What do I do on Tuesday, 5 November 2024?

 

Read Revelation 1-3

People talk about the Apocalypse and when it will come. I tell you now that the Apocalypse has come. Yes, you heard correctly. The Apocalypse has come. For the word apocalypse means a revealing.

We can speculate and maybe sometimes determine if what has been revealed has yet been manifested on the earth, but the revelation from God came about 2000 years ago on the Isle of Patmos. John put it in writing.

The book is Revelation not Revelations. There are plenty of revelations in Revelation, but this is the revelation of things that are and are to come. We see this first part as a revelation from Christ Jesus to the church.

It comes in the form of messages to 7 churches known to John the Apostle, but we can find counsel to the church as a whole.

You got this concept in Chapter 1 which you heard via video and will forever be known in the annals of the Burns Flat Cumberland Presbyterian Church as the Squeaky Chair message.

Martin Luther thought that Revelation was too hard for the average person to understand. That means that he got a C in his Apocalypse Class in Seminary.

Luther also thought that the book of James was too hard to live by. To which I would say, “Suck it up, Buttercup. Aim high. Confess where you fell short and get back in your race.”

We’re leaning into this draw near to God business don’t tell me it’s too hard.

Back to Revelation and the counsel to the churches.

I hope you remember the short mnemonic that I gave you a couple of weeks ago:  ESP TS PL.

Ephesus.

Smyrna.

Pergamum.

That’s the ESP part.

Then we went to TS and used Top Secret as our helper to remember Thyatira and Sardis.

Finally, we get to Philadelphia and Laodicea. We remember Perfect Love as the vehicle to remember those two churches.

Ephesus was a church that John knew well. In fact, if John had a favorite, it might have been Ephesus.   

The literature surrounding this period notes that in his old age, when John could barely stand, at the end of the service in Ephesus, John would stand and say one simple sentence: “Love one another.”

I love the counsel here. Not because it’s something I would want to hear but because it cuts to the quick.

 You have lost your first Love. Remember the height from which you have fallen and repent. Other stuff is getting in the way of your mission.

Your comfort zone has consumed your passion.

Smyrna was perceived as poor by worldly standards but rich in faith and the things of God. According to Jesus' counsel, they were to get ready for some tough times. Suffering and persecution were on the horizon.

Think to the Beatitudes. If you are being persecuted for following Jesus, then you are in the company of the prophets. That’s some good company.

Pergamum and Thyatira. They were doing some things well but they tolerated so much ungodliness.  

The gods of this age were alive back then as well. What gods? The gods of apathy and ambivalence seemed to have a place in the lives of the church.

The church tolerated the practices of the Nicolaitans and Jezebel.

Rat poop in your cookies.

The church in Sardis did some good things but seldom finished what they started. It was sort of like they were content with planting seeds when they had the opportunity to water as well.

But one plants and another waters… You could have brought someone with you.

How many of you teachers would say that if he put his name on the paper and answered the first two questions on the ten-question test, that’s good enough?

Before you start building the tower, consider the cost.

Finish what you start.

Everyone wants to be the church at Philadelphia. Why?

They will be kept from the hour of trial—of testing—that comes upon the world. Wow!  We get to miss the Tribulation!

You don’t. The entire church goes through tribulation.  Tribulation means pressure. We have pressure now and will continue to have pressure. Why? Much of the world isn’t buying into this one true God stuff, and they don’t like us for proclaiming love, life, and liberty in Christ when they want to generate fear.

Now, discuss to your heart's content who is here for the Great Tribulation. The promise to the church in Philadelphia seems to be that you will be long gone for that, or much of it.

I said that everyone wants to belong to the church in Philly. That’s not true. Some are wired to be warriors or witnesses to the very end, to have the ultimate testimony for all eternity.

That’s probably not good syntax—all eternity. How much is half of eternity? How much is eternity plus a day?

Typically, when we say everyone, that’s too much generalization, except for the last church—Laodicea. They were the lukewarm church.

Jesus said oh, how I wish you were hot or cold, but you are lukewarm, and I vomit you out of my mouth.

I am longing for a well done good, and faithful servant and not a I vomit you out of my mouth because you were so comfortable in working me in where it was convenient encounter with Jesus.

We can be hot or cold, but never lukewarm.

Do you know that the United States military—the Army comes up with most of these planning factors—has a table on how much ice to take in desert operations?  Yes, I said ice.

Why take ice to the desert?  If the soldiers or Marines don’t drink enough water, they become ineffective.  People don’t drink much lukewarm water. Hot or cold, that’s the ticket to hydration in the desert and other places.

There’s the 10,000-foot flyover of 7 churches.

I am changing gears for a moment. I am still talking about the church, but there is this pending event called the General Election. I’m not talking about the election of saints.

This is politics, and for that, we must go to the Book of Second Opinions.

I have counsel for you concerning the upcoming election. It is on 5 November 2024. You might have heard about it.

Occasionally, there is an ad on television. Every so often, you might see an online ad. At least once per year, I am required by contract to use the tool of understatement.

We are bombarded by ads and accusations and adorations and a collection and confluence of terms: liberal, conservative, democrat, republican, patriot, Marxist, word salad, misogynist (and in the spirit of full disclosure, I don’t know if I am one or not. I got a massage while I was in Cozumel, but I was the one receiving the massage, so I don’t know if I am a misogynist or not).

Occasionally, a little malaprop accompanies my understatement.

Cat-eating and no service people in combat areas, borders and budgets, inflation and taxes, gas prices, and stump speeches, attempted assassinations and gun confiscation, and so much more beckon not just for your attention but your obedience to whatever doctrine is espoused.

Yes, this is a big election and it is important that you vote. Not registered?

Just Google anything, and a link to register to vote will pop up somewhere along the way. It might not be a bad thing. So far I have registered 27 times.  This thing is going my way this time, at least in Washita County.

This election is important. I hope you have been praying.  It is important to vote.

Why?

God cannot do this alone.

God cannot do this alone.

I’m going to keep saying this until someone says, Yes, he can.

Is anything too hard for God?

God does not need your vote to do what he is going to do. I think he would want you to avail yourself of the right as with anything that has been trusted to you. We will get to the Parable of the Talents soon enough.

So what am I to do on 5 November? What am I to do?

MAKE DISCIPLES!

But that’s election day!

Make disciples is still the answer.  Make sure that you are doing that on 4 and 6 November as well, as well as the other days ending in the letter Y.

Now, on November 10th, Marines need to be making disciples in their Dress Blues. All veterans should wear a My Oath Never Expires t-shirt the next day. That’s I wrote the blank check celebration day.

The only time I engage in online political discussion is with a friend, where discussion can be discussion and not mindless spewing of words. Those are one in a million these days.

Or, if there is a humorous meme or a fallacy in the thinking proffered, then it concerns me that we as a nation lost our thinking skills on my watch.

My online Nom de Guerre is Non-Sequitur.  Your point does not follow your premise.

 As we are on this rabbit trail, you may want to do the unfollow Tom thing for 30 days thing on Facebook about mid October.  My Marine Corps memes might seem a little salty for some.  Some push the envelope or dryness. OK, I confess, don’t have a dry setting on my humor. It’s arid or just a dad joke.

A while back, there was this big hubbub about Nancy Pelosi saying all veterans were deranged. I don’t know what everyone was up in arms about. I heard that and thought, “OK, what’s your point?”

I thought it was a compliment. Of course we are, some of us just enjoy it. You better do the unfollow thing. Let’s get back to making disciples.

God has commanded us to do many things, but he has commissioned us to make disciples.  What’s the difference?

Our commission is a command given with authority. Remember the end of the Gospel of Matthew before Jesus ascended into heaven, Jesus said to go and make disciples.

Before he said that he said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  The next word is therefore. It connects authority with the command.

We are commissioned to make disciples.

Why are we spending so much time and energy arguing about two people more than we invest in making disciples?

I am not saying the election is not important. I’m saying that we are spending far too much time arguing, drawing battlelines, and hating other people over the things of this world and not giving our best to the things of God.

I love being an American. I have seen much of the world in and out of the Corps and my love for this nation has only grown stronger. I loved serving America as a United States Marine Corps officer. My commission does not expire.

My first duty is to God. My commission—my authority—comes from God. My loyalty and obedience are first to God, and he sent me into the world to make disciples.

OBTW—he sent you too.

But really, don’t you love the words, We The People?

How about a government of the people, by the people, and for the people?

Wonderful words! Abe Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. I hope I get to see both in heaven. I’m going to give Thomas Jefferson a big ole hug and tell him that his words in the Constitution were divine poetry. Then I am going to take him out back where they keep the Church of Christ so they don’t know the rest of us made it and beat the tar out of him because he denied the divinity of Christ.

I am thinking that I might be spending the first 10,000 years of eternity in the brig. Chesty will visit me.

If they put me on bread and water I know it’s the bread of life and living water, so Cool Beans!

But here’s the thing: We have a government of the people—we absolutely do! Our representatives represent the people. They are who we are. The problem is that not all of the people are seeking God, not all of them are obeying God, and not all want God in their lives or ours, but these executives and lawmakers represent who we are as a nation.

That ought to put a lump in your throat.

The Founding Fathers knew that our country would survive only as long as God was first. This beautiful thing of a democratically elected republic framed in the Constitution only works when the people seek God first.

If the people and their representatives pursue their own desires and aspirations, they might accomplish much, but it will just be another Tower of Babel.

The last time people worked hard and worked together to accomplish something big, but exactly the opposite of what God told them to do, he confused the language.

But come on, Tom, let’s take a couple of months off from making disciples and work to vote them all out. Surely we should be granted time off for that.

Absolutely not!

Do you want a godly government? Work on the recruiting pool.

What? Make disciples of all nations. As more and more come to Christ, our Republic will have more and more people who seek him serving as our representatives.

If we the people start looking more like Christ, don’t you think our government will be more godly?

And the more that the people seek God and want to draw close to him, the less important our secular government will be.

But what happens if people don’t respond to our message and invitation? What happens if our nation drifts farther and farther from God?

Then, we must be ready for persecution and suffering. We will increase our passion for God, never wanting to be known as lukewarm. We must wake up and strengthen what remains.

Before we close ranks, shore up our battle lines, and fix our fighting holes and ramparts, we better do something else.

Remember the height from which we have fallen and repent.

Do the things that we did at first.  Rekindle the passion for the Lord that we once knew. Take the love of God to the world and make disciples.

Make disciples!

If you want to talk politics, I am up for it. Or is it down for it these days, or is it something else these days?

We don’t have to agree. I am comfortable with you just being wrong.

And just so you know, the world considers me a political scientist. That’s what the piece of paper that Oklahoma State gave me said.

I didn’t go to my college graduation. I worked. I needed the money. Officers have to buy their own uniforms and that was about $2000. This was 1979.

As I didn’t get to go to graduation, OSU did something special for me. They gave me my BA in Political Science and a theme song. Hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back…

I have made it through this message without saying this, but here goes. Let's just say I grew up middle-class—I think—but I might have been poor.

Do you know what a blessing that was? I don’t mean being middle class or being poor, but not knowing and not caring.

I knew God through Jesus. I loved school, sports, and work, and nobody had laid a social or economic label on me, at least that I knew or cared about.

And as a growing-up rabbit trail, the fashion police had no jurisdiction in my life. I have photos to prove it.

Stop by and talk politics with me. It will be a short rest from making disciples. We won’t take a brief rest from politics to talk God. That would be backward.

For we are to make disciples.

I close now, asking how many will leave the building today because the service is over. Anyone?

I hope not. I pray not, for we don’t just leave when the hour is done.

We are sent!

Sent to do what?

MAKE DISCIPLES!

 

Amen.