(Scripture: Revelation 1:4-8) Usually when I begin to talk about the book of Revelation, or read scripture from it, peoples eyes begin to glaze over. Some of you looked glazed before I read the scripture, so I’m not sure this morning is a fair test, but . . . What most people know about the book of Revelation is its weird, scary imagery. We’ve been told that it is a prediction of the end times, but as we read it, we get lost in the symbolism and imagery and end up finding the whole experience unhelpful. The book of Revelation is both a letter and a revelation, an image. John, of Patmos, is imprisoned, probably for his Christian beliefs. While living in his imprisonment area, he has a vision from God. There has been some speculation about what he was drinking or eating that may have helped in the “vision,” but whatever aid he may have had, he found the vision such a powerful experience that he felt compelled to share it with the seven churches in Asia Minor. And so the book of Revelation begins as a letter. He starts with a general introduction of himself to all the churches, and then he write a piece to each of them. Some of the churches are praised for their staunch faith and witness in a time of persecution. Others are called on the carpet for faithless behavior, and one church is encouraged to get off the fence. Either become more faithful or leave the Christian faith, but this lukewarm stuff is not satisfactory. After he addresses each of the churches, he then shares his vision with them. It is a vision full of symbolism, and it is a vision with a current message. John does such a good job at hiding current events in his symbolism, that not even current scholars are able to sort it all out. We can tell he’s talking about the persecutions and corruption of the Roman government of his time, calling them by the ancient reference of Babylon, but the finer details are lost to us. They were probably clear to John’s readers, but we only have a broad paintbrush of his time, so the small details remain a mystery for us. The passage for this morning comes not from the vision portion of the letter, but from the general introduction he makes to the seven churches. “John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed † us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made † us to be a kingdom, priests serving † his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” It sounds a little stilted, and a little foreign to our ears, but John is actually following a common form in letter-writing. He introduces himself, he offers grace from God, and his description of the characteristics of Jesus are mirrored later in the vision he will share. The descriptive piece is a little longer than usual, but it does signify to us that the imagery he will use will also be a little longer and a little more detailed than usually happens in a letter of his time. The phrase I want to focus on in John’s introduction is at the end of his descriptive statement. “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” The phrase comes from the Greek, where Alpha and Omega and the first and last letters of the alphabet. It’s sort of like saying I’m the A and the Z. Only, I don’t think it’s really “the A and the Z” I think the intent is more “I’m from the A to the Z.” We tend to focus on the highs and the lows, the As and the Zs. We focus on Christmas and Easter, even creating periods of preparation for each of those celebrations. If I asked you to share your story of faith, you’d probably tell me the high and lows points; the events that caused you to take stock or make an important decision. You’d probably tell me of your conversion moments. But despite the weird imagery and symbolism and the dire circumstances facing the Christian Church during this time, the point of John’s vision is much more about A to Z than A and Z. The Church is facing a difficult time, but the goal of John’s vision is to get them through this time. Not through it to an end time, but through it to whatever is next. Since they are facing hard times, John’s vision uses imagery to remind them that God is eternal, but governments are not. He paints a picture of a time when what’s wrong will fail and what’s right will prevail. By the end of the vision, the picture being painted is of a time when God is present with us in ways that we recognize and are tangible all the time. In his vision, the world doesn’t end. Instead, heaven comes to earth. And the city for the people doesn’t have protective walls, because there are no enemies outside. Sort of like an image for us of a time without the need for a military or a need for national security. In John’s vision, it’s daylight all the time. There is no more nighttime with its potential for fear and secrecy and danger. All of this imagery, though, is not meant to tell the churches that the end is coming, but is instead intended to encourage them by giving them a vision of what they are working towards. A time of persecution may eventually turn into a time of acceptance. It’s not about getting through this low to get to the next high, it’s more about recognizing God in this low in order to create ordinary time. We recognize this preponderance of ordinary time, even in the way we celebrate the church year. The longest season in the church year is called Ordinary time. It begins the Sunday after Pentecost and lasts until Advent begins at the beginning of December. There is even ordinary time built into some of the other seasons. The season of Epiphany, which goes from Christmas to the beginning of Lent uses the colors and some of the readings of ordinary time. We live most of our lives in ordinary time. There are highs and lows, certainly, but most of our life happens in the everyday events. The vision from John of Patmos is meant to carry us through those ordinary times. Sort of like Lent. Lent began as a way to prepare for Easter, but the church quickly realized that the practices we were encouraging we hoped lasted well beyond Lent. We began to talk about Lent as an opportunity during the church year to begin a practice to build up your spiritual life for the entire year. It is important to take time out every once in awhile. The lows will come, and the highs can feed our spirits for extended periods of time, but it’s important not to pass over the ordinary. That’s where we live, that’s where much of our faith is formed, and that is where God resides, amongst us. God, who is the Alpha and the Omega. God, who is everything from the Alpha to the Omega. Amen.