Revelation is Tough to Get!

You can take this title two ways of course. As we finish up our study of the New Testament we wade fearlessly into the most difficult book of all, Revelation, or the Apocalypse. Apocalypse means literally to uncover or to reveal, and just a little time spent in this book makes one long for some clarity! So here are a couple of guidelines to follow when reading Revelation, a book that Northrope Frye said, "Either finds a man mad or leaves him that way."

Guideline #1: Learn the lingo. Apocalyptic literature was a genre that was familiar to John's readers, but is strange to us. Imagine that you had never seen or heard of science fiction novels, and then were confronted with a book that included space aliens or humans with super powers. It would be rather disconcerting, to say the least! In the same way, we are disturbed by the extreme imagery (women with seven heads or ten arms?) and the hyperbolic language of Revelation. John's readers would have been familiar with that type of literature and knew what not to take literally.

Guideline #2: Think Oriental, not Occidental. The symbolism of Revelation is Oriental in nature. If the writer wants to communicate a being that is omniscient, that being might have ten heads. If the being is involved in many activities, that being might have many arms. Think of the Hindu or the Buddhist symbols for deities and you will get more of a feel for Oriental symbolism. One commentator wrote that Western writers use words like building blocks and Eastern writers use words as ornamentation. Try to get in an Eastern frame of mind.

Guideline #3: Know the history. Many of the symbols and events in Revelation can be traced to actual events happening in John's day. Though they may also foreshadow events in the future, we may have a harder time figuring out those connections. A famous example is the number of the beast, 666 (or 616 in some manuscripts) which has been tied to evil leaders in every generation. Caesar Nero, however, the despot that initiated the first wave of persecution of the Christians, really did have a name whose letters added up to the number 666. (Gematria, the system of attaching a number to each letter of the alphabet, meant that every name in Hebrew or Greek had a numerical equivalent.) So without trying to stretch the interpretation too far, we can find many meanings in the events surrounding the composition of the book.

Guideline #4: Use modern revelation. Joseph Smith, who famously called Revelation "one of the plainest books ever written," asked and received answers to fifteen questions about Revelation in Doctrine and Covenants Section 77.  It is a fascinating commentary and a great place to start in your study. Add the comments of modern day prophets and apostles, and there is a wealth of information on Revelation to help us.

My personal take-home from the book was this: John sees history as a great scroll with seven seals, and no one can open the seals except the Lamb who was slain for the sins of the world. The seven great ages of history are opened, one by one, by Him, and John sees their meaning. For me, now in my sixth decade, there is a lesson here. No one can open the seals of our own lives except Jesus, and with Him we can go back through each decade and understand the meaning of the events that have occurred. With Him we can also go forward, decade by decade, and can find purpose in all of it.

Finally, Revelation shows us that when Christ comes in his glory and ushers in the millennium, all we have suffered, all of the unfairness and injustice of life, what Hamlet calls "the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to," will be understood and healed and dissolved in His matchless love. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Rev 21:4)

That is such a comforting vision of the future that we are moved say with John, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

Control vs. Influence: How Christ Loves Us

One of the most moving, and revelatory verses of scripture is found in the first epistle of John: "We love Him, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19) How does Christ love? What are the ways that He manifests love to us that are so compelling that millions and millions of people revere Him as their Lord and Savior? Can we raise our level of loving by examining and emulating His?

John has much to teach us about this. These epistles are thought to be the latest of the New Testament documents, and here John is already addressing the doctrinal drift that occurred in the years after the apostles died. The drift was away from a belief in the literal death and resurrection of Jesus, and toward a fuzzy yet dangerous idea that everything about the body was bad. Thus, the spiritual component of Christ's being must be emphasized and worshipped, and everything that testified of Him as a corporeal being, both before and after death, must be avoided. John describes the anti-Christ as anyone who denies the literal resurrection of Jesus, and reminds us that he is a living witness of that reality; he had handled and seen the resurrected Lord.

Learning to Love as Christ Loves

Given the environment in which he found himself it is interesting that John would choose to fill his few chapters, not with a doctrinal discourse about these issues, but about the love of God. "God is love," he says simply, and says it over and over. And then these insightful words: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18) What does love look like when it is mixed with fear? It may include such elements as manipulation, blame, criticism, contention, etc. When we take the element of fear out of love, when our love is given freely and without condition, these elements tend to disappear, and be replaced by mutual respect, harmony and forgiveness.

Jesus used several telling metaphors to describe the way that He loved. He described himself, for example, as a mother hen, gathering her chicks under her wings. (Hard to imagine him in the role of rooster.) He also used the image of the shepherd, one who knows each lamb by name, and whose voice they recognize and trust. Who knows your voice? Our family members and close friends might constitute our "flock." How do we interact with those closest to us? Is our love manifested more through control or influence? 

The word "control" comes from the Latin contra or against, and rotula or to roll, as in rolling something up a hill. The word "influence" comes from the Latin influentia meaning to flow into. (Fluid and fluency are related words.) At some point we realize the impossibility of controlling those around us, even in small ways. People can always tell when we have a hidden agenda! Perhaps we should concentrate instead on increasing the influence we have in others' lives. Prayer, faith, encouragement, and above all, the pure love that comes as a gift from the Savior, can do more to help and heal others than all of the solutions we might suggest. 

As my children grew to adulthood I spent a lot of time thinking about how to love them in our new roles. In other words, I began to learn the difference between control and influence. I was assigned to address a women's conference on parenting, and I distilled all of those thoughts into a paper that I offer as a Mother's Day gift to you. God is love, yet we are very human. As we learn to love without condition, we draw closer to Him, and bless the lives of those around us. So it's worth trying to take it up a notch, don't you think?

If anything in this paper is useful to you, I'll be glad, and wish you all a happy Mother's Day.

Control vs. Influence: Helping Children Come to Christ

Suffering for Christ's Sake

"Peter penned the most sublime language of any of the apostles." Thus said Joseph Smith, and a close look at these letters reveals a deep doctrinal message as well as a sophisticated rhetorical style. Peter addresses these epistles to the converts that Paul baptized in Asia Minor, who were facing a difficult situation. His main theme is the value of suffering for Christ's sake.

Early Christians quickly became objects of persecution for several reasons. Because Christians met in the evenings, called each other brother and sister, and greeted each other with a kiss, their neighbors mistrusted them and suspected them of secret conspiracies. Their refusal to honor the local deities made them easy scapegoats any time there was a natural or even man-made disaster. (Nero blamed them for the burning of Jerusalem, when in all probability he started the fire to clear space for a new palace.) Their odd beliefs, especially their representation of the sacrament as literal manifestations of the blood and body of Jesus, made them vulnerable to accusations that ranged from incest to cannibalism. In some instances, merely to acknowledge oneself as Christian meant certain death. Peter confronts this terrifying reality by recalling the suffering of Jesus in a stirring homily.

As Christians, what are we willing to suffer for righteousness' sake? The lesson here is, perhaps, to act is such a way that we do not bring persecution upon ourselves, but when the challenge comes, to be ready to respond with quiet courage. "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)

Heaven is For Real

Peter refers, almost in passing, to a marvelous occurrence, the Savior's mission to the world of spirits during his three days in the tomb: "By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison…" (1 Peter 3:19) Through modern revelation (especially D & C 138) we know much more about this question that is perhaps the most interesting to every person living, namely, where do we go after we die? Many experiences have been recorded of interaction between those who have died and those who are about to do so, or "near-death" experiences. One that is quite moving was recorded by Wilford Woodruff. After his young wife Phoebe passed away, he was inspired to administer to her and rebuke the power of death. He wrote of the incident:

“Her spirit returned to her body, and from that hour she was made whole; and we all felt to praise the name of God, and to trust in Him and to keep His commandments.

“While this operation was going on with me (as my wife related afterwards) her spirit left her body, and she saw it lying upon the bed, and the sisters weeping. She looked at them and at me, and upon her babe, and, while gazing upon this scene, two personages came into the room … One of these messengers informed her that she could have her choice: she might go to rest in the spirit world, or, on one condition she could have the privilege of returning to her tabernacle and continuing her labors upon the earth. The condition was, if she felt that she could stand by her husband, and with him pass through all the cares, trials, tribulations and afflictions of life which he would be called to pass through for the gospel’s sake unto the end. When she looked at the situation of her husband and child she said: ‘Yes, I will do it!’

“At the moment that decision was made the power of faith rested upon me, and when I administered unto her, her spirit entered her tabernacle …” (Leaves From My Journal, 4th ed., The Deseret News, 1909, pp. 59–60.)

We chose to be here, we each have a mission to fulfill, and we are not alone in this world. We are surrounded by helpers who know us and love us, and assist the Savior in leading us home. Peter takes this as his premise, and he encourages us to face our trials with courage and grace. "Happy are ye," he says, "if ye suffer for righteousness' sake." 

What Do Our Works Show?

          Martin Luther famously described the Book of James as a "an epistle full of straw, because it contains nothing of the gospel." OK, tell us what you really think! This, of course, made me curious about Martin Luther and why he felt so grumpy about a perfectly wonderful book of scripture, and I was interested to read about his background as an over-zealous monk. Determined to be the most obedient monk on the planet, he nearly killed himself with fastings, vigils, and self-denial. His epiphany about grace while reading Paul's letters to the Romans and to the Galatians caused him to swing the pendulum the other direction, and to get positively rabid about anything that sounded like it overlooked Christ's saving power in favor of, well, fastings, vigils and self-denial. So James, with his practical suggestions on how to live a Christian life, sounds all wrong to him because he doesn't say much about that grace that had become the life line for Martin Luther. But it's all in there. James simply pre-supposes that we have "felt to sing the song of redeeming love," and now need a little instruction on how to retain that remission of our sins. Really, Martin should cheer up and cut him some slack.

          The whole discussion about grace and works can become counter-productive. C.S. Lewis resolves the whole issue in one sentence: "Christians have often disputed as to whether what leads the Christian home is good actions, or Faith in Christ. I have no right really to speak on such a difficult question, but it does seem to me like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary.”

So rather than beat that same old drum, we focused instead on what our works show. James says, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faithwithout your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." (James 2:14-15 NKJV) Obviously we are all busy doing something every day, and the things we do show where our faith is centered. Faith in Christ leads to certain actions, and faith in money leads to others, and faith in social progression or ambition leads to others, etc. Each day brings a series of decisions with it. Where will we spend our precious time? How will we use our allotment of energy and money and influence? What we choose to do each day shows where our faith lies.

          Making these choices can be perplexing, and we had a good discussion about how we learn to balance all of the competing demands on us. One sister shared how, in a time of illness, she prayed every day to know the most important thing she could get done with the very limited energy she had. Invariably the answer was to gather her children around her for scripture study and prayer. Another shared the idea that taking time for personal study (such as our class) was good, only if she then shared what she gained with her family. Taking time for ourselves is important, but the point is to have something to share at the end of that fulfilling time.

          James offers us some of the great scriptural gems, including the verse that sent young Joseph Smith out into the grove: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5) As I read this familiar verse I was struck by the fact that it is usually what we lack that sends us to our knees in prayer. God does not reproach us for that though; he stands ready to give us whatever we are able to receive. Though Martin Luther nearly killed himself with diligence, he felt empty and unhappy, and that put him in a place to receive God's guidance. His reformation was a great step forward for faithful Christians. Joseph Smith felt uneasy about the religious options available to him. He lacked wisdom, and his simple question to God, "Which church should I join?" opened the heavens. 

          So maybe we shouldn't be so angry with ourselves about what we lack, whether it is talent, or perspective, or even a sunny disposition. God uses us just the way we are, and hopes that we will recognize what we lack and go to Him for help. Looking at what happened to Martin and Joseph, it makes you wonder what wonderful things might be in store if we have the courage to do so. 

The Resurrection and the Life

     
         Why do we need a Savior? There are so many reasons, but here are three of the most important: We need to be saved from sin. We need to be saved from death. We need to reach our divine potential. The atonement opens the door to all of those great possibilities. As we examine the pivotal moments of the atonement we might imagine ourselves as onlookers at Gethsemane, on Golgotha, and at the empty tomb. Here are a few things we might notice.

           Gethsemane is taken from the Hebrew word Gat (press) and Shelem (oil) and it is said that some of the Olive trees in that grove are over 2000 years old. That means they may have been there when Jesus entered with his disciples that night, after the final supper with the twelve. Jesus, the anointed one, becomes himself the "oil beaten for the light," pressed down by the weight of our sins. Mark tells us that Jesus began to "be sore amazed," and the note adds, "astonished." Neal Maxwell comments, "Imagine the creator of the universe, astonished." The weight of the world was on his shoulders, literally, as Jesus took upon himself not only the sins of the world, but the consequences of sin being in the world. This means that whatever is wrong with us, from addictions to phobias, can be helped through the atonement. The stress of our sins and shortcomings caused his capillaries to burst, until he bled at every pore, a condition known as hematidrosis. And that was only the beginning.
          "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people… he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." Alma 7:11-12

          Golgotha means the place of the skull. Crucifixion was used by the Romans as a deterrent, and thus was made as tortuous and as publicly humiliating as possible. When Pilate offered to release a prisoner to the crowd, he offered them the choice between the Savior and  Jesus bar Abba, known to us as Barabbas. The name means Jesus, son of the father. Satan seems to come up with these counterfeits at every turn. Matthew's text could actually be translated, "Which Jesus do you choose?" Jesus made seven statements that we know of while on the cross, beginning with the plea for forgiveness for the soldiers who crucified him. Most heartrending is his cry to the Father, "Why has thou forsaken me?" Melvin Ballard postulated that the Father had to withdraw his Spirit from his son in order for Jesus to choose the moment and manner of his death. He gave up his life. It was not taken from him.

             "In that hour I think I can see our dear Father, behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until even he could not endure it any longer, and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child, has to be taken out of the room, so as not to look upon the last struggles, so he bowed his head, and hid in some part of his universe, his great heart almost breaking for the love that he had for his Son. Oh, in that moment when He might have saved his Son, I thank him and praise him that he did not fail us, for he had not only the love of his Son in mind, but he also had love for us. And so this is what it cost, in part, for our Father in Heaven to give the gift of his Son unto men."

            Resurrection is a familiar term to us, but we must remember that it had never happened before, and it came as a complete surprise. (In fact, Peter could not believe that Christ was resurrected until he saw the folded burial napkin. No thief would fold burial clothes!) Biblical scholars through the centuries have tried to explain away the resurrection by claiming that Mary and the disciples so desperately wanted Jesus alive that they imagined it. Theologian Luke Timothy Johnson responds that every encounter with the risen Lord showed quite the opposite to be true. The disciples were dazed and confused, and completely shocked by the Lord's sudden entrance. The Lord emphasized his corporeal reality with every appearance, showing his body, and eating and walking with his disciples. In no case did anyone interpret these experiences as symbolic ~ it was literal. 

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              Jesus referred to himself as both "the resurrection and the life." His atoning sacrifice and his resurrection offers us not only life after death, but a greater abundance of life in our daily existence. Entropy, that 2nd law of Thermodynamics, is overthrown in Him. When we have His spirit, we are more alive, more aware, lighter, and full of His creative power. As Easter approaches, how thankful we are for Jesus, the Life, the Light, our Lord.

Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace: Hebrews

        “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”                                          

                                                                                                 Hebrews 4:15-16

 

         “Hebrews is the most Christ-centered of all the books of the New Testament,”  said Joseph F. McConkie. In it Paul presents a brilliant review of Old Testament history in the light of Christ's fulfillment of the Mosaic law. He shows us how faith is at the center of every great Bible story, and how Jesus and his atoning sacrifice are foreshadowed in the Mosaic rituals. Paul focuses on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and movingly portrays Jesus as the "great High Priest." Whereas the Jewish High Priest must return every year to enact the ritual sacrifices that cleanse the Jewish nation. Jesus's was the offering that was eternally binding. "For this he did once, when he offered up himself." (Heb. 7:27)

         There are some big ideas in Hebrews. To begin with, Christ and the Father are one, and we, as their offspring, are heirs to their divine nature. In every way Christ fulfilled the law of Moses and supersedes it. The temptation both Jewish and Gentile converts may have felt to go back to the security of the Mosaic law, or the temptation we may feel to rely on a set of rules rather than on the grace of Christ, must be seen for what it is: a choice of a dead law over a living Savior. This required a seismic shift in thinking for those new converts; it requires a rebirth of the Spirit for all of us.

          "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Ne 25:26) These words beautifully describe Paul's valiant service, and these stirring epistles we have studied. Do they also describe us? How often are we talking about Jesus, and preaching about Him, rather than the less important rules and regulations of the law? When times are tough, do we prophesy about Him to our loved ones? Joseph Smith said that the "testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" so bearing testimony of Him counts as prophecy. Are we the ones who remind others to look for the hand of the Lord in our challenges? And when that hand is manifest, do we write these miracles down so that our children will know where to look when they need help? 
         Paul reminds us that we have, in our Savior, the greatest source of power, comfort, and healing in the universe. And as a result, "we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil."
         

Letters from Prison

The "captivity letters" (Colossians, Philemon, Philippians, Ephesians) have a different feel to them. Calmer, more measured and focused than Paul's earlier epistles, they come at the end of a long life of serving and suffering, and reflect the time for reflection that years of prison provided. As Nelson Mandela said, "In prison, everything stands still." Scholar Luke Timothy Johnson summarizes these epistles thus:

"Taken as a group, the letters are connected thematically by a concern for fellowship in communities, especially when disparities in social standing or human competitiveness threaten to destroy an ideal of equality and unity in Christ. The Letter to the Ephesians stands as the best expression of these concerns and the most mature reflection in the Pauline tradition on the meaning of the church." (The Apostle Paul," The Great Courses, Outline p. 42)

Some of the most familiar passages in these epistles have to do with the potential of the church to become, in microcosm, what the world will become during Christ's millennial reign. "Now therefore," Paul asserts, "ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;" (Ephesians 2:19) Dealing with the mind-boggling challenge of uniting Orthodox Jews with converted Gentiles and several disparate groups in-between, Paul simply chooses to create a larger nation, "the household of God," to which we all owe first allegiance. If the church is not a model of unity in diversity, it fails in its central mission, namely, the perfecting of the saints.

Refusing to be drawn into debates about the finer points of the law, Paul appeals to our finer natures, encouraging us to adopt the "mind of Christ," rather than just try to tally up a list of do's and don'ts in defining the Christian life. He warns us to avoid corrupt communications, which are defined by one commentator to include criticism, blaming, anger and lying. There is hardly a day, (perhaps hardly an hour) when most of us do not fall into at least one of these communication traps. How do we raise our level of discourse to more Christlike communication, particularly with loved ones who are most vulnerable to being harmed by harsh words, and also most likely to set them off?

M. Catherine Thomas reminds us that Christlike communication is not a matter of "assuming a virtue though we have it not," but is instead an exercise in making contact with our divine center: 

“We do not have to make ourselves feel love or think happy thoughts; we do not have to pretend love. Rather, we find that quiet, neutral place in our mind, our state of simple being, and there we set up our gentle intentions to be compassionate to all – even when our expectations are not met.” (Light in the Wilderness: Explorations in the Spiritual Life)

So, how are we doing in our daily communication? Are we able to respond to malice with mercy, to criticism with curiosity and a willingness to change, and do we curb our natural defensiveness in the moments that matter most?  Paul (a bit of a firecracker himself) seems to understand how difficult this can be, and ends by assuring us that whatever we can do is enough, as Christ's boundless grace will come in and take up the slack, healing and helping in every situation, 

"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:13)

On a lighter note, I invited our class to wear stripes in honor of our discussion of Paul in prison, and here is a sampling of how stylishly we would approach incarceration!