GET READY FOR A WILD RIDE!!!
The man woke up with a jolt. Turbulence had jostled the man from his slumber and painfully he recalled falling asleep on the arm of his seat. Flying for hours in the massive 747, the man in his delirium had forgotten where he was going.
“Do you have any idea where this flight is headed?” he asked the fellow beside him.
“Quiet! I’m watching the movie,” came the rude response. Obviously his neighbor did not share the same concerns. He replaced his headset and continued watching the movie, “Passenger 57” or something like it.
Still not comfortable with his situation, the first man stumbled out of his seat and began looking for like-minded passengers. As he pretended to head to the washroom, he scanned the faces of the various travelers in his economy class section, observing that some slept, some read books, and some watched the movie and others stared out the windows. But some, he noticed, looked agitated and ill at ease. He wondered if they had the same questions that rattled around in his mind.
At that moment, while uncertain he should broach the subject with these worried looking souls, the plane hit an air pocket and dropped like a rock. The experience was loud and painful. That settles it, he thought, I have to find out if someone has a clue what’s going on. And throwing inhibition aside he moved in.
“Excuse me; do you know where this flight is headed? I’ve looked out the windows and don’t recognize anything. Plus, with the air turbulence rattling this old crate, I’m sure I saw some rivets let loose. I can’t help but wonder if the pilot knows what he’s doing on top of all of this.” The words poured out so quickly, he wondered if he sounded like a lunatic. But he was soon reassured by the vigorous head bobbing in the affirmative of the four people he was addressing. They too wondered if there was intelligent life in the cockpit.
“Me and the Mrs. were just saying the same thing,” replied a senior gentleman, “Why back in the war we flew our crates with maps and this.” He tapped his noggin. “Now they fly these things with computers. Who can trust ‘em?”
“So which war was that? World War One?” quipped the young lady behind the elderly couple. But with a brief frown she was largely ignored.
Things got serious as the new friends talked in hushed tones about the rising crisis. They talked about the pilot’s skills and his ability to manage his crew. They talked about their observations of the terrain, or lack of it, outside their windows. They talked about the reliability of this particular aircraft. And with each detail they grew more and more anxious about their situation.
Finally it was decided that a committee should be struck to evaluate their present course, to look at a map someone just happened to bring along, and to come up with a contingency plan in case the crisis worsened. And someone needed to stand up as a spokesperson and go talk to the captain about these findings. Someone who they felt could speak the captain’s language.
“Well that would be me,” replied the man who started this quest. “I have some experience flying 4-seater Cessnas and am familiar with pilot lingo,” he said confidently. “And I have this…” He pulled down his carry-on bag out of the overhead compartment. From the bag he withdrew a cap with gold leaves around the edge and in bold letters it bellowed “PILOT.” Everyone was very impressed.
At that moment the plane hit another huge air pocket that took the wind out of the passengers. The turbulence seemed to be worsening, and that just stiffened the resolve of this little committee.
However, while they were stirring up the courage of their spokesperson, a flight attendant came up and spoke to the man with the impressive hat. “Sir, the captain would like to see you up in the cockpit.”
The man was all of sudden quite nervous. What did the captain want with him? Did he know they were talking about him in a critical manner? What would he say now, given the opportunity to meet the captain? Another jolt of turbulence reminded him that he had a responsibility to speak the truth. He would tell the captain about their doubts and their lack of confidence that this pilot could lead them to their destination.
As the flight attendant led him down the corridor and up the steps towards the flight deck and cockpit, he reviewed his speech. Passing through first class, he felt a twinge of nerves, but was resolved nonetheless.
At last, they reached the door guarded by two well-armed air marshals. With a nod from the flight attendant, the marshals stepped aside and opened the door. This was it.
The door opened and a wave of awe swept over the man as he gazed, and gawked at the enormous dash of the plane. It was filled with gauges, lights and levers he had never seen before. There were weather tracking screens, navigation doohickeys and a load of equipment the man could never hope to understand in a lifetime.
The pilot himself sat with his back to the man and was heavily engaged in the work of flying this craft. His hands flew calmly from knob to lever to switch, always with a deftness and confidence of a captain who had done this a long time. The man from economy class suddenly felt honored that the captain would even consider inviting him to see this magnificent display of technology and skill.
Without saying a word to the captain…what could he say…he felt humbled concerning his brave words back in the rows. He looked at his hat, then gave it to the flight attendant and said, “Here, this belongs to the captain. He really knows what he’s doing.” And with that, he turned and left.
Returning to his seat, the man was nearly thrown into place by some more turbulence. But he simply buckled his seat belt and relaxed. The others who had rallied to his cause were perplexed at this sudden change. For he now rode out the storm with an uncommon serenity and quiet trust in the pilot who captained this vessel. Eventually, he fell asleep.
This story is a result of a vision I had at 4:30 in the morning last Wednesday. I was struggling with the message of Revelation 4 when this vision of this man in the 747 was literally given to me. God helped me understand what he was revealing to John when he saw the throne room of heaven. Funny eh? A revelation of a revelation?
We end 2004 with a list of events that include achievements, successes, failures, loss and tragedy. There were family issues and critical decisions in business that took your emotional energy. The tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean leaving over 100, 000 dead is a final reminder of 2004 that we live in a world of turbulence that shakes our lives continuously. If you build in a lush fertile valley you should expect flooding; if you build on the San Andreas Fault you should expect earthquakes; if you build on a mountain you may be sitting on a volcano; and ultimately, if you live in this world you should expect turbulence. So as we look ahead to a new year we know that we are in for a wild ride and we had better hang on.
Similarly, John was told to expect tribulation of various kinds. Christ’s church can expect persecution and testing and individual believers will be tested in those areas where the devil finds our weakness. But before John is shown the coming conflicts, he is first ushered into God’s throne room.
Before he enters the throne room, the Apostle John saw a door standing open in his vision. And what we believe is the voice of Jesus, trumpet-like symbolizing a call to attention, says “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” John is privileged to be shown some turbulent future events, but first he is shown the divine cockpit.
What he sees in the throne room of heaven is not something that can be adequately described. The best John can do is use imagery that pales in comparison to what he actually saw. Looking at the throne, all he can say is that someone was sitting on it, but he dares not say the name of Him who sits there. I mean, really, how do you describe God?
John uses colors to express the brilliance and majesty of God. He writes of jasper, which is a clear diamond-like gem that catches the light and sprays a prism in all directions. He writes of carnelian, which is a deep red gem that is reminiscent of the blood of his Son shed for humankind. Then there is a rainbow, the symbol of the promise of God given to Noah that God would never again flood the entire world. The rainbow’s promise speaks deeper to the truth that God is a promise-keeper, One who is faithful to his word. But this rainbow is emerald green and it is difficult to know to what this brilliant symbol refers.
Of the awesome sights John saw, among the greatest were the flashes of lightning and peals of thunder coming from the throne. Ancient pagans thought that their gods were in the thunder and that lightning was a sign of the gods’ unhappiness towards them. For John, the Lord was the source of the thunder; when Moses went up to receive the Lord’s commandments on Mount Sinai, the mountain was full of God’s glory, as attested to by the lightning and thunder that engulfed the mountain.
Finally, what John saw before God’s throne “…was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.” There are several ways to interpret this “sea of glass,” and we can only use Scripture to interpret Scripture. Gus Konkel spoke of Creation when he referred to this “sea.” In Genesis 1:2 we read: “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Gus said that the waters or sea in this context represented chaos. It was formless and void without God; then God began to create.
In the throne room we again have a sea that separates people from the Holy God who sits upon his throne. He is unapproachable in his perfect goodness. But when his plan of redemption is fully realized in Jesus Christ, his Son, and sin and death are finally defeated we see a different picture.
Revelation 21:1 reveals this conclusion: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” What did John mean by saying there was no longer any sea? No more chaos; no more sin; no more separation from God. For John goes on to describe what life with God dwelling among us is going to be like.
Just like the man who was invited into the cockpit, John is invited into the throne room to observe how beyond our understanding is the working of human history and the working out of humankind’s future. Having grasped that, the Lord later shows him what will come to pass.
But first there is a worship service dedicated to the one who sits upon this throne. John witnesses strange and symbolic creatures praising God along with 24 elders dressed in white wearing golden crowns on their heads. Nonstop, day and night they sing: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”
In their adoration and recognition of God’s worthiness “They lay their crowns before the throne and say, ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.’” (Rev. 4: 11). What a confession!! Each of these elders willingly, not coerced by anyone, removes the symbol of authority from their heads and bow to the awesome authority of God.
Handel’s Messiah is based on these words of John from the book of Revelation. And it is said that a young Queen Victoria had been instructed to remain seated during the performance of Handel’s Messiah as a good queen should. Everyone else may stand in the court but as head of her state she must set an example. She obeyed and sat as she was told until she recognized the music building to that great chorus. Then, casting aside proper royal etiquette, she could not help but rise when she heard the words “King of kings and Lord of Lords…and he shall reign for ever and ever…Hallelujah!!!” Victoria could not stay seated in the presence of her Lord and King.
How compelling and inspiring it must be to stand in the presence of the Lord and realize how small we are and how great He is. With this vision before John, there was no need to fear what was going to happen in the future. God had shown him his glory and sovereignty over all creation. God is in control.
Another writer found inspiration in the words of Revelation 4 and wrote another familiar hymn. In 1607, a German named Martin Reinkardht wrote…"Now Thank We All Our God.” The text of this hymn contains these verses:
"Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices
Who wondrous things has done, in whom His world rejoices
Who, from our mother’s arms has blest us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today
All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given
The Son, and Him who reigns with them in highest heaven
The one eternal God whom earth and heav’n adore
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore."
BUT in the year that Reinkardht wrote that hymn, over 6000 people in his German village, including his wife and his children, died of pestilence. In the midst of that great catastrophic social and personal loss, Reinkardht wrote one of the most lasting hymns of praise.
Note the words of that last verse:
"All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given…
The one eternal God whom earth and heav’n adore
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore."
In the midst of his tragic loss, Reinkardht must have been reading from Revelation 4. He literally quoted directly from its words. Why? Why did he write that hymn? Because he understood what Revelation is trying to tell us: "In this world you will have trouble… but take heart…" Focus on God’s throne. Set your eyes and your heart and your soul on HIM who has the power to help you face and overcome your tragedies and heart aches.
We don’t know what’s ahead of us in this new year. We had no idea last year what ups and downs awaited us, so there’s no difference. When tsunamis hit our world, it is difficult to know how to pray or to begin to understand the purposes of God in these tragedies. Worry can overcome us. Anxiety overwhelms us. We can begin to question God’s goodness and control over our world or over our lives. It all seems too much to bear.
Then remember Revelation 4 and the throne room John describes for us. Consider who is more able to sit upon that throne – you or God. Under whose authority would you rather live? God cannot be your copilot either; you must yield total control of the past, present and future to His Lordship.
So buckle up, it’s going to be a wild ride. Turbulence is ahead, but God is in control.
AMEN
