The One who walks among the lampstands

Sermon for Midweek of Populus Sion – Advent 2

+  Revelation 1:9-20  +

What was it Jesus told His disciples before He ascended into heaven? Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Or earlier: Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst. That’s what Jesus promised. That’s what He said. So it must be true. Even here, even now, before His coming at the end of the age, Jesus says He is among us as a gathering of Christians. But it’s hidden from our sight. It sure looks like, and often it sure feels like, we’re on our own. It must have looked the same way to the suffering churches at the end of the first century. But for a little while, on the island of Patmos, the hidden reality was uncovered for St. John to see. That is, after all, the meaning of the word Revelation: the uncovering of a hidden reality. In our reading this evening, it’s the hidden presence of Jesus among His churches that John got to see, and through his words, we get to “see” it, too.

Listen first to how John describes himself as he writes to the churches of God: I am both your brother and your companion in the tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. As far as John is concerned, all of us baptized Christians, we’re all “in this together,” under the cross of tribulation, beloved subjects of Christ’s kingdom, and united together as we patiently endure the sufferings of this world, just as Jesus did on earth, and as we patiently await the promised Paradise with Christ and the promised coming of Christ.

As for the vision John saw, he says he heard a loud voice, commanding him to write down the vision and send it to the seven churches. Then he turned around to see the voice, and the first thing he saw were seven golden lampstands. At the end of the vision, the lampstands are identified for us as symbols of the seven churches to which John was writing.

Again, while the number seven in Revelation refers literally to those seven churches, those seven churches are symbolic of all Christians churches. But what is the significance of symbolizing them with lampstands?

Have you ever seen a Jewish menorah? It’s related to the larger golden lampstand that God commanded Moses to make for the tabernacle and, later, for the Temple. It was one lampstand with seven little lamps on it—one on top of the “trunk,” if you will, and three branches coming off the trunk on each side. It stood in the Temple, in the Holy Place, alongside the two tables with the 12 loaves of showbread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Along with the other furnishings of the Temple, it was consecrated with the special anointing oil for sacred use.

The lampstand was to stand within the temple, in the presence of God. So Israel was to be holy to the Lord, with the light of faith ever burning and the fire of love ever blazing, one lampstand in the world as a beacon of light placed in the midst of the rest of the nations, which were shrouded in darkness. But now, in the New Testament, instead of one lampstand, one nation where God is present to reveal His Word, and to hear, and to forgive, there are seven lampstands, churches, gatherings of Christians in many places, in just the right number of places around the world, gathering in the midst of all the nations, with the light of faith ever burning and the fire of love ever blazing, with the light of the Gospel ever penetrating the darkness, with Christians letting our light so shine before men that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven.

Likewise, the lampstand in the temple was to be continually attended by the priests, to make sure it never ran out of oil, to make sure the lamps always stayed lit. So the churches are attended by divinely called ministers who are to be continually preaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments, providing the oil necessary for the fire of faith and love to be kindled and kept alive, as in Jesus’ parable of the Ten Virgins.

In the midst of the seven lampstands, one who was like a son of man, clothed with a garment reaching down to his feet, his chest girded with a golden sash. A son of man can be any human being, or a prophet, or even an angel appearing as a man. But here the description fits on THE Son of Man, Jesus Himself. His clothing resembles the priestly garments of the Old Testament, showing Him to be our great High Priest who personally tends to the lampstands, making sure they are provided with a continual supply of oil.

His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. This is like the vision of the Ancient of Days that Daniel saw: I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. That was a picture of God the Father, but here it represents the Son of Man, who is the exact representation of the Father’s Being. His divinity and His eternal nature are being highlighted here, along with His wisdom.

His eyes were like a flame of fire. That’s a symbol of His omniscience, as His eyes burn right through the masks people wear, through the outward façade of goodness and decency, right down to our sinful, self-centered hearts. But that means He is also able to see where there’s still a smoldering wick of faith, to know who His true believers are.

His feet were like bronze, as though fired in a furnace. He is able to crush His enemies under His feet, as it says about the Messiah in Psalm 110, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.

And his voice was like the sound of many waters. If you’ve ever stood at the foot of a waterfall or near the rapids or on the seashore as the tide comes crashing in, or even if you’ve heard the sound of rainwater pouring off the roof or rushing through the streets in a flash flood, you have some idea what the sound of many waters is. It’s overwhelming. You can’t really talk over it. It drowns out every other sound. Such is the voice of Jesus when He insists on being heard. Such is the voice of Jesus when He has an urgent message for His churches.

He had in his right hand seven stars. Those stars are identified as the “angels,” that is the divinely appointed bishops or ministers of the seven churches. They’re symbolized by stars, because they shine with the light of Christ’s Gospel, and also because, unlike the planets that wander across the sky, the stars are “fixed in place.” So the doctrine of the ministers is to be unchanging and steadfast.

Jesus holds the ministers in His hand. He is the one who sends them, who places each one with the appropriate lampstand. But even as He sends them, He continues to hold them in His hand. He is the one who governs what they preach, who defends and upholds them against all sorts of illegitimate criticisms and attacks, and who will hold them responsible for faulty doctrine or a wicked life.

And out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. In other words, the words that come from His mouth are a weapon that cuts, that kills, that works repentance, and that also creates faith, even as St. Paul also called upon Christians to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. But for the moment, when He addresses His churches, the sword is still only in His mouth, not in His hand. As long as He walks among the lampstands, He isn’t drawing His sword to slay the wicked. He’ll keep using His Word to do His work in the world until the Last Day. Then the sword will be in His hand to cut off the wicked forever.

His face was like the sun shining at its brightest, as John had seen Him once before, at the Transfiguration. Divinity was His during His state of humiliation on earth, but it was hidden under His humble flesh. Now John is given another revelation of the hidden reality.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. And he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, Fear not; I am the first and the last and the Living One. I was dead, and, behold, I am alive forevermore. Again, very similar to what happened at the Transfiguration, or what happened to Isaiah when he saw the Lord in a vision. To see God in His glory is too much for any mortal, especially because we’re sinners who can’t stand in His presence. But Jesus comforts John and us. Fear not, He says. I am Jesus who died for your sins and who was raised to life for your justification. I live forever, and (as John recorded in His Gospel), because I live, you also will live.

And I have the keys of hell and of death. So don’t be afraid, John. Don’t be afraid, any of you, my dear believers, to know that I am walking among the churches. Not even hell or death can hold you, if you cling to Me in faith, because I hold the keys to let you out. But to those who reject Me, I have the power to lock you up in hell and death forever.

This is the one who walks among the lampstands, true God and true Man, the same Jesus who became our Brother, who died for our sins and who came back to life. John’s Revelation reveals the hidden reality, that this Jesus is present in the midst of all His churches throughout the world, inspecting, tending, shepherding, defending, teaching, governing and guiding. We don’t see Him, but we aren’t supposed to. We’re supposed to believe in what we don’t see but in what has been revealed to us by His Word: that Jesus reigns as God and Lord in the midst of His holy Church, scattered though it is throughout the world and composed of all the individual churches that still confess His pure Gospel and administer His Sacraments rightly. Truly He is with us always, until the end of the age. But if that’s true, then let us also be courageous Christians, as those who know that Christ our God is right here in our midst, tending to us through the ministry of the Word. And let us also lead holy lives of repentance, obedience, and love, as those who believe that our hearts and our deeds lie open before Him at all times, to inspect, to rebuke, where necessary, and to comfort with His forgiveness. Amen.