Worthy

Introduction

Our world seems to be out of control. We live having to know what color of alert we now live under (yellow). We live having to know the color for air quality (green). We live with security measures in place so that flying or going to a ball game will result in being searched. We watch in horror as a disgruntled and prejudiced worker takes the lives of co-workers. We live at a time when we must be aware of the possibility of E. coli in our food, SARS from our travels, and West Nile Virus from sitting on our back porch. Even in religious circles we watch as religious leaders debate current events with an ear toward special interest groups rather than the word of God. We hear of daily reports from the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Liberia while the pot boils in places like Korea, Bosnia, and China. Such events and realities can leave many discouraged, depressed, and fearful.

But we are not the first generation to deal with uncertainty. In the late 1st century, Christians lived in a world filled with anxiety and uncertainty. Titus Flavius Domitianus Augustus was emperor. We know him as Domitian. Imagine his throne room. Before him are the Praetorian Guard, elite troops who protect him and do his bidding. Beside him are Flaviales, the priests of the emperor cult who enforce his worship. This was the most powerful force on earth; at his word, heads rolled and nations fell. And to the church at the end of the 1st century, nothing was more frightening than this vision. He was a madman who thought himself god and had power to impose the delusion. When the church refused worship, he bathed his empire in the blood of Christians. The thought of Domitian on his throne was dreadful to the first century church.

What might be the natural question for Christians to ask? Perhaps it would be “where is God?” If God reigns, why is Domitian so powerful? It was difficult to trust God when what they saw didn’t fit with what they believed. It wasn’t the suffering at the hands of a madman, it was the senselessness of it all. How could God allow one like Domitian to make such blasphemous claims about being a god? But the 1st century Christians didn’t have the corner market on being perplexed about the world and about the will of God. We believe that God is in control and that Jesus is Lord over all, but what we see in our world doesn’t fit. In our world of drugs, drive-by shootings, and deadly disease we wonder — “If God reigns, why is the world so out of control?” And the answer is found in our text for today. As we study today, we will once more be astonished at the glory of the Lord. We will be impressed with the scenes and we will see God as he wants us to see him. What a great God we serve.

Chapter 4

“After this.” After the letters to the churches; after words of warning and commendation; after Jesus’ assurance that he is aware of what is going on with the Christians in every place, John is offered an open door into heaven. John is invited to see into God’s throne room. John spends a great deal of time trying to describe what he sees, but we must not miss the point of chapters 4 and 5. We could dissect the images and the scenes but to do so is to miss the glory of God. John’s descriptions are so that those who are reading this will know the majesty and glory of God’s throne room. It gives us some insight into the continuous events which take place in God’s presence. But the activity is not the point. The point is the majesty and glory of God.

In verse 8, the four living creatures never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Nothing is holier than God. God is the holiest of all holy things. He is past, present, and future — he is eternal. Over and over again the four creatures and the 24 elders praise God. Over and over again they exalt and glorify him. What they testify to is that God is creator and sustainer of life. While these praise God, from his throne come flashes of lightning, rumbles and peals of thunder, all the while the angels of the seven churches are near and the seven churches are under the watchful eye of God. It is an image that doesn’t need to be dissected but needs to be appreciated for its intensity and uncharacteristic majesty. While in this life we cannot know such a scene, in our mind’s eye we can see God’s throne room. And if we were there, we, too, would praise him and exalt him. Let’s add our voices to the voices of the 24 elders and the living creatures as we join in songs of praise to God.

Chapter 5

But the praise of chapter 4 gives way to the dilemma of chapter 5. God holds in his right hand, the hand of strength, a scroll. The scroll has writing on both sides of the paper. We know from the rest of the writing that the scroll is intended to speak about the future of God’s people. But as long as God holds the scroll and as long as it remains sealed, then no one can know what is going to take place. A mighty angel even proclaims that despair is common. Worship gives way to despair. “Who is worthy to open the scroll?” Who will come and reveal to us what is going to happen? In verse 3, no one in heaven or earth or under the earth — the realm of the dead. There is no one who can open the scroll and reveal its contents. The future is bound up and no one can reveal it.

And John weeps. He doesn’t just weep a bit, he cries with the pain of despair. Who will open it? Unless the scroll is opened the plan of God is thwarted. It isn’t that John just wants to know what is to come, but he wants God’s will to be done. He wants God’s will to be unfolded and no one is worthy to open the seals of the scroll. And then we are introduced to Jesus. The Lion of Judah, the Root of David. The triumphant one. The Lamb of God. The one who fulfills God’s will. The one who God raised from the dead. The lamb comes and takes the scroll from God’s hand.

Notice verse 6 — the Lamb is standing in the center of the throne room. Only God is in the center. Everything else encircles God. So John is letting us know that Jesus and God are equal. Notice verses 7-8: the living creatures and the elders all fall down and worship the Lamb. And once again praise follows. Just like God, Jesus is worshiped. Let’s add our voices to the living creatures and the 24 elders as we worship Jesus.

Application

Who’s in control of your world? John pulls back the curtain of heaven and allows us to catch a glimpse of God’s throne room. I am reminded of the movie Crocodile Dundee. This Australian backwoodsman comes to the big city of New York. Naive about the ways of the world, Dundee is accosted by a mugger. The mugger has a knife. Dundee’s companion yells out, “He has a knife.” Dundee replies “You call that a knife?” He pulls out a 2-foot Bowie knife and says, “Now that’s a knife!” And the mugger runs away. The people of John’s world looked at Domitian and his throne. John pulls back the curtain to heaven and says, “You call that a throne? Let me show you a real throne room.” We look at our world and what we see seems out of control. It is chaotic and discouraging. And the curtain has been pulled back and we are allowed to see that God and the Lamb, the Christ, are in full control of this world.

Who sits on your throne? Who gets your attention in this world? God hasn’t forgotten us. Nor has he forgotten our world. God is encouraging these early churches to lift their eyes to see things as they really are. As Christians we need to see things as God desires us to see them. Through John’s recording God has left us a dynamic image of his throne room. And when the world is falling apart and hell is breaking loose — let us join our voices with the living creatures and the 24 elders in praising God and the Lamb. Will you come to the Lamb this morning and worship him?

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