There Are No Small Parts, Only Small Actors

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song, saying: 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

    and to open its seals,

because you were slain,

    and with your blood you purchased for God

    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

10      You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

    and they will reign on the earth.” 

11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying: 

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,

    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength

    and honor and glory and praise!” 

13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: 

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

    be praise and honor and glory and power,

for ever and ever!” 

14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:1-14, NIV)

........ 

1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 

2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

 

3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. (Revelation 8:1-5, NIV)

 

 

REFLECTIONS:

Last time I wrote a Companions devotional, it appeared the day after Easter (thanks to the providence of Tres) and it was based on the passage where the resurrected Jesus appears to two travelers on the road to Emmaus. I was mostly curious about who those two were, and dove into answering that question. I found only two theories, with one rising to the top, and proceeded to craft a witty little conversation and a few applications based on that theory.  In the devo, I made a statement that went something like “I spend 80% of the time on a devotional doing research and 20% on writing so that I don’t tell you something wrong.” I finished writing, felt pretty good about it, and emailed it to Tres a few days ahead of the deadline. No procrastinating for me! 

 

Easter Sunday came and I went to church. Imagine my surprise when the sermon was on the very same passage, and Greg also addressed the question of who the two travelers might have been! I was really hoping Greg didn’t steal my devotional thunder when I realized that he went with the other theory…

 

Uh oh! Trouble brewing in the pastor’s house? We both made similar, good applications, but come on…the Google search results were in my favor. What I didn’t realize, though, was that the one lone theorist that Greg had favored was Tom Wright, aka NT Wright, the foremost New Testament scholar of our time. And the discussion was settled.

 

Do you ever get a song lyric in your head and realize it’s thematic…like God’s trying to tell you something? I do, and the lyrics for this particular situation were the chorus of Bob Schneider’s “Big Blue Sea”: 

It’s days like this that burn me, turn me inside out and learn me

Not to tell you everything I think I know, but I think I'll tell you all that I know 

I spend a lot of time trying to sound like I’m experienced, learned, worthy of respect when the truth is, there’s a lot I don’t know. I’m not being hard on myself here, the fact is most of what I know I learned by getting it wrong first, or because God was just merciful and helped me figure it out. Humility is one of those things. And it is with that recent lesson in mind that I approach today’s passage: 

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.  He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.  And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.

 

Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.  The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.

Briefly, before I make one application, I want to focus on a couple of phrases in this crazy heavenly throne room scene John saw, and I’ll use The Message translation to do so:

 

• “A Lamb, slaughtered but standing tall” with “seven horns and seven eyes.” This is Jesus, standing center stage before the throne with wounds ever-present, as though freshly sacrificed. Don’t be fooled by the meekness of the lamb though…the number of horns and eyes represent perfect power and wisdom.
• “The One Seated on the Throne (holding) the scroll in His right hand.” This is God, but what of the scroll? Earlier in V5:1 it says the One who sat on the throne held “a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.” Typically a scroll had writing on only one side, tied with strings, and sealed in wax at the knots so the seal must be opened to read the text. This scroll had text on both sides and seven seals. Under Roman law, wills were sealed with seven seals, each from a witness to the validity of the will. One possibility is that the scroll represents God’s will, His final purposes for the universe. He holds in His hand the history of the world, and initiates the culmination of all history (second coming of Jesus). Whatever was on this scroll, there was a lot of it--almost more than the scroll could contain.
• “The moment he took the scroll, the Four Animals and Twenty-four Elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.” Verses 2-5 establish that nothing created was found worthy to take possession of the scroll, only One who is above creation, and when He took His rightful place, the response was immediate.

 

 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION:

What does this have to do with me? In the final days of everything, where do I fit in? What’s my role? Is it my political affiliation? My evangelistic fervor? My extensive knowledge of end-times? My fearlessness when arguing with the Mormon guys at the door? 

 

Do you see yourself? It’s a small part, but it’s absolutely necessary: your prayers. When the Elders gathered around to see the One worthy to open the scroll they came prepared to lavish Him with worship, using harps and…the prayers of the saints. And when the seventh and final seal was opened, and all of heaven waited in silence (8:1) it was the prayers of the saints drifting up with the burned incense (yep, there’s purifying fire involved) that was accepted by God. What prayers? “Your kingdom come”-type prayers. Anytime you purpose in your heart for Jesus to be King of _________________________________(insert your situation / relationship / cause / circle of influence) over and above your own desires or pride, it whiffs of Jesus the Lamb being given His rightful place. This is humility, this is radical, and this is a fragrant offering, worthy of the King. 

 

 

SUPER-PRACTICAL APPLICATION PRAYER:

Jesus, I never knew You enjoyed the smell of my prayers! With that in mind, I say: 

Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. (Psalm 141:2)  

and 

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

 

WHO AM I?
I’m Leigh Anne Bland and it is a practice of mine to include embarrassing photos of myself, but this time I have one I actually like. It was taken at the Cathedral of Junk in S Austin on my birthday outing. I highly recommend it for a fun and unusual adventure.