Second Friday in Advent

Haggai 1:1-15; Rev. 2:18-29; Matthew 23:27-39

If you live in the United States you’ve likely seen and maybe taken a personality test or two.  (Maybe they’re everywhere by now.)  Today in Revelation we get not so much a personality test as a soul test.  What will motivate you to remain faithful?

(Before I get to that, a word about translations.  The NRSV, which is used by the Episcopal Church in its lectionaries and office books, refers to the one who “conquers and continues to do my works” (2:26).  The Common English Version is, I think, more helpful: it addresses “those who emerge victorious, keeping my practices until the end.”  “Works” today sounds like one kind of practice, service of various kinds, and this is important, but “practices” may get to the larger point of how we are to be faithful.  The NRSV wins for literal translation here, but if you find it obscure try this alternative.)

So: why should we “conquer” and “continue”?  Here’s where the test comes in.  We’re promised two rewards.  The first is “authority over the nations; to rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like pottery.”  This sounds very appealing to my ego, which likes to be in control and thinks it knows what everyone else needs.  My ego is rooted in anxiety, and it often thinks that the answer to feeling threatened is to eliminate the threat.  We see a lot of that these days, no?  “If I were in charge . .  “ 

But, um, I don’t see Jesus taking that road.  That is the road of the sword, of the gun, of the bomb.  That road leads to others who hate, who nurse revenge, who plot to build their own iron rods and smash me in turn.  My ego thinks it’s a great idea, but my ego can’t see far enough.

The other reward doesn’t speak to the ego, but to the soul.  “I will also give the morning star.”  The sun, the source of light and warmth.  I cannot control the sun, nor can I take it for my own.  It can only come as a gift, as it does each day.  Each morning I stand in wonder before the new light of dawn.  My ego has nothing to do, but my soul is fed.  And as I stand, I remember that everyone, every nation, is also under this morning star.  We are all nurtured and sustained and illuminated by it.  All the iron rods in the world do not change it.  It has its own source and its own course.  It has nothing to offer my ego.

Our religious wars, past and present, begin and continue with people who choose the first reward.  But choosing that iron rod cuts us off from the second gift.  The morning star still rises, but we don’t even notice.  The challenge is to put down the rod, even in the face of my ego’s fear, and wait for the morning star.  I know it’s worth it, if I can just continue to keep God’s practices.

Which reward will you choose today?