Dallas?"

Dallas? We just left Dallas. What?

My heart sank as I heard that ten officers had been shot during a protest and at least four were dead (later to be updated to five). I wanted to cry, not just for the officers, but for everything that had led up to it as well. 

On days like this, it's hard not to despair. It's hard not to ask what on earth has happened to our "civilized," peaceful society we believed we lived in?

Then I had to remind myself: that perception is a lie and an illusion. For some time we have mistakenly thought we were more enlightened and civilized than ancient humans. That when we utilized violence, it was somehow justified and part of how we fought "bigger evils" in our world...not just part of our "nature." 

Yet here we are, watching not some distant war half way across the world via drones and air bombings while we sit safe in our own recliners at home, but are watching violence erupt between our own members of society. Philando Castile was shot and killed on a street I drove on almost every day for four years while I attended seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Police officers were being gunned down in the streets of Dallas as I boarded a plane out of the Dallas airport. 

We don't need the fear of terrorists from the Middle East to rip our society apart. We do just fine on our own with home-grown prejudices and racism that has been at the core of American society since its inception. 

I keep hearing from people, especially older generations, that we need to get back to "family values" like it was in the 1950's. They longingly desire and remember with nostalgia a time of perceived calm, economic growth, and safety - where kids could ride their bikes and run around the neighborhood without fear of being kidnapped or gunned down.

However, this is white nostalgia. Ask a black American who lived during the 1950's how fondly they remember that same time period, whether or not they lived in fear on a daily basis that they would be killed for no better reason than the color of their skin and that justice on their behalf would never come to fruition. A time period where black people were still denied the right to vote or even use the same drinking fountain as their white neighbors. They couldn't even sit at the front of the bus or eat in certain establishments. 

Sorry America, your nostalgia of a time when things were "better" was only a time when it was "better" for a certain portion of the population. This "better" time eventually gave way to the Civil Rights movement and race riots throughout the country.

Then an uneasy calm settled in during the eighties and nineties, as we desperately tried to sweep the undercurrents of a still very real racism under the rug and focused on finding our own big bad "Hitler" type outside our country that was so clearly evil and demonic in the minds of the general public that no one would question why we were engaging in fighting and violence. Enter Saddam Hussein, and later Osama bin Laden.

"Peace" and security in America has always been an illusion. We've ignored the undercurrents and injustices in our society for hundreds of years - a nation that was founded not on "Biblical principles," but rather by wiping out the indigenous people in order to colonize land we just took (utilizing the Bible, erroneously, to determine Northern Europeans were a superior race and therefore justified in committing genocide), then revolting against the British crown while maintaining a system of slavery and bondage of our African brothers and sisters until we ripped ourselves apart in the American Civil War.  

Those issues have never disappeared. They are a part of our history that has simply festered and remained while we have coated a glossy sheen over the top of our society to tell ourselves that everyone wants to be like us, and everyone wants what we want. Now those cushy lives are being threatened... whether it's by racial division, fear of immigrants, fear of losing our way of life... whatever you want to call it. 

Finally, our national and corporate sins have come home to roost, so to speak, and white America is clinging to their rapidly changing world and demographic. We have always viewed ourselves as the "morally righteous" nation, based on "freedom," and democracy, yet there has always only been a section of our society throughout our history that has really been "free." 

We have entered wars thinking we were the heroes that took on the big, bad evil tyrants of the world...only to discover that we have in many ways turned into the very Imperial power in the world that we claim to disdain so much. 

We've watched as innocent black men get gunned down by the very people who are sworn to "protect and serve," and on the flip side, innocent officers who ARE doing their duty getting gunned down while attempting to fulfill their calling to actually protect and serve.

This is our legacy as of 2016. A society that has devolved into a state where its two leading presidential candidates are a criminal who should have been federally indicted and a narcissistic sociopath. Those aren't options. We're shooting one another in the streets and trying to pretend like one or the other deserved what they got somehow. We're arguing over whether or not assault rifles should be easily obtained as an interpretation of the second amendment.

We think we've moved beyond sexism, when the reality is women are still constantly harassed and dismissed in the work place and are just expected to "suck it up" and "play the game" in order to just have the same opportunities as their male counterparts.

If this is what an enlightened society looks like...

A part of me is tempted to pull a Habakkuk, actually, and go stand on the ramparts (well, I don't really know where any ramparts are, so maybe just my back patio?) and demand God answer my complaint. Except for the fact that I'm pretty sure the answer I would get would wind up being just as unsatisfying as the answer Habakkuk received. 

He'd probably come back with, "Really? You think if you foster a civilization like this for a few hundred years, there won't be repercussions? Think again."

There is no way for us to say "here's the real bad guy" in all of this. It's far too complicated for that. It's humanity doing what humanity does. 

Most of you know I love the book of Revelation - but not for the reasons other people do. Others tend to see it as a road map, as a step by step guide to the end of the world.

That's not exactly how I perceive it. Revelation is a prophecy - in the same vein as the prophetic voice we hear in Habakkuk's lament as he watched the destruction of his corner of the world. Prophets offered up warning and promise. Warning that if we continue down certain roads... bad things will happen. Promises that despite the destruction, God will not abandon us forever to our own devices.

Revelation thus serves not as a road map so much as it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is yet another prophetic warning to shape up and stop treating those around us with contempt and hatred and engaging in beastly and oppressive systems. Because guess what? Oppressive systems always - ALWAYS - self destruct. The beast devours the harlot that has been happily riding atop that system, getting drunk on the blood of the innocent, getting rich off those she had taken advantage of for so long. 

Realizing that once again, as has happened time after time throughout human history, Revelation's stark warnings to repent from our engagement in these systems or suffer the same sort of destruction and downfall the beast and harlot represent are coming to fruition. 

Will we heed the warning as a people and a society? Or will we continue to ignore the prophet's cries of warning and hurtle toward our own end? (However that may eventually look.)

Or do we turn to God in repentance - repenting not only of the violence and bloodshed we are guilty of ourselves but been complicit with simply by ignoring the realities of those who suffer in our society. Repentance from how we have taken care of the earth itself? (We tend to ignore this verse from Revelation 11:18: "The nations were angry and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small--and for destroying those who destroy the earth.")

Yet amidst all the doom and gloom... I have to cling to a hope and a promise that Revelation also gives us. That Christ overcomes. No, we may be too far along to avoid what's coming that is going to rock not only our nation but our world, but in the midst of the crazy images and violence that occurs in Revelation there is one truth that shines through - that is not the last word. This insanity is not where God will leave it.

Bad things happened to the nation of Judah when the Babylonians invaded. Judah reaped what it had sown. God tells Habakkuk to write down this Revelation (yes, there are "revelations" in other prophetic books as well) and make it plain on tablets for the Judeans to see.

Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
    and makes himself wealthy by extortion!
    How long must this go on?’

Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
    Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
    Then you will become their prey.
 Because you have plundered many nations,
    the peoples who are left will plunder you.
For you have shed human blood;
    you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

 “Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain,
    setting his nest on high
    to escape the clutches of ruin!
 You have plotted the ruin of many peoples,
    shaming your own house and forfeiting your life.
 The stones of the wall will cry out,
    and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.

“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
    and establishes a town by injustice!
 Has not the Lord Almighty determined
    that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,
    that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

Judah's own corruption had left it open to destruction by a bigger, more powerful and more destructive force (which would also eventually collapse in on itself as the Babylonians eventually gave way to the Persians... who gave way to the Greeks, who gave way to the Romans...blah blah blah...)

History has a tendency to repeat itself. Habakkuk's cry and God's indictment are both just as relevant today as they were 2500 years ago. Yet we learn nothing. We somehow think we're immune. Revelation reminds us of this same warning and lament when the figurative "Babylon" is destroyed. The language and warning is in the same vein as what God tells Habakkuk about its own society.

Is Revelation thus speaking to American society? Absolutely. Is it speaking ONLY to American society? Of course not. It speaks to all societies that engage in this behavior, as Habakkuk's prophecy points out as well. 

As a Christian - I feel compelled to cry out and lament just like Habakkuk. To feel the anguish and despair of watching my own society crumble and fall because we have failed to learn from thousands of years of self-destruction. Failed to heed the warnings from scriptures that so many of us claim to follow and cling to.

Yet as a Christian, I also cling to the hope and the promise that God makes to his faithful... that while corrupt nations will rise and fall, and the innocent will get swept up in the violence as much as the guilty... God will still triumph in the end.

Christ rides into our messy world, our dark world, our violent world, wearing a robe dipped in his own sacrificial blood wielding the sword of his mouth - the Word of God. A reminder that the beastly systems of the world will eventually give way and yield to the Lord of Lord and King of Kings, and all nations will be brought low before Him. A promise that after all of the ways in which we hurt ourselves and destroy ourselves, Christ comes in and destroys the destructive systems.

He does not destroy the nations - just the systems upon which they operate. Because Revelation 22 shows us how the nations are led to the city of God and are healed by the leaves from the tree of life. That is the vision and promise of our future. Eventually. Some day. 

Yet watching us not heed the warnings doesn't make life in the present any less difficult or sorrowful or stop many of us from calling out for repentance and change. For this is one of the visions God gives us as well in Revelation 11, where judgment is muted and the nations repent and give glory to God rather than giving glory to the demons that were responsible for their torment (as had happened in the two previous cycles of visions). Perhaps one of these days, we too will turn in repentance that is achieved through Christian witness and destruction can be mitigated rather than glorifying the things that only continue to wreak havoc and destruction. 

I have this hope - which is why I cry out for humanity to change its direction and path. And I have faith that either way - God will triumph over our self-destructive nature in the end.

Encouragement in the Face of Despair

This morning I engaged in the American democratic process by casting my vote in the primary elections in the state of Florida, knowing that this particular state will be a major deciding factor in who becomes the Republican nominee.

Now I really don't care who you voted for. Well, I do, but - I'm not going to tell you who to vote for.  What I can do is I can tell you how I felt after voting this morning... a certain sense of futility. A sense that even if I did not vote for what I deemed the worst possible option, I wasn't voting for an option that seemed much better in many ways. And November will likely not leave me feeling much different.

But before I fall into the all-too-easy lament of how our world is going to hell in a hand basket, I had to reorient myself to one very important thing. No matter how dismal things may seem—my trust lies not in any candidate, any government or nation. Things may absolutely continue to get worse—such is the nature of living in a broken world. Such are the ways of nations and empires. They rise and they fall. We may be hurtling down a path of no return that will make what has been a relatively easy life for many of us much more difficult and frightening. However, I do not intend to allow the fears and changes we are all witnessing to get in the way of one very important thing: God's promises.

Many of you know that one of my strange Biblical "obsessions" is the book of Revelation. I'm that rare breed of Lutheran who doesn't avoid it and actually finds it to be an amazing and fascinating book filled with symbolism, promises, beauty - and political commentary.

Yikes. Religion and politics. There are two worlds that we wish would never meet, yet always seem to be intertwined in very real ways. Jesus I'm sure would have preferred not to have been crucified due to religion and politics being so closely tied together. Despite "separation of church and state" our reality is that politics and religious issues are always linked because for a large majority of people, their faith and their core beliefs inform their politics, what policies they support and don't support, what candidates they support and don't support.

Now to be clear, this is not a post about how the end of the world is nigh. No, I do not think that Revelation was speaking specifically about 21st century American politics. I don't think it was speaking specifically about any one world figure (except Jesus, of course). To do so would be to fall prey to the idea that America is somehow exceptional in all of the world's history and that the world and history revolves around, well, us. I refuse to think that all of human history culminates in our little 200 year old democratic experiment in this time and place. Perhaps it does, but that doesn't seem like the most faithful way to acknowledge all the saints who have come before us and who will likely follow us.

What I DO think however is that Revelation does still have something to say about our current state of affairs.

Wait... what?

Let me explain... Revelation isn't about a road map to the future. It's about unveiling the true nature of systems in our world. At its core, John's Revelation was a commentary on the Roman system with its oppressive military that kept the peace (the Pax Romana) by violently stifling and suppressing any form of dissent. However the imagery utilized was not meant to speak solely of Rome—hence it never references Rome by name but instead refers to other oppressive empires from Israel's past that were bent on conquest through war and subjugation such as the Babylonian Empire.  Thus images like the beast are more appropriately understood as representing governmental and "beastly" systems that operate in such ways. These types of regimes are nothing new in our world. We've seen them rise and fall numerous times over human history. Because if humanity is anything, it is consistent in its ability to repeat the mistakes of the past. (Don't believe me? Read the entire Old Testament... or even just the book of Judges. Then read up on the past few thousand years worth of world history).

American self-centered exceptionalism is what tends to make us think that Revelation was showing a step by step vision of modern American and Middle East politics. It may be in some way - but probably not in the way you think. John wasn't seeing tanks and battles that were two thousand years into the future. He was seeing images and symbols that could not be tied to any one place and time.

Instead, Revelation utilizes "type" figures for us to look at and begin to see where in our own world we see the beast and its false prophets, etc. In John's day, the beast/false prophet was a not-so-veiled reference to Rome and Emperor Nero - who was killed but lived and "had two horns like a lamb but spoke like a dragon." (Meaning, he had savior qualities that many people clung to—Emperor's were frequently called "the son of God" just like Jesus—but the stuff the beast/false prophet was spewing was clearly coming from the dragon.)

Yet, not every aspect of the beast and false prophet fit Nero - nor was it intended to. The figures incorporate other leaders and empires from Israel's past that were enemies of God. So rather than trying to pin the identity down to a particular individual, when readers of Revelation years later (because Nero was actually dead by the time Revelation was written) would see such leaders arise, it would be the acknowledgement, "It's like Nero all over again."

Our more modern equivalent is to say, "It's Hitler all over again."

Revelation forces us to look at what the characteristics are of "the beast" versus the characteristics of "the lamb" and then goes: who do you belong to? The beast... or the lamb?" Where do your loyalties lie? With worldly systems, or with God? Where does your trust ultimately reside? And do you live accordingly?

This is the primary question that all of Revelation revolves around. What systems and forces are you willing to compromise and support, and which are you not? Does it oppress and promote an unjust system for anyone (in particular the poor, downcast, refugee, etc.)? Do you feel despair and think, "who is like the beast, and who can make war against him?" because it seems so overwhelming and unstoppable? (I get up every morning and pretty much feel this way whenever I watch the news.)

Now Revelation has some pretty frightening images - too many to go into here (if you want to delve more deeply into this imagery, here's my self-serving promotion for a 6 session video-based study on Revelation that I created about a year ago. www.reclaimingrevelation.com) - but its message is not to cause us to despair.

Quite the opposite. In answer to the question who can stand, or who can make war against the beast, there is a response.

The Lamb and the Word of God. Faithful witness to Christ and his ways. Revelation is not meant to make us give up and "accept the inevitable destruction of our world" and just sit back and watch chaos unfold... but rather is calling us to change. To wake up! (see the message to Sardis) and continue to witness to God's promises through Christ. Because ultimately - that is what wins the "battle of Armageddon." Not bombs and nukes... but Christ wielding the Word of God, the sword of his mouth. People's hearts are not changed by force, violence or disaster. It is through the witness and sacrifices of the faithful that people eventually turn and repent giving glory to God. (Rev. 11)

Because ultimately one of the most disturbing - yet hopeful - images is when the beast turns upon the harlot and devours her.

You may be thinking I have a strange and twisted image of hope. Probably. However, it is a reminder that evil destroys evil. It turns in on itself. It ultimately will self-destruct. The sad reality, however, is before that happens, a lot of pain and suffering will happen in the meantime, because that is its nature. It will not last because its nature is too violent and destructive that it can't help but turn in on itself and its allies. The harlot is symbolic of all the opulence and splendor that empires like Rome offered, but is called a harlot because ultimately to engage with that splendor that rides the beast is to prostitute and defile oneself with its garish excesses that typically result in the oppression and slavery of people and nations—all the things that are in opposition to God and his ways.

The call to leave Babylon is not a call to physically exit a city - but to no longer participate in its ways. (In our context, that doesn't mean you don't vote, etc. it means to be aware of the powers that are at play and to not contribute more fully to oppressive elements. To vote and try to change the path of our future is a freedom that those under Roman rule never had... but even in a democratic process there is the warning to be careful, because aligning oneself with a power that seeks to rip those freedoms away in order to offer you, personally, more worldly security by oppressing others will always take you down a path that is the opposite of the lamb - and more like the beast.)

Are we able to see any of these similarities in our world today? In our own country and nation? Of course. We'd be blind not to.

But the message of Revelation is the same to us as it was to those seven churches in Asia Minor: hold fast to your faith, do not be swayed by rhetoric and violence that masquerades as true power. Use the imagery of Revelation to help unveil the true nature of things in our world that seek to divide and destroy us rather than to unite and build us up as God's people.

Because one thing is certain — Christ ultimately wins and defeats the beastly systems of our world. They are ultimately destroyed and to "to those who conquer, I will give the crown of life."

That crown comes not from any worldly power or nation - but from Christ and Christ alone.

We may not be able to change the course of our government and political system, but that is not where our trust lies anyway. That is not where we find our hope. That is not where true freedom exists. So no matter what happens - do not despair. God ultimately conquers, and the "end of the human story" is just the beginning of the story of life lived in full community with God.

Should Christ return tomorrow... HOORAY! But in the meantime—and we have no idea how much longer that meantime will be — remember in all things to remain true to the one who gives REAL security and everlasting peace, and does not offer empty promises that serve only selfish desires and feed our worldly fears.