I am going to show a scene from “Horton Hears a Who.” Whoville is a village that lives on a speck of dust that sits on a dandelion. They are in danger. As you can imagine, living on a speck of dust on top of dandelion is not a very stable pace to live. Horton is an elephant with huge hears and is the only one who can hear the people of Whoville. He is on a mission to get them to safety. Unfortunately for Horton, noone believes him. Mayzie, the village dictator, is a sour kangaroo who knows every law and enforces every rule. She is the self proclaimed head of the jungle of Nool. She is on a mission to silence Horton’s insistence of the existence of Who. At his point Mayzie has turned the entire village against Horton and The Who’s only hope of survival is for the entire village of Whoville to make enough noise that the animals in the jungle of Nool can hear them. That is where we pick up this scene.
Tell the story of the scene
As a result of their voices being heard, action was taken. Horton became their champion. Whoville was saved.
I believe this can be a metaphor for prayer. The churches in The Revelation had undergone tremendous persecution because of their faith. The most effective weapon in their arsenal in their war with Nero was prayer. They did not take that for granted. Prayer was not a special time of day they set aside; it was their life. I can imagine that there were days that they wondered if their prayers were being heard. --Days when it probably seemed as if there was just something preventing their prayers from breaking through to God, so that their anguished cries for help would be heard. I can see the churches in the midst of their persecution crying out to God. We are here. We are here! We are Here! Even as the Mayzie of Rome was attempting to turn the others against them in an effort to silence their attempts to share the truth. Each day that passed brought additional threats. You can imagine the tells of terror. “Did you hear about Jerry?” –No. He was praying the other day and a Roman guard burst into his house, drug him into the street and beat him. Then they hung him on the side of the road as an example to other would be “prayer warriors.”
Today we join John and these seven churches in the Revelation chapter 8. At the beginning of the Revelation We found John exiled, and he says he was in the Spirit. He was no longer thinking about God, or talking to God, he was attending to God. The man was praying. If there is one thing that we should learn from Revelation is to never underestimate the power of our prayers as people of God. Prayer is a language used to address God. John begins this chapter and says there is silence in heaven. Prior to this chapter there has been anything but silence. This silence is deafening. In contrast to the scenes prior to this it is almost as if time has stood still. The Silence is for the prayers of the people of God. He listens to every word, every cry for help, every moan and groan, every stammering attempt at prayer. God not only hears He listens; the silence was an intentional pause by the Creator of the universe by a sound from earth-It is the prayers of God’s people. They are not running away. They are not being broken. They are breaking through and the hosts of heaven hear their prayers, even in the midst of this horrific battle. We are Here! We are Here! We are here! Is the scene on earth and just as it seems all hope is lost, just the dandelion is being dropped into the hot caldron, the hosts of heaven here something and there is a deafening silence. Out of this silence action is taken; the lamb is the champion for the people of God. Prayer is access to an environment where God is the pivotal center. All other persons, events, or circumstances are third parties. Existence is illuminated in direct relationship to God.
God is taking action as result of the prayers. The prayers are not just stored on the altar; they are mixed with the fire of God’s Spirit and returned to earth. Prayer is the most practical thing we can do. It is not a mystical escape-- it is an historical engagement. Our prayers are returned to earth in the censer. The trumpet is a powerful instrument, it is unique. Its sound can be picked out even in the fullest of orchestras. So is God’s action powerful in response to our prayers. -Even in the midst of the most horrific of circumstances, when God acts there is no doubt amongst His people, and his enemies that He has acted. Just as the seven seals were revelation, the seven trumpets that are being prepared to be blown by seven angels are God’s proclamation. Seven is the number of completeness, there is nothing not addressed in the Proclamation of God. But there will be another pause before it is complete. After the sixth trumpet there is pause similar to that after the sixth seal was broken.
There are not just seven trumpets though. We have an accumulation of sevens: seven rams’ horns, seven priests, seventh day, seven times. In response to the prayers of His people God has proclaimed that there is Hope. These trumpets also serve as a reminder to these churches of the long history God has in regards to acting in response to their prayers. As result of the prayers of God’s people the fourteen foot thick walls of Jericho fell. The most prominent was the trumpet used to signal the beginning of Rosh Hashanah (New Years Day) followed by ten days of penitence that prepare for the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). This was the day when the slate was wiped clean--all sins were forgiven-- and you have a new start. Jesus, Paul and now John call upon the words of Isaiah as a reminder to the people of Jerusalem that their day is coming, and to not lose hope. It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem. (Isaiah 27:13)
This image of prayer, then the trumpet call, was a message to the seven churches that their prayers have been heard and the battle lines have been drawn. Heaven’s forces are amassing and preparing to take action is response to their prayers. The images fuse: a thorough cleansing, a mighty conquering, a final coming. There is a New Year, and A New way of living. There is a new land and a new blessing. This is the action taken by God in response to their prayers.
The first angel blew his trumpet, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. 8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. 9 A third of the sea became blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water, because it was made bitter. 12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light was darkened; a third of the day was kept from shining, and likewise the night. 13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew in midheaven, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!"
If you listen closely you will hear echoes from Exodus and the judgment of Pharaoh. John reminds them of what happened another time God made a proclamation of this magnitude. God rattled Egypt’s cage and shook Pharaoh to his foundations. Locust plagues, tainted water, and the first born of all the citizens were killed-- except those with the blood of the Lamb over the lamp post are spared. Those who had the mark of the lamb had nothing to fear. Pharaoh, who seemingly had a heart of stone, needed an attention getter and God is good at getting our attention when He needs it. God judged Pharaoh and found that there was still some work to be done.
Judgment is one of those words that cause us to bristle when we hear it. No one likes to be judged. If you really want to hurt a Christian call him/her a name like judgmental. “Who are you to judge me?” They will say. No one likes to be wrong. Mayzie didn’t, Pharoah didn’t, and Caesar didn’t. Some people go to great lengths to prove they are not, even if it means silencing the voices that are making the accusations. But in this case it is God doing the judging and his voice cannot be silenced. Truth has a way of breaking through the noise of its enemies.
The Revelation has given me a new perspective on judgments. First every part of any organized society will be based on law, which requires a judge. Second without judgment there is not salvation. If we do not act as judge to our children’s behavior they will never learn what is right. God is absolute Holiness. Sin cannot be tolerated in the presence of God. If God does not judge we will not have the opportunity to correct what is wrong, and without that correction, we cannot be good. Without F’s there would be no need for A’s. Nor would we ever learn what was right. No doubt judgment is painful, but it is purifying. Without judgment salvation is not possible, and is therefore God’s first act of saving grace.
In Pharaoh’s opinion he didn’t need God and he certainly didn’t care to get a report card from God in the form of an exiled messenger named Moses. Pharaoh’s refusal to listen killed his people, and his son. It stung his hand like a scorpion.
I knew a man very similar to Pharaoh. He ruled his home with an iron fist. He knew what he wanted and would not be dissuaded from it. No one dared to tell Doug he was wrong lest they suffer his wrath. He had a reputation in the community as a feared man. The church was always careful to heed the warning signs to keep away. Doug knew what was best for Doug. He was not much for depending on other people for his welfare, and did not see much of a need to rely on their opinions or God’s for that matter. Doug learned early in his life it was not safe to depend on others for anything. His dad was too busy with the bottle @ the local bar to care about anyone else, much less Doug.
But God had a plan for Doug. His children had been praying for him for years and in response to their prayers God acted. Frank was the humble preacher who happened to be his father in law that loved Doug unconditionally and prayed for him. Even the church that dared not enter His yard still offered him love and they prayed for him. God had sent the cavalry to rescue Doug. But Doug was too broken to understand Gods judgment. When God began to pursue Doug’s heart, it felt to Doug as if a swarm of locusts were chasing him. For years he ran hard from God. Each time Doug said no to God, his heart got a little harder. Every time we resist God’s judgment our hearts grow harder. Fortunately though; one day Doug reached the end of himself. Just as it seemed to him all hope was lost, just as the dandelion was about to boiled in the cauldron, He heard the voice of God. I am here. I am here. I am here. Doug recognized that still small voice from his child hood. He stopped running. The prayers of his children and his father in law and the church had broken through in heaven, maybe it was that one little extra voice that did it, but the message is clear. God heard their prayers and he hears ours.
Doug not only repented and became a Christian father to His children, he became a Nazarene pastor.
Trumpets 1-6 are still blowing today. God is battling the forces of evil for our hearts and minds. He is seeking to bring us out of captivity to sin and shame. God’s battle in the Old Testament was to free His people from slavery in Egypt. God’s battle in the New Testament came in the form of Jesus to fight the status quo of religion which offered salvation through behavior modification. God’s sacrificial lamb came to free the people from those religious chains, by blowing the trumpet and proclaiming that by Grace we are saved through faith in Jesus; simultaneously condemning the ways of humanity living life by our own will and strength. Through that lamb, God proclaimed that we would be transformed.
Proclamation is judgment, but even the enemies of God have no reason to fear His Judgment. God loves even His enemies and his judgment is not designed to kill, or to harm. It is not something to be feared. God does not reveal his glory in judgment but in humanity fully alive. Hid judgment leads to life transformation. It is to be welcomed-It is a lesson from God on how to be participants in the abundant life Jesus came to give us.
It is His invitation to be participants in His very nature. -Just as Jesus prayed right before He was to enter prayer in the Garden: “Father may they be one in us, just as we are one.” Our response to His judgment determines our future. Will we be stung by the scorpions, which lead to death--that was the fate of Pharaoh—we can run but we will eventually come to the end of ourselves. The alternative is that we do like Doug accept his judgment. Throw off the chains of dependence, the stockades of stress, and ties that prevent us from taking His hand and being made whole?
God loves us so much he has sent the cavalry in pursuit of us. This war that wages is for no one else on earth except us, His creation. We are not a cosmic mistake, or even a gastric belch from a primordial bog. We are God’s creation. -Created in His image to be in constant, intimate relationship with Him. We are part of the greatest story ever told. This story is no Dr. Seuss book as entertaining as they are. It is a love story that is better than any harlequin romance novel ever dreamed of being. The cast of characters in this love story is you and I and Jesus. Judgment day is here. Jesus is standing here today and is screaming I am here! I am here! I am here! Take the hand of Jesus. Jesus gives us his spirit so that He can guide and lead us. Judgment day is not someday its is every day when we are seeking to be led by Him. But there will be a final day, and upon that day those who have chosen to take his hand and join His Story will be found worthy and will spend everlasting life in His presence, on a new earth without sickness, without pain, without suffering of any type. Choose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house-we will serve the Lord.
