Herald-Guardians of Heaven's Light

"I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands and among them was someone...His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all it's brilliance...He said, "the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches..." (excerpt Rev. 1)

"Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place..." (excerpt Rev. 2)

"After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven...and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it...from the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing..." (excerpt Rev. 4)

In Return of the King - the third installation of Lord of the Rings - there is a great scene preceding one of the final battles. The scene features the Beacons of Gondor - also known as the Lights of Minas Tirith (stay with me here) being lit ablaze one by one in order to signal impending war. The Beacons of Gondor are like alpine lighthouses hewn from stone and sitting atop many of the mountain peaks that traverse the region and they would be lit only in dire emergencies and as a way to spread word over the region of Gondor in a swift manner. These lights had not been set ablaze for hundreds of years. And only such a thing as existence-threatning war could warrant them being lit - but such a thing threatened and so as the first beacon was lit it was only a matter of moments before the region which was cast in the shadow of impending war - perhaps the war to end all wars - had flickering lamps of hope sitting atop its mountain peaks. It was such fire on high that brought hope - small as it may be - to the darkness of Gondor.

I am wading through the swamp that is the book of Revelation.

Yesterday I left chapter one - which gave us the image of One who holds the keys to Death and Hades - and have paused on my journey in chapter four. The above quotations are from such chapters. I have absolutely no idea if my coming observations hold merit, or if they have been postulated before. Nevertheless...

Revelation 1 comes to a close with John encountering the Son of Man standing among seven lampstands. This Son of Man is magnificent. He is robed in radiant white and gold. His face was as bright as the Sun. When he spoke it was like the sound of cascading waters. Even his feet were shod in precious metal. When he looked at John it was like staring into the brilliant heat of a blazing inferno. Furthermore, this Son of Man was not empty handed - out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword and he clutched in his right hand seven stars and in his other the keys to Death and Hades. At the end of the chapter we learn that those seven lampstands in which he stands around are his churches - the houses of his worship, adoration and proclamation. The stars are the angels of these churches.

Revelation 2 and 3 takes us away from this room of holy light and brings us into the midst of the churches themselves as John relates to such churches the decrees of this Son of Man.

When we come to Revelation 4 we are once again confronted with this radiant Son but this time upon a throne. From his throne rumbled thunder and lightning and before it sat a host of crowned elders and fantastical "living creatures." Also in front of such a throne were 7 burning, beacons of light...

What struck me is that each of the seven churches that we learn of in chapters 2 and 3 are guardians of the lampstands. The light does not originate with the churches - they simply possess and guard the lampstand. The lamp - the lightsource itself - is burning before the throne of Heaven and it is such light from Heaven that comes down and fills the lamps of the churches. Thus what we find in chapters 2 and 3 is the Son of Man - the one from whom the Light comes, dare we say the Light Itself - bringing accusation and admonishment upon those who are the guardians and trustees of such light - the ones who keep the lampstands, the sevenfold churches. The charge that the Son of Man brings is that it is the utmost privelege and responsibility to be a guardian of the light, to be a beacon and thus they must be faithful to shine that light diligently and to give warning and hope to the world.

The Beacons of Gondor were lit from the fire on high in order to be heralds - to signal to the world of impending war, to signal to the world of one who will come.
We as churches are the Beacons of Heaven - we are the stands, the vessels that hold the fire from on high, that hold the ignited Spirit of the Living God, the Light of the World. We are the beacons that are to herald to the world that there is One who has come and is coming again and who is worth knowing.

And our cry is the cry of those elders and creatures who sit next to the lamps of heaven:

"Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."

"You are worthy, our Lord and our God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."

Let us set ablaze the beacon that is the church and herald to the world He who is the "Alpha and Omega, who is and who was, and who is to come the Almighty" giving hopelight to a world shrouded in darkness.