Matt Chandler - Introduction

Good morning! If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn there. We are just going to look at those five verses. I am incredibly excited to start this series; in fact, I’ve been nervous for myself and am so glad to be diving in. I have a lot of questions about why we’re studying Revelation and why we’re doing it right now. Notice that I’m not putting an «s» at the end of that word. It’s not «revelations»; it’s «Revelation, ” singular—a single revelation. It might not be why you think. I have not watched the news or looked at the times and thought, „Oh man, we need this book, ” because we’ve needed this book for 2,000 years. It’s not like Revelation was given to us abruptly, like, „Oh, now that we’re in trouble, let me give them this.“ That’s not why I’m preaching Revelation for the next 12 weeks. It’s not because I see something happening around us, but rather because I can sense in my heart, I have a gut feeling about where Jesus is taking us, and I want to invite you to come with me. When I see in my mind’s eye what Jesus is doing, the opportunities we have, and this refrain that I’ve been telling you—that we were built for a moment like this—what I envision is a family of faith that is biblically serious. They know the Word of God, they love the Word of God, and they bleed the Word of God. When the world squeezes them, what comes out is Scripture. When they’re eating a good meal, they’re grateful to Jesus because they know they can drink orange juice to the glory of God. When they get sick, they know God is good, and so they praise Him even as they ask for healing. Everywhere they look—stars, food, family—they know the Word of God and are strengthened by it. It’s what naturally comes out of them. They are also spiritually alive, awake to the things of God, living vibrantly. Not only do they know the Word, but they live the Word. Listen to me: obedience is better than revelation. Did you hear me? For everyone saying, „I just want a word from God, ” do what He’s already told you to do, and you’re going to hear a lot more from Him. I can see that coming for us. Yes, have ears to hear the still, small voice of the Spirit, but you won’t hear it if you never act on it. To know the Word of God, to walk in the Word of God, to pummel hell with prayers to heaven—I want to be a threat. Are you tracking with me? I want to be a threat and then be ignited with evangelistic zeal. What would it be like for you to actually believe that Jesus could save your neighbor? Not like in an ethereal sense, „Yeah, Jesus saves; His arms aren’t too short, ” but what if you truly believed it? What if no one was safe? What if no one was safe because there you are, getting a cup of coffee, saying, „How can I pray for you? How are things going? Hey, why don’t you come with us sometime?“ What would it be like to practice radical hospitality as an assault on Western ideology? Look, I’m proud of my heritage; I’m proud to be Western. There are many benefits to being Western, but we have tall privacy fences and tiny dining room tables. What would it be like to actually know your neighbors’ names, what they are going through, and to love, serve, and engage them—not to get something from them, but because Christ has done that for you? I can see and feel this, and I feel we’re on the cusp of it. I want us to get there, and here’s what I think is happening, even right now: I think a lot of you are hearing me say, „That sounds good. I like that; I’d like to go there.“ Here’s where I get concerned: I think we might understand those words but not really grasp the cost. Eugene Petersen was preaching in Tyler, Texas, out east behind the Pine Curtain. I don’t know if you’ve been there—beautiful, scary, but a wonderful place. He writes to his son, Eric, a stunning quote that resonates not just with me, but with others in our congregation: „Why am I so uncomfortable in this world?“ This world being the Bible Belt: they are all on my side; they are all courteous and affirmative, but it seems to be gospel without depth, suffering, or ambiguity—everything smoothed out, ironed, and with a lot of starch in the collar. When I’ve had good friends move here from Seattle, New York, and other parts of the world—even family members who have come from difficult places around the world—they all feel like we’re thin. We lack a kind of wartime mentality that owns the mission of God and actually lives it out. They see Jesus for us as maybe important, but still just kind of attached to everything else, whereas the Bible knows nothing of Jesus being attached. The Bible knows Jesus as life—not one component of life; He is life. And where do we get any sense of this at the Village Church? Thin gospel, no sacrifice, no courage, no great faith.