Apocalypse When?. Jerry L. Sumney

      APOCALYPSE WHEN?

      A Guide to Interpreting and Preaching Apocalyptic Texts

      Copyright © 2020 Leah D. Schade and Jerry L. Sumney. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

      Cascade Books

      An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

      199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

      Eugene, OR 97401

      www.wipfandstock.com

      paperback isbn: 978-1-7252-6247-8

      hardcover isbn: 978-1-7252-6248-5

      ebook isbn: 978-1-7252-6249-2

      Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

      Names: Schade, Leah D., author. | Sumney, Jerry L., author.

      Title: Apocalypse when? : interpreting and preaching apocalyptic texts / Leah D. Schade and Jerry L. Sumney.

      Description: Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2020 | Includes bibliographical references.

      Identifiers: isbn 978-1-7252-6247-8 (paperback) | isbn 978-1-7252-6248-5 (hardcover) | isbn 978-1-7252-6249-2 (ebook)

      Subjects: LCSH: Bible—Homiletical use. | Apocalyptic literature.

      Classification: BS646 .A636 2020 (print) | BS646 (ebook)

      Manufactured in the U.S.A. September 9, 2020

      Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

      Dedication

      To the congregations I have served who opened their pulpits to me, especially: Reformation Lutheran Church in Media, PA, Spirit and Truth Worship Center in Yeadon, PA, United in Christ Lutheran Church in Lewisburg, PA, and St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Richmond, KY. I am grateful for your willingness to learn about and learn from apocalyptic texts and what they mean for our faith and our world. L. D. S.

      To all the people who have been made afraid of God by misuses of apocalyptic texts and to those teachers and ministers who work to reclaim the message of joy and hope they contain. J. L. S.

      Preface

      This book is intended to help the church understand and proclaim the powerful messages that the Bible’s apocalyptic texts contain. Preachers have often been reticent to preach on these texts because they seem too strange or they have been hijacked by people who use them in inappropriate ways. Besides, they also contain some material that seems threatening. But these texts have messages that can strengthen the church’s resolve to be faithful, especially in ways that try to bring God’s justice and love into the world. This may seem like an odd claim because it is sometimes (often) said that these texts encourage people to look only to heaven and a future end-time and so to ignore the things that violate God’s will around them. This understanding of apocalyptic texts substantially misses what the texts want their readers to do. At their core, they want to encourage readers to live faithfully in this world.

      This book is a joint effort of a homiletics scholar and a Bible scholar at Lexington Theological Seminary. The first chapter on understanding apocalyptic texts is written by Jerry L. Sumney, the Bible professor. Chapter two on preaching from apocalyptic texts is authored by Leah D. Schade, the homiletics professor. All of the following chapters are divided into three sections. The first section is an exegesis of the text by Sumney. The second and third parts are Ideas for Preaching and a sample sermon. Those two sections are written by Schade. However, we consulted with each other on our sections and worked together on the editing process.

      Parts of this book are directly dependent on the early work, Preaching Apocalyptic Texts (St. Louis: Chalice, 1999), that was co-written by Sumney and Larry Paul Jones†, former homiletics professor at Lexington Theological Seminary. His premature passing took a powerful voice from the church. In that previous work, Dr. Jones wrote two sermons for each text for which Sumney wrote the exegesis. The discussion of apocalyptic literature in chapter 1 of the present work is an expansion of a chapter in the previous work, and the exegesis of Daniel 7, Mark 13, and Revelation 14 are slight revisions of the exegesis in it. The exegesis work for 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5 in this work are notable expansions of the exegesis of those texts in the earlier book. None of Schade’s Ideas for Sermons or her sermons depend on Dr. Jones’s homiletical work in that earlier book. We are grateful to Michael Thomson and Cascade Press for seeing the importance of the message of these texts and being willing to include the parts of the book that were previously published.

      The present book focuses most of its attention on texts from the Revised Common Lectionary. However, the chapter on Revelation 14 is included because of its oft-misunderstood and misinterpreted imagery and symbolism that has permeated both the church and the larger culture. We hope that this book will provide exegetical and homiletical guidance to enable ministers and others to preach from and teach about these texts. During these challenging and tumultuous times, we trust in God’s power, mercy, and love to strengthen the church and renew hope for the world.

      Leah D. Schade

      Jerry L. Sumney

      Chapter 1

      An Introduction to Apocalyptic Thought

      Jerry L. Sumney

      How do you experience the world? Is it fair or unfair? Good or evil? Redeemable or beyond hope? You probably do not want to choose either alternative. Most people today find the truth somewhere in between these extremes. If that is the case for you, then apocalyptic writings will be somewhat foreign to your way of thinking. Though we do not often think about it, the theology each of us have has been influenced by our experience of the world. What we think about God, the world, and other humans (just to name a few things) is significantly affected by what has happened to us and how we interpret those events. If we are going to understand apocalyptic writings, we will need to know something about the ways the authors of such works think, so that we can begin to understand why they speak as they do about God, God’s people, and God’s enemies.

      Apocalyptic writers usually view the world as completely captured by evil and as irredeemable without a catastrophic intervention of God. In their experience, there is something drastically wrong with the world. Apocalyptic writers are seeking a way to reconcile their belief in a good, powerful, and just God and their encounter with pervasive and successful evil.

In theological terms, one of the most basic issues apocalyptic thought wrestles with is theodicy: how does one explain injustice and evil in the world while holding to belief in a good and just God? This question is asked explicitly in several apocalyptic writings. In 2 Esdras,1 the leading character looks about himself and sees the great sinfulness of the Babylonians who have conquered Israel. His question is, “Are the deeds of those who inhabit Babylon any better [than those of Israel]?” (2 Esdras 3:28). Then he complains that no one can understand what God has done and that God has given no explanation (see 3:28—4:36).

      Apocalyptic arises in situations where the questions of theodicy become acute. The problem of evil in the world is always with us, but it becomes more important for an individual or a group when it is brought home, when you are the good person who is suffering unjustly. Groups adopt an apocalyptic outlook in times of crisis, when it seems they are being overwhelmed by their enemies, enemies who are beyond their capacity to defeat. Apocalyptic helps such groups