“The Seven Seals”

Revelation 5:1-13

¹Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” ³ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.

⁴ Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. ⁵ But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. ⁷ He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. ⁸ And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. ⁹ And they sang a new song with these words:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
and break its seals and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
¹⁰ And you have caused them to become
a Kingdom of priests for our God.
And they will reign on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. ¹² And they sang in a mighty chorus:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing.”

¹³ And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:

“Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the one sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever.”

This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about a guy who died and went to heaven

When he arrived at the Pearly Gates, St. Peter was waiting for him. St. Peter said he was going to review his life and then decide if he’s worthy enough to get into heaven. St. Peter looked through the book of this man’s life and said to the man, “Well, you haven’t really sinned, but you haven’t ever done anything worthwhile either. Can you give me an incident in your life that would make you worthy to get into heaven?” The man said, “Well, I was driving my truck and I looked over and there was a gang of bikers attacking a woman. So I stopped my car, got out, and confronted the bikers. I said, ‘Hey! Leave that woman alone! What kind of men are you beating up on a helpless woman?! Let’s see you take on a real man!” St. Peter said, “Wow, that’s really noble of you! I just don’t see it here in your book of life. Can you remember when that happened?” The man looked at his watch and replied, “About ten minutes ago.”

I guess there was a slight lag in updating that man’s book of life! Hard to imagine there wasn’t anything else in that man’s life that qualified him for getting into heaven though. I mean, you don’t just have a sudden urge to help someone after a lifetime of not helping anyone! But what do I know, maybe there are people out there who haven’t helped anyone their whole lives and all of sudden, right out of the blue, they get the urge to help someone. Far more unbelievable things have been known to happen…

And, besides, it’s a kind of an absurd notion that St. Peter would be standing at the gates of heaven, deciding who is worthy enough to get into heaven or not. This notion isn’t found in Scripture nor is it taught by any self-respecting church leader since the time of Luther over 500 years ago. It’s a notion that ungirds the whole idea of works-righteousness, the idea that it’s the things we do in this world that make us worthy of entering the heavenly world. We know Luther debunked this idea with help from Scripture, most notably John 3:16 that says whoever believes in Jesus Christ will not die but will have eternal life. It’s our belief that makes us worthy, not our works, plain and simple. Friends, all we have to do is believe in Jesus and what he did and continues to do to know and experience heaven. If you want to believe St. Peter is standing at the gates of heaven, then you really should only expect he’ll ask you one question: do you believe in Jesus or not? Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life! Always has been, always will be! Why? Because he is worthy of heaven and he imparts his worthiness upon us.

Now then, what does any of this have to do with our reading for this morning? John continued on with his vision after beholding God the Father seated on his throne, surrounded by the 24 elders and 4 living creatures worshipping him night and day. The Father had a scroll in his hand, sealed with seven seals. An angel cried out, “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” No one in heaven and on earth was found worthy enough to open the scroll except for the Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb. Why? Because he is the way, the truth, and the life as we just mentioned. His power and might far exceed anything and anyone in this world and the next world. He is capable of doing the impossible. Heck, he conquered death and grave, arguably the greatest impossible there is! Jesus is most worthy to fulfill any task the Father sets forth!

And this is good news for us because Jesus is our friend and brother. Lucky for us, whatever worthiness he has rubs off onto us by association. Because he is most precious to the Father, we are most precious to the Father. And we know how precious we are the Father! Recall the words of Jesus spoken in Luke’s gospel, “What is the price of five sparrows-two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” (12:6-7) Friends, all our hairs are numbered and accounted for by the Father! We are precious to the Father just as much as Jesus!

So Jesus was worthy enough to open the scroll, something that only he could do. But what was written on the scroll? Why so difficult to open? I posed the question in our Bible study this week and we agreed it was God’s plan and purpose for all of creation. The answers to all the mysteries and the motives behind all the forces in all the world. Obviously pretty powerful knowledge…overwhelmingly powerful! Too powerful for any one person to have and understand. We are incapable of having and understanding such knowledge…for now. Perhaps one day it will all be revealed to us, but God hasn’t deemed us worthy enough. God has, however, deemed Jesus worthy for such knowledge which is good because Jesus will reveal it to us over time. We just need to understand Jesus more. We need to understand his teachings better. I strongly believe that the answers to all of life’s mysteries have already been answered in Jesus’ teachings. We just don’t fully understand his teachings yet. But we’ll get there, I have faith.

For now, we celebrate Jesus’ worthiness and how it makes us equally worthy of all that the Father has to offer us. We can celebrate our own worthiness, our own greatness, as David sang in his 139^th psalm, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” (vs. 14) Our God loves us just as the Father loves the Son! What a gift and a blessing! Let us rejoice in his love! Thanks be to God!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.