Each week a palette of inner pictures, together with certain phrases from the gospel reading, work on me to bring forth a particular aim for my address or sermon. At this point in the week (Wednesday), it is still pretty vague, but alive for me. I thought I would share some of these experiences in the form of questions.
In the Revelation to John there are seven letters to seven distinct communities. This coming Sunday we will hear the letter to the congregation in Sardes, the fifth letter. I'm caught by the first statement: "it is said you live and you are dead." This juxtaposition of living and dying is so startling, although it is also everywhere in nature right now... the tree is living but the leaves are dying, etc.
Or is it so startling because it is the appearance of being alive, but the reality is a state of being dead, like a fundamental hypocrisy.
Or is it another level of light shining in the darkness, and the darkness is totally incapable of taking up the light?
I'll have to see where this takes me...