Sermon Cloud

I love history. In fact, you could say it's an addiction. The more I learn the more I want to know. Maybe it's my OCD. But last summer, when Erin and I had the privilege of touring southern France, I was in heaven. There are more Roman ruins in southern France than anywhere else in Europe. 1 Here's your typical Roman gov't building. 2 This is a Roman coliseum, and the 3 view from inside. That coliseum sat tens of thousands of people. 4This is what's called the Pont De Gard, the largest remaining aquaduct in the world. 5And this picture will give you a grasp of the size. Without electricity, Rome's aquaducts brought water to all points of their empire.
The Romans weren't known for their artistic abilities, but the stability of their government allowed greek culture to flourish. 6Artistic ability points to the image of God in our lives, we're able to create. 7These two pictures are reproductions, but art flourished throughout the empire. And here's one of their theatres, where tens of thousands watched plays. 8
And Roman citizens had the money to go to those plays. Romans were able to import from all over the world. Silk from China, gold from Spain, pearls from India, Ivory from Africa. Their standard of living was unmatched in the world.
Rome citizens elected their officials, had courts to defend their rights, and strong leaders even to the far reaches of their empire.
Their peace, their prosperity, their Roman way of life was provided for by their army. The Roman army was the most powerful military force on the planet. Loved by their citizens, feared by their political enemies.
Roman citizens lived in an unprecedented era of art and learning, economic prosperity, political peace. After the fall of the Roman empire, it took western civilization centuries to crawl back to that same level of peace and prosperity.
But for the people in pastor John's churches in the first century, they could've never imagined the fall of Rome. Rome was in the peak of her power. And as far as anyone could tell, Rome's peace and prosperity were destined to continue. But John boldly told his churches, "be aware of where you place your allegiance, because Rome is headed toward a fall."
Flannery O' Conner was an American novelist who wrote stories dealing with southern oppression and racism. She was once asked why she created such bizarre characters. She responded by saying "for the near blind, you have to draw very large, simple caricatures." And that's exactly what's going on here.
In those days, Rome was often portrayed as a beautiful woman. The virtuous goddess, Roma. This distinguished and elegant woman would be pictured reclining across the 7 hills of Rome. And when you consider the power and culture of the Roman empire, this seems to be a pretty good description.
And some of John's churches have been dazzled by the beauty of Rome as well. All the way back in June, we talked about the temptations faced by the 7 churches John's writing this letter to. The churches at Sardis and Laodicea were being lulled to sleep spiritually by their economic prosperity. The churches at Pergamum and Thyatira were making what they thought were a few minor compromises in their faith so they could better fit into the pagan culture around them. These churches were being seduced by the power and wealth of Rome. Selling out their commitment to Christ. The only churches able to see Rome as she truly was were the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna and Philadelphia; the ones being persecuted for their faith. Their faith actually cost them something.
John breaks the seductive spell of Rome by showing her as she truly is. Not a virtuous, dignified woman, but a stumbling drunk prostitute. Underneath those beautiful clothes is a body she gives out to anyone that's willing. She holds a golden goblet, but it's full of sewage. Rather than lying across the 7 hills of Rome, she's riding the beast, who now has 7 heads.
Remember the imagery of the beast, we've been talking about it for weeks. The beast represents everything in our lives that takes from our allegiance to Christ. To worship the beast is to worship anything less than Christ. Even if it's a good thing, like our job or even our family. To place anything other than Christ in the center of our lives is to receive the mark of the beast.
And that's what Rome has done. Rather than living by the values of Jesus' kingdom, she has whored herself out to the beast. Slutting herself to anything or anyone that can promise her more money and more power.
And there are people in John's churches who are placing their allegiance to Rome above their allegiance to Christ. They're thinking that a few compromises to Jesus' teachings are a small price to pay so they can better enjoy the comforts and prosperity of Rome. But they're just whoring themselves out. They're prostituting themselves to the beast. They are worshipping something less than Christ. John's imagery forces his churches and it forces us today to ask "who or what are we worshipping? Where is our allegiance?"
Rome's allegiance was to evil. And as always happens with those that are sold out to sin, Rome self-destructed. The mightiest nation in the history of the world collapsed in on itself. Overrun by Barbarians in the 5th century. The judgment of God is allowing us to reap the natural consequences of our sin. And for Rome, it was self-destruction.
Rome sinned. But before we look at her sins, I want to point something out. There is a serious lament over the fall of Rome. There was a lot of good lost when Rome fell, a lot of art and learning was lost. The fall of Rome plunged the western world into the dark ages. But that's what sin does. It's a cancer. It eats away at everything good in our lives.
What did Rome do? What sins were committed by this powerful country?
1) Unholy Patriotism 18:7 Roman citizens gave into the same temptation faced by all citizens of history's powerful nations, they valued what was good for their country more than they valued what was right. Rather than asking "is it right", they asked "is it good for Rome." Rome's kingdom trumped Jesus' kingdom. Which made Rome their god. John names their unquestioned loyalty to Rome as idolatry.
2) Economic Oppression We read in 18:14 that the prostitute loved her standard of living, her fancy things. 18:12-13 Roman luxury was bought through the exploitation of the world's poor. These luxurious imports were taken from less powerful countries. Rome's economy was dependent upon slave labor. Romans had the highest standard of living in the world, but it came with a steep human price tag. These merchants making all this money knew it, but they chose to ignore it. Their sin wasn't making money. It was making money at the expense of the poor.
3) Widespread Violence Rome's army stayed busy. One of Rome's highest values was Pax Romana. "The peace of Rome." Any person or any nation considered a threat to Roman peace was destroyed. No one opposed Rome and lived to tell about it. Rome eliminated threats within the empire while extending the borders of their empire through military conquest. The prostitute in this passage doesn't mind attacking others, but she gets pretty worked up when she's attacked.
A Roman historian and senator from the 1st century named Tacitus stated that Rome's peace was a "peace stained by blood." Rome's army had no equal and no mercy. 18:24
Repeat sins Not good, huh? And you know what's disturbing? Although most of John's imagery is a direct allusion to Rome, he also mixes in some imagery that brings to mind the ancient city of Babylon, Tyre as well as other empires. John's making the point that Rome isn't the first and certainly won't be the last country to commit these sins. Repeat sins
When I began studying Revelation last May and came to this passage, it broke my heart. When I read John's description of the prostitute, I saw the nation I love. I scribbled on my notes, "that's us." Loads and loads of goodness, but these three sins abound in our country. We are Rome, 2,000 years later.
But that's not quite accurate. Our standard of living trumps Roman wealth. Never in world history has so much wealth been concentrated in such a small percentage of the world's population. 3 billion people in our world live on less than $2 a day. American citizens spend as much money each year on trash bags as half the world spends on all goods combined. Every 16 seconds, someone in the world dies of hunger. 2/3 of all Americans are considered overweight.
40% of the world's population lacks safe drinking water. Which of course, leads to disease. Americans consume 26 billion liters of bottled water a year.
80% of people in the world live in substandard housing - flood plains, too hot, too cold, etc. In richer nations, we're able to build new homes. The average floor space of new homes in the UK is 815 sq. feet. Ireland - 930. Japan - 1,000. US - 2,349.
Only 8% of the world's population owns a car. The average American family owns 3.
We can be both thankful for our blessings and aware of our responsibility in the world. But we also must understand the human price tag of our comforts and our standard of living. Whether it's fashionable clothes made in sweat shops, or cheap fruit from the supermarket grown on land stolen from subsistence farmers in South America. Many of our comforts come with a steep human price tag.
And just like a mansion with a security system, our way our way of life must be protected. In 2002, the US spent more money on defense than the next 18 biggest spenders combined. When we view our standard of living as a divine right, we stop questioning our nation's policies. When asked why the US must place military bases on two of Islam's 3 holy sites, Mecca and Medina, a high ranking US official responded, "well, the US must have free access to the region's oil - period." Must we have free access to other countries resources? If we're going to maintain law and order in our society, the police and military are a necessity. I don't question that and I thank those who serve. But that doesn't justify every bullet fired or every bomb dropped.
I can vividly remember my high school American history class. Studying the atrocities committed by our nation. Slavery against the blacks, genocide against Indians. Wiping out entire cities and villages in wars. This was hard for me to swallow. As these dark images from our nation's past messed with my nationalism, I wasn't sure how to respond. I remember regaining my equilibrium by thinking "Our nation was founded by Christians, that must make us a Christian nation. These things must've been justified or maybe they weren't as bad as they seem. I'm sure God looks past it." Unholy Patriotism
And American Christians have been committing that same sin for almost 2 ½ centuries. Turning a blind eye. Or to unquestionably support every policy, every military action or ever economic privilege of our nation is to commit that same sin of idolatry. It's lifting our country above our Savior. I've done it too many times to count. And God sees all the times we compromise our commitment to Christ to promote our American way of life.
What are Christians to do? How are we to live out the gospel while living as citizens of a nation that has prostituted itself to the beast? The same way John told his churches to live.
18:4 1) Come Away We must refuse to align ourselves with systems of unnecessary violence and economic oppression. We condemn the violence of the oppressed, such as terrorism and the violence of the oppressor, such as unjust war. We come away from a violence-first mentality. Colin Powell, one of our nation's greatest military leaders said this not too long ago. "The US cannot win the war on terrorism unless we confront the social and political roots of poverty. It's very hard to be angry with someone who just fed you, it's very hard to want to drop a bomb on someone who just built you a village. No nation, no matter how powerful it is, will ever be safe until it has dealt with ‘economic desperation.'"
Economic desperation is what gives birth to terrorism. It's a tyrannical leader rising to power among an impoverished people. "Look at how much you don't have, look at how much they do have. If you'll fight, I'll feed you." Our government may continue their war on terrorism, but as Christians, we must declare war on world poverty. That's the real war.
Those who study these things believe that providing clean water and sanitization to our entire world could be done for 9 billion dollars. I know what you're thinking, "I'll just get out my checkbook." It seems daunting. But you know what, last Fall on the Friday after Thanksgiving, you want to know what Americans spent on Christmas gifts? You guessed it, 9 billion dollars. Maybe we should stop asking how we can perpetuate the American way of life and start asking how the privileges of our country can be used to serve the world? That's rejecting the beast and aligning ourselves with the lamb.
This means we must come away from our country's sense of entitlement. We must break free from our addiction to stuff. We must go against everything our society tells us and choose to spend less on ourselves so we can give away more to others. Are you willing to do it? Are you willing to come away from our culture?
Underneath your chairs is a brochure on child sponsorship through our denomination. No, you can't write a check for 9 billion dollars. No, you can't change the entire world. But you can change the entire world for one child.
2) Worship Christ The theme of our entire summer, of this entire book. Our lives are to be lived as an act of worship to Jesus Christ. When forced to choose, and we will face this choice, we must always choose the values of Christ's kingdom over the values of our earthly kingdom. We must turn away from the temptation to blindly follow our leaders. Christians must have the guts to ask the tough questions of our government. We must call our nation to a higher way of living. Whether it's protecting the unborn or protecting the civilian in an enemy nation. Our allegiance to our flag must never take precedence over our allegiance to the cross! 18:6-8
The citizens of Rome prostituted themselves for money and power. Things that, at the most, last but a lifetime. But living for Christ means we become his bride. A spotless bride, with unquestioned loyalty to her groom. Can you see the contrast? Gluttonous prostitute - spotless bride. Are you willing to offer unquestioned allegiance to Jesus Christ? No matter what it does to your lifestyle. No matter what it does to relationships with people that are living for the beast. No matter what it may cost your patriotism. Will you follow Christ with everything you've got? Will you live as his bride?