AKMA’s Random Thoughts

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Preach”

Just a warning that I’m on for the Sunday evening service at Canterbury Northwestern, so I’ll blog out some ideas as they come. The readings are Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20 and John 17:20-26; of those, I have a very strong inclination to preach on the text from Revelation, partly because too few people preach well on Revelation, and partly because many the impulse to preach about “unity” on the basis of the passage from John will swamp many pulpits this Sunday.

I’m looking forward to teaching through Revelation someday — though I don’t see when that would happen — but biblical theologians urgently need to articulate a representation of Revelation as something other than a literal road map for cosmic destiny (I’d set up the Left Behind series as a straw figure for this side, but from what I gather, these books aren’t even a good literal interpretation of the apocalypse) on one hand, or a facile de-mythological dismissal on the other. Occasions such as this put me on the spot to make good the challenge that I pose to my colleagues.

But for now, I don’t have the faintest idea what I will say.

[Later:] Well, I observe, for one thing, that the lectionary-arrangers have omitted some of the embarrassing verses from tomorrow’s reading. Rev 22:15 and 18-19 invoke maledictions on the wrong sorts of people: dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood, and people who add to or delete from the Book of Revelation (now that part can’t be literal, since in order to make any sense of the thing at all we have to flesh it out, or trim some away).

One way into the sermon, then, might involve drawing the congregation (OK, the six or so people who come to Sunday night mass) into the lovely promise of the Spirit and the Bride — then probing the question of whether they can still hear the promise if we also read the verses that the lectionary omitted. The Church has almost from the beginning weighed in that although we may and should pray for all souls, although we may hope that all enter into everlasting blessing, that theologians may speculate about the possibility that God brings absolutely all to salvation at some point, yet the Church may not teach that all will be saved. If the Church teaches that at least some people will not accept the grace that reconciles us to God, why be embarrassed by biblical passages that say as much?

Posted by AKMA at May 22, 2004 11:46 AM | TrackBack