Episcopal Church in Minnesota

New Testament Reading: Revelation 1: (1-8) 9-19
(The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.) (vs 1-8)

I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."
Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.
When I saw him. I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this."

Reflection on Revelation 1: (1-8) 9-19
by Teri Mann

In this lesson John is describing a situation where Jesus, the Son of Man, shows himself and proclaims that "I am the first, the last and the living one.  I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.  Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this."  John scribes earlier that Christ is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him.
The story of life death and, rebirth is played out so much in the gospel and shows us the never ending cycle of  all that is.  Christ in this story seems to want us to acknowledge this ever changing and evolving world.  That
constancy of change and the solid base of sacred in all that is, throughout the changes.
God is present in all that is and was and will be, the changes are through and with that force, that being, that being in...   How often do we acknowledge or hold this in our being, our present.
Christ comes with the clouds,  How wonderful that meditation is.  How many times has you looked at the clouds and saw God? and if we look wouldn't we all see God then, even those who pierced him.  How often do we acknowledge God's presence in the clouds or even the lack of clouds, that are here, every day, all the time?

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