For most of the last school year I spent several Thursday mornings with a group of parents who met to pray over the students at my son’s school. Each Thursday we’d pray over a list of names of students, faculty and staff and we’d pray over their prayer requests.
I remember the morning when Suzanne Avery, the Highlander who leads the group, shared a slip of paper that someone had dropped into the prayer request box. It simply read:
“I’m not sure what I want in life.
I don’t know who I am.”
Isn’t that a gut-wrenching note? Can’t you imagine that person wrestling as he/she wrote it? Haven’t there been times, maybe even today, when you could have written those words?
“I’m not sure what I want in life.
I don’t know who I am.”
That last statement is particularly important: I don’t know who I am. We call that “anthropology.” One of the most important questions the Bible takes up is anthropology: the study of who we are. Our current series takes up the six core questions asked and answered by the Bible. One of those is the question of anthropology. The question of “who are we?”
Last week we saw how the first chapter in the Bible’s last book helps answer important questions about theology: who God is. Today we look at how this first chapter in the Bible’s last book answers important questions about anthropology: who we are.
We begin with some thoughts about royalty and power. Let’s watch this video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOlmTg8mKPk ] This was one of the ways in which we learned of the birth of Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana during the first week of May to the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, and her husband Prince William. A town crier made the announcement in front of news cameras.
Just in case you couldn’t quite make it out, here’s what he said:
“Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! On this day, the 2nd of May, in the year 2015, we welcome with humble duty the second born of the royal highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The princess is fourth in line to the throne. May our princess be long lived, happy and glorious and one day, to live to reign over us. God save the Queen!”
Raise your hand if your birth was announced in this way….No? I’m not surprised. You’ve got to be a pretty rare person to be celebrated in this way. You’ve got to belong to a powerful family in order to get that kind of welcome, don’t you? And most of us just don’t have that kind of power.
Neither did John’s readers. Their culture featured a royal class that was, literally, divine. At the very top of the ancient hierarchy was the Roman Emperor. And he was regarded as a god. He had nearly supreme power.
For example, here’s a pledge to the emperor from just three years before the birth of Jesus. Roman citizens like John’s readers would have had to make such a pledge to the Roman Emperor (Richard Oster Seven Congregations in a Roman Crucible, 60-61):
“I swear by Zeus, Earth, Sun, all the gods and goddesses and Augustus himself that I will be favorably disposed toward Caesar Augustus and his children and descendants all the time of my life in word and deed and thought, considering as friends those whom they may consider friends and holding as enemies those whom they may judge to be enemies and for things that are of interest to them I will spare neither my body nor my soul nor my life nor my children, but in every way for the things that affect them I will undergo every danger; and whatever I might perceive or hear against them being said or plotted or done, I will report it and I will be an enemy to the person saying or plotting or doing any of these things; and whomever they may judge to be their enemies, these, on land and sea, with arms and steel will I pursue and ward off. If I do anything contrary to this oath or anything not in agreement with what I have sworn, I pray that there may come upon myself, my body and soul and life, my children and all my family and whatever is of use to us destruction, total destruction till the end of all my line and of all my descendants, and may neither the bodies of my family or of my descendants by earth or sea be received, nor may earth or sea bear fruit for them.”
Talk about power! This was the royal culture of John’s readers. The kingdom in which they lived. Caesar, the Roman Emperor, had supreme power. Your body, soul, life, children and all you possess belong to the King of Kings. Everything you say and do must be said and done for him and for him alone. This king had that kind of power.
With all of this in mind, we listen to these words from John near the beginning of Revelation:
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
(Rev. 1:4-8 ESV)
John says in v. 5 that Jesus has freed us from something. We have been freed from our sins by his blood.
But we have not only been freed from something. We have been freed for something. One of the mistakes that people make when it comes to Christianity is to believe that we are only freed from something. To believe that Christianity is only about being freed from something in past (sins) so we can get somewhere in the future (heaven). But Jesus has also freed us for something in the present. He has made us into something in the present so that we might be of some use here on the earth. John mentions two things that Jesus has made of us. Two things for which we are freed. Who are we? The last book of the Bible answers that question with two images.
First, John says that Jesus has made us a kingdom. Who are we? We are a kingdom. That word “kingdom” is a loaded word. The only kingdom that mattered in John’s day was the kingdom of Rome and Caesar. But John says that Jesus has made us an alternative kingdom.
The word that John uses can also mean “kingship.” It refers to the power of the king. In this same text John describes Jesus as the ruler of kings of the earth–Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. Jesus is the king who stands even above the king of Rome, the Emperor. He has more power than even Caesar. And this King Jesus has made us his kingdom, his kingship, his royal power.
John is saying that we are the expression of the kingly power of Jesus on this earth. When Caesar wanted to assert his kingly power on earth, he might call in the Roman Legion. But when Jesus wants to assert his kingly power on earth he calls you. His kingly power is not asserted through miracles. Not through militaries. His kingly power is asserted through you.
In many ways this takes us back to Genesis 1 and the very first word about who we are. There, we are told that who we are is this: we are made in the image of God. In the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian world the phrase “image of God” was used to describe the King. He, alone, was divine. He alone was the image of God. He alone was how the gods would exert power in the world. But Genesis applies that phrase to every human. Every human is made in the “image of God.” Every human is royal. And now John applies this idea to humans who follow the one true king. We are Jesus’ kingship. We are the expression of his power on this earth. We are how the one true king exerts his power in the world.
That means that when we do things, even seemingly small things, in the name of Jesus or for the sake of Jesus, those things become immensely powerful.
Last Friday Highland volunteers put together a wonderful appreciating luncheon for teachers at Macon Hall elementary, one of our adopted schools. It was done in the name of Jesus, for the sake of Jesus. And with every table decorated, every cake baked and given away, every word of encouragement spoken by Eric and Lawana and Donna and others, every visual aid rendered by Russ, the power of the ruler of the kings of earth was unleashed right here in Cordova.
A couple of weeks ago several volunteers at Highland helped fifth graders from LaRose Elementary have a great field day at Highland. And as they scooped ice-cream into bowls for the kids to enjoy ice cream sundaes, right there was the kingly power of Jesus at work. As they painted faces, right there was the kingly power of Jesus at work. As they held a giant slingshot by which the kids launched water balloons, right there was the kingly power of Jesus. Ice cream sundaes, face painting and water balloons may seem like small things. But because they were done in the name of Jesus and for the sake of Jesus, they are transformed into expressions of the power of the king who is above all kings.
This summer at Highland which kicks off today is filled with similarly powerful things. Teens and adults painting houses for WorkCamp. Students and counselors putting in “the best week of the year”at Camp Highland. Volunteers and teens traveling to different cities to serve the poor or to help under-resourced kids on TIME Trips. All of this being done in the name of Jesus and for the sake of Jesus. And that makes all of this extremely powerful. This summer many of you will be used as some of the greatest expressions of the power of Jesus on this earth.
Who are we? We are a kingdom. We are the way the king of king gets his will done on earth.
But John has a second word about who we are. Who are we? We are also priests. John says that Jesus has made us, has freed us for being, a kingdom, priests to his God and Father. Both “kingdom” and “priests” echo Old Testament times when God called Israel to become this very thing. God tells Moses in Ex. 19:6: “6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” John now applies this language to all who follow Jesus. Jesus, the ultimate priest, has made us priests as well.
That may not mean a great deal to you. All you may know about priests is that, in the Old Testament, they oversaw animal sacrifices and served in the temple. All you may know about priests today is that they run churches and usually can’t marry.
One of the functions of a priest, however, was one that you may not know. Priests were called to bless. We see this at the very beginning when priests were first employed by God:
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Num. 6:22-24 ESV)
This was the blessing which the first priests were called to pronounce upon the people. It may seem a small thing, especially compared to the other duties of priests. But it was one of the most powerful things priests did. And throughout history, priests have carried out this call using these words that have come to be known as “The Priestly Blessing.” In many Jewish and Christian contexts today, this blessing continues to be used. The Mishnah, an authoritative collection of Jewish interpretation of biblical law, prescribes that this blessing be said at the end of every Jewish synagogue service. In fact, this blessing is one of the oldest fragments of biblical texts discovered. Two silver cylinders were discovered in burial caves in Israel. They date to 600 years before the birth of Jesus. And on them were written the words of this blessing that priests gave as part of their duties.
The blessing consists of 3 Hebrew words in the first line (v. 24), followed by 5 words in the second line (v. 25), followed by 7 words in the final line (v. 26). The increase in words line by line symbolizes the increase of God’s blessing as it is given.
The first line simply asks for God to bless and keep people. The word “keep” is used in places like Ps. 121 where God “keeps” our life and “keeps” our going out and coming in. It refers to God’s ongoing watching over our lives.
The second line uses the image of light, asking God’s benevolent light to shine on us and be gracious to us. This phrase is found in places like Ps. 67 which talks about how when God’s face shines upon people, his saving power becomes known throughout the nations (v. 1-2).
The third line asks God to look to us, nod to us and thus grant us “peace” or shalom – the making right of all things. This is what God ultimately wants and what the priests ultimately sought. That all people everywhere would experience life as it was meant to be lived. Whole. Complete. With peace.
And one of the jobs of a priest was to pronounce this blessing. Priests had many other functions. But one of their important duties was to bless.
And I can’t help wonder if John doesn’t have this in the back of his mind. As these followers of Jesus struggle in a hostile environment where they seem powerless, I wonder if he’s thinking of this priestly role of blessing. In wonder if he’s thinking of the power of blessing.
I often hear Christians today saying, “I want to be a blessing.” And that’s a good thing. We definitely want to be a blessing. But what if we also started thinking this: “I want to give a blessing”? Doesn’t that take a lot of pressure off? It can be a lot of pressure to always have to be blessing. To make sure that in every situation, with every person, we become the personification of a blessing. But what if, at least sometimes, the only thing we had to do was to give a blessing? What if all we had to do, sometimes, was pronounce words like these over people? I think we’d be surprised at how powerful those words could be.
I wonder what might happen this week if you did the following: As often as possible, ask people this question: “Would you mind if I gave you a blessing? And then speak these words from Num. 6. You could simply say, “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance to you and give you peace.”
An acquaintance of mine was telling how, a couple of weeks ago, he met a stranger while traveling and he said, “Could I pray for you today?” And the person immediately said, “Yes.” And the man prayed over him. It was that easy. Imagine if you did something like that this week. And when the person said “Yes” you just prayed: “God, bless this person and keep him. Make your face shine upon him and be gracious to him. Lift up your countenance upon him and give him peace.” It might be the most powerful thing you could do this week.
Would you do that with just one person this week? Would you find one person this week and speak this blessing over them?
Let’s return to the beginning. Do you remember how we started with that prayer request? It simply read:
“I’m not sure what I want in life.
I don’t know who I am.”
John’s words have a lot to say to that person. Here’s who you are. You are a kingdom—the greatest expression of the greatest power on earth. And you are a priest—capable of speaking the greatest blessing on people all around you. Go, this week, and be who you are.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his countenance to you and give you peace.
