Sermon for April 28th, 2013

Zechariah 14:1-9

14See, a day is coming for the Lord, when the plunder taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses looted and the women raped; half the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that half of the Mount shall withdraw northwards, and the other half southwards. 5And you shall flee by the valley of the Lord’s mountain, for the valley between the mountains shall reach to Azal; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. 6 On that day there shall not be either cold or frost. 7And there shall be continuous day (it is known to the Lord), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light. 8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter. 9 And the Lord will become king over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be one and his name one.

Revelation 16:13-16; 19:11-16, 19-21

13And I saw three foul spirits like frogs coming from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet. 14These are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15(‘See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed, not going about naked and exposed to shame.’) 16And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Harmagedon.

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself. 13He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God. 14And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’.

19Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against the rider on the horse and against his army. 20And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed in its presence the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. 21And the rest were killed by the sword of the rider on the horse, the sword that came from his mouth; and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

One Last Epic Battle

In the larger family of Christianity, Presbyterians have a reputation for being the resident nerds, geeks, intellectuals and eggheads. I think that's why I've always felt so at home in this denomination. But as much as I love gathering with you each Sunday, on this particular Sunday there is another gathering of nerds and geeks that calls out to me powerfully. When I leave church today, I will be headed to the Marriott Hotel by the Airport to take part in the Sun City Sci-Fi convention -- a gathering of science fiction fans, collectors and celebrities that includes our very own Andrew Donaldson, who will be displaying some of the Star Wars costumes he has made himself. I'm taking my son, Grady,(who is quite the emerging sci-fi geek himself) and both of us are so excited we can hardly contain ourselves.