Get Ready, 'Cause Here He Comes ~ Revelation 1:4-8 ~ Second Sunday of Easter

If there was an award for the most patient person in the world, I would have to nominate my dad as that person.

I’ll never forget the countless times my sister and I would fight and get into trouble—and he’d never lose his temper.  But that didn’t mean we weren’t disciplined…

On more than one occasion, he’d say to us: “what would Jesus say if he saw you acting like this?”

At this point, we stopped the fighting and mischief—and behaved ourselves.  Now I never remembered being scared by dad’s words, as if to think that Jesus would break down the door and give us a God-sized paddling…

It’s just that we loved Jesus—and we didn’t want him to be angry with us.

I wonder if dad ever knew how much his words sound like they came straight from the pages of the book of Revelation…

In fact, the entire book of Revelation can be summed up in just three short words: Jesus is coming…

So often, we think of Revelation as a divine secret-code-book that we must decipher in order to know exactly what’s going to happen in the end times.  We treat it as a play-by-play guide that tells us how the world’s going to end—and that gives us clues to help us know WHEN it’s going to end. 

But the ultimate message of Revelation is that Jesus is coming.  This is good news—and we must take comfort from this fact.  But this is also a warning against complacency and disobedience—and everyone must pay attention. 

Its words of WARNING make Revelation one of the most difficult and frightening books in all of Scripture.  Already, in the seventh verse of the first chapter, we have cause to be uneasy:

Look!  He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.  So it is to be.  Amen.

This is the part that scares us—because we know we are sinners.  We know we have cause to be uneasy.

Jesus is coming—and he is coming in judgment. 

Anytime I think of judgment day, for some reason my dental appointments come to mind…

My dental appointments typically begin with three questions:

1.       How many times a day do you brush your teeth?

2.       How often do you floss?

3.       Do you drink coffee?

For me, it’s guilty as charged for the third.  I’m chief of sinners, as far as coffee’s concerned.  But as for the first two, I know I’m going to be told that I haven’t done enough.  There’s no sense in lying or making excuses.  All of my “dental sins” are going to be laid bare before the one to whom I must give account; namely, the dentist.  And if I fail to do what they told me to do six months ago (and I happily said I would do), I’m going to face the painful consequences.  

That dental floss gets me every time…

Well, Jesus has made an appointment with this world.  He is coming—and we had better get ready../

Yet as threatening and frightening as that may sound, God did not give us this biblical book to terrify us into submission.  The book of Revelation is God’s gift to comfort us; to urgently call us to submit our lives to the gracious and merciful One who holds the universe in his hands.  Who is this Jesus who comes? 

·         The One who gave his precious body and blood FOR YOU.

·         The One who claimed you as his own in baptism.

·         The One who forgives you.

Therefore, as we are faced with the reality of our sin, as we know full well that we have not been faithful to the faithful one, we flee for refuge to the mercies of Jesus Christ—fully assured that we will never be turned away or rejected.

In fact, Jesus GIVES YOU his righteousness as a gift that you receive through faith.  Therefore, we need not fear the day of judgment.  Jesus is your righteousness.  You are saved by grace through faith.

Therefore, because you are so loved, so graciously forgiven; given a blessed assurance of your future in Jesus Christ, challenge yourself to get to know the Christ who was and is and is to come. 

And ask yourself: what would Jesus say if he walked into your life today?  What would he say about how you spend your time?  How you spend your money?  Your plans and your priorities?  What would Jesus say about how you care those in need?  How you forgive those sin against you?

What would Jesus say about how you live in relationship with him?

Don’t be scared do to this.  Treat these questions as gracious invitations from Jesus to participate in him and grow in your faith.  After all, Jesus does not come to condemn you, but to draw you to himself.  So say yes to his invitations.  Let him come and fill your days with peace.