I.
By now in the Book of Revelation we are past the letters to the seven churches, past the opening of the seven seals and here we come to the sound of the seventh trumpet.

With the hearing of this trumpet, we come to a type of ending and a type of beginning in the book.  Yes, we will see more visions in the chapters that follow, but for this week, we pay attention to what “begins.”  

As you read this week’s focus passage, notice what has begun and how it is described in the songs of the elders and the others.

II.
Revelation 11:15-19 (NRSV)

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord
    and of his Messiah,
and he will reign forever and ever.”

Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, singing,

“We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty,
    who are and who were,
for you have taken your great power
    and begun to reign.

The nations raged,
    but your wrath has come,
    and the time for judging the dead,
for rewarding your servants, the prophets
    and saints and all who fear your name,
    both small and great,
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

III.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord
    and of his Messiah,
and he will reign forever and ever.”
…
for you have taken your great power
    and begun to reign.
…
Then God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple …

IV.
We are presented a vision of one kingdom being replaced by another, with the promise that this kingdom will not end.

As you hear this, does it strike you as a possibility or as an impossibility?

The prophets speak of those that hear and do not hear.  Rabbi Jesus echoes the same in his teaching.

What might prevent us from being about to see what this vision of the Kingdom presents?

Is it what you hope for or is it too much to hope for?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}