I am writing this on a Monday.
Yesterday, on Sunday, Linda and I spent the morning and evening in community with our church family.
In the morning I preached on Revelation 1:4-8. The word 'revelation' (apocalypse) means "an unveiling." Like when you take the lid off a simmering pot of stew and look inside at the ingredients.
In the book of Revelation God takes the lid off the pot, and John the Revelator looks inside. What does he see? Scot McKnight writes:
“Revelation symbolically transforms the world into a battlefield in which the forces of the dragon are assembled against the forces of God.”
Craig Keener writes: “God has a plan larger than the details that we can see, and that we fit into his plan for history, the goal of which is a people who will constitute a kingdom and priests.”
John writes Revelation from the position of solitariness. Henri Nouwen says that solitude with God is the place of "the great encounter." He writes:
"Every time we enter into solitude we withdraw from our windy, earthquaking, fiery lives and open ourselves to the great encounter. The first thing we often discover in solitude is our own restlessness, our drivenness, and compulsiveness, our urge to act quickly, to make an impact, and to have influence; and often we find it very hard to withstand the temptation to return as quickly as possible to the world of “relevance.” But when we persevere with the help of a gentle discipline, we slowly come to hear the still, small voice and to feel the gentle breeze, and so come to know the Lord of our heart, soul, and mind, the Lord who makes us see who we really are." (Nouwen, Clowning in Rome)
Tomorrow is Tuesday. As is my habit, I'll find a quiet place, alone with God, and pray. I've been doing these alone-times with God since 1977. I write about my experiences and encounters and understanding in my book Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God.
In this quiet place, I experience the great encounter.
