Today we begin the chapter "Durable Metaphor....Now Contemporary
"Not with our ancestors did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. (Deuteronomy 5:3)
"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever." (Revelation 11:15)
The Bible is no mere history lesson....
....it the Bible is the 'Scripture of the church,' then it is nonnegotiably contemporary in every time, place, and circumstance. It was the ancient practice of Israel to keep reusing and rereading and rehearing the old text in fresh and pertinent ways. The classic case of such reuse is the way in which the book of Deuteronomy represents the Sinai covenant to a new generation of the faithful. When we read the Bible as the Scripture of the church, we simply continue that ancient practice whereby we say, ' The Word of the Lord - Thanks be to God.' We purport to be listening for a contemporary word from God to us.
Reading through the book of Revelation is quite like this. We are hearing a word of life brought to us today. Though we (as Christians today) are part of the privileged people within the US, we must always hear about the dangers of taking on the life of the empire and making it our own. So the book shocks us with imagery meant to put us into that reality of faithfulness or faithlessness in the midst of empire and the need for a witness to the one who is the Christ in and through all ages. As people who read the Scriptures for life, we are always being invited into life through old texts.
Connection: So when we hear the stories of Scripture in worship - what are they telling us about the living of these days. What do we listen for in the reading?
Again, through stories you call us into new life today, O God. Help us listen to the way of your Reign and to walk into the stories of faithfulness now alive among us. Amen.
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