Paper, Paper, Everywhere

Revelation 18:4 Then I heard another voice rom heaven say: “‘Come out of her, my people.’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;”

If you are like so many, yesterday ended up with Christmas wrapping paper covering your floor. We try to assign a grandchild to be the ‘vacuum’, snatching up all the paper as it lands. But there are always errant bows, labels, and torn bits of paper that escape this human rumba. And the large garbage bags of paper still bring a sense of shame.

When I was growing up, we carefully unwrapped the presents so that the paper could be reused. There was a pride taken in the ability to carefully open so as to not rip the paper. Sounds silly, doesn’t it. The funny thing is, I never remember getting used paper on my presents, or seeing the used paper used on any other gifts. I wonder where it went?

Christmas brings up all sorts of mixed messages for most people. We think of those less fortunate and we give, often generously to meet needs. We do it out of a sense of gratitude for the abundance we have received. We share our much so that those who have little might have enough.

But seeing the paper piles reminds me of how temporary life is. If the paper is all there was, then we would have very little. The paper wrapping only has importance because it wraps a present. The outside only matters because of the inside.

The Apostle John, the writer of our text for today, is being given a glimpse into the future, a future where the temporary trappings of this life are about to be revealed and removed. The facade that has hidden much of the world’s power structure and religiosity are about to be brought low and eliminated from view. The real will be revealed.

As part of that process, the people of God are told to leave behind those trappings because judgment is coming. Then three times in the remainder of the chapter the “great city” which is the object of God’s revealed judgment becomes the object of God’s “Woe!”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be on the receiving end of God’s “Woe!” It is interesting that these three woes have echoes from the Old Testament. The words sound like the blessings that God’s people received when they were part of the blessed city of Jerusalem, the hot spot of God’s presence in history. Each of these woes was a blessing for the people of God.

You see, the people of God have a blessing where the people of the world have a woe. We understand that the paper isn’t important, it’s what inside that counts. The world looks at the pretty wrapping of intelligence, success, wealth, position, power, influence, and whatever else they cling to, and when they get close to obtaining it, they find out it doesn’t satisfy. The the billionaires want to be multi-billionaires. The millionaires, multi-millionaires. The political elites, kings and queens over their own thiefdoms. They are grasping for prettier paper.

But we know that all this is temporary. Christmas isn’t the end of the story. Easter is coming. And Jesus’ return is closer now than when we first believed.

Since this is true, let’s live like it.