This blog provides a meditation on the Episcopal daily readings along with a headline from world news:

UK STEPS UP PLANS TO SUPPORT U.S. ATTACK ON IRAQ

Iraqi nuclear technicians

Revelation 14:1-13

14Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth. 4It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.

6 Then I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgement has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.’

8 Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’

9 Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, ‘Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, 10they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.’

12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them.’

In effect, this passage assures the reader of the salvation of those who belong to the Lamb and the damnation of those who belong to the Beast. If there is a temptation to see this in sectarian terms-Christians are saved and all others damned-then we should remind ourselves that worshippers of the beast are those who give allegiance to unjust earthly power, such as Rome’s. For example, I imagine that anyone who fought in the Roman forces would have been seen as a worshipper of the beast by this author. What about the U.K. forces or the U.S. forces? 

Wilfred Owen's original of Anthem for Doomed Youth

“Near Golgotha strolls many a priest

And in their faces there is pride

That they are flesh-marked by the Beast

By whom the gentle Christ’s denied”

These prophetic words were written by Wilfred Owen as he commanded his platoon near Ypres in the First World War. He saw the soldiers as victims; but those, including patriotic clergy who blessed a war of “national sacrifice”, as agents of the Beast.

We must ask about the phrase “defiled themselves with women”. This is a use of the old prophetic language which makes “whoring” a metaphor for idolatry. These are virgins in the sense that they have worshipped no false Gods. Mainstream churches might ask themselves if they would pass this author’s virginity test: do they in fact give allegiance to the state which should be given only to God? Various Free Churches, Mennonites, Quakers and others have given stricter guidance on this matter than larger denominations. Freedom from national allegiance should be a mark of allegiance to the Lamb who gives the victory to his gentle and blameless people.

Matthew 14:1-12

14At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus; 2and he said to his servants, ‘This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ 3For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4because John had been telling him, ‘It is not lawful for you to have her.’ 5Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. 6But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod 7so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. 8Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.’ 9The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; 10he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 11The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. 12His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.

The ruler who feeds on his people

For the Gospel writers, a man’s severed head on a platter is an abomination, the fruit of a demonic arrogance and frivolity by which a ruler “feeds” on his own people. The gospels place this terrible story in apposition to Jesus’ feeding of 5000 people: He is the true ruler who gives his people food.

If we feel we can distance ourselves from this story, we could reflect that such crimes have been committed and are still committed every other day by agents of multi-national interests in pursuit of control or profit. A devout meditation on Bhopal, for example, might lead us to judge that Herod was a very minor agent of the beast. But that would allow us to distance ourselves from the question this passage asks of all citizens of consumer societies, “What, or whom, are we consuming?”