Each Church Is To Be A Lamp Stand of Jesus

We used to own a vacation home in Colorado. What a view with waterfalls and mountains all around!

Very spectacular also is the view at night. Such a vast display of stars (with a few satellites blinking by as well). It is almost as if you could reach out and grab a handful. John says something like that about the Lord Jesus.

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. - Rev 2:1 ESV

How does it help us to know that Jesus holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp stands?

Let's start with the seven stars. Why seven? Why not twelve or forty? What's with seven? As noted in an earlier blog, seven is the number of completion (God rested on the seventh day after finishing His creation, Gen. 2:3). Seven churches refers symbolically to all churches. We all have something to learn from these letters.

Stars, on the other hand, will appear again and again in the Revelation.

• The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. - Rev 8:10-12 ESV

• And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. - Rev 12:1 ESV

The ancients viewed the stars with wonder, just as we do, but they saw them named by the LORD, and under His control and guidance. David writes,

• When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, - Psa 8:3 ESV

• He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. - Psa 147:4 ESV

The prophets, on the other hand, mock the unbelieving astrologers who think they can divine the future by their study of the stars. 

• You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you. - Isa 47:13 ESV

But we're becoming distracted. We already were told by John that "the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches" (Rev. 1:20). And we concluded that the messages are likely addressed first to the overseeing pastors of each of those churches who are to share them with the churches. So the  LORD Jesus starts by promising to hold each of these pastors in his right hand. They are His messengers, with direct authority from Him, even as Christ Himself is seated at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:20; Heb 1:3, 13; 10:12). The pastors are held in His right hand. They are especially important to Him as they convey His word to the churches. He will care for them.

Moreover Jesus walks among the seven golden lamp stands. Each church is a lamp stand, a stand that holds the lamp. The light from those lamps originates from Jesus Himself. He is the Light of the world. Believers already know they are to let that Light shine from within them. They are a city on a hill that cannot, must not, be hidden.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." - Jhn 8:12 ESV

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. - Mat 5:14 ESV 

So Jesus, the Light of the world, is walking among and with the churches that are His lamp stands, letting the light shine forth from them. This is the introduction to each of the seven letters. Next time we'll move into the letters themselves.

Good Morning—Night Is Over

I sat at my computer quite early in the morning, pondering the meaning of Psalm 107 and the beginning of Book Five of the Psalter, when all of a sudden a quiet rain began to fall on the deck outside the sliding glass doors of my study. What a happy sound. We could always use a soft, soaking rain, I thought. Even the birds outside acknowledged it as they begin their morning songs.

As I listened to the gentle rain falling in the darkness it struck me how different some rains are from others. It wasn't that long ago that Sylvia and I huddled on the floor, in the hallway of our Houston area home while terrifying winds and rain pounded our house in the deep shadows of Hurricane Rita. We feared for our lives and prayed for the shadows to pass.

Different shadows, different darkness, different times. So the Biblical writers will at times speak of the sheltering shadows of the LORD's wings or of his hand (Ps. 17:8, Ps. 51:1, Ps. 63:7, Ps. 91:1, Isa. 49:2, Isa. 51:16). Thus protected, nothing can harm them. But at other times they tremble, because they are prisoners in a land of darkness, forced to dwell in the shadow of death (Ps. 107:10-14).

The comforting lesson of Psalm 107 is that when our very soul is fainting, trapped by pain, affliction, fear and the dark shadows of impending death, we have but to cry out, return to Him who so deeply loves us that He went before us into that dark valley of the shadow of death (Ps. 23:4). As Zechariah said, the sun is about to rise and final salvation awaits (Luke 1:78-79). Death is but a shadow, no longer a certainty at all. We shall not be cut off from our God and from His people. Because of the cross and the sacrifice of Calvary, we are forgiven, once more declared His children, sheltered in the shadow of His wings, protected by the shadow of His hand.

The sun rose, even as I completed this little piece. The rain was very brief. A bright, radiant springtime day awaited me. Once more I was reminded by the springtime that days of darkness, fear and death will soon be over—forever. The dawn has come. The shining Light is dispersing the shadows. Jesus is that Light of the world and the darkness cannot put it out (John 1:5, 8:12). Alleluia!

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

Last night I tossed about for a long time. Sometime close to morning I recalled that classic 18th century prayer I learned as a child and later taught to my own children. Almost everyone knows some version of it:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
And if I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

A Wikipedia article relates the many ways in which versions of this prayer have been used in the entertainment media. For instance, It appears in the horror film Nightmare on Elm Street, spoken by Heather Langenkamp's character Nancy before sleeping and encountering Freddy Krueger.

That's how I've come to think about the prayer. It's filled with all sorts of frightening implications. Why did I ever teach my children to pray "And if I DIE before I wake"? What a way to send a child into calm and restful sleep! Whoever thought up such a prayer and why teach it to children? No one seems to know. However it is used again and again to speak about the dangers children face in a world marked with suffering and death. UN Special Representative Mary Fisher used it in a speech to some 2,000 participants in the “Global Summit on AIDS on the Church” sponsored by Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA. She said,

"No crisis in history has produced so much opportunity for people of wealth, knowledge and power to find purpose, meaning and satisfaction in life. The church is the ideal bridge from here to there, from safety to satisfaction. Is each human being, indeed, a child of God? Do you believe that with pilgrim-like faith? If so, you will know that the global epidemic is not a mass of numbers, not a ledger of the dead and dying, not one story of tens of millions of people -- but tens of millions of stories told one soul-filled person at a time.

“Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep….”

One by one, they kneel and pray, orphans at their bedsides at Mother Teresa’s on the edge of Lusaka, Zambia. One by one they call back words from our childhoods, calling us to nurture our souls for God’s safekeeping during sleep. My soul ached, and was filled, when I lifted two-year-old Martin to my breast last month in Zambia: a skeleton of a child, his face all eyes and eyelashes – I knew, then, that it was love that nourishes the soul. Holding Martin, I see Bupe, the fragile child I held years earlier who died before I could adopt him. And I finish the childhood prayer:

“If I should die before I wake,
I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to take."



Perhaps that is more to the point. What concern do we have for children at risk, both physically and spiritually, in our neighborhoods? What are we doing about it individually and as gathered congregations of Christians? The poignant picture of Jesus holding the children stands ever before us. We who are as His children are also His arms and hands reaching out to the children facing death before waking.

"Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there" (Matthew 19:13-15).

DST, Chickens And Christians

Tomorrow morning we all get to sleep in an extra hour. Daylight Saving Time ends for another year. In studying the history of this annual fall and spring ritual I learned several interesting things.


*Chickens don't adapt to the changed clock until several weeks have gone by.

*70 percent of Americans rise before 7:00 a.m.

*There is evidence that the severity of auto accidents increases and work productivity decreases as people adjust to the time change.

*The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris in 1784.

*The present time time zones were first used by the railroads in 1883 to standardize their schedules. Standard time zones were established by U.S. law with the Standard Time Act of 1918.

*During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt instituted year-round Daylight Saving Time, called “War Time,” from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945, but after that confusion reigned as localities chose to observe or not observe DST.

*Since 1986 Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. began at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of April and ended at 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of October. However, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended Daylight Saving Time so that from 2007 and on DST begins at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March and ends at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of November.

So . . . this is the first year DST ends in November and that accounts for my confusion about the whole topic.

We Christians have some pointed instructions about light and darkness. Darkness for us is a symbol of what people do when they think no one sees or knows. Walking in the light, therefore, means that we believe we are forgiven in Christ for all our dark deeds and are guided by the light of God's revelation and love. Here's how the Apostle Paul writes about it:

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5).