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You’ve all probably seen enough AA meeting moments on TV to know that when one of the members stands before the group to give their story, their testimony, they begin with “Hi. I’m Randy. I’m an alcoholic.” and the rest of the group will enthusiastically respond “Hi, Randy.” The introduction is done that way because being an alcoholic is a hard thing to accept, there’s a lot of shame that comes with it. Introducing yourself as an alcoholic and then being welcomed instead of judged is a huge thing in recovery. Admitting this about yourself in a room of other alcoholics makes you realize you are not alone in this disease. In that room you have a family and you are all co-sharers, bond together in having the disease and recovering from it. In a meeting the first thing you say about yourself is, “I’m an alcoholic.” That sets the stage for everything else.
I hear something similar happening here in how John introduces himself in this letter as he begins to give account of the things he has seen. He first says, “I, John, your brother” to highlight the family nature, the family-like bond in Christian fellowship that is due to the presence of the Holy Spirit in and among us binding us together as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, God’s family.
He then identifies himself as a fellow-sharer with them in Christ in three things: the persecution, the kingdom, and the patient endurance. Fellow-sharing means we are bound together to each other and to Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit dwelling in and among us, what happens to one of us, happens to us all. As Jesus more or less said in the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, “Whatever you did to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did to me.” As Jesus suffered, so we suffer in like manner. We all go through it together and we all feel it and so does Jesus for he is with and in us. This “fellow-sharing” is the one quality I appreciate most about small congregations.
Persecution is one of the things John states they were going through together. That is what happens when the kingdom of God comes into contact with the kingdoms of the world. Small communities of Jesus followers indwelt by the Holy Spirit in which the reign of God shines through them in acts of humble and enduring unconditional love is a powerful affront to the powers that be. We North American Christians presently are not (yet) suffering persecution, but it could very easily happen with the authoritarian bent that’s working its way through our nations, an authoritarianism that is oddly undergirded by a large segment of the North American Church that is deceived and deluded by political power. Thus, the persecution that could erupt would be Christian on Christian. We’ll talk about this more in two weeks when we look at chapters 12 and 13.
John then mentions something called patient endurance which was an earmark descriptor of Christian life in the early church. As we wait for Jesus to come and put things to rights, we patiently endure the consequences that come with being followers of Jesus Christ whose primary loyalty is to him. The word in Greek for patient endurance is a profound word – “hypomeno”. “Meno” means to abide in. Hypo can mean “by means of” or “under” as in bearing up under. Jesus said, “Abide in me, as I also abide in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must abide in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:4-5). “Meno” is also associated with the word for “a room” – “In my Father’s house there are many rooms.” Patient endurance is the room in which we abide as we await Jesus’ coming with the room that he has prepared for us in our Father’s house, the New Jerusalem which shows up at the end of the book. The sufferings, the trials of faith that we go through in this life, we are going through them because we have one foot, so to speak, in the door of our heavenly and the world is opposed to it. We taste of our heavenly home, and the things of this world pale in comparison.
Now looking further in our reading; It is quite often the case that when I find myself in a conversation with people that involves the Book of Revelation someone will contribute that they believe John had to have been on something to have come up with all of this. Well, though hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD and Ketamine are enjoying favour in the worlds of psychiatry and psychology these days for treating severe depression and a few other things, John was not tripping. He was having ecstatic or mystical religious experiences – visions. He had his head in the door of the heavenly home, not just a foot.
John recounts that he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day – Sunday – for this first vision. He heard a voice from behind telling him to write in a book the things that he was about to hear, messages for the seven churches he named. Yet, these messages are for the whole church as there are seven of them and seven represents wholeness or completeness. He turns to see who is talking to him and he sees seven golden lampstands which represent the church. Being lampstands emphasizes the church’s role of being light to the world.
He sees “one like the Son of Man” standing in the midst of the lampstands. The prophet Daniel in a vision also saw “one like unto the(a) Son of Man” taking his seat at the right hand of God. This Son of Man is of course Jesus. Jesus says “Do not be afraid” and gives reasons why. He is the first and the last, the one risen from the dead who now has the keys of Death and Hades. This is meant to be an encouragement to the churches that their Jesus is the one who has power over death and the place to the holding place of the dead. The persecutors of early Christians often threatened them with death. Death was nothing to be feared by a faithful follower of Jesus even if it came while fighting wild beasts in a coliseum for public entertainment. In Jesus’ right hand were seven stars that were the seven angels for each of the churches. Each church is protected by an angel. The words that come from his mouth are a two-edged sword of the Truth. His face shines with the full power of the son meaning that those who persecute Christians will find themselves exposed and it will “burn”. But his followers need not fear him.
“Do not be afraid” is the first thing Jesus has to say to his churches and to us. To us, his brothers and sisters; to us fellow-sharers in his sufferings he says “Do not be afraid.” He is standing in our midst and there is no greater power than he. In this world, we are patiently enduring through many kinds of things that try our faith in Jesus, things that Satan is using to try to break our faith in Jesus, because we are part of Jesus' bringing in the Kingdom of God. It is through these sufferings that the kingdom comes, they are the catalyst to our own growth and fruit bearing as we abide in Jesus.
In Acts 14:22 Paul, “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the Kingdom of God.” He said that after he and Barnabas had been stoned for proclaiming Jesus. We aren’t getting stoned for our faith, but it is often the case that the reason for some of the things we suffer, the behind-the-scenes reason, is our faith in Jesus. So we pray, “Save us from this time of trial and deliver us from evil (the evil one).” Patiently endure for the kingdom is coming and do not forget that Jesus has promised to be with us to the end of the ages and he indeed is. Amen.