REVISITING REVELATION: NIKE MEETS.....FLUFFY??

Revelation 5: 1-6, 11-13
Steve Lindsley
July 10, 2011

I’ve enjoyed the conversations I’ve had with some of you over the past week about last Sunday’s sermon and this sermon series we’re revisiting on the book of Revelation.  What I’ve heard is that you appreciate the fact that it’s not all about death and destruction and doom, but there’s a lot of hope in there too.  You’ve expressed surprise that the words “antichrist” and “rapture” are nowhere to be found in the book.  You’ve mentioned that the river and tree of life in the 22nd chapter are powerful images letting us know that God is in charge and that God wants to restore and renew the world, not destroy it.

And one of you offered a particularly insightful observation: I’ve never thought of the Roman empire in a negative light before.  And we typically don’t, do we?  Today we recognize ancient Rome as a major contributor to modern society in culture and art and literature.  We have them to thank for the calendar we use and our form of government.  We think of amazing architecture and a modern road system – things that, thousands of years later, still bear their mark on us today. We think of Rome and we overwhelmingly see a model for modernization and human ingenuity.

But progress, as is sometimes the case, does not come without a price; and there’s this darker side to Roman civilization that the early Christians knew all too well.  It’s hard to see – unless we take time, as we talked about last week, to pull back that curtain; to “unveil” what was previously hidden from view.  And when we pull back the curtain on Rome, what we find is an empire who ruled its territory and the people completely and ruthlessly, showing no mercy and obliterating anything and anyone who stood in their way. 

Images of the horrors of Roman rule are found throughout the book of Revelation.  For example: you know those Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse we hear so much about?  Think about it – there’s the white horse that conquers, the red one that makes war, the black horse that unleashes famine, and the pale green horse of death.  Again, like so much in Revelation, the symbolism of these horses is far more important than whether they’re actual horses or not.  These horses are John’s way of describing the horrific and devastating consequences of those who dared to cross Roman rule – they were conquered, they were victims of unrelenting warfare, they suffered disease and famine because of that warfare, and then they died.

Citizens of the Roman empire were either patrons of the system or casualties of it; and there was no middle ground. The gap between the powerful and powerless was monumental.  Everything about the Roman empire focused on expanding that empire through unquestioned loyalty to the emperor.  One “had faith” in the emperor in the same way you and I have faith in God – and those who did not share this were either ostracized or persecuted.  To be part of the empire was to support a never-ending quest, on all fronts, to literally conquer the world.

In fact, this very word “conquer” comes into play big-time in our passage today.  John is painting this scene for us: a vision of God’s holy throne and a scroll that no one is worthy enough to open.  And this upsets John – because he knows that when this scroll is opened, it will cause God to leap into action and make all of the world’s wrongs right.  So he laments that no one is “powerful” enough to do this. 

But then John is comforted when he’s told that “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has already conquered, so that he can now open the scroll.”  This is a classic Jewish symbol of power – a Lion, and an offshoot of David, the great king of Israel lore.  So John is led to believe that this is the one strong enough and worthy enough of opening the scroll and doing what needs to be done.

Now before we go any further, let’s pull back a little bit more on that curtain – let’s pull I back on the word in this passage for “conquer.”  In Greek, the language that Revelation and the entire New Testament was originally written in, the word for “conquer” was Nike.  Spelled: N-I-K-E.  Which in our day and time we pronounce how…….?  Nike was the Roman goddess for Victory, and it probably wouldn’t surprise us to learn that she was symbolized by a little swoosh emblem; the same that adorns everything from our sneakers to an athlete’s apparel to about anything where the motto “Just Do It” applies.  In fact, “Just Do It” is a pretty good way of summarizing what Nike meant to the Roman world.  Nike wasn’t just celebrated, it was worshipped.  It was the motivating force behind the empire’s rule and the expansion of the empire.  It embodied the very heart and soul of the ancient world’s greatest power.

So the image John encounters here is a commanding one: a Lion, King David, Nike-like power – this is what is supposed to open the scroll, this is what should take on the Roman domination system and deal it a final death blow.  And it makes all sense in the world, doesn’t it – power verses power, might verses might, two boxers in the ring and the strongest one comes out on top! 

Because after all, that’s how we fight power, isn’t it?  We dish back more of the same.  If some nation has x-number of nuclear warheads, we make X-number too; and maybe a few more, you know, just in case.  Which leads them to do likewise.  If a public figure becomes the victim of harsh rhetoric in a political ad or newspaper column, they respond with the same vitriol, do they not?  Fighting fire with fire.  Nike versus Nike.  It’s what we’ve come to expect, and it’s what we typically get.

Except it isn’t what John gets, is it?  As John careens his neck to look around the throne to see this “power” he’s told will prevail, a power he understandingly expects to be all Nike-like, he sees something totally unexpected.  He sees a lamb.  A lamb, people!  And not just any lamb.  The actual word in Greek here suggests a very diminutive creature, the runt of the lamb litter.  And I really like the way one writer describes it: he calls it Fluffy.  Fluffy the little runt lamb.  Fluffy the lamb who, as we read on, is slain; slaughtered even. 

So what we have here in the fifth chapter of Revelation, my friends; what John of Patmos encounters in the midst of this grand vision, can be summarized as this: Nike meets Fluffy.  Nike meets Fluffy!  The classic symbol of victory and conquest; verses a slaughtered, helpless, minuscule runt of a lamb.  World power verses “lamb power.” 

Now let’s stop for a minute and let’s ask the obvious: what did those early Christians think of Fluffy?  Those who were ostracized, ignored, persecuted in a Nike-ruled world?  Was Fluffy really who they imagined having in their corner?  Did they believe the ways of nonviolence and grace and self-denial could ever make a difference in a world sold out to violence and heartlessness and selfishness?

Do we today? How can Fluffy ever be good enough when the world dishes out its “Nike-ness?”  How can “lamb power” make a difference in the on-going battle with terrorism?  How can “lamb power” help a middle-aged man fighting tooth-and-nail with his addictions?  How does “lamb power” matter to someone held captive by their painful past, and the demons that rage inside?

You know, one of the reasons I think it’s so hard for us to “get” Revelation as North American Christians is that, at heart, we’re conflicted.  On one hand we’re in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the early Church who suffered at the hands of an oppressive empire.  But at the same time, we are part of today’s empire.  And we kind of merge the two together, don’t we?  I mean, we’ve been known to sing in the same worship service how Jesus is the “worthy lamb that was slain” and how we are “onward Christian soldiers marching as to war.”  If this “Fluffy” is really the symbol of hope that we, Christians of the 21st century, are supposed to be pledging our allegiance to, then we’ve got some explaining to do! 

When people of faith adopt the language and nuances of Nike power to encounter and act in the world, we lose a part of our collective soul.  Because while there’s a great difference between Nike and Fluffy, that difference has nothing to do with who is more powerful.  We do not serve Jesus by being more powerful; we serve Jesus by being more faithful.  Let me say that again: we do not serve Jesus by being more powerful; we serve him by being more faithful.  God’s kingdom on earth is not revealed because we force anything on anyone – God’s kingdom on earth comes about when we speak the truth in love. 

And this, my friends, is the fundamental difference between Nike and Fluffy; between the world’s power and the power of the lamb:

• Nike tells us that “the one who dies with the most toys wins.”  Fluffy tells us that our worth is not determined by what we own but by who we belong to.
• Nike tells us that strength and power and domination are what bind us together.  Fluffy dares to tell us that we are bound together by sacrificial love.
• Nike tells us that a person’s identity comes from their place in the world.  Fluffy tells us that a person’s identity comes from simply being a child of God.
• Nike suggests that “if you are not with us, you’re against us.”  Fluffy has the courage and faith to call into question who the “us” really is.
• And Nike, as we all know, tells us to “just do it.”  Just do it!  But Fluffy calls us to put aside our wants and desires, and focus on fulfilling God’s mission in the world.

You know, sometimes it helps to not just read about Nike verses Fluffy but to see it in action.  I see it every day; in a picture hanging on my office wall. I’ve shown it to you before.  The picture was taken on June 4th, 1989 near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.  On that day, you recall, Chinese troops entered the square and killed tens of thousands of students who were peacefully protesting against their government for basic human rights and freedoms they were denied. 

The picture shows a row of Chinese tanks making their way to the square – you only see one or two, but there were a dozen or so in line that day.  And yet they are unable to move, these tanks; because of one man – a single man – who is standing in the way, defiant.  If you were to watch the video on YouTube, you’d see the lead tank move to the right to go around the man, and then you’d watch in shock as the man moved to block it.  There were a few moments of uncertain pause between Nike and Fluffy.  And then the tank would move back to the left, and the man would counter again.  And then, amazingly, you’d watch this man climb on top of the tank – on top of the tank! – and bang on the metal hatch as if to reason with the soldier inside that this is not right, that he doesn’t have to do this, that there really is a more excellent way….

That, my friends, is how Fluffy opens God’s scroll and unveils God’s kingdom on earth – lamb power at its diminutive finest!  What would our world look like, indeed, if we all truly followed the way of the lamb.  Thanks be to God.  AMEN.

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