“The constant refrain of heaven”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, May 1, 2022
Revelation 5:11-14 (Forward, p. 3) CEV p. 1300
Years ago, I was blessed with a double privilege. The music director of the church I pastored back then, Angie Tysseland, had written and produced a jazz opera version of the Book of Revelation, which she called ‘Rev.’ And then, in order to set the stage for this (no pun intended), she had a scholar of the New Testament come and read out loud for us, in one single sitting (but with a brief intermission to allow us to take a slight break for our wearied posteriors), the entire Book of Revelation.
What struck me from both was that the doom and gloom, all the horrific things that usually strike us and that are usually dwelt upon, are merely the incidentals. They are like the verses, the interludes, in a joyous hymn but it is the chorus, the peons of praise, that take up the majority of the book. In fact, what I realized was that it is the hymns of praise that hold the book together and give it is meaning and purpose.
What I am saying is this: all the apocalyptic, nasty things that happen to God’s people, are explained and set in context by those interludes of praise. Those interludes of praise explain that God is still here and still in control, and is working all these things out, for His glory yes but also for the glory and well-being of His people And even Jesus’ horrible death on the Cross had this as its end goal, as we see in today’s portion. And so it is most appropriate to give Him the glory and the praise, both now and forever more. And yes, even when things aren’t as we would like them, even when things are pretty rough for us. Indeed, that was exactly the case for the original audience of the Book of Revelation, and yet, in this book at least, they were unstinting in their praise. Let us do so as well. Amen.
Forward notes: “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!’” (verse 13)
“To me, the Book of Revelation is all a jumble of time, and I always wonder as I read, ‘What is? What was? And what is yet to be?’
“We tend to forget that when we become separate from the Creator, all creation suffers. With the resurrection of Jesus our Lord, all creation has cause to rejoice greatly.
“On our ranch in Nebraska, the new calves play while their mamas graze a lush cover crop of rye. In two weeks, we’ll plant corn on the same ground. On this beautiful day, we can imagine even the cattle praising God. Later this morning, we will join in the chorus as we gather with our congregation to celebrate the Lamb’s honour and glory.”
MOVING FORWARD: “Think about a time when you experienced every creature in heaven and on earth rejoicing in creation and praising the Creator. Share it with us at #ForwardDaybyDay.”