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2nd 3rd or 4th
Michaelmas Sunday
Revelation 19:11-16
And I saw the heavens opening up.
G. Roland Smith |
And behold, a white horse! And the rider who sat upon it is called faithful and true, who judges justly and battles for justice. His eyes are like flames of fire, and his head wears many crowns, inscribed with a name which no one knows but he himself. The cloak that covers him has been dipped in blood, and he is known by the name “Word of God”.
And written on his robe and on his thigh is the name: King of all kings, Lord of all lords.
4th Michaelmas
October 25, 2020
Revelation 19:11-16
In a game like chess, there are rules. Certain moves are
allowed, and others aren't. All the moves are sequential. And all the moves
have their ultimate consequences.
God created the greater universe with a certain structural
integrity. Things happen in a certain way in a particular order. There are
consequences for everything that happens. Thank goodness!
The reading two weeks ago gave u
Albrecht Durer |
In today's reading, we hear how this Son of Man operates
when he is fully grown. He battles to maintain the greater order, the order of
justice, and just consequences. He, humanity's great I AM, the Creating Word of
God subdues the nations.
God's love for us and ours for Him is not to be supplanted
by a nationalistic and a warring love of country that destroys other nations.
That time in the game has passed. That belonged to the age of Gabriel, the age
of exploration and dominance. Gabriel's period ended over a century ago.
Arild Rosenkrantz |
Now we are well into the age of Michael. His is the age of recognizing that all of humankind is one family. He hopes that we elevate all our human encounters. He invites us to work consciously with spiritual realities, with the angels, with those who have died.
God's long-term game plan for humanity is that we learn how
to love, truly, and wisely. If humankind continues to ignore what is truly just
and in line with God's greater plan, we will be defeated by our own maneuvers.
If humanity continues to behave unjustly based on greed or
mere national interests, we will have to experience the other side of God's
love. We will experience the 'wrath' which is simply the natural and objective consequence
of our defying the greater order and purpose.
If we consistently fail to learn to love, if we set
ourselves against the greater spiritual reality of God's hopes for us, we can
only ultimately lose the game. And we are given the freedom to do that. Perhaps
our personal endgame could be expressed in the words of the poet Stanley
Kunitz:
In the haze of afternoon,
while the air flowed saffron,
I played my game for keeps—
for love, for poetry,
and for eternal life—
after the trials of summer.*
*Stanley Kunitz, "The Testing Tree," in The
Testing Tree: Poems
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