Chew the scroll up to preach it!

The Book of Revelation is full of strange symbolism and surreal imageries. In Revelation Chapter 10 we have yet another. In this passage Apostle John receives the vision of a huge angel whose one foot is on the sea and another on the land. He can stretch his hand to reach heaven. He lands on the planet with one foot on land and the other on sea with an open scroll in his hands.
A voice commands John to approach the angel to ask for the scroll. The angel gives him the little scroll with the command that he should eat it. John obeys the angel and eats the entire scroll. It was rather easy to eat the small scroll since it was sweet in his mouth, but it was difficult to hold it in his body since it had become bitter in his stomach.
Centuries back, prophet Ezekiel had a similar experience at the beginning of his prophetic career (Ezek 3:1-3). Just as Ezekiel was told, John was also told that, 'you must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings' (Rev 10:11). Eating the scroll was to prepare him to preach to the nations and their rulers.
Now, to unpack the symbolism. What is this scroll and what is the purpose of eating it? We are told that the scroll is open. Anyone who has been following the sequence of events in the Book of Revelation so far might have noticed that the Lamb (risen Lord) has already opened it (Rev 6:1). The image of the angel coming down from heaven with the scroll is the symbolic representation of the truth that we find in (Hebrews 2:2). According to some Jewish interpretation of the event where Moses received the Law, the revelation of God was handed down to him through angels.
John has to eat what God has revealed through the son and given to him now. This eating is thus the preparation for the mission to the nations and their rulers. It is a bittersweet reality. The word of God is sweeter than the honey, however, bringing it out is most of the time a bitter reality. What you like and cherish may not always in line with people out there like to cherish. This brings God's people in conflict with others. However, it has to be done! But before that is done, we need to really grasp the word thoroughly like we eat something so that it becomes part of our body system.

Preachers of Vanity

A few Sundays back I visited a large church in a major city of India. I have heard about this church and has been eagerly waiting to be there. As usual, there was ‘praise and worship’, then announcements in video format about the seminars, workshops and a whole lot of activities that the church organises. Then the senior pastor stood up to preach. Before preaching he gave another run-down of the announcements orally.

The preaching was quite long. It was about the place of Israel in the Bible. He started with Abraham, through Egyptian bondage, Exodus all the way to Babylonian captivity and return. It continued further on to the Maccabean revolt, and all the events between the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 68 and then the end of British Mandate and the formation of Israel in 1948. I though he will end there but he went on Camp David agreement, the present situation including the murder of a Jewish girl by a Palestinian which took place a week before. Then the sermon ended with a call to pray for Israel.

I noticed that at least some people in the pews were restless, some were sleeping tight, some were on WhatsApp pretending as if they were looking up bible verses (all that were on the two screens!) While we were walking out my wife asked me will this crowd return next Sunday too, to hear such a sermon? I said ‘yes.’ I will explain why if you would hang on.

Before that, I should narrate another incident. This happened in my church. I invited a guest speaker. I have never heard him before in my life, but he had invited me many times to his church. So, it was a time to reciprocate I thought; moreover, I need a change as well as my congregation too.

To my surprise, the guest preacher stood up and gave us a lecture about how the Bible came to us starting from the manuscripts, editions and translations. The congregation was thoroughly disappointed. My congregation returned the following Sunday because they knew the guest preacher is not going to be there.

In many urban congregations in India, the pulpit tends to lean away from the Bible. There is a conspiracy in the pulpits. That conspiracy is to avoid the Spirit speaking to us. It is a conspiracy to avoid Bible addressing the real issues of life. It is a conspiracy to mute the Word of God so that we don’t want to be rebuked and corrected by God. It is a conspiracy to keep God out of our life.

This conspiracy is carried out by speaking about issues that belong to another realm. To talk about things that do not really matter to our walk with God. In some pulpits, they talk about how to be successful and the like—biblical versions of Shiv Kera, Robin Sharma and others. Five days of the week, committed believers have heard such voices and they have lived it in order to eke out a living in this world. There is an eternity waiting for them. The preacher's responsibility is to guide them to lead their lives in this world with eternity in view.

Week after week the same crowd returns. To learn what they already know. They return to their homes and their offices believing that what they learn and practice in their corporate offices is what the Bible also teaches. They fail to understand that the Bible is not a volume of footnotes to what we know, it is the Word of God that challenges us, to raise us to new levels of understanding of our world and its realities. They fail to know that we are on a journey, a pilgrimage. We are sojourners whose eyes are fixed on a city that has foundations.

Why do they return Sunday after Sunday? Because this higher view is hidden from them. So, they come to satisfy themselves with water that makes them thirst again and bread that only causes more hunger.