The Rev. Paul DeLain Allick St. George’s Episcopal Church, April 11, 2009

So, here we are at Easter again. We celebrate new life. We’ve heard this amazing story of salvation in our Vigil Readings. We’ve heard the story of Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Solome at the tomb. We’ve shared in this sacred moment of baptism to new life with our brother and sisters. We’ve heard all of the wonderful acclamations: He is risen! Rejoice! Be happy!

But we all know that on Monday morning we are going back out into the world and we are going to experience life as it really is. We are going to see suffering and death, we are going to get stressed out and angry, we are going to catch ourselves gossiping and treating others as if God did not create them and love them. If Christ is risen and wickedness and death are vanquished why is it still happening?

This is all still going on because the story isn’t over yet. You and I live in the last days until Christ’s return. This is an in-between time. If one day is thousand years to God, we are on day three. (2Peter 3:8)It could be 4 days or 10 or 80. We don’t know. Jesus tells us repeatedly that we can’t know.

In the Revelation to John we learn a lot about these last days. The Revelation to John is not some futuristic horror story; it is about the here and now: The “here and now” for John, a time when Christians were suffering persecution, or “the here and now” for us as we witness the greed and anxiety of our own time.

In the 13th chapter (verses 12-18) of The Revelation, we hear of the Second Beast which will appear in these last days. The Second Beast came to earth to convince us to worship the First Beast. The Second Beast deceives us with great signs. In order to buy and sell, we must have the mark of the First Beast on our forehead. And that mark is 666. Now some have said that the triple six is in reference to a specific person. But the triple six mark is much more cunning than all that. Evil is all about tricks, nothing is obvious.

Here’s another interpretation, not of my own genius but of scholars: God gave us seven days. Six days for labor and one for rest and devotion to God. When we accept the deception of the Second Beast, we accept the mark of six. We get stuck on six. We never let go of the labor of buying and selling. We never get to the seventh day of rest and honor to God. Through our own choices, we get spellbound by the deceptions of the Second Beast.

We are lulled into our busy schedules and need to dominate others.  Think of how often prayer, study, and worship are sacrificed for our “busy” lives. Think of how often we bring the mark of the beast into the Church. We bring that mark in when we put the business affairs of the institution before spiritual affairs; when we put our hang-ups, our perfectionism, our resentments and demands before our ministry of reconciliation.

Getting stuck on six is like never coming alive. We never come out of the tomb, never get down off that cross. You know, you can be physically alive and spiritually dead.

In Holy Baptism, we are ordained to a mission; a new way of life. In that life there is no place for the Mark of the Beast. In our baptism we are commissioned to show others hope. We make a commitment to live each day in the calm and enjoyment of seven.

How do we live into this commitment? We live out or Baptismal Covenant: we put our religious life first above all else. We remain faithful to the Apostle’s teaching, the breaking of bread and the prayers; we work for justice and peace in our own hearts and all around us; we seek and serve Christ in all persons, and respect the dignity of every human being.

When we are primarily about these tasks the Mark of the Beast dissolves from our foreheads. When this is our focus we will see less and less gloom and dissatisfaction within ourselves, within the Church and within the world.

I find the line at the store a perfect place for this mission.  When I am in a long line I can feel the tension. People are getting impatient. The clerk is getting crabby or upset. In the line I greet people and smile. I let people with less stuff than me go ahead in line. When I get to the clerk I greet them. When they apologize for the wait I tell them that I am not in a hurry. The clerk and others in line relax. My hope, my mission is that everyone there has experienced a sense of reconciliation: a sense that it isn’t that bad and that today is going to be a good one.

What I have done is interrupt everyone’s stress and frustration. I have interrupted my own as well. To me this is mission: to interrupt the frustration, stress, gloom and harshness of human life. This is transformation. Every day, in every setting it is within my power to bring about reconciliation and love; I am a warrior and it is within my power to erase the mark of the beast!

As Paul wrote to the Colossians: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God”. (3:2-3)

Rejoice and be glad now, Mother Church! You are free! You are alive!
Glory, alleluia!
Amen.