First Presbyterian Church
What's A Presbyterian to Do with Revelation? Part 18
Sermon for July 3, 2005
by Pastor Susan Barnes

14 And the ripe fruit which you desired has gone from you, and all the expensive and beautiful trinkets are lost to you, so that people will never find them again!

15 The merchants in these commodities, who have become wealthy by means of her, stand far off, because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning saying,

16 ‘Alas, alas, you great city, who were dressed in fine linen and purple and scarlet and were adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! 1 17 For in a moment such fabulous wealth was destroyed!'

And every shipmaster and every seafarer and sailors and all who make their living on the sea, they stood at a great distance 18 and exclaimed when they saw the smoke from her incineration,

‘What city is like the great city?'

19 And they threw dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, ‘Alas, alas, you great city, through whom all those who have ships on the sea became rich from her wealth! For in a moment she has been destroyed.'

  20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy ones and apostles and prophets! For God has condemned her for condemning you.'”

  21 A certain mighty angel picked up a stone resembling a huge millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

“In the same way will that great city Babylon be overthrown with sudden violence and will no longer exist. 22 And the sound of the harpists and singers and the flutists and the trumpeters will never be heard in you again; and no artisan of any occupation will ever be found in you again; the sound of the mill will never be heard in you again; 23 the light of a lamp will never be see in you again; the voices of the bridegroom and the bride will never be heard in you again; for your merchants were the prominent people of the world; of the earth, for all the nations were deluded by your sorcery. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones, and of all those slaughtered on earth.”

This ends our reading of God's word.

Don't you just want to quote Jesus' words “love your enemies” after a scripture reading like that? Maybe what Revelation need s is just a good dose of Jesus. But Jesus was talking about how to live. Revelation offers us a vision of hope for what will endure and a promise of what will be destroyed.

Historically, this text has been used by Protestant reformers to condemn Catholics; they knew Babylon was just a code word for Rome. To the Reformers, Revelation was about Roman Catholics, their idolatry and judgment.

And the Americans in the Revolutionary War thought of England as Babylon. One pastor declared that England's monarchy “appears to have many of the features and much of the temper and character of the image of the beast.” 2

With the war in Iraq going on, it is tempting to read Revelation as a prediction of the destruction of Iraq, godless idolaters. Except that the historic Babylon encompasses more countries than just Iraq. And we all know that soldiers are not the only ones injured in a war. Innocent people are killed and wounded . We know that there are Christians in Iraq. One of their pastors, Gilbert Shaheen, came right here to this church nearly three years ago.

And there are other ways to look at this text. Here's a quote from a website called “rapture ready:”

“the Bible predicts that someday a world leader will emerge from a revived Roman empire. The European Union is clearly the fulfillment of this prophetic event. At some point, ten leaders will come to rule the EU. The likely reason for the ten political bosses is the need to streamline the decision-making process. When the EU grows to 25 nations, it will become quite clear that a central governing body will be necessary. The book of Revelation tells us that ten kings and the Beast...will rule at the same time. It looks like the current timeline and prophetic timeline are about to join up with each other.

At this time, the leadership of the European Union rotates among its member nations, shifting to a new ...president every six months. I see it as a kind of musical chairs game. Who will get that last, all important chair when the music stops playing?”

That website also offers a score for how many of Revelation's predictions have come true recently, so you'll know the likelihood of the rapture.

So what do we learn from Revelation 18? That corrupt use of wealth is a problem. The long list of trade goods in Babylon was all about excessive luxury. The only people lamenting Babylon's fall were the merchants; not the farmers who grew the wheat, or the weavers who made the fabric, or the vineyard workers who pressed the wine. We're not talking about all economic development coming to a halt; the judgment comes on an arrogant empire that is not interested in the welfare of others, unless the others enlarge the empire's tax base.
We learn that the corrupt use of power is a problem. Wealth and power are not indications of God's favor; instead, they can lead to judgment. The voice from heaven warns us to leave Babylon, lest we take part in her sins and share her suffering. We can't stay in proximity to this power and wealth without participating in it.

It is easy to identify a country we don't like as Babylon, and a politician with whom we disagree as the beast. It is satisfying and entertaining to speculate on the identity of the beast, the ten kings, and the woman in scarlet; but it's not the response Revelation demands.

Instead, we're called to the hard work solving the problem of unequal distribution of resources and power. That's what Jeremiah spoke of, and Revelation too.

So it is good to see religious leaders concentrating on what is important. It is especially heartening to see that people who have been religious enemies historically come together in peacemaking. In England, “the faith leaders from the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Free churches; the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth; and the Council of Mosques and Imams together wrote ‘A world divided by poverty cannot be healed without justice.'” 3

Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant leaders wrote this to the Group of Eight, who meet this week in Gleneagles , Scotland to talk about global debt relief. The Group of Eight is made up of financial and political leaders from England, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. Just last month, they approved a debt relief package of about $55 billion. This would help 27 countries, mostly in Africa. It makes me proud to be an American. Leaders in the Jubilee Debt relief movement called this a good and significant first step, and they hope for more. 

Near the place the group of eight will meet in Scotland is a statue of John Knox. He was the leader of the Scottish Reformation; he is the father of Presbyterianism. Today, the statue wears an armband that says, “Make Poverty History.”

Our own Presbyterian Hunger program coordinator met with the ecumenical leaders in London last week. He said, “It is time for the faith community to lead, to push political leaders who are making very big decisions and decisions that hurt people a whole lot…it really is time for us to step out in front and say, ‘This must not go on. The God that we serve requires us to not let this go on.'” 4

We pray for the leaders of the free world this week as they work out a path toward justice and mercy. And if that works out, wouldn't that be a wonderful birthday present for America? Amen.

__________

1alludes to the list of luxury goods from many places in the judgment of Tyre in   Ezekiel 27. Ezekiel 27 also has Tyre saying “I am perfect in beauty” and mariners lamenting over Tyre's judgment, since they lose a trade city.

2 Sherwood, Samuel, “The Church's Flight into the Wilderness: An Address on the Times,” chapter 16 of Ellis Sandoz ' Political Sermons Of The American Founding Era, 1730-1805 (1998) Part II: 1774-1781,

http://oll.libertyfund.org/Texts/LFBooks/Sandoz0385/HTMLs/0018_Pt03_Part2.html#hd_lf018.1.head.058

3Pulford , Cedric, “Anti-poverty campaigners pin hopes on Scottish G8 summit,” Ecumenical News International , June 30, 2005

4 Silverstein, Evan ,”PC (USA) hunger chief to attend ecumenical forum: Religious leaders to call on G8 for debt-relief, ending poverty ”  PCUSA News, June 29, 2005.