The Second Sunday of Epiphany

Revelation 5.1-10 (NRSV)

The Scroll and the Lamb

¹Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals; ²and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’ ³And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁴And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁵Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’

⁶ Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. ⁸When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹They sing a new song:
‘You are worthy to take the scroll
   and to open its seals,
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
   saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;
¹⁰ you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God,
   and they will reign on earth.’

John 1.43-end (NRSV)

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ ⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ ⁴⁹Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ ⁵⁰Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ ⁵¹And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’

My text is written in John 1.46 b: where Philip says to Nathaniel: ‘Come and see.’

I remember well, when I read this passage from Revelation for the first time in preparation for a sermon (as distinct from mere reading it for pleasure). I was gripped by the imagery of the whole scene. Many scholars link chapter 5 with chapter 4: the vivid colours, the crystal sea and the drama of the occasion. How wonderful would it be if someone like George Lukas, the producer of the Star Wars series, were to make a film of this book using all the fantastic special effects technology available to capture the wonderful imagery?

When I was reading it back in 1994 in preparation for my expository series, I felt gripped in the vision.  I felt the sense of anticipation: all was about to be revealed – the secret of life. I could feel John’s sense of excitement and then his disappointment – there was no one worthy to open the scroll and for the truth to be revealed – and he wept! As Richard Bewes puts it: “It is a terrible thing to be unable to solve the mystery of life.”

What could be more pertinent in today’s world? All the gods of the 20^th century have been proven worthless. I feel deeply for the many that have lost so much financially and the struggle that lies ahead for them. I also know that for those who are in Christ, the struggle can also be tough, but it will be borne with a deep sense of hope and even joy in the midst of it all because they will know some sense of meaning and purpose. But for others it is going to be especially difficult because there is, for them, no meaning at all. Bewes makes an interesting comment:

At various times in history the despair of thinking people has reached a time of crisis. This happened in the first century AD, with the mounting phobia of death. It was no coincidence that, simultaneously, the resurrection of Christ began to be heralded by the Church, gossiped on the highways of the Roman Empire, and scrawled upon the walls of the catacombs. There was an answer!

Crises will happen – it is part of the mystery of life – and the Church has the answer. Rowan Williams claims that it is Jesus that fills in the missing pieces in the puzzle of the meaning of life (my paraphrase). But has it – or has the Church forgotten it? Are we singing the new song or have we found other songs that have distorted the music? I have found, recently, local churches that are singing the new song loud and clear, and it is my privilege to be part of them. But is there not a challenge in this passage for the Church as a whole? Why are we still divided? Should our focus be on things like sexuality? I am sure you can think of more issues that take us away from the Gospel.

By the time of the Middle Ages the Church was no longer proclaiming the Gospel and so the world was plunged into a crisis of guilt – and the Reformers (both Protestant and Catholic) - needed to rediscover it again and set the people free. The people of our world are steeped in a morass of meaninglessness. Are we doing what is needed to give them a new song to sing?

The world keeps on being told that the Cross of Christ is meaningless. We still have so-called theologians going on TV programmes stating that the Bible is completely discredited, or that at the heart of Christianity is hatred and violence against others. I am not saying that the Church in the past has not been guilty of atrocities or that dreadful things have not been performed by those claiming to be Christians. But this does not mean that the finger can be pointed at Jesus. I am with Bonhoeffer who called for a ‘religionless’ Christianity – getting rid of all the trimmings that are in the way of things and returning to the essence – the risen, living Christ.

Each day as I watch and listen to the news, I see a world that is weeping – and we have a message: Do not weep! There is an answer. But it does not seem obvious to the world. They expect the answer to come from someone strong and powerful (a lion), but it comes from one who is the epitome of love (the Lamb).

In our Gospel reading, Philip could not keep the good news that he had discovered to himself and rushed to find Nathaniel. Notice that he did not argue – for I believe that no one is ever argued into the Kingdom of God and arguments do more harm than good. Philip had something much more powerful to offer: ‘Come and see’. The best evangelist is the person who had actually encountered the risen Christ.

Nathaniel had been thinking deeply about Christ. We know from contemporary sources that vines and fig trees were symbols of places of peace and meditation for their owners. We also know that the author of the Fourth Gospel always uses the richest of symbols in all his writing in order to try to tease out the depth of meaning. When Nathaniel met Jesus, he experienced the deepest sense of self understanding: here was someone who understood his dreams, who knew his prayers, who had seen into his intimate and secret longings – things he had never even out into words – the heavens opened and angels ascending and descending. This reminds us of the lovely image of the ladder between earth and heaven, referred to in Genesis, and Jacob’s experience at Bethel. But now Jacob’s ladder is replaced by Jesus and that, when we come to God in prayer and worship, the avenue of angels and all the company of heaven join the earthly and the heavenly together. In John’s vision, praise breaks out as the Lamb opens the scroll and they all sing out a new song.

Have you seen the wonderful film Educating Rita? We watched it as a family over the Christmas period. In the midst of trying to educate herself and finding hostility from her husband and family, Susan (her real name – she calls herself Rita as part of a game she plays with her tutor) finds herself in a pub singing along with husband and family, some popular song in time to the jute box. Her family are delighted that they have taken her away from her studies – but she finds the whole process empty and unsatisfying and replies to her mother: “Surely there must be a better song to sing!” (One of the privileges of being in education is that we give people choices of songs to sing … In the Church we can offer the song …)

We have the song – but we need to make sure that we singing it? Let us ‘…Sing unto the Lord a new song …’

I also  found myself also looking at the Old Testament lesson for Sunday (1 Samuel 3:1-10 [11-20]) where I found another lovely image – in verse 11: ‘The Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears it tingle.” In the context of this passage, the ears of Eli and his sons would tingle, because they were about to hear the words of God’s judgement. But our ears tingle, because we hear the words of God’s love for us, our families and friends and all who would come to be embraced by this love.

As we renew our Covenant with God, let us all be reminded of his great love for us, for the new song we have been given to sing, and of the joy that is ours, that we too can say with great conviction, because we have experienced the presence of Christ in our prayers in the sacraments and as we love others, ‘Come and see …’

Amen